Chapter 62 62 Strengthen Firepower
The Ming Dynasty during the Jiajing period was really an eventful period.
From the Guangxi Lipu uprising in the first year of Jiajing, to the civil war of the Qingzhou miners' uprising, to the Mongolian little prince's repeated violations of the border wall, and the pay mutiny caused by the Ming army's own internal strife, there are also There was the invasion of Japanese pirates, and it seemed that the entire empire was in a precarious situation, besieged on all sides.
Especially in the 29th year of Jiajing, the Mongolian Tatar Anda Khan invaded the capital and completely exposed the weakness of the empire's military power.
Moving forward more than a hundred years ago, during the Yongle period, the Mongol Tatars saw that the Ming army had not run as far as they could, so how could they have the slightest idea of attacking Beijing.
In those foreign wars, whether it was the Mongols or the Japanese pirates, the number of troops actually invested was not very large. In that case, Anda Khan brought more than 10,000 troops.
The Mongolian Tatars raided at least a few hundred or as many as two or three thousand each time, and that was the end. They could capture a few border towns and loot them and then return with a full load, while the scale of the Japanese pirates was even smaller, with a few Hundreds of people landed on the coast and robbed one or two coastal villages. They would sail out to sea before the local guards and government officials arrived, and they rarely fought with the government troops.
They all come here for wealth, whether they want to fight or not, whether they are officers, soldiers or Japanese pirates, everyone’s thoughts are actually the same.
Just now, Wei Guangde actually heard from his father that tens of thousands of Japanese pirates gathered along the coast. What are they doing?
The first war of aggression against China?
This was Wei Guangde's first reaction, but he soon thought that the Japanese pirates in this era were actually a nickname, a name for pirates. In fact, the absolute main force among the Japanese pirates was not Japanese, but Han people, so the term "Japanese pirates" was used. "Red scarf and red eyebrows" has a similar meaning when used as a metaphor for an intruder.
"If the coastal guard post could fight, would it report military information to Nanjing urgently? This is a great military achievement."
Wei Meng smiled bitterly and looked at Wu Zhankui.
Tens of thousands of Japanese pirates gathered together. If they were defeated, it would definitely be a great achievement, but for the current Ming army, who dares to claim this credit.
"Who is the leader of the Japanese pirates? Does the higher ups know?"
Wei Guangde also knew that although he had never seen the situation in other health centers, he still knew a lot about the situation in Jiujiang Wei from his father and uncle. The health center was in decay and could no longer be used.
“I don’t know.”
Dad Wei didn’t answer. This time it was Wu Zhankui who said it.
"It stands to reason that if the Japanese pirates can join forces, there must be someone in the middle to contact them. Anyway, the news does not say who is behind the scenes."
What Wei Guangde can think of, others can naturally think of. .
The Japanese pirates changed their previous way of robberies in small groups and began to try to join forces vertically and horizontally. Naturally, their intentions were very big. The Nanjing Military Department, the Fifth Army Governor's Office and the Coastal Guard Station had all taken precautions. However, they failed, and the guard station had no fight. No matter how much you think about it, it is useless.
Since the guard post is not easy to use, then gather more troops and crush them with numbers. This is the method that the Nanjing Ministry of War can think of.
You assemble a large team of people, and I will also assemble a team. There are more people than you. Let’s see if you dare to make trouble.
It is quite laborious for the imperial court to maintain an army of tens of thousands, let alone your small Japanese pirate group. It is just a waste.
"The news from this visit is that there are only ten hundred households in the guard station. What Nanjing wants are elite soldiers, otherwise they will not pay for it, so the other hundreds of households will not gather, so they will transfer those Two people from the Hundred Household Office went over.”
Wu Zhankui continued: "The Ministry of War needs people to make up the numbers and elite soldiers. Fortunately, we have been training on hand. I guess we have passed this hurdle, but other guards may not be able to."
"What do you say? "
Wei Guangde asked curiously, as if there were some things he didn't know yet.
“This time all the garrison posts in South Zhili must be mobilized, and each garrison must gather ten elite soldiers from hundreds of households. The adults in the Ministry of War must have been disgusted by the incident the year before last. Child soldiers, and old soldiers with canes, haha
< br>Zhenjiang Guard, Yangzhou Guard, Xuanzhou Guard, Anqing Guard and our Jiujiang Guard. In addition to all the guards in Zhejiang, the guards in the south of the Yangtze River and the Yangtze River are also mobilized. The guards in the north of the Yangtze River are also mobilized. , ready to support.
It seems that except for a few guard posts near Zhongdu, all South Zhili must be prepared. That is only 20,000 people, so the formation is large enough. "
As he said that, Wu Zhankui had a look of disdain on his face. Due to their different positions, he naturally knew more about the situation than Wei Meng, and Wei Guangde was certainly not as good as him.
Those health centers are not as good as Jiujiang Guards.
The Jiujiang Guards had more than half the number of people. What about the other health centers?
It is estimated that this time there will be ten hundred-household stations in each guard station, and this is also the reason.
"Uncle, I think you should bring all the bowl-mouth blunderbuss. That thing is for water warfare, and land warfare is scary. It is indeed not very powerful.
If Are you really going to the north? I don’t want to bring it anymore. If I encounter Japanese pirates, it is still very effective to use it to smash the Japanese pirates’ ships.”
Wei Guangde only learned about Wankou this year when he was training at Bengshan Fort. How to use gun.
When he first saw this thing, Wei Guangde thought it was for releasing loose ammunition. He helped his elder brother to move it out and try it out. Only then did he realize that this thing was actually used on warships. It used live ammunition to bombard the waterline of enemy ships. .
When it comes to shooting loose bullets, the muzzle of the gun is just a small trumpet, which is not accurate at all. It flies around as soon as it comes out of the barrel, and the range is also short.
I don’t know who designed this piece of junk, but it’s actually made of copper.
In naval battles, it can only be used to bombard the opponent's deck during gang battles. At that time, shotguns did not require accurate aim, and the distance was also close.
"It is troublesome to transport. Besides, there is not enough gunpowder, so we can only stick to the bird's gun hand."
Wu Zhankui still shook his head.
In fact, the guards allocate a small amount of gunpowder regularly, but naturally the guards below will not use it for military training. They secretly sell it for money and turn it into firecrackers set off during festivals.
The sales of firecrackers were less this year because the two hundred households needed gunpowder practice. This also caused the price of firecrackers in Pengze County to increase by three points during the New Year this year.
"Bring it with you. Guangde said there are roads. If we go north, we won't bring it with us. Maybe we can still get the mother-and-son gun. But in fighting Japanese pirates, bringing it with us is better than nothing. When the time comes, we will go there. Put them on the grain cart, and put two in one grain cart. "
Although the bowl-mouth blunderbuss is not very powerful, it is often pulled out to fight in the Bengshan Fort, in order to cooperate with the battle formation.
Just because he doesn't like the power, it doesn't mean that Wei Guangde doesn't know that cannon is the god of war.
At the very least, although the range was short, Wei Guangde still felt that after the enemy got close, he could mow down a large area by blasting a bunch of shotguns with a bowl-mouth blunderbuss.
It is precisely because of Wei Guangde's influence that Wei Wencai and Wu Dong actually understood his meaning, strengthened the projection of firepower, and strived to defeat the opponent before engaging the enemy in close combat.
Phobia of insufficient firepower.
This is a disease that Wei Guangde saw in later generations. As for how to cure it, it is to build more cannons to make up for the firepower.
Wei Guangde didn’t understand the firearms of this era. Naturally, he didn’t know that in the next few years, someone would come up with a small melee firearm, the Tiger Crouching Cannon. Its usage was actually similar to Wei Guangde’s idea. Before melee combat, Sweep the battlefield and kill the enemy's elite soldiers who are attacking the most fiercely.
Since you don’t understand, then adapt to local conditions and use whatever is available. Something is better than nothing.
(End of this chapter)