The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The three-by-three system is an infantry tactic mainly used in squad-level combat.

The core idea of ​​this tactic is to divide an infantry squad into three combat groups, each consisting of three soldiers.

These three groups are arranged in a triangle shape to form a basic battle formation.

During an attack, two soldiers from each group were usually positioned forward to conduct direct attacks, while another soldier was positioned in the rear to provide cover and fire support.

The main advantage of this tactic is that it can disperse enemy firepower and reduce the danger faced by individual soldiers in areas with dense firepower. It can also improve the mobility and attack power of the troops.

The three-three system tactics first originated during the Anti-Japanese War and were widely used and developed in the War of Liberation and the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.

Of course, there is still a big difference between the offensive line displayed by the Jizhen Army Infantry Camp and the three-by-three tactics illustrated in later generations. However, because the combat groups are arranged in two rows, and the rear row is just behind the two front combat groups, so From a distance, it looked like many 3-3 teams were attacking the mountain.

Although it was a drill, after seeing this, Wei Guangde already had a general understanding of the combat power of the Ming army in Jizhen.

"Yuan Jing, how much training have the Jizhen Army and Horses completed?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"Lao Hui Ge, we have completed the training of three infantry camps, three horse camps and two vehicle camps. The newly mobilized troops are ready to form three supply camps, with a total of more than 30,000 people."

Qi Jiguang replied immediately.

"I remember that you said in your report that you wanted to form an army of 100,000."

Wei Guangde turned to look at Qi Jiguang and smiled jokingly.

"The general did have this intention in the beginning, but based on Jizhen's taxes and the court's allocation, more than 30,000 people are already the limit that can be supported."

Qi Jiguang replied somewhat dejectedly.

"Thirty thousand people is quite a lot. If the training is completed, will there be any chance of winning against a hundred thousand Mongolian cavalry?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"Can."

Qi Jiguang was very confident in the combat effectiveness of his subordinates. He really didn't think that the current Jizhen Army could not defeat the Mongolian cavalry.

If the Jizhen Army had only relied on barracks to resist the Mongolian invasion before, but after defeating the Duoyan cavalry head-on, Qi Jiguang became more confident. He believed that the soldiers he had trained were enough to sweep across the desert.

Of course, this is assuming the logistics can keep up.

The army he is training now has huge requirements not only for food and salary, but also for gunpowder and cannons.

To be honest, if it weren't for Tan Lun's favoritism and support, it would be difficult for his Jizhen army to achieve its current results. This is because the training is too expensive.

The ordinary Ming army just used spears or shields and swords. They waved them in formation for a while, then changed a few so-called battle formations, and the training was over.

But every time Ji Zhen's soldiers and horses are trained, money will be consumed.

Not only the gunpowder allocated by the court was directly consumed, but also the lead and cannon balls, which all required silver to make. Once they were shot, it was difficult to get them back.

That is to say, for things like bows and arrows, you can pick up the waste and reuse it, but you won't save much money.

But at this time, of course he would not mention the large amount of gunpowder and other materials consumed by Jizhen Army's training, as that would make himself uncomfortable.

Moreover, Qi Jiguang also played a trick here. He thought that Wei Guangde should understand the horror of Jizhen Army's consumption, otherwise he would not agree with him on the issue of setting up the supply camp.

But he didn't know that Wei Guangde was actually thinking about what the Western army was like in this era, and whether the Jizhen Army could defeat them if they were pulled out.

According to the news that Yu Dayou sent back from the south of the Yangtze River, he had seen the Yi people's centipede ship in Haojing and a kind of naval gun equipped on the ship. They called it a cannon. It was a kind of artillery that was very lethal to ships. It was very powerful. Far more than the large Fran cannons and bowl-mouth blunderbuss currently widely used on Ming army warships.

According to Yu Dayou's description, this is a kind of artillery with a long barrel, thick wall, large caliber, and an overall shape that gradually becomes thicker from the muzzle to the stern. It is placed on the middle and lower plywood of Western ships.

The kind of Western warships that Yu Dayou saw could be horrifyingly packed with forty or fifty such artillery pieces, and the number of cannons on one side could reach twenty or thirty. This was a powerful firepower that the current warships of the Ming Army did not possess. .

Moreover, the naval warships with Ming Dynasty's current Fu Chuan as the main force cannot follow the Yi people's approach and arrange such artillery on the sides. They can only install such artillery on the bow and stern.

Because the construction characteristics of Ming Dynasty ships were different from those of Western ships, if they were to imitate the layout of Westerners, it would probably cause the ships to disintegrate or even roll over.

For this reason, Yu Dayou hoped that the imperial court could allocate money to allow the Ming Dynasty's shipyard to trial-produce such warships.

Prior to this, the Ming Dynasty had experienced two wars with the Western barbarians, namely the Battle of Tuenmen in the 16th year of Zhengde and the Battle of Xicaowan in the second year of Jiajing.

The opponents of the two naval battles were Portugal, which was in decline. The results of both naval battles were that the Ming Dynasty won.

However, Wei Guangde also knew that the ocean at this time should belong to Spain, and the current empire on which the sun never sets should also belong to Spain.

Warships were no match for others, and Wei Guangde would certainly not let the Ming navy go out to die. Although it seemed from the previous naval battles, the Ming Dynasty still had a certain advantage over Western warships.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but shake his head.

The navy is no match for others, so why would that person be sent overseas to grab territory?

Sink your warship directly on the sea, just to deliver food.

He thought so, but Qi Jiguang didn't know it. Seeing Wei Guangde suddenly shake his head, he suddenly became nervous, thinking that Wei Guangde was dissatisfied with the Jizhen Army's drill and didn't believe that his 30,000 Jizhen Army could defeat 100,000 Mongolians. The words of the cavalry.

He glanced at Tan Lun next to him and looked over for help.

But at this time, Tan Lun had no intention of interrupting. He was still observing the unique formation line of Ji Zhenjun when they went up the mountain from a distance.

The infantry camp was already pressing forward, and the horse camp was not without action. It was also surrounding the hilltop from both sides.

The meaning is self-explanatory, it is an action to surround and annihilate the enemy on the mountain.

After the cavalry arrived one on the left and one on the right, the cavalry quickly dismounted and rushed to the front to form a battle formation similar to an infantry camp. There were only lonely figures left among the horses, which were led by the soldiers responsible for holding the horse ropes. The war horses are at the rear of the battle formation.

Tan Lun couldn't help, so Qi Jiguang had to do it himself.

He urged his horse to approach Wei Guangde, and then said: "Mr. Wei Ge, although our Ji Zhen army only has 30,000 people, it will only be so large after the formation is completed. However, although the number of 100,000 Mongolian cavalry is large, it is not Maybe release them all at once.

If 100,000 cavalry charge together, they may trample thousands of people to death.

Every time a team of ten thousand people launches an attack, with the firepower of our Ji Zhen army, we can indeed defeat them easily.

Even if 40,000 troops are deployed to besiege, the infantry camp is placed at the four corners, and the chariot camp and horse camp are arranged in the middle, it can still be withstood. "

Qi Jiguang then introduced to Wei Guangde the military formation he designed. All imaginary enemies were mainly Mongolian cavalry.

It's no wonder that the Ming Dynasty, from the court to the common people, regarded the Mongols as their strongest opponents. After all, they once dominated the Central Plains.

As for other surrounding countries, they don’t seem to care.

Wei Guangde was observing the Ming army's formation, when he heard Qi Jiguang's words and looked back at him.

Although I don't know what he was thinking, I also know that it must be a misunderstanding, thinking that he looks down on Ji Zhenjun's drills.

"Ji Zhenjun is well trained."

Wei Guangde said, "I don't mean not to believe what you said, so don't think too much about it."

After finishing speaking, Wei Guangde pointed to the Jizhen Army in front and said: "If you go to Liaodong to garrison in the future, I hope Liaodong can also train such a troop."

There are no outsiders here, so Wei Guangde naturally won't be secretive, so he tells the truth.

"That elder shook his head earlier."

Qi Jiguang felt happy, but subconsciously expressed his worries.

"Haha, that's because I was thinking about other things and it has nothing to do with you."

When Wei Guangde heard what Qi Jiguang said, he just chuckled.

"If Mr. Ge has something unspeakable, you can tell him, and the general may be able to do it well."

He knew he had made a mistake, but Qi Jiguang knew how to flatter him even more.

Shaking his head, he must be thinking of something bad or something difficult to deal with. Isn't this an opportunity to please Wei Guangde and bring the two of them closer?

"hehe."

Wei Guangde smiled at first, but then he thought it would be harmless to say it, so he said, "When you were suppressing Japanese invaders in the south of the Yangtze River, you should have seen the Yi people, the Folangji people, or Hongmaofan."

Wei Guangde knew that the Francois, as they were called in the Ming Dynasty, were actually Portuguese. He thought that because their physical characteristics were deep eyes, long noses, red hair, and tall stature, they were called red-haired people.

"Mr. Ge, Hong Mao Fan generally refers to Yi people with blue eyes or green pupils, while those with cat eyes are Fo Lang Ji people."

Qi Jiguang had fought against Japanese invaders in Fujian and Guangdong, but he had met people from the West, and he was more familiar with them than Wei Guangde.

"Oh, and there are classifications? The letter from Dayou only mentioned Folangji and Hongmaofan. I thought they were all the same type of people, but they were called by different names."

Wei Guangde laughed at himself.

"They look almost the same, but their eyes are different."

Qi Jiguang laughed and said, "I wonder if Admiral Yu met the barbarians in Jiangnan and started a war?"

"no."

Wei Guangde shook his head and said: "When you see the Yi people, you should also be able to imagine that there is still vast land overseas.

The Yi people came from places thousands of miles away in the west, connected by continents, and most of these lands were already occupied by the Yi people.

According to Dayou's letter, these Yi soldiers are well-trained and very powerful, so I was thinking that if your Jizhen army faced them, I don't know who would be stronger and who would be weaker. "

"Mr. Ge, according to what I have seen and heard, the Yi people are better at strange and obscene techniques. Their firearms are very ingenious and sharp. They also pay attention to battle formation training and coordination between formations.

But Mr. Ge also said that they come from thousands of miles away, and how many of them can reach my Ming Dynasty.

If we really want to fight with them, my Ming Dynasty will definitely win. "

Qi Jiguang's words are a bit flattering, but they are also a manifestation of political correctness.

"Unfortunately, the territories they occupy are all overseas, and it is difficult to reach them without sea ships."

Wei Guangde's casual words indeed allowed Qi Jiguang to capture some of Wei Guangde's thoughts.

"Is Mr. Ge planning to go to sea and capture the places that the barbarians captured?"

Qi Jiguang accidentally said what he was thinking directly, and Tan Lun next to him was also attracted when he heard their conversation.

"Shandai, you don't really have this idea, do you?"

Faced with Tan Lun's inquiry, Wei Guangde smiled bitterly and said: "Whether or not this idea exists, it is actually very difficult to realize it, at least it is impossible now."

"Why?"

Tan Lunqi said.

"Our sea-going ships can't do it."

Wei Guangde directly answered Tan Lun's question.

For Qi Jiguang, he naturally answered when he wanted to, and just ignored him if he didn't want to.

But he really couldn't turn a blind eye to Tan Lun.

Therefore, Wei Guangde expressed his thoughts after seeing the Yi warships in the letter he received from Yu Dayou a few days ago.

"Originally, I was waiting for Brother Shinan to come back from Southern Zhili to discuss this matter with him and see if we could ask the Ministry of Industry to raise some money and try to build a Western warship."

Finally, Wei Guangde expressed his thoughts, "If we send troops overseas, we can't do it without a strong naval fleet. We also need to build ships and artillery, which is quite time-consuming."

"Can Mr. Zhang Ge agree?"

Qi Jiguang was thinking about Wei Guangde's plan and calculating the benefits and losses if he joined, but Tan Lun asked directly.

"Li Chengliang was excited to gain eight hundred miles of Xinjiang, and he wouldn't object if he thought about it.

It's just that these lands are overseas, and I'm not sure about his attitude.

But Brother Zili should know about the Xuanwei Department of Jiugang. "

Wei Guangde could actually guess that if he directly told Zhang Juzheng that we would go overseas to grab land, Zhang Juzheng would most likely not agree.

However, if Zhang Juzheng was told that we would go to sea to restore the Xuanwei Department in Old Port, Zhang Juzheng might be more interested, so he would just nod his head.

But Wei Guangde didn't know that in a huge wooden house made of wood in Old Port, where the Xuanwei Department was stationed in Old Port, which he was still thinking about, a group of people were also arguing about their future.

"The king has been dead for more than four years. I think we should go back."

"Go back? Won't the court kill our heads?"

"I also want to go back, but I dare not."

"When the king brought us here, he chose this place to stay because this was once the land of the imperial court. That's what it was."

"Old Port Xuanwei Department."

"Yes, it's the Xuanwei Department of Jiugang. We helped the imperial court regain its territory. No matter what, we should be forgiven for our sins.

Looking at the big barbarian ships on the sea these days, I feel a little guilty, fearing that they might actually attack me. "

"Didn't the king say that? Tell them that we are officials of the Ming Dynasty, and this is the Xuanwei Department of Jiugang."

Several people in the big room were talking about it.

These people are naturally the leaders of the Feilong Army who followed Zhang Lian and fled to the sea. It has been ten years since they went to sea, and they are thinking about returning home.

Some people wanted to go back, but more people were worried that they would be punished by the court if they went back, so they couldn't argue about whether to go or stay.

At this time, Zhang Lian had died in Old Port four years ago, and no one wanted to sit in that position. Naturally, it was left to several military leaders to discuss and handle "state affairs."

They are still worried that if the imperial court knows of their existence, they will send troops to attack, and whoever sits in that position will be killed. (End of chapter)