Chapter 2225
Chen Xiaoyu's words were not bragging. After all, there was a clear gap in the strength of the two warring parties at that time. After mastering the opponent's weapon performance and combat methods, the Haihan Army quickly formulated more targeted tactics. Therefore, The musketry unit that Hirado Domain worked so hard to manage failed to cause real trouble to the Kaihan Army during the battle.
But can the tactics used by the Haihan Army in Hirado really be copied to the militia armed forces that will be formed by the Huizhou salt merchants? That may not be the case. Although the basic military skills currently taught by the Zhoushan garrison to these salt merchants' children are not kept secret, when they learn strategies and tactics in the later stage, the content they will come into contact with will be significantly different from that of the Haihan Army.
No matter how well they train in the future, the upper limit of the Salt Merchants Militia is at best a low-end version of the Golden Shield, and it is basically impossible to reach the level of the Haihan Army as they expected. Although Yangzhou salt merchants are willing to spend money on this matter, everything from personnel training to weapons and equipment is controlled by others. If they want to upgrade the "militia" to the "militia army", it will only be possible with the full support of Haihan.
However, the current cooperation between the two parties is still in the early running-in stage. It is impossible for Huizhou salt merchants to receive such special treatment. They still need to use more performance to win Haihan's trust and support.
For example, Xu Xinsu from the south not only treated the Haihan people as guests, but also gave Haihan various privileges within his sphere of influence. He acted according to Haihan's suggestions and took the initiative to completely tie his own interests to Haihan. As a result, he gained Haihan's high trust and assisted him in forming the strongest naval fleet in the Ming Dynasty.
Even if the Anhui salt merchants in Yangzhou are willing to spend a lot of money, in the foreseeable future, the private armed forces formed by them may not even be qualified to fight against the Haihan Army on the battlefield. When people like Dai Chengrong train in Zhoushan for a while, they will gradually realize the huge objective gap between them.
However, what currently attracts Dai Chengrong's attention is the glorious record of the Haihan Army. According to Chen Xiaoyu's description, the combat effectiveness of the Hirado Domain Army is obviously much worse than that of the Haihan Army. This also makes him reluctant to form a militia group to fight against the mountain in the future. The prospects of Shaanxi salt merchants are a little more confident.
Chen Xiaoyu remembered that he would return to the camp before lights out. Although Dai Chengrong had not yet listened to the full enjoyment, he also knew that there were a mountain of military orders and there would be big trouble if he didn't get back in time, so he immediately asked the waiter to come in and settle the bill.
The waiter said: "You two military masters, someone has settled the account here for you."
Dai Chengrong said in astonishment: "Which dear friend is so generous?"
The waiter responded: "Master Jun, he is the gentleman you brought into the private room earlier. When he left, he also settled your account."
Dai Chengrong was relieved when he heard that it was Ma Zhengping. The Dai family and the Ma family were family friends, and treating each other to dinner was a daily routine. Although the food and drinks on the second floor are not cheap, for a wealthy salt merchant like Ma Zhengping, a meal is really just a drizzle. When paying the bill, he paid for it with Dai Chengrong, a junior.
When the two of them went downstairs, shopkeeper Wang came over to see them off. When he saw that the wealthy businessman who invited Duan Tiancheng to dinner paid the bill for the two of them, he knew that the identity of the young master of the Dai family was indeed true, and it was even more true now. Dare to neglect, and asked people to bring two pots of jade wine as gifts to them.
Although Chen Xiaoyu and Dai Chengrong can go out to the camp to eat and drink, this does not mean that they can bring wine back to the camp. Chen Xiaoyu did not dare to violate this kind of behavior that violated military regulations, so he politely declined Shopkeeper Wang's kindness.
But Shopkeeper Wang refused to let it go. After some discussion, Shopkeeper Wang still insisted that they accept the gift, but they didn't need to take it away now, just keep it on the second floor until they come to eat next time. You can take it out and enjoy it when the time comes.
The waiter in the restaurant had already called a rickshaw for them and was waiting at the door. The two of them took the bus back to the camp. In more than enough time, they returned to the army smoothly.
Although this trip came and went in a hurry, and most of the time was spent in private rooms in restaurants, it also gave Dai Chengrong an initial glimpse of the prosperity of Dinghai Port. When he left, he paid special attention to the occupancy rate on the second floor. It seemed to be at least 40 to 50%, which was almost the same as the main number in Yangzhou City. The consumption of the second floor is no longer affordable for ordinary people. It can be seen that there are quite a lot of rich people in Zhoushan, and they are even as good as Yangzhou.
If he didn't have to continue training, Dai Chengrong would like to visit the urban area near Dinghai Port tomorrow. It is said that there is a cargo yard and trading center dedicated to bulk cargo trading, and businessmen from various countries gather there to trade. Activities, it would be good if you could go and experience them.
But it's not every day that a good thing like going out of the camp on official business is not available. If Chen Xiaoyu hadn't arranged it carefully, Dai Chengrong might not have had the chance to leave the camp even if he stayed here until the end of the training. And if Duan Tiancheng wants to win over the best among these students, he will not just focus on Dai Chengrong. If he is given too much special treatment, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction among other people.
The next day, it was still about repeating and consolidating the queue training content from the previous days. The instructors had already explained to them a few days ago why they had to repeatedly train such a boring project. However, because the salt merchants’ children had almost never had the experience of fighting in formations, it was difficult to imagine how to use formations out of thin air. Defeat your opponent by changing form.
In order to give them an immersive sense of tension during training, the military began to invest in props today, a batch of flintlock guns specially used for training.
These guns are all Type 28 flintlock guns from the early years, and they are also the first flintlock model equipped by the Haihan Army. The army has already completed the replacement and no longer uses this old weapon. However, it is still a very useful prop when used to train new recruits. Based on past experience, this special prop can help recruits focus more during the training process, thereby achieving better training results.
Sure enough, when these salt merchants saw the bundles of muskets brought on a flatbed truck today, they were all very excited. They thought that the queue training should have come to an end, and they would begin to receive training in using muskets. This was also their intention. One of the most interesting training contents.
"I know what you guys are thinking in your heads. Don't be too happy. The next training content is still the practice of combat formation." Duan Tiancheng held a tin trumpet in one hand and poured a basin of cold water on the students as soon as he came up. .
Duan Tiancheng continued: "Next, each of you will be given a musket to assist in training, but you will not be taught how to use this weapon for the time being. So for you, this is actually the same as holding a fire stick. It’s almost the same. Of course, this thing is much heavier than a fire stick. I hope you can still be as excited as you are now at the end of the day’s training!”
After entering the military camp for so many days, they were finally able to touch a real gun. Everyone was very excited and automatically ignored Duan Tiancheng's last words. When they received the musket from the instructor, everyone held it carefully as if they had found a treasure and excitedly played with this special weapon. It was the first time for most of them to touch a musket with their own hands. Although they still didn’t know how to load the ammunition or how to aim and shoot, almost everyone imagined themselves as heroic warriors at this time. Next, I'm going to use this musket to kill.
This was not the first time Dai Chengrong had touched a musket, and it was not even the first time he had touched the standard rifle once equipped by the Haihan Army.
Last year, the musketry team organized by the Shanshan-Shaanxi salt merchants suddenly emerged. The Huizhou salt merchants were not idle, and they also managed to purchase some muskets through various channels, including this type of flintlock gun produced in Haihan.
Among the muskets Haihan sells to foreign countries, the Type 28 flintlock gun should be the largest model. Over the years, thousands of them have been sold to armed forces in various countries. Although they are sold in batches, over time, some of the weapons will naturally be lost piecemeal, and then flow into the hands of various people through the black market.
At that time, the seven major surnames spent a lot of money to buy a small amount of standard weapons produced in Haihan. However, because the number was too small and there was a lack of corresponding guidance and teaching, it was impossible to form a real combat effectiveness, unlike their opponents who had been specially trained and fully equipped. Compared with the musketeers with standard weapons, their strength is naturally far behind.
Dai Chengrong was with Dai Yingfan at the time, and also played with this kind of musket. It is said that its power is far more powerful than the blunderbuss equipped by the Ming Army Firearms Battalion. However, because this gun did not have the original supporting ammunition when it was bought back, it was made with home-made ammunition. The fire power of earthen gunpowder and cast-in-situ lead bullets does not seem to be as powerful as the legend says.
Dai Chengrong looked at the right side of the barrel of the musket in his hand. Sure enough, there were several small carving patterns. It is said that this zigzag pattern is a kind of number used by the Haihan people. This string of patterns on each gun is a unique number. From this number, the Haihan people can trace back to when and where the gun was produced. Whose hands, which army was installed in it, and finally how it was sold abroad.
On the several muskets Dai Yingfan bought at that time, part of the numerical pattern was deliberately worn away. It seems that the person who sold the weapons was worried that something would happen to him in the future, so he tried to destroy the markings. But a part of it was deliberately left out to show that this was a genuine product produced by Haihan, and not a knock-off product cobbled together by a small underground workshop.
This musket used by the Haihan Army for training has a complete numerical pattern on it, and the surface of the wooden stock is already smooth and oily. It is unknown how many recruits have held it in their hands over the years.
After letting the students receive the muskets, the instructor immediately asked them to learn how to march with the muskets on the battlefield. To put it simply, while marching in line, you must hold your gun with your hand, ready to stop and switch to a shooting position at any time.
Then the hard days for the students began. A few days ago, they were only required to conduct queue training with bare hands and no weight, but now they had to carry a musket weighing almost ten kilograms to conduct training, and the training intensity suddenly increased a lot.
At first, everyone was very excited. After all, training with guns in this way was closer to a real combat situation, and they could also be more dedicated in executing various instructions given by the instructors. But after at least one stick of incense, they discovered that Duan Tiancheng's previous warning was no joke. The musket became heavier and heavier in his hands, and it was actually much harder than the previous training.
The instructors will not be merciful at this time. When they see someone starting to slack off, they will walk over and shout loudly in their ears, spitting all over their faces, and not giving these young masters face at all.
Dai Chengrong could only be grateful that he had an excellent physical foundation from practicing martial arts for many years, otherwise he would inevitably be sprayed by Chen Xiaoyu at this time. Although Chen Xiaoyu treats him well in private, he won't give him any face on the training ground. If he doesn't perform well, he will still suffer.
When the training came to an end and they began to rest, everyone quickly lost interest in the muskets. They quickly put the guns on the ground and began to move their arms that were shaking due to excessive exertion.
"For those of you who can't even hold a gun, stop thinking about fighting. Throw away your guns before the fight starts!" Duan Tiancheng was quite dissatisfied when he saw this, and picked up the tin trumpet again to reprimand.
Everyone had no choice but to quickly pick up their guns again, secretly beginning to miss the training of the previous days. Dai Chengrong took a look, walked up to Chen Xiaoyu and asked in a low voice: "Instructor, how long does it take to train for this gun-carrying walking team?"
Chen Xiaoyu said: "Why are there so many problems? Let you practice and practice. Only after you have practiced can you proceed to the next step!"
"Then what's the next step? Can I learn to shoot?" Dai Chengrong asked.
"Next step? The next step is more tiring than this. Practice raising the gun to aim. It's still early to shoot." Chen Xiaoyu raised his hand and patted Dai Chengrong's shoulder and said: "Don't take any chances. This is how our Haihan Army has practiced. . You came to Zhoushan for training to master these basic skills so that you can pass on your true skills when you go back to form a militia.”
After hearing this, Dai Chengrong had no way to argue. This principle was actually similar to his martial arts practice. He had to practice basic skills first, and then slowly learn various martial arts routines. But then I thought about it, I have been practicing martial arts for more than ten years before I have achieved some success, and the Haihan Army's training period only lasts a hundred days. It is indeed very hasty to develop combat skills, so it is okay to arrange most of the time for basic training. Reasonable.
However, based on the training effects promoted by the Haihan people, a musketeer with basic combat effectiveness can be trained in about three months. Relying on the advanced weapons equipped, its strength may be stronger than the elite soldiers trained by the Ming Dynasty for several years. This The speed of explosive troops far exceeds the traditional mode.
Although the cost of training and arming the musketeers is high, the training cycle is relatively short. Think about it. It takes three months to turn a fisherman like Chen Xiaoyu into a Haihan soldier who masters various combat skills. Dai Chengrong is also slow. Slowly realized that Haihan's military strength was not only reflected in the advanced weapons and equipment, but also the training process.
(End of chapter)