In the northern suburbs of Zhongxiang, at the frontline headquarters of the general of the Baoxiang Army, Xu Zhixian looked at Luo Zhixue in front of him as he spoke.
"After the 5th Garrison Brigade and the 4th Infantry Regiment have all moved south, the defense of Nanzhang and Yicheng has been fully transferred to the Third Division in accordance with your instructions, General. However, although the Third Division has already set up There are six battalions, but most of them are recruits who have not yet completed their recruit training!"
"Of the six battalions that have been set up, three are stationed in Xiangyang, one is stationed in Nanzhang, one is stationed in Yicheng, and one is stationed in Zaoyang!"
"In addition, the seed troops of the 3rd Artillery Regiment, 3rd Cavalry Regiment and 3rd Baggage Regiment that are being trained are also currently stationed in Xiangyang."
"Although the various units of the Third Division are still relatively weak, the areas around Xiangyang are the hinterland of our rural defense army. As long as there are no problems on the west, north, and south lines, there will not be big problems. As for some local The third division can handle the turmoil!”
Luo Zhixue also said: "I have already instructed the tax department to have the tax patrol team actively cooperate with the military and assist the military in suppressing the local area!"
"When we were in Tang County, the tax patrol team did a good job and directly cooperated with the local garrison to suppress the local armed tax resistance."
When Xu Zhixian heard Luo Zhixue talking about the tax patrol team, Xu Zhixian couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
He really didn't expect that their regular army, which is a dignified rural protection army, would actually need a group of tax collectors to help suppress the local area...
No matter how you look at it, this is ridiculous.
And there is probably no other dynasty in the past that has such a weird dynasty as their hometown-protecting army.
Not only is the tax collection agency directly classified as a ministry, its political status is equal to or even superior to that of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but the tax department of their rural protection army actually has an 'army' under them, and its combat effectiveness is better than that of the defense department. The army is even stronger...
That's the Tax Patrol.
In order to levy various grains and taxes to meet the financial needs of the rural protection army, the tax department has been following the path of anger and resentment from the beginning. Every day, they are either confiscating homes and exterminating clans, or they are on the way to confiscate homes and exterminate clans.
In order to collect taxes better, they also wanted to arrest tax resisters. In addition to civilian tax officials, the tax department also has a group of tax patrol police with law enforcement powers.
These tax patrol police are also divided into two parts. Some tax patrol police are just ordinary law enforcement officers, investigating various tax evasion cases, and they usually go out with a sword to enforce the law.
In addition, there are some tax patrols who are armed tax patrols. These people wear armor and use military-style cold weapons such as spears and bows. There are even some squatting tiger cannons, assault cannons and other weapons captured from the Ming army. firearm.
As for the equipment, it is no worse than the garrison.
At first glance, it seems that it has nothing to do with the word patrol. It is a regular army. But, they are really tax patrols - ordinary tax law enforcement officers.
There is no essential difference from the local patrol police.
Patrol policemen are public security law enforcement officers under the Baoxiang Army system. They were also the former policemen. However, the policemen in the Ming Dynasty were of low status, and the Baoxiang Army did not have such a saying. In addition, the civil servants executed by the Baoxiang Army Under the unified grade system, no matter whether you are the lowest clerk or a police officer, you all have a grade, even if you are only a ninth grade.
In order to prevent people from thinking that the patrol police are a lowly class, Luo Zhixue simply changed the title of the policeman to the patrol police. The patrol stations and patrol bureaus in various places were also changed to patrol police stations and patrol bureaus.
The patrol police and the tax patrol police together constitute the only two types of law enforcement personnel currently in the Baoxiang Army.
This shows the special nature of the tax patrol.
As for the armed tax patrols, they have to cooperate with the civilian tax police in law enforcement. If there is a big event, such as armed tax resistance, then they will crack down on the armed tax resistance.
Under the rule of the Baoxiang Army, many powerful gentry, especially in the newly occupied areas, would not obediently pay taxes, and it was impossible for the tax department to call the military over every time it took action against the powerful gentry.
After all, the rural protection army has a small number of troops and more and more territories. Each department is very busy with their tasks. There is no time to clean up the local tax-resisting tyrants one by one.
In desperation, the tax department simply established its own armed forces to combat armed tax resistance.
After obtaining Luo Zhixue's approval, the tax department spent its own money to directly arm some tax inspections for tax law enforcement.
In addition to their own duties, due to the limited strength of the regular troops of the Baoxiang Army, the manpower of patrol bureaus in various places has become even tighter. At the same time, in each control area of the Baoxiang Army, there are also numerous refugees and civil unrest.
Therefore, the armed tax policemen of the Department of Taxation have an additional duty, which is to assist local patrol police in handling major and important cases.
When necessary, they also assist the garrison to suppress local unrest. Well, they say they are auxiliary, but in fact, the tax police are the main ones and the garrison is the auxiliary...
This is not to say that the weapons and equipment of the armed tax police are better than that of the garrison, and the quality of their personnel is higher than that of the garrison.
Their weapons are actually mainly cold weapons, supplemented by captured artillery, which is similar to the weapons and equipment of the garrison.
Anyway, the Baoxiang Army captured a large amount of Ming Army standard equipment. If they were not so particular about quality, they could easily arm an army with Ming Army standard weapons.
However, although the armed tax police have mediocre equipment and mediocre combat skills, their morale is high.
Every time they went to attack the powerful gentry, the members of these armed tax policemen would rush forward, screaming and rushing up. As for why?
This is definitely not because of how loyal they are to Luo Zhixue, nor is it for the tax cause.
The reason why their morale is high is that they rush to kill first.
It's just that they can make a fortune themselves after breaking through the manor.
It's too late, but there's no benefit, nothing can be gained...
This has defeated Zhuangzi. Although most of the things need to be confiscated and returned to the public, it is not too much to secretly hide some gold and silver in the process...
Even if the senior tax police officers leading the team see this happening, they often turn a blind eye...
If you want a horse to run and run with all its might, you have to give it a favor.
After all, tax patrol policemen don't have the same three meals a day and adequate pay as military soldiers. It's not easy for them to support their families with that little salary. It's only human nature to get some benefits when they raid homes.
"The Point Guard Is Here"
If these benefits are not given, few people will come to work in the tax department... After all, even within the Baoxiang Army, the reputation of the tax police is terrible...
It would be a shame for an organization that ransacked homes and exterminated families every day, smashed, smashed, and robbed ordinary people's homes in order to collect taxes, and would arrest people and send them to labor camps at every turn.
Because there are no normal people willing to work in the local tax bureaus, so when the local tax bureaus recruit people, they will accept all comers. It doesn’t matter if you were a gangster or a refugee before. As long as you dare to fight and kill and want to gain wealth, then you can Can come.
In particular, young gangsters from various places are the first batch of key recruitment targets after the establishment of local tax bureaus.
Because they know the rich people in the local area, how much land they have, and whether they have hidden fields or anything like that.
With the information provided by these local gangsters, the tax officials who had just come to take office and knew nothing about the local situation did not have to worry too much. They could directly start collecting taxes or arresting people according to the list...
The joining of these people has further damaged the reputation of the tax agency in the Baoxiang Army. It's just that the tax department doesn't care, and Luo Zhixue doesn't care even less.
The composition of the armed tax patrol force is extremely complex. If you let them fight with the regular Ming army, it will definitely be unreliable. They will probably all escape before the fight begins.
But if you let them cooperate with the military to suppress local areas, it will be very useful.
To put it bluntly, they are a group of guys who bully others, are greedy for money and lust, and have no sense of right and wrong.
Commonly known as scum...
But the Baoxiang Army relied on these scum to collect a large amount of tax revenue, confiscated millions of money and grain, and then raised an army of tens of thousands.
It is precisely because of this that even though he is dissatisfied with the tax department's actions in his heart, he will and must praise the efficiency of the tax department in any public or private situation.
Let me tell you from the bottom of my heart: Without those scumbags in the Taxation Department, tens of thousands of their soldiers would have to drink the northwest wind!
Furthermore, those scumbags are a bit scumbag, but they are quite good at dealing with local uprisings and the like, even more reliable than the military's own garrison.
So although he felt weird in his heart, Xu Zhixian still had to say: "This way, the surrounding areas of Xiangyang can sit back and relax."
"Now that the rear is stable, all the scheduled reinforcements have arrived, and the mortar artillery unit has also been trained. Is Zhong Xiang ready to fight?"
Luo Zhixue said: "It's time to fight, we can't keep delaying it."
"And even if it drags on any longer, it is estimated that no reinforcements will arrive, and the siege and reinforcements will not be successful. It is better to capture Zhongxiang early and then continue to Hanyang!"
Earlier, Luo Zhixue and the others were counting on being able to siege the city for reinforcements, and see if they could take advantage of the opportunity of siege Zhongxiang to destroy some enemy troops coming from Hanyang and other places.
But after waiting for half a month, I didn’t see it.
This is either because the Ming army no longer has any fresh troops in Chubei, or it is too frightened to come.
No matter which one it is, there is no Ming army coming anyway, so there is no point in besieging the city for reinforcements.
"Let's start the fight tomorrow. It won't be a problem if it keeps dragging on like this. We'll call everyone for a meeting later to take a look at the situation and arrange the tasks for tomorrow."
After Luo Zhixue finalized the matter, at noon that day, the generals of the Baoxiang Army under Zhongxiang City gathered at the temporary headquarters for a meeting.
During the meeting, Xu Zhixian, as the head of the staff department, once again introduced the offensive and defensive situation of Zhongxiang City in detail, and also made it clear that the attack would be launched tomorrow, and discussed the tasks of each unit.
In fact, there was already a plan for how to attack Zhong Xiang. Today's meeting was to discuss tactics, but it was better to say it was a pre-war mobilization meeting to convey the final combat order.
After all the plans were finalized, early the next morning, the rumble of cannons rang out on time inside and outside Zhongxiang City.
The artillery unit of the Baoxiang Army, especially the mortar artillery unit, began to carry out a long-term covering artillery bombardment on the head of Zhongxiang City!
Amidst the rumble of cannons, Zhong Xiang's offensive battle officially kicked off.
At first, the defenders in Zhongxiang City thought that this time the rebel artillery bombardment was just like the bombardment half a month ago. It seemed very powerful and could only be heard. The rebel artillery shells could not threaten the city wall and could only hit the wall. Entering the city, they destroyed some residential buildings and killed and injured some people living close to the city wall.
But it didn't take long for the defenders in the city to discover that the rebel shelling was different this time!
