While the Japanese pirate grocery store was anxiously waiting to be summoned, Zhu Cixiang was talking with three foreigners in the Dagong Hall. These three foreigners are Tang Ruowang, Alfonso Lopez and Shi Ruien. Among them, Shi Ruien was the mercenary captain Ruinstein from Germany. Like many Westerners who arrived in China in this era, he had a Chinese name. Because the "Stein" in his surname Reinstein means rock in German, Tang Ruowang named him Shi Ruien.
This 45-year-old German man has spent 20 years on the battlefields of the Thirty Years' War in Germany and 4 years in the English Civil War. He has never been a high-ranking general, but he is just a veteran who has been on the battlefield. The highest official he has ever been is the head of a mercenary group. In fact, he can also be regarded as a military contractor, receiving contracts and contracts from an unstable monarch. Pay a deposit, then recruit soldiers, purchase equipment, form an infantry regiment, and then go into battle to earn rewards.
After the English Civil War, Reinstein, who once served the British King, received another contract from the far East—not the contract given to him by Tang Ruowang, but a contract from the Dutch East India Company.
It turned out that Governor Antony van Diemen of the Dutch East India Company learned that the strongman Agung Sultan of the Kingdom of Malta on Java Island was seriously ill. He felt that there was an opportunity, so he sent people back to Europe to recruit mercenaries, hoping to recruit mercenaries in Agung. After Sultan died of illness, he launched a war.
And this Reinstein was one of several mercenary captains hired by the East India Company. However, after taking dozens of his men all the way to Batavia, Reinstein and his men fell ill one after another due to acclimatization.
This situation was very common in Batavia. The East India Company was unwilling to lose these mercenaries who had finally been transported to the East, so they were sent to Macau, where the climate was more comfortable, to recuperate. It is hoped that they will gradually adapt to the heat and humidity of the south.
While Reinstein and others were raising troops in Macau, they met Tang Ruowang who was traveling south from Yangzhou.
As an envoy of the Ming Dynasty, Tang Ruowang sought help from Macau Governor Si Paulo - Zhu Cixiang hoped that Si Paulo would follow the precedent set in the second year of Chongzhen's reign and send a mercenary group of more than 400 people and provide a batch of weapons.
Of course, Paul Shi agreed wholeheartedly - the operation in the second year of Chongzhen not only improved the relationship between Macau and the Ming Dynasty, but also won many arms orders for Macau.
In addition, the Ming court did not let Macau send troops and weapons in vain, but paid 57,000 taels of silver!
But this time, the conditions of the Ming Dynasty seemed to be more favorable! It’s not to pay more, but to ask the Portuguese Governor-General to send envoys to Nanjing to stay permanently... This is an opportunity for the Kingdom of Portugal and the Ming Dynasty to establish direct contact!
Therefore, after receiving Zhu Cixang's order, Shi Paulo immediately collected 1,200 turtle-dove-footed muskets and 12 3-pound field guns and gave them to Tang Ruowang.
They also found Reinstein, who was recuperating in Macau, and paid the same price as the Dutch to hire Reinstein, who could not adapt to the hot climate of Java, and more than 40 other German mercenaries.
Let them, together with Tang Ruowang and the envoy from the Macau Governor's Palace Alfonso Lopez, escort the equipment provided by the Macau Governor's Palace to the north first.
For Reinstein, who has spent half his life in European wars and is just a mercenary leader, this trip to Nanjing will not only change the trajectory of his life, but also open his eyes!
When he was in Dantu Town, he saw the sleeve bayonet for the first time, and he also saw an infantry regiment equipped with all muskets. On the way into Nanjing from Dantu Town, he also got a fixed-load paper shell ammunition through Tang Ruowang... It was also an eye-catching innovation!
According to Tang Ruowang, this innovation also came from the regent and crown prince of the Ming Empire...
And today, something happened that Shi Ruien didn't expect. After the young crown prince of the Ming Empire learned that Shi Ruien could speak fluent English, he directly talked to him in English!
"...Your Highness the Crown Prince," Shi Ruien spoke in Old German English, "The Spanish phalanx is actually constantly changing. The early Spanish phalanx was a bit like a moving bastion, with a spearman in the middle. The phalanx consists of a phalanx, and there is a small musket phalanx at each corner of the spear phalanx. In this way, the entire formation can face enemies coming from all directions like a castle. Four of the small musket phalanxes are at When facing enemies coming from one direction, two small musket phalanxes can form a larger horizontal array and fire under the cover of long guns.
When the enemy's cavalry or infantry approached, the musketeers retracted into the pike phalanx - the pike phalanx was not very dense, and there were always some gaps to accommodate a small number of musketeers. In order to maximize the power of a small number of musketeers, heavy muskets are often paired with Spanish phalanxes...
However, this tactic has been eliminated in the past decade or two, because more and more situations have shown that firepower is the decisive factor. Once the musketeers failed in the battle, it was impossible for the pikemen to attack with the opponent's firepower. The more popular tactic now is the square formation tactic improved by the Dutchman Maurice. It is called a square formation, but it is not necessarily square. In most cases, it is a horizontal formation of six to eight rows. The lance was in the middle and the muskets on the sides. This formation is easy to put together, but more complicated to use.
So I think your practice of attaching bayonets to muskets will eventually catch on around the world and make long guns obsolete. Of course, the musket itself also needs to be improved, and a flintlock gun with higher reliability and longer range is needed. "
"Really?" Zhu Cixiang thought for a while, and it seemed to be true. Historically, Westerners stopped playing with spears in the 18th century. This Shiyang man was quite discerning, "But that is a matter of the future. For now, Is an all-musketeer team too aggressive?”
"It's hard to say. It depends on the actual situation on the battlefield." Shi Ruien has been thinking about this issue for the past two days. "But I think whether an all-musketeer team is feasible depends on the level of cavalry and artillery... In a pure infantry confrontation, In an infantry battle, an all-musketeer team should have a greater chance of winning.
In fact, on the European battlefield now, infantry fighting in Dutch or Swedish square formations sometimes arrange six deep rows of musketeers into three deep rows in two rows abreast, and then fire a volley. "
The current European battlefield is actually in the stage of transition from phalanx tactics to line infantry tactics. The more popular tactics are the Morris Square and the Gustavus Square - based on the Spanish Square, the ratio of musketeers is increased and the depth is reduced, from more than ten rows to about six rows.
However, the organization of these two phalanxes and the Spanish phalanx is relatively complicated. Just grouping pikes and muskets into the same company is a troublesome matter. Sometimes the muskets have to be divided into heavy and heavy ones, and some additional sword and shield soldiers or halberdiers are added.
In comparison, the line infantry tactics of pure musket company formation are actually relatively simple.
"But I don't have strong field artillery," Zhu Cixiang shook his head, seeming a little worried, "I don't have strong cavalry either... I think I still need a Morris or Gustav style phalanx. ?”
"You are right," Shi Ruien said with a smile, "but your cavalry is okay, but the horses are a little bit worse. Maybe you should buy some of their folding horses from India. I also suggest that your cavalry and infantry should be lighter. The plate armor...the kind of plate armor worn by Governor Zheng (referring to Zheng Zhilong)'s Japanese mercenaries is enough.
In addition, the matchlocks used by your army are also outdated. I suggest gradually replacing them with the latest flintlocks... The flintlocks plus bayonets will sooner or later completely eliminate the long gun.
However, every new tactic has a gradual improvement process, and being too radical is a risk. So I suggest you train and equip some Dutch style teams, it is not difficult, as long as you trust me fully, my people can organize a model team for you within 6 months. A few more officer regiments will arrive later, so you'll soon have four model regiments using Dutch tactics.
As for artillery, that's more troublesome... Field artillery can be purchased from Macau. In fact, Governor Paul Paul has prepared 12 copper-cast 3-pound field guns produced in Macau for you. Qualified field gunners are difficult to train though, so if you're eager to get a field capable artillery battery, I'd recommend recruiting Westerners to man those guns first. If there are five to six artillery batteries, the chances of winning in field battles will be greatly increased. "
