When Cao Wenzhao heard what the prison lord said, a big stone suddenly fell to the ground in his heart.

In fact, if Gao Di had to check the barracks, Cao Wenzhao would not dare to stop him, but he felt that this didn't seem very good, and he was afraid that Inspector Sun would have some bad ideas.

After all, Sun Chengzong's prestige in the Jiliao army is extremely high, much higher than that of Xiong Tingbi, who had no real name at the beginning.

Sun Chengzong is a real grasp, not only the Jiliao army admires Sun Chengzong and convinces Sun Chengzong, but even the border troops in Liaodong and Liaoxi have never dared to say a word about Sun Chengzong's military orders, at least on the surface.

That's why Cao Wenzhao felt that if Lord Gao Di Jinglu, Lord Wei Bao Supervisor, and a few big eunuchs suddenly wanted to inspect the military camp, it would be better to ask the Inspector first.

Although Cao Wenzhao and Wei Bao don't know each other, this is the first time they have met, but it does not affect the two of them knowing each other.

Wei Bao is already a celebrity in the Ming Dynasty, his rapid promotion is one of them, marrying the daughter of the grandfather of the country is the second, and he is a celebrity in front of the emperor, and he is very respected by the conversation after tea and dinner.

In addition, everyone knows that Wei Bao is very young, and he is a new science detective, and he seems to be only fifteen years old.

Among the official-like people here, only Wei Bao is young, Wei Bao and Gao Di are put together, and their official uniforms are different, so there is no need to ask, Cao Wenzhao also knows that it is Wei Bao who helps him speak.

"Thank you, Master Wei, the prison guard!" Cao Wenzhao said immediately.

"Since Master Wei said so, let's wait until tomorrow." Gao Di snorted, very dissatisfied with this result, but still gave Wei Bao face.

"Thank you, Lord Jingluo!" Cao Wenzhao hurriedly thanked him again.

Wei Bao smiled slightly, and said to Gao Di: "Lord Gao, we came suddenly, we didn't say hello in advance, it's not very in line with the rules, the military orders of the Inspector are strict, we don't need to embarrass the subordinates." ”

Gao Di stroked his beard and smiled reluctantly.

Immediately, Cao Wenzhao's enthusiastic Zhang Luo and others entered Qian'an City.

Wei Bao's family was behind him, and there were thousands of people who wanted to enter the city.

Cao Wenzhao originally felt that it was unruly, but when he thought that Wei Bao had relieved himself just now, he gritted his teeth and let people arrange it.

Qian'an is an important town, but such an important military town, the place is very small, the military camp is even smaller, and Dingtian is the place where 2,000 people are placed.

It's good that the army came, because the army can squeeze a lot of men on a big kang.

But if it is the family members of Lord Wei, many of them are ladies and young ladies who must arrange a separate room at first glance, and it is a good room.

Cao Wenzhao had no choice but to discuss with his two nephews, Cao Bianjiao and Cao Dingjiao.

Cao Bianjiao is also a military talent, belonging to the people with the majority of military attributes, while Cao Dingjiao does not have much force, and belongs to the people with the majority of civilian attributes, but he is only a secretary under Cao Wenzhao.

Cao Dingjiao came up with an idea and said: "I hope they don't stay for a long time, if it's only for a day or two, at most say to the generals and let them set up tents outside, fortunately, the weather is not cold, and the soldiers will also vacate the barracks for Lord Wei's family." ”

Cao Wenzhao sighed and said, "That's the only way!" I really don't know what these big men have to do in a small place like Qian'an, so many good places. With so many people, how good it would be to go to Yongping Mansion early, no matter how many people in Yongping Mansion can be settled. ”

"I'm afraid they want to check the number of our soldiers!" Cao Bianjiao said.

Cao Wenzhao and Cao Dingjiao were shocked when they heard this, there is really such a possibility.

All armies have more or less the phenomenon of eating up the vacancies of soldiers, and Qian'an is already in a good situation, but at least one-third of the soldiers do not exist, and it is a false report.

This kind of thing is an unwritten rule in the Ming army, and it has always turned a blind eye, unless some officials want to engage other officials.

But this situation is very rare, generally impeachment, and rarely impeachment of others with empty quotas for eating soldiers, because this time offends many people, it will affect the entire Ming army system, and generals everywhere will hate people who impeach others under this pretext.

But Cao Wenzhao and the others couldn't figure out Gao Di's situation, and they didn't know if Gao Di wanted to check the soldiers.

After a night's rest, I moved to a small place, and I showed the greatest sincerity to entertain me, which was still very simple.

Wei Bao stayed for one night, mainly to see the garrison of Qian'an, and wanted to get in touch with Cao Wenzhao, but unfortunately Cao Wenzhao didn't seem to be very good at socializing, and it was rare to reply to one sentence in three sentences, and he would only laugh.

Wei Bao also gave up the idea of further contact with Cao Wenzhao and even some friendship.

Early the next morning, Wei Bao asked people to inform Cao Wenzhao of the military parade.

Wei Bao knew what Cao Wenzhao was worried about, so he said that he didn't have to wait for the people who asked Inspector Sun to come back, they would leave in the afternoon, and they didn't count the number of people.

Cao Wenzhao stubbornly asked the army to assemble, only more than 300 soldiers, and found some villagers from the neighborhood overnight, put on army clothes and pretended, and made up the number of 500 real shortages.

Although Wei Bao couldn't tell the number of people, he could count how many people he could count by eye, and Cao Wenzhao didn't dare to slack off.

Wei Bao didn't need to count the number of troops to know the situation of each garrison, and he was very clear about the large shortage of soldiers and horses in Jiliao and Liaodong.

Wei Bao mainly wanted to see the equipment of Jiliao's elite troops.

He knew very well that the main force of the Liaodong Frontier Army had always been placed near Liaoxi and Shanhaiguan, and he was reluctant to line up to the forefront.

The same is true of Jiliao's soldiers and horses, the main force is west of Shanhaiguan, in the base camp of Jiliao, and placed near Ningyuan, all of which are inferior troops.

Like the hundreds of people brought by Cao Wenzhao, they are definitely the elite of the elite, and they are to be used to defend the Beijing Division, or to fight to the point of the bone, to attack them by surprise and to win.

The morale and discipline of the recruiting troops of the Ming army may really be among the best in the previous dynasties, and even gradually began the process of modernization, but these improvements are not so obvious compared to the Europeans and the Later Jin, so they are not obvious.

Among other things, the training of arquebusiers alone is much more difficult and requires discipline than traditional armies.

Cao Wenzhao's troops included hundreds of people who used quasi-thermal weapons such as arquebuses and bird guns.

Although the drill of the bird gun soldier is not as severe as queuing up to shoot, the process of just asking the bird gun to fire a shot is extremely cumbersome.

Wei Bao even personally operated the equipment of the Ming army.

Baojun's Type 1624 President Rifle and Type 1625 President Rifle, Wei Bao participated in the research and development.

Baojun's president rifle is a copy of the De Mauser gun, the structure has always been the same, the 1625 type president rifle compared with the 1624 type president rifle, it is only a little bit better in stability, a little better in tightness, and there is not much improvement.

Because there is no standard production line for weapons and no industrial base, it can only be similar in shape, but not exactly the same.

If it is put in modern times, the industry of the Republic of China has the ability to make an identical Mauser.

Wei Bao personally operated the arquebus.

pouring the powder, pouring the gunpowder from the canister into the tube, and firing one round for each tube; charge, which pours gunpowder from the mouth of the gun into the chamber; Pressurization, with the gunpowder in the chamber with the gun compacted and pressed; Loading, taking out the projectile and loading it into the chamber, and then pressing the projectile into the gunpowder with a fight; Fill the door with the gunpowder in the powder jar into the fire door of the medicine room, fill the medicine room to make it connected with the gunpowder in the chamber, and then cover the fire door cover to prevent moisture; Load the fire rope, load the fire rope into the faucet clamp of the trigger, and prepare for ignition, at which point the preparation is complete, and the shooter is in a state of readiness.

When shooting, you need to open the fire door cover, light the fire rope, aim in a crouching or standing position, and pull the trigger to fire.

Gao Di and the three big eunuchs, as well as the people under Cao Wenzhao, everyone was a little impressed when they saw Wei Bao's ability to skillfully operate guns.

Originally, everyone saw that Wei Bao was polite and polite, dressed as a civil official, and thought that Xinke Tan Hualang should be a literati, but he didn't expect that he was still an all-rounder.

Such a complex and cumbersome operation, in order to achieve uniformity, without years of training and strict discipline will definitely not be possible.

Wei Bao operated it himself, and asked Cao Wenzhao to command the army to operate a round.

Many people only saw that Qi Jiguang admired the bird gun very much, and the Qi family army did equip a large number of bird guns later.

The Qi family's infantry battalion has 2,699 people and is equipped with 1,080 birds, accounting for about 40%, but they don't see how much effort Qi Jiguang has put into making his birds and soldiers form combat effectiveness.

The military discipline of the Qi family's army being beheaded at every turn is also reflected in the bird guns, and it is even harsher.

During exercises and actual combat, the decapitation of the bird gun is not operated in accordance with the regulations, because due to the complexity of the bird gun operation, it is entirely possible to cause chaos in the formation, blow up the chamber or hit one's own people; The decapitation of the spear indiscriminately, because the bow and arrow can also form a cover through the indiscriminate arrows, and the bird gun indiscriminately is purely to hit the air.

What is even more unreasonable may be that Qi Jiguang strictly ordered the bird gunners not to release guns without an order from their superiors, even if the enemy robbed the village.

Those who do not obey the order and release the gun first will kill two with one shot, and they will all be beheaded for public display.

Because the shotgun has a poor hit rate when it is far away, and the enemy rushes up when it is close, it is necessary to carefully choose the timing of the fire, so as not to delay the fighter due to the complicated reloading procedure.

So from this point of view, the resistance of the northern soldiers to the bird gun is also understandable, and the opponent is not the French army, so it is only necessary to deal with the Mongolian cavalry that occasionally attacks the border.

However, with the passage of time and the emergence of the threat of the Later Jin, the amount of equipment in the Ming army gradually increased.

Sun Chengzong's car battalion, the paper data is 256 bird guns, 1728 three-eyed guns, 256 large and small Franc machines, various cannons, 88 generals, Hongyi, Shenfei, and extermination.

If you can really train a fighting bird, the power of the bird's gun itself may not be the most important, but the discipline and morale of this army alone are very strong combat effectiveness.

The Swiss guns once swept through Europe with few rivals, but when they encountered the Spanish combination of arquebuses and pikes, they began to rout repeatedly.

This is also why even the border troops of the Ming army, which are in arrears, have a certain will to fight, after all, the foundation of perennial training of firearms and military discipline is still there.

This also seems to have been the case with the Spanish and Austrian phalanx forces of the Thirty Years' War, which were still stronger than the average troops, although their morale was reduced due to poor pay.

The Ming Dynasty's Jiliao and Liaodong Frontier Army were later paid after being incorporated by the Qing army, but they were able to exert their due strength.

The morale and discipline requirements of the army in the Ming Dynasty were the highest in all dynasties, in fact, it was not just recruitment, but because Qi Jiguang was so famous, people ignored one thing, the discipline and training mentioned in Qi Jiguang's military book was not his first creation, but from the military system of the Ming Dynasty, Qi Jiguang was just summarized and paraphrased into a military book.

Putting aside the decline in the combat effectiveness of the army caused by corruption in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's requirements for military discipline and training can indeed be called the leaders of all dynasties, and it has become a training system of a certain scale.

The Ming Dynasty was in the era of alternating hot and cold weapons, and compared with cold weapons, the operation of hot weapons was more cumbersome, and there were many training steps for birds.

Even the bronze handguns of the early Ming Dynasty, that is, the muskets, were not much easier to load and fire than the bird guns.

The Ming Army's "Martial Arts" recorded the hand-held gun song: one loaded gun, two lines, three charges, four horses, five throws, six dozen three hammers, seven arrows, eight lines of guns, and nine listening heads. The single swing is opened, the gong is ignited, and the cymbals are thrown to close the team. The steps are just as numerous.

Moreover, the firearms soldiers also have to form a round of fire in formation to complete the continuous output of firepower.

This constant firepower output can only be achieved with daily and continuous training.

Therefore, in order to cooperate with the use of firearms, the formations of the Ming Dynasty were also more advanced, and the level of training required was higher.

Not only do the army have to walk in several rows, but they also need to operate cumbersome firearms, and different formations have to be interspersed with forward or backward.

One step earlier and one step later, if one person does not obey the whole, the array of hundreds of people will be chaotic, and if it is a battle, it will be even more chaotic.

In a 1594 letter, William Rodwick, Earl of Nassau-Dürenburg in the Netherlands, wrote: "A method in which musketeers and soldiers wielding arquebuses can shoot smoothly and continuously during the sequence of battle, and with great accuracy." Here's how: after the first platoon fires together, immediately march to the back of the line. The second platoon can step forward, or they can be in place, fire together, and then go to the back of the line. Then, the third row repeats the same thing with the next arrangement. In this way, when the last row is finished, the first row is also loaded. ”

The rotational firing method described in this letter, and the Maurice phalanx and training that were born on its basis later, are regarded by Western military historians such as Parker and others as the beginning of modern military affairs.

Coming up with the idea of a round shot and actually implementing it are two different things. It's not easy.

William Rodwick and the Morris brothers of Nassau spent a long time training and experimenting.

But this kind of queue and the training it required was commonplace in the Ming Dynasty.

Cao Wenzhao divided a group of soldiers into three layers, and each layer of soldiers should be "broken" between them, that is, in order to facilitate the soldiers in the back row to insert themselves in the front row.

The three rows of soldiers can take turns to go out to the first row to fight, and they can also return to their original positions after completing the battle, which is the three-fold formation of the Ming army.

Yongle's Shenji Battalion also implemented the five-layer rotation shooting method, and achieved results in the actual battle against Mahamu in the Northern Expedition.

Usually the Ming army is also required to have a small drill every day, five days a big exercise, the army of the Ming Dynasty is no longer limited to the training of personal martial arts bows, sabers and guns, the drill of the array is the daily training of the Ming army.

The sergeant chooses the method of being both proficient, well-trained, and must be strictly trained, and the wind of decadence is shaken up, with 3,000 per battalion, and there are already generals to unify them, and a member of the provincial officials is still appointed to supervise them, and every five days there is a big exercise, a small exercise a day, and a large drill is carried out by the battalion of people and horses. At the beginning, the following battalions were rehearsed.

It is not allowed to still play as if it were facing the enemy. Three orders and five reaffirmations. Temperance is awe-inspiring. Left and right forward and backward. The war is like the law. The shape is round and the momentum is not dispersed. There are few mistakes. That is, it should be held accountable.

Weapons and firearms are combined, long soldiers and short soldiers are mixed together, there is a law of affiliation between soldiers, the clutch has changed the sound of the golden drum, the color of the flag, the left and right things, everything, this is the method of the exercise battle formation.

The firearm is a long skill for the imperial captive. Be prepared.

Prepare about five floors, and the first floor will be retreated after completion. Refill with gunpowder. The second layer hits. The second floor will be retreated after playing. Refill with gunpowder. Three-tiered hit. The same is true for all four and five floors. Cycle. The artillery is endless. After a long time, it will be matured. It can break the crowd and destroy the fortification.

Even if the Ming army was defeated in the Battle of Salhu, the Qing army still recorded that the Ming army "retreated to the trench of the garrison the night before, lined up in four phalanxes, dug three layers around the camp, and a layer of cavalry was densely covered outside the trench, with a row of guns in front of the front, and outside the trench behind the horsemen, there were three rows of heavy guns, and the gunners all dismounted and waited." In the three trenches, all the troops dismounted and waited in formation. ”

This arrangement was not bad at all, with three rows of heavy guns firing in turn.

Although the Ming army was also defeated in the battle of Dalinghe, looking at the battle process, "if you wait for the chariot soldiers to arrive, it will be delayed." So, he led the cavalry on both wings to line up and shouted and charged. The Ming soldiers did not move, calmly responded to the battle, and fired guns and cannons in unison, shaking the heavens and the earth. Lead is like electricity, and arrows are like rain. The left wing soldiers did not rush in from the flood land to meet the enemy because of the enemy's artillery arrows, but also rushed to the right wing soldiers. ”

The performance of the soldiers of the Ming army was "immovable and calmly responding to the battle", and the effect of the rotational fire of the Cheying firearms was "shocking the heavens and the earth." Lead is like electricity, arrows are like rain", successfully blocked the impact of the left flank of the Eight Banners.

This was the end of the Ming Dynasty when the government was corrupt, party strife, unpaid, and rotten, and some Ming troops were still able to maintain this high level of training to complete the complex firearms array requirements.

Therefore, the issue of military defeat at the end of the Ming Dynasty is really a non-war crime.

Wei Bao and Gao Di, Liu Chao, Hu Liangfu, Ji Yong and others watched a round of shooting drills.

Wei Bao and Gao Di watched more attentively, while the three big eunuchs were absentmindedly eating melon seeds and drinking tea, feeling bored.

"Good shot, let's shoot a round." Wei Bao said to Cao Wenzhao: "If you can maintain this level, your 500-cart battalion army will not suffer if you encounter a similar number of Jiannu cavalry." ”

At this time, Cao Wenzhao was taken aback, and he was embarrassed: "Only this team of dozens of people trains with firearms on weekdays, first, there are too few firearms, and second, there is not enough ammunition. ”

Cao Wenzhao was afraid of revealing his stuffing, and nearly 200 people were brought in by villagers to fill the number, how could he shoot?

If you want to line up to put guns, you have to train for at least half a year, and you have to practice diligently.

"There's only one team of men who can shoot guns," Wei Bao regretted slightly.

Wei Bao must hope that the Ming Dynasty will be rich and strong, and that the Ming army will be powerful.

Wei Bao is really not interested in being an emperor or anything, as long as the people in the world can live a good life, what is his personal power?

It's a pity that even if the Jiliao Border Army can bring Wei Bao a surprise, it is just a little surprise.

This is still an elite unit, not to mention those cold-armed troops armed with worn and rusty broadswords and spears.

"Where are the artillery battalions?" Wei Bao asked.

"I don't know about this, only a few people in the Governor's Mansion know about the movement of the army." Cao Wen said.

"Can't even tell me?" Gao Di finally found an opportunity to speak, frowned, and put on an official posture.

Gao Di attaches great importance to his interactions with Wei Bao, but obviously, he does not look down on low-level generals like Cao Wenzhao.

"The last general is really not clear." Cao Wenzhao said with a bitter face in a low voice.

When a military general sees a civil official, he has always been a head shorter, especially a low-level guerrilla general like Cao Wenzhao corresponds to a high-ranking civil official, which is the difference between the world.

"Master Gao, he probably really doesn't know." Wei Bao smiled slightly and relieved Cao Wenzhao.

Gaudí said no more.

Cao Wenzhao glanced at Wei Bao gratefully.

Wei Bao said with a smile: "General Cao Wenzhao, you have good soldiers and horses, Lord Gao and I are very satisfied, here are five hundred taels of silver, which can be regarded as my private donation to the army, let the brothers have a good meal, and the rest of the silver will be distributed to everyone, and you can't take more as a general." ”

Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao and Cao Dingjiao, as well as a group of small generals, were very surprised when they heard this, and thought they had heard it wrong.

"Lord Warden, we can't take this silver, this is Lord Warden's own money." Cao Wenzhao hurriedly said.

"Take it, if you don't take it, it's too little, because you've been tight lately, otherwise I'll give you more. However, I have said in advance, you can lack a few soldiers, and a car battalion like yours can't lack too much, at most one or two percent! You have to use good soldiers to replenish it, and in addition, I will suggest to Lord Gao that in the future, firearms and ammunition will be given priority to supply your car battalion, and you must not exchange the supplies allocated by the imperial court for silver and food, if there is any difficulty, you can come to Lord Gao, have you remembered? Wei Bao said.

Gao Di was also surprised by what Wei Bao did, and felt that Wei Bao was really a good person, not to mention why Wei Bao did this, even if it was just for a show, it was enough to become an example of a Ming general, who was willing to use their own silver to subsidize the border army? Also concerned about the personnel and supplies of the border army.

"The last generals have all remembered!" Cao Wenzhao was a little embarrassed, listening to the meaning, Wei Bao could see everything, which made Cao Wenzhao even more moved, when did any high-ranking officials really care about their group of people like Huazi? Cao Wenzhao knew that Wei Bao was a disciple of Sun Chengzong, and even felt that if Wei Bao was allowed to serve in the Jiliao Governor's Mansion for a long time and serve as the supervisor of the border army for a long time, the combat effectiveness of the border army would be increased several times!

"Listen, Lord Wei of the prison army will reward everyone with five hundred taels of silver, and improve everyone's food! The rest of the money was divided equally among the brothers, and we who were generals did not want a penny of silver. Cao Wenzhao was moved, got up and said loudly to the garrisons in Qian'an.

The Qian'an garrison applauded when they heard the words, five hundred taels is a lot for them, it doesn't cost much to improve the food, and the rest of the silver, if the officials don't want it, each of them can get nearly two taels of silver, which is higher than half a year's military salary!

What's more, the imperial court has not paid silver for a year, and it is rare to send a little coarse grain.

"Thank you, Master Wei, the prison guard!" The Qian'an garrison said loudly, and they all knelt down with emotion.

Wei Bao was happy to see this scene, and he didn't forget to say loudly: "Not only thank me, but also Lord Jingluo and Gonggong Liu, Gonggong Hu, Gonggong Ji, the three great fathers!" ”

"Thank you, Master Jingluogao, Gonggong Liu, Gonggong Hu, and Gonggong Ji!" The soldiers were obedient and added one after another.

However, everyone knows that the silver was made by Lord Wei, and they all have a good impression of Lord Wei.

Wei Bao is very satisfied with this effect.

In fact, if the Jiliao Border Army and Liaodong are really handed over to Wei Baolai, the logistics of more than 100,000 people is really not difficult.

Ten taels of silver for a person is only more than one million taels of silver, which can refresh everyone's morale, and if one or two million taels of silver are taken out, more than 100,000 people can eat and drink enough for a year.

It's just that the soldiers' silver has been taken away by layers of generals.

It is impossible to reach even half of the soldiers, so the soldiers are like Hanako.

Gao Di, Liu Chao, Hu Liangfu and Ji Yong were all a little moved by Wei Bao's emphasis on their names, and they also made a little care for the soldiers, waving to the soldiers frequently.

Wei Bao got up and went down, touching the soldiers one by one, thin clothes, now it is more autumn, the weather is relatively cold, but most of the soldiers are still wearing summer clothes, all of them are skinny and bone-like, such equipment, how can they fight with Jiannu?

Wei Bao originally wanted to donate military uniforms again, but he thought that if he donated too much, it would make people think that he was buying people's hearts, and the combat effectiveness of the Jiliao border army really had little to do with him.

Therefore, Wei Bao forcibly restrained the idea of donating more silver.

After lunch at noon, the soldiers of Qian'an strongly retained, but Wei Bao still had to leave.

Wei Bao can't bear the hardships anymore, Gao Di and the three big eunuchs are the same, they all want to go to Yongping Mansion as soon as possible, whether it is Yongping Mansion or Shanhaiguan, there is no shortage of materials, they are all important towns, there are more merchants, more prosperous, no matter how much stronger than moving to an in this small and dilapidated border city.

Cao Wenzhao, his two nephews, and several partial generals saw that Wei Bao insisted on leaving, so they could only send people to send Wei Bao and Gao Di's team to Yongping Mansion.

Wu Xiang had already gotten the news and knew that Wei Bao was going to take Wu Xuexia back to get married, and he had already sent Wu Sanfeng to wait in Yongping Mansion the day before yesterday to greet him.

The Wu family is a large household in western Liaoning, and its power is much greater than that of the prefect of Yongping Mansion, and the prefect of Yongping Mansion is just a house slave of the Wu family and the ancestral family.

The eldest prince of the Wu family came to greet him in person, and they were even more vigilant, constantly sending people to investigate, to see why Wei Bao's team was not there?