The Ming Dynasty's night watch originally started from the outposts in various border towns. They were actually just sentries. They were originally responsible for standing guard, sentry, and communicating and other miscellaneous matters.
These pier sentinels are also called "Dunye" or "direct dialing and horizontal dialing".
"Dun" refers to the pier army, also known as "horizontal", which is mainly responsible for standing guard on the pier and its surrounding areas.
"Ye" can only mean "night sentry", also known as "direct dialing", which refers specifically to those who "can penetrate deep into the enemy's camp to detect the truth", that is, the sentry who can conduct reconnaissance activities deep into the enemy's territory. This is the early "night guard" .
In addition, because the scope of action gradually expands, they often have to stay away from the piers and side forts, and even stay away for several days and nights. Therefore, there is a difference between "far sentry does not close at night" and "long sentry does not close at night".
"Long sentry does not stop at night" refers to the sentry who leaves the country within a range of fifty to one hundred miles; while "far sentry does not stop at night" refers to the type of sentinel who leaves the country within a range of hundreds of miles and does not stop at night. The elite among them.
However, with the evolution of the military, military intelligence has evolved from reconnaissance and transmission of military intelligence in peacetime and wartime to tasks including espionage, hijacking camps, burning wasteland, and persuading surrender. They even harassed enemy camps and engaged in beheading operations. Become one of Ye Bushou's responsibilities.
However, they are patrolling at night, or conducting reconnaissance in enemy territory. They are the first enemies to pose a threat to the other side, and are in the first position to conflict with the enemy.
Therefore, the Ye Bushou of the Ming Dynasty also became the first targets of the enemy to kill and plunder, which made them the first to be "captured alive" by the northern captives and Tatar thieves.
Although the treatment and preferential treatment given are the same as those of other armies, if you want to survive in the most dangerous special missions such as reconnaissance, you must have a strong horse and work hard.
Therefore, Ming Dynasty's Ye Bu Shu can also be called the warriors with the best individual combat skills. When it comes to fighting in formation, they may not be the strongest, but their individual combat capabilities are absolutely excellent, and they are also good in small-scale encounters. Very outstanding.
After all, they have been together for a long time and have a tacit understanding with each other. In the late Ming Dynasty, most of the soldiers in the towns and camps on each border formed a separate battalion without taking them in at night. They were managed centrally, or were taken as servants to accompany them, or they were well-raised. Get up and work hard in front of the battle.
The same is true for the Ye Bushou of the Xuanbei Army's Huwei Camp. They are all skilled in equestrian skills and can control the horses under their crotches with only their legs, so that their hands can be freed for fighting.
Qianzong Li Changsheng also checked his equipment. Soon he was holding a blunderbuss in his left hand and a tiger spear in his right hand.
At a glance, the weapons used by each Ye Fushou are also varied, both long and short, but there are two weapons that are relatively common, one is a short-handed blunderbuss, and the other is a tiger spear.
Now, the standard cold weapon of the Xuanbei Army's Tiger Guard Battalion and the Heavy Cavalry Department of the Cavalry Battalion is the Tiger Spear. The Heavy Cavalry Department is easier to understand. They basically charge in a mounted formation.
The armored heavy cavalry charged up like a wall, while the tigers and spears stood in front of the formation like a forest. Not only did they intimidate the enemy, but more importantly, the spear points in front were aligned, which made it easier to maintain the rhythm when charging into the formation, so as to inflict powerful damage to the enemy.
But for the Huwei camp, although the standard cold weapon is the tiger gun, it is only limited to when the Huwei camp is in formation and fighting. When going out for inspections like today, you can still use the weapon according to your personal proficiency.
The tiger gun is actually a great weapon for horseback fighting. Unlike a spear, the tiger gun's barrel generally has extremely good elasticity.
In this way, when the enemy is stabbed while charging, the gun barrel will bend upward slightly to absorb part of the rebound force caused by the collision. Then the gun barrel will rebound instantly without breaking. At the same time, the force of the rebound can be used to knock the enemy down. The body bounced away, acting as a layer of buffering protection.
Otherwise, when the hard spear shaft hits the enemy in a charge, the huge impact may be on the knight's hand. If he is not careful, the hand will be useless.
This is the difference between Eastern weapons and Western weapons. It can avoid the one-time use of Western knights who have to abandon long weapons and replace them with long swords to continue fighting due to the huge impact.
Of course, the tiger gun is so good that it is not easy to make.
The barrels of the tiger guns are all made of broken bamboo strips. After being rolled into a small rod, they are then painted with oil continuously. The paint is dried layer by layer, dried and then painted again. The paint is dried until it is suitable. There is a clanging sound when the sword is cut, and it is cut out. The required length is made into a gun shaft.
Then the head of the gun is installed, and the copper ingot is installed on the tail of the gun. A rope is hung from the tail to one-third of the body. In this way, the gun body is balanced, and a tiger gun is made.
Precisely because of its complicated production, even in the Xuanbei Army, there were not many equipments. Looking at the entire Ming Army, generally only generals from general families had users.
Of course, those inferior tiger guns cannot be counted!
Although the white wax rod also has some advantages of the tiger spear, compared to the tiger spear, the white wax rod is indeed more rare.
Natural white wax rods are soft and not suitable for use as gun rods. Only those specially planted can be used, and they must be straight and free of scars and insect holes. They are so precious that only some high-ranking generals in the Ming army may own them. .
The Xuanbei Army Cavalry Camp and the Huwei Camp are now regarded as the armies that use tiger spears most extensively in the Ming Dynasty, and not one of them.
In fact, this tiger spear was first used by the Tatars outside the Pass. They gradually developed it while fighting wild beasts in the mountains and forests.
As the original Qing Dynasty on the historical line, the Tiger Spear Battalion, one of the Forbidden Forces established during the Kangxi period, only had a staff of 600 people. This shows how difficult it is to prepare Tiger Spears and how difficult it is to select brave and loyal men!
Tiger spears have developed to this day and have become a weapon for mounted combat. However, unlike the Tatars, the soldiers of the Xuanbei Army used these similar iron spears to hunt wild beasts.
However, the Xuanbei Army had weapons at hand for a long time, so they suddenly changed their weapons to tiger guns, which was somewhat inconvenient. Only then were they allowed to use other weapons when they were sent out together.
It is said that the head of this tiger gun is made of iron, with a sharp front and rear edge, a ridge in the middle, and multiple blood grooves inside. The gun magazine is decorated with cloud and dragon tassel patterns, and the handle is made of wood, a white wax rod, or a bamboo building block.
The head of the gun is wrapped in cloth and painted with steel wire, and two deer antlers are tied horizontally on both sides of the bottom of the gun magazine. The gun head is also attached with a leather sheath. Compared with the long gun, the tiger gun has a longer and thicker barrel.
The head of the tiger gun is also different from that of a long gun. Its blade is roughly in the shape of a guillah, with ridges in the middle. The iron pipe connecting the iron head and the gun shaft is also extremely long, which effectively protects the gun from being cut off by enemy swords. head.
The most peculiar thing is that there are sections of antlers on the left and right sides of the gun blade, and two long leather strips hanging from the bottom. In addition, a hanging rope is added to the tiger gun. When riding a charge, the hanging rope can be placed on the shoulder. to achieve better stability and balance of the gun body.
Moreover, the tip of the tiger gun is so sharp that it can pierce the enemy with one blow even if he is wearing double-layer armor!
There is also a blade on the head of the gun, with ridges in the middle. After piercing the enemy's body, the gun blade becomes like a knife. Even if the enemy is fierce and the armor is thick, it can still cut the muscles, bones and flesh.
There are two antler sticks on the left and right sides of the gun blade, which are tied with leather straps to prevent the gun from being inserted too deep into the gun when stabbing, making it difficult to pull it out, and causing the enemy to injure itself.
However, the use of the tiger gun also has a high technical content. Aiming and preemption during fast movements, separation after stabbing the target, the depth and angle of the stabbing, etc. are all full of knowledge, which cannot be fully utilized by ordinary people. The true power of the Tiger Spear.
Even in the Xuanbei Army, only the Tiger Guard Battalion and the Heavy Cavalry Division, the two elite cavalry units, are equipped, while ordinary cavalry are not allowed to be equipped.
…………
It seemed that the Tatar soldiers on the opposite side were not far away, probably less than 200 steps away.
At this time, the sky was getting brighter, and they could clearly see their appearance. Under each of their painted copper and iron helmets, there were pairs of fierce lights.
They also carry various weapons, such as tiger spears, pick knives, maces, heavy swords, iron whips, etc., and they also have huge bow pouches and quivers around their waists.
The yellow double-breasted foam-nailed cotton armor on everyone's body is covered with all kinds of oil and sweat stains, which are bright and clear. This is because long-term sweat stains and oil and water can effectively enhance the protective power of the cotton armor.
Therefore, many Tatar soldiers rarely clean their cotton armor once for many years. However, the wise soldiers of Bagala and Gebushu are different from this. They all have bright armor.
Looking at the Tatar soldiers with the yellow flag, they really deserve to be called the warriors of the Three Banners. Not to mention they are all tough and their equestrian skills are extremely good. It must be a fierce battle today.
Li Changsheng let out a loud sigh: "You bastard Tatar!"
He looked back at the brothers beside him. All of them were ready. They looked at the Qing soldiers rushing towards the opposite side. They all had evil smiles on their faces, full of murderous intent, and no one showed any nervousness or worry.
Even the young player Zhang Jintai, who was experiencing such a big scene for the first time, showed no fear, but looked eager to try.
It was only then that Li Changsheng discovered that he had slipped into the cavalry formation, but at this moment there was no time to persuade him to stop.
Looking at the blazing light flashing in Zhang Jintai's eyes and the excited look on his face, he also knew that he would not be able to persuade Zhang Jintai, so he had to say: "Little Jintai, this is not an ordinary Tatar. I will follow you closely." Don't stay away from us, lest we fail to take care of you."
"Hmph. What I want is a Tatar like this, so why not try our tiger hunting skills!"
Li Changsheng looked helpless, but he had no choice. He naturally knew that Zhang Jintai and Zhang Chengfang hunted white-fronted tigers in the snow last winter and took the entire tiger skin and presented it to Zhang Cheng.
But he still felt that he could not rest assured. He glanced at Wan Guangjin, the sentry officer of Lao Ye Bu Shu, and asked him to take good care of Zhang Jintai. When Wan Guangjin understood, he turned around and shouted loudly: "Brothers , let those arrogant Tatars on the opposite side see the power of our heroes from the Xuanbei Army!"
He yelled wildly: "Kill the slaves...kill the slaves!"
Li Changsheng exerted his strength with his legs, urged the horse under his crotch, and rushed out at the lead.
"Kill the slaves...Kill the slaves...Kill the slaves..."
A group of night warriors roared and rolled their horses' hooves. More than eighty people followed Li Changsheng and rode out.
Among them, Liu Shouzhu followed Li Changsheng on the right, while Wan Guangjin focused on guarding the young player Zhang Jintai on the left.
Even though Zhang Jintai and Zhang Chengfang were young, they all worked hard and practiced martial arts and riding without ever saying a word of hardship since they adopted Zhang Cheng as their adoptive father.
The officers and generals of the Xuanbei Army, especially the veterans who had followed King Zhang Chengqin, all saw it in their eyes and always loved them very much. Even if Li Changsheng did not give orders, Wan Guangjin would not let Zhang Jintai charge alone. .
Unlike everyone else who holds a blunderbuss in one hand and a cold weapon in the other, Liu Shouzhu still holds a hammer and shield. He is more accustomed to cold weapons.
Although he was a little cold-hearted about the use of short-handed firearms, he did not object to it. He had a short gun in his waist, and there were two guns in the gun bags on both sides of the horse. He had also checked the flint and gun just now. In the case of medicine, injection can be done at any time.
The smokers, blacksmiths and others who stayed behind the charge cavalry formed a circle around their horses and hid behind the horses and baggage circle.
The five of them all raised their sophisticated second-type Yunzhou guns, with their guns facing the outside, and were on alert. Even the lightly wounded people on the inner floor also took out their own hand guns and held them in their hands, also on alert.
At this moment, the Tatar soldiers rushing towards them with strange cries seemed to feel the difference in the Ming army opposite them, and their speed began to slow down.
There was a look of doubt in their eyes: Why didn't the Ming army on the opposite side escape?
In their eyes, if more than a hundred Mingqi were to confront them, none of them would not run away!
Not to mention more than a hundred Mingqi, even three hundred or four hundred, just turned around and ran away when they met each other, letting themselves be chased like rabbits from behind, and most of them were captured and killed in the end.
But now they couldn't help but wonder. The Ming Dynasty sentry cavalry they encountered today was not much different from their own in number. Instead of turning around and running away, they dared to confront them?
Among the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty in Songjin area, whether they were under the command of Cao Bianjiao, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Tingchen, or Liu Zhaoji, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, no one dared to fight when the numbers were equal.
Even the subordinates of Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Ningyuan regiment, who were known to be brave and were specially commended by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, had never acted so boldly.
Even sometimes the Ming army outnumbered them by two or three times, and they all fled upon hearing the news. But this Ming army in front of them...
Are they still the Ming army?
More than fifty Tatar cavalry gradually slowed down their horses and began chattering in Tatar dialect.
Suddenly, a Tatar Baya soldier said in Tatar: "It's the Xuanfu Army, the sentry cavalry of the Xuanfu Army in the South!"
Immediately, there seemed to be some commotion in the formation of these Qing soldiers. Indeed, they were really the sentry cavalry of the Xuanfu Army. Only the Xuanfu Army's night guard would not be afraid of their Qing sentries and dare to fight with them. war.
They have always been confused about the Xuanfu Army and the Xuanbei Army. They always thought that since Zhang Cheng was the deputy general of the Xuanfu, he would naturally belong to the subordinates of Yang Guozhu, the general of the Xuanfu, so they called them all the Xuanfu Army. .
And the reason why there was a slight hint of commotion when the Xuanfu Army Sentinel Cavalry was mentioned was that it only happened after the Songshan Battle.
In the Battle of Songshan, although both sides suffered heavy losses, the fiercest fighting was undoubtedly the West Shimen battlefield. The Ming army's general Xuanfu died on the battlefield, and the Qing army also lost two Gushan Ezhen.
It is precisely because of this that the Xuanfu Army, an armed force in the border towns of the Ming Dynasty, has officially become the focus of the Qing army.
Zhang Cheng's name also replaced Zu Dashou, Wu Sangui, Yang Guozhu and others, and entered the sight of Emperor Huang Taiji of the Qing Dynasty. Zhang Cheng also became one of the focuses of the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties!
