Gao Heng pointed at the generals and said: "According to the original arrangement, everyone still specializes in the art. Wu Rong was promoted to the artillery battalion commander, Wang Qi and Song Zhi served as the two fire gun battalion commanders respectively, and the cavalry battalion was handed over to Amu. In charge, the spear battalion is handed over to Zhang Chao. For the archers, I would like to recommend one person to you for the time being. This man was once the captain of the Jing family’s servants. After the Jing family was almost exterminated, this man protected Jing Zhao and others from escaping. He is highly skilled in martial arts, especially His shooting skills are outstanding."
Gao Heng paused and said: "Archers are only a transitional unit and will definitely be eliminated in the future. But we don't have so many conditions now, so we temporarily appoint an archer battalion general and make adjustments in the future. Jing Chong, Come in and see me."
A tall and thin man outside the door heard Gao Heng's order and walked into the lobby. Wu Rong and other generals could tell at a glance that this man was different from ordinary people. Although he was tall and thin, he had slender arms and muscular lines. It is obvious that his arm strength is extraordinary. This kind of arm is caused by frequent use of bows and arrows.
Jing Chong cupped his fists and said, "See you generals."
Gao Heng motioned for him to sit down, "This is General Jing Chong, and we will all be colleagues from now on. Jing Chong is a talent recommended to me by Jing Zhao. I have already seen his level. We don't have so many rules in the army. If you have the ability, Sir, I dare not say anything else, but his shooting skills are so good that no one here can be his opponent."
Jing Chong immediately stood up and clasped his fists and said, "General, you are overly praised. Your skills are trivial and not worth mentioning."
Gao Heng shook his head and said: "Jing Chong, don't belittle yourself. Our population has suddenly expanded, and it is imperative to expand our army. The most important thing we need to do now is to use talents in an eclectic way. The bow barracks will be handed over to us for the time being. You are in charge, on the one hand you are highly skilled and can convince the crowd, on the other hand you are the head servant of the Jing family and have experience in leading troops, so I thought you would be the most suitable."
Jing Chong immediately said: "Thank you for your trust, general. Colleagues, Jing Chong is not talented, so I ask for your help. In the future, I will prove my strength on the battlefield."
Gao Heng nodded and said: "Okay, the chief officers of each battalion are already there. You can choose the adjutants from the old brothers or the new recruits. I will not interfere with the specific employment matters in your battalion. In principle There is only one, those who are capable are on top, and those who are incompetent are on the bottom.”
"I have the order!" Everyone said in unison, cupping their fists.
"That's it for the first thing. The second thing is the territory. Our army has expanded and the population has expanded. You have all seen it. It is obvious that a small county like Tuoxian is definitely not enough. Half of our people It’s obviously not okay to still live outside the city,” Gao Heng said.
Wu Rong asked: "General, do you mean to seize other cities and expand our territory?"
Gao Heng smiled and said: "That's right, everyone comes to see it."
Gao Heng unfolded the map smoothly, pointed to several marked points on the map and said: "We are now in Tuo County. Our starting point was originally Yuan County. Yuan County was repeatedly fought over by the Ming Army and the Annan Army. It can be said that it has become Although Yuan County has been almost destroyed in the eyes of the Annan people, it is particularly important to us."
Cheng Zilong then said: "Everyone, everyone is familiar with the terrain of Yuan County, which is an advantage. Furthermore, Yuan County is the closest county to Zhennanguan. We have re-captured Yuan County, relying on the Ming Dynasty, and now we have money. , it is completely possible to launch trade, which is a matter of great benefit and no harm, so we should retake Yuan County, so that the people can find a place to stay."
Gao Heng said: "We learned from the prisoners of war that there were only a few hundred troops stationed in Yuan County. Lord Zheng originally wanted to kill us all, but he never expected that we would counterattack, so there were not many people in Yuan County. Now is the best time to capture it. Come down, Mrs. Zheng doesn’t even have the strength to fight back.”
Wu Rong immediately said: "General, leave this task to me. I will pull up the artillery and blast it."
Cheng Zilong shook his head and said with a smile: "General Wu, if you pull up the cannon and blast it, are you going to leave us with a pile of ruins?"
"This?" Wu Rong was speechless and sat down awkwardly. Everyone burst into laughter. Wang Qi even patted him on the shoulder and said: "Old Wu, you are too impatient. You can't kill a chicken with a bull's knife. I'm the only one." The camp destroyed them.”
Gao Heng said: "You should not take it lightly. After we rest, the three battalions of Wang Qi, Zhang Chao and Jing Chong will attack together, seize Yuan County and then hold on. At the same time, we will start to immigrate and move the people outside the city to Yuan County. "
Gao Heng drew a circle on the map and said: "Not only that, there is another place we must win, and that's here."
Everyone came up to take a look and wondered: "Going to Wenzhou?"
Gao Heng said: "Yes, it is Shangwenzhou. Look at the map. Shangwenzhou is located in the south and is more prominent. It is adjacent to Lang Son Prefecture. If we win Shangwenzhou, we will control Yuan County, Tuo County and Shangwenzhou. The land, these three places just form a triangle, and they are in contact with each other. If any city is in trouble, other places can provide support at any time, and the most important thing is that the triangle area in the middle of these three cities becomes ours. With private land, agriculture can be developed and it should be no problem to feed tens of thousands of our population.”
Everyone nodded. Judging from the map, this is the truth. If they can capture three cities, the area they control will basically form a stable structure. Not to mention that Lord Zheng now has no extra troops to cause trouble for them. Even if he comes again. , but also to consider whether you have that strength.
Cheng Zilong added: "In addition, it is of greater significance to capture Shangwenzhou. According to the prisoners' confession, Shangwenzhou has iron ore, which is what we urgently need. We now have coolies, an army, and the scale of craftsmen's shops. It has expanded several times. The number of craftsmen has expanded from nearly a hundred to nearly a thousand now. There are all kinds of craftsmen including blacksmiths, carpenters, and stonemasons. With iron ore, we can produce iron tools and weapons ourselves. You no longer have to live off seizures.”
Gao Heng said: "So we have to take it step by step. First, we must capture Xia Yuan County according to the general's order. Then the whole army will attack Shang Wen Prefecture and force the Annan people to hand over Shang Wen Prefecture. Our territory will be stable."
"General, what's the last thing?" Wang Qi asked curiously.
"The last thing is that outside of the army and territory, we cannot rest on our laurels. We also need to establish channels to communicate with the outside world and obtain the supplies we urgently need. For example, there are two major forces around us that can be used. One is Ruan Lord, to be honest with you, Lord Ruan had already sent someone to contact me long before we started the battle."
"Oh?" Everyone was a little surprised. Except for Cheng Zilong, Gao Heng had not disclosed this matter to other generals.
Gao Heng nodded, "What Lord Ruan means is that the enemy of our enemy is a friend and can give us a certain amount of support, so we can make use of Lord Ruan's side and finish the things ahead first, then attack southward and capture Xin'an." port, we can get a steady stream of support from the sea."
When everyone was about to speak, Gao Heng signaled to wait for him to finish, "Then there is Mo Chao in the north. We have not paid attention to them before. After all, it was a time of life and death. We did not have much energy to consider other things, but Now, our attention can be diverted. Mo Chao is backed by the Ming Dynasty. It is because of the protection of the Ming Dynasty that he was not wiped out by Master Zheng. In this case, we can also cooperate with them."
Song Zhi asked: "General, how should we cooperate?"
Gao Heng said: "It can be done in many ways. Let me give you an example. There are not many saltpeter and sulfur mines in Annan, but the Annan army has been equipped with firearms on a large scale for a hundred years. Where does its gunpowder come from? In fact, only a small part is produced domestically. , most of them rely on imports, some from Nanyang, and more are smuggled from the Ming Dynasty."
Song Zhi suddenly realized: "I understand, I understand. Annan can only rely on smuggling because the Ming court is on guard against them. But since Mo Chao has accepted the protection of the Ming court, he can definitely buy gunpowder directly from the Ming court. We can use Mo Chao's Channels, purchase their inventory of gunpowder, I believe Mo Chao has the same mentality as Lord Ruan, provide us with gunpowder, let us attract firepower and share their pressure."
Cheng Zilong smiled and said: "Haha, General Song is really capable. You can take over the position of military advisor."
Song Zhi scratched his head and said, "The military advisor made fun of me. I just followed the general's words. How could I have thought of so much without the general's prompting."
Gao Heng said: "Now, you all understand the three major things we are going to do next. Don't worry, do it one by one. The first is to prepare for war."
On the fifth day of November, half a month after the Battle of Laohu Valley, all the expanded 6,000 soldiers and horses were ready. Early in the morning, the army, led by the generals of each battalion, came out of the city and lined up in the open space outside the county town. Not far outside Tuo County City is the Red River. The breeze blowing on the river made the battle flags of the Xinghua Army flutter.
The soldiers in the open space were all wearing armor captured from the Annan army. The cavalry and pikemen were equipped with iron armor. The remaining soldiers were equipped with leather armor made by the craftsman shop. To put it bluntly, because the amount of iron armor was not enough, the craftsmen simply put the armor on. The leaves were disassembled, and a layer of armor leaves was covered on the surface of the seized leather armor. Because the iron armor is made of overlapping armor leaves, one pair of iron armor can be disassembled into several sets of leather armor leaves. Of course, the protective power is definitely not very good. , but much better than simple leather armor.
The soldiers held the issued weapons in their hands and stood in thirty rows in company units. The team was a little crooked and slightly messy. After all, more than half of them were recruits and had not received any training. They could stand like this. Very good. At the front of the team stood the commanders of each company.
Gao Heng stood on the makeshift commanding platform with his helmet and armor on, wearing a black cloak captured from Zheng Fu, a wild goose feather sword on his waist, and Zheng Zuo's spring-wheel gun on his right side. Fan Yu stood behind him, holding a large flag in his hand. The background color of the flag was red, with the three characters Xinghua Army written on it in white.
"Soldiers!" Gao Heng said loudly.
With a snap, everyone stood up straight, waiting for Gao Heng to lecture.
"Today is a special day. Since the Battle of Laohu Valley, the Annan people have suffered heavy losses. You, along with tens of thousands of people, have also been rescued. I can say that in a short period of time, the Annan people will no longer be able to invade. However, peace is short-lived after all. We come from all over the world and gather here. We have been regarded as a thorn in the side of the Annan rulers. Therefore, you, more than 6,000 strong men, must unite and unite in this Under this great banner, we become an iron-clad army."
As soon as Gao Heng finished speaking, Fan Yu waved the big flag in his hand. The flag fluttered in the wind, and the characters "Xinghua Army" were displayed in front of everyone.
Gao Heng raised his voice and said: "I don't want to be granted the title of Marquis, but I hope the sea will be peaceful. I, Gao Heng, have the honor to lead tens of thousands of people to create a world of our own here. I only hope that everyone can live peacefully and enjoy this place." Create a paradise where no one picks up leftovers on the road or closes the door at night, and you no longer have to live in fear."
"But!" Gao Heng changed the subject. "These good days don't fall from the sky. We have to fight for them with the swords and guns in our hands. No one will pity us. The only one we can believe in is ourselves. The Ming Dynasty collapsed. Many of you fled from the mainland. Come, we are facing the Annan people now, but in the future, will there be bandits coming, will there be rebels coming, will there be some unknown forces coming to cause trouble for us, no one knows It’s hard to say, but if it comes, what do you think we should do?”
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" the soldiers roared, waving their weapons.
Gao Heng paused, "Very good! Since you are following me, Gao Heng, our goals are the same. I will try my best to lead everyone to live a good life. You must also try your best to protect your family and your hard-won things." Life. Soldiers, have you seen the big flag behind me? This red flag tells us that we must protect our relatives and our land with blood. Today here, I, Liu Qianerlang, have officially formed an army. You come from all over the world and from all nationalities, but you are all part of China. Our military name is Xinghua Army! Soldiers, follow me, Gao Heng, to fight the enemy bravely and protect our homeland! Wherever the Xinghua Army goes, the enemy will Even if we are trampled to pieces, we will surely win!"
"We must win! We must win! We must win!" Six thousand people roared together, the mountains and rivers changed color, and the soldiers raised their arms and shouted, with blood boiling in their chests.
Cheng Zilong on the tower watched all this silently. He was even more convinced that he had not misjudged the person at first. Gao Heng was the overlord. In this troubled world, a strong leader is very important. Even if a lion leads a group of Sheep can also defeat a pride of lions led by a sheep.
After the Xinghua Army was formally established, it immediately put into intense training and prepared to attack Yuan County.
