Thanks to the continuous efforts of Laotang's colleagues, the first batch of Hessian mercenaries from Germany finally arrived in the capital in late October of the 13th year of Chongzhen.
From the time he set off from the Ming Dynasty capital in April to the time he returned here, it took a total of more than eighteen months, but including the time to recruit mercenaries in the middle, this was already very fast.
When the warlocks went to Europe, they first took the Ming warship to Xiamen, transferred to the Zheng's warship, then went to Geranze, and changed to a Dutch warship to sail to Batavia.
The whole process of transferring from there to the East India Company's ship returning home was very time-consuming, but the magicians worked tirelessly and traveled thousands of miles for the sake of their ideals.
Naturally, a certain prince was not stingy, and asked the magicians to hand over the world's most precious secret recipe - cowpox to treat smallpox - to Rome. Only then did the magicians ride on the wind and waves, gritting their teeth and persevering to the end.
Many of these German mercenaries who came to the mysterious eastern world to prospect for gold had worked for Wallenstein, and without exception, they were all veterans of battle.
The price will naturally not be too low. Originally, the warlocks had to pay forty thalers per person to their employers and forty thalers per person to the mercenaries as settlement fees.
In addition, additional shipping costs are required, but French Prime Minister Richelieu made an extremely bold decision.
That is to not only dispatch the French fleet to transport these mercenaries for free, but also send 3,000 French troops to assist in the battle.
The meaning of Richelieu's show of favor to Ming Dynasty is very simple, that is, he wants to get a super weapon that can fly into the sky!
Even though France was strong, the Habsburg dynasty was already crumbling after more than ten years of war.
However, in order to avoid being trapped in the quagmire of war after France personally participated in the war, Richelieu felt that it was better to prepare more for his own side.
Although the warlocks who returned to Europe were affiliated with Rome, there were still people inside who informed the camp headed by France, and Richelieu also obtained this huge secret.
Flying weapons!
What a temptation this is!
If any country obtains such weapons, it is probably not far away from dominating the European continent!
Even if you spend 10 million silver dollars, you still have to buy this super weapon!
To seize the whole of Europe with such a small amount of money is of course a very cost-effective thing!
Richelieu had already thought that if he knew this secret, his competitors would also know it.
If both parties want to buy...
In order to improve his bargaining power, Richelieu decided to let the French fleet contract the task of transporting mercenaries.
Moreover, they also sent three thousand elite French troops to fight in the far east, and transferred a powerful general from the front line, the Viscount Turenne, to command this army!
The mercenaries transported were all prisoners of the French army on the battlefield, and Richelieu did not intend to return them to his employer, William V, Count of Hesse-Kassel!
Although this guy belongs to the Xinnian camp, he always has two things to do and rents out mercenaries to both sides. It's really abominable.
Richelieu didn't want to send these German mercenaries back, so he put them on the ship and sent them all to the Ming Empire in the East!
Ten thousand mercenaries were worth at least eighty thalers according to the market price. Including freight, the total was one hundred and twenty thalers, equivalent to about eighty taels of silver in the Ming Empire.
This is equivalent to giving 800,000 taels of silver and 3,000 French troops to the Ming Empire as a meeting gift, which should be enough to show his sincerity.
The more important thing about putting Viscount Turenne in charge of this expedition is that the fleet also carried two million taels of silver in payment, which was used to purchase this flying weapon!
The total amount of people and money converted into three million taels of silver should be able to buy the weapon of your choice.
Even if you purchase part of it first, if it's not enough, you can send a fleet to make up the difference later.
Cleaning up the Spanish fleet is a matter for the Dutch and British, and the French fleet has more important things to do.
After more than half a year of voyage, the French fleet first docked in Xiamen, then entered the Bohai Sea accompanied by the Zheng fleet, and finally arrived in Tianjin.
Three thousand French troops and 10,000 German mercenaries disembarked in Tianjin. Due to lack of horses, they were unable to reach the capital, so they took water transport ships instead.
Tianjin had already photographed the flying cavalry and reported it to a certain prince. The arrival of these more than 10,000 European heroes was so timely that even a certain prince was a little surprised.
In terms of time, if the mission in Europe did not go well, we might be a few months late. Unexpectedly, we worked day and night to get here.
After listening to the report of Viscount Turenne, a certain prince also admired Prime Minister Richelieu's foresight.
Since the other party's move was a timely help, a certain prince decided to sell thirty airships to France at a price of one hundred thousand taels each!
And in order to welcome this group of reinforcements from afar, the magnificent scene of the airship taking off was demonstrated to the guests in public the next day.
The French generals, including Viscount Turenne, were stunned, just like the expressions when Abe and the Japanese generals saw the airship again.
Weapons that can take off!
It can also carry people into space!
It’s incredible!
The Prime Minister is so far-sighted!
One hundred thousand taels of silver to buy an airship is undoubtedly extremely valuable to the French.
Moreover, the Ming Empire was willing to launch as many as thirty ships at a time, which had exceeded the French's pre-estimated goal of twenty ships.
A certain prince promised to provide every soldier under Viscount Turenne, whether French or German, with a monthly salary of twenty taels of silver and sixty kilograms of rice.
Weapons, ammunition and protective equipment are provided separately, and a large number of artillery and tanks will be installed to maximize the combat effectiveness of this elite force.
If you kill the enemy and perform meritorious service on the battlefield, you will be rewarded according to the standards of the Ming army. At least each pigtail can be exchanged for two hundred taels of silver.
Killing five thousand braids can be exchanged for at least two million taels of silver. If you include the portion of braid generals and officers, it will exceed this amount.
As a nobleman and the highest commander of the French army, Viscount Turenne did not expect that the prince of the Ming Empire would be so generous.
In order to prove their sincerity, people have been sent to load the first batch of ten airships, their parts, ammunition, and fuel and set sail.
The remaining parts will be delivered to France at a rate of ten ships every two months, and the delivery can be completed within four months at the latest.
Once the French army has thirty airships crisscrossing the sky, it will have an absolute advantage on the European battlefield.
The screening of French pilots has already begun, and relevant training will begin after completion.
In view of Prime Minister Richelieu's foresight, a certain prince also provided a special weapon to the French army for free - mortars!
The structure is extremely simple, but the firepower is extremely fierce. It is the natural enemy of almost any phalanx in Europe!
Two to three hundred mortars fired volleys, and even the Shenzi phalanx on the opposite side could not withstand this level of bombardment!
Available for free!
No reward required!
Moreover, one hundred mortars have been shipped together with the airship, and the manufacturing structure diagrams and loading and launching process diagrams have also been sent.
The friendly act of the Crown Prince of the Ming Empire undoubtedly excited Viscount Turenne. After seeing the mortar salvo performance, he vowed to lead his troops to help His Royal Highness resist the enemy's invasion.
In addition, Viscount Turenne also saw the new plate armor and helmets equipped by the Ming army. Both of these armors can protect against bows, arrows and bullets.
For soldiers, it is equivalent to having life protection. If they are not subjected to violent shelling, there will never be mass casualties again.
But after looking at it carefully, Turena consciously felt that the manufacturing of this kind of armor was too complicated.
Even if France's industrial strength has stabilized the European continent, it will still be difficult to manufacture in large quantities.
After all, the number and physical strength of blacksmiths are limited, and the speed of forging such thick armor is very slow.
This idea has troubled Turena for a long time. On the one hand, the armor is really good, but on the other hand, it is really difficult to make.
Until the viscount was lucky enough to visit the arsenal in the capital and saw the powerful steam forging press!
Just like the airship we saw before, this machine completely replaced manual means.
It only took five or six forgings before an iron plate could be formed. This was something he never expected.
It would be impossible for a blacksmith to create the same steel plate without hammering it hundreds of times.
Unexpectedly, there is such a machine in the world, and the blacksmith can complete the forging with just a slight pull.
What shocked Turenne even more was that this kind of machine did not require human power or animal power, it only ate coal!
How incredible is this? ? ?
Eat coal? Just eat coal? At most add some water!
If France had a thousand, no, a hundred of these machines, wouldn't it be able to create an invincible elite force?
Since the prince of the Ming Empire had previously given away weapons such as mortars for free, Tirena, although he was extremely eager to get this kind of machine, could still hold back his eagerness.
He planned to wait until his troops achieved certain results on the battlefield before applying to the prince of the Ming Empire.
In that case, the situation would be much better than now and should greatly increase the chance of success.
What surprised Turenne even more was that he later saw railways and trains!
Not only Turena has never seen it, but all the subordinates who came with him have never seen it.
A machine that can run very fast on the rails just by eating coal and water...
There is also something that can hear another person's voice coming from a long distance using a single line!
These extremely novel things are really difficult for Turena and others to digest immediately.
From this point of view, the Ming Empire was much more advanced than the Kingdom of France.
Turenne wanted to buy all the novel things he saw and go back to present them to His Majesty the King and Prime Minister Richelieu.
Unfortunately, I ran out of money after buying the airship. If I want to get the funds shipped from the mainland, I have to wait at least about a year and a half.
Other than that, you can only make money by killing enemies on the battlefield!
Among the three thousand French troops, there were not only Ping Min who was a soldier, but also many nobles.
These people all want to be promoted to nobility through meritorious service, and their ideas are simple and direct.
And those German mercenaries have no other purpose than coming to the East to make money!
It doesn't matter who the enemy is!
It doesn't matter whether the enemy is powerful or not!
For them, as long as the employer has the money to pay!
Hans Brooke, who had killed Braids and Spaniards one after another, finally no longer had to be a bare-bones captain.
Now a certain prince gave him hundreds of fellow Germans, and he was completely commanded by him to fight.
Armor, maces, muskets, grenades, lances, foils, all weapons are in place.
Now that Hans has it, the weapons and armor will soon be in place, all he needs is Braid to take the initiative to kill someone...
Thousands of Hans have made tens of thousands of pigtails. This is the scene that a certain prince has been waiting for for a long time!
Just equip the tank and help it resist the charge of the braided cavalry group.
The combat effectiveness of these 10,000 German mercenaries is no less than that of 30,000 to 40,000 Ming army infantry, and they are probably not inferior to the braided armored infantry of three or four banners.
Everything in this era is fictitious, only real evidence is real!
No matter how useful the braided cotton armor is, it can't withstand the hammer of Hans's hammer to smash the chest!
A certain prince has not yet decided how to use the 3,000 French troops and 10,000 Hansi soldiers.
However, you should go into battle together with the main force, and you must not make the stupid mistake of dividing your troops and advancing rashly.
The Jifu area is not Saarhu. Just like last time, except for the Great Wall defense line, we are just a big mess!
No matter how overwhelming you are, you can sweep over them, and even if you die, you won’t be able to chew through this huge mass of hundreds of thousands of people!
Thirteen thousand foreign aid can offset about two banners of Eight Banners soldiers, and the Japanese army can offset the same number of Eight Banners soldiers.
So unless Huang Taiji is dispatched again, the remaining hodgepodge, whether it is the Han army, King Sanshun's men or the Menggu cavalry, will have no chance of winning against the East Palace Guards.
The goal of a certain prince's battle this time is also very simple. As long as he is not defeated by the opponent, even if both sides are injured, he can be regarded as a winner.
The Ming family has a great cause and can afford to pay for it.
It's hard to say whether Huang Taiji's Qing Dynasty can afford the compensation.
Another 10,000 or 20,000 people were killed in this campaign. After the spring of next year, the Japanese army came to provoke them again.
It is relatively safe to remove 40,000 to 50,000 braids within three years.
With such a gameplay, it’s surprising that Huang Taiji can withstand it!
A certain prince's foreign aid has arrived. If Huang Taiji also has foreign aid, he will have to make his debut as soon as possible.
On the contrary, even if foreign aid comes, they can only collect the corpses for the braided soldiers...
Daming is no longer a place where pigtails can come and rob whenever they want.
You can come, you can rob, but you have to leave some of your parts!
You can leave your hands or feet, or you can leave your upper body or lower body!
It would be better to leave the whole body, at least you don't have to worry about your body being dismembered.
If he could get 20,000 Han soldiers, a certain prince could even let the Ming army take the initiative with two major foreign aids.
At present, for the sake of stability, we have decided to adopt defensive counterattack tactics, which will cause less damage to ourselves.
Where did the braid come from? I haven't gotten the relevant information yet.
As for whether the Japanese army could use the Great Wall to withstand Braid's attack, a certain prince was not sure.
But the arrival of foreign aid from Europe is finally a reassurance.
The effect is unknown, but it may be emboldening.
A certain prince has seen a lot of Hans, and he must have never seen braids. Then he can give them a big surprise.
Not only are there ten thousand "Hans", but there are also three thousand "Louis"!
Double surprise!
Double enjoyment!
There are also volleys of muskets and powerful hammers!
Even if Hans exerted about half of Brooke's fighting power, they would still be able to kill the braids with fear.
If Huang Taiji is defeated by Jifu again, he will probably be angry to death or sick with anger after he returns!
