Benzene Port, Taiwan

In a wide school field, there were sergeants everywhere, and although the weather was still very cold, they were still meticulously doing all kinds of training according to the orders under the command of officers at all levels.

In one place on the west side, there was a rumbling sound of fire, and from time to time bursts of white gunpowder smoke drifted from that side.

Cao Wenzhao, who was dressed in military uniform, stood not far from the shooting range and watched the rows of sergeants shoot at the target in a neat formation, and the targets that were erected one after another were knocked to the ground, with a satisfied look in his eyes.

He turned his head to his nephew Cao Bianjiao behind him and said, "Bianjiao, you have trained the team well these days, and you are already quite good." ”

Cao Bianjiao, who was standing behind him, was also quite complacent: "Uncle, my nephew has spent a lot of effort for this team, and in the past two months, I have fought nearly 100,000 rounds of medicine alone, and if I can't practice it, my nephew won't have the face to see you." ”

"It's not that you don't have the face to see me, you don't have the face to see the Hou Ye."

Cao Wenzhao glanced at him lightly.

"You should know how many silver taels Hou Ye has invested in our team these days. Whether it's your 1,000 cavalry or my 5,000 foot soldiers, the daily consumption of medicine and food is a huge expense.

Not to mention the firecracker armor and other materials they are equipped with, if this kind of treatment is changed to Liaodong, can they afford it? ”

Cao Bianjiao smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Before coming to Fujian, although he and his uncle Cao Wenzhao were also in Liaodong, because the place where they were stationed was relatively remote, they had never dealt with the Jiangning Army, but they had long admired the name of the Jiangning Army.

Before coming into contact with the Jiangning Army, Cao Bianjiao thought that even if the Jiangning Army could fight again, there was a limit, and even if it could defeat the Manchu Tartars in a row, it was only by taking advantage of firearms and armor.

But after coming to Fujian and personally joining the collective of the Jiangning Army, Cao Bianjiao realized that the strength of the Jiangning Army is not just equipment, but is manifested in many aspects, and the most important thing is that the Jiangning Army is a force with strict training and a fair promotion system.

To take the simplest example, in other armies of the Ming army, the promotion of non-commissioned officers and officers was almost always decided by the commander-in-chief. As long as the chief officer values you, it is not uncommon for you to be promoted to three levels overnight.

But this kind of thing doesn't work in the Jiangning Army, where there are only two ways for officers or ordinary non-commissioned officers to be promoted. Either you have enough combat merits, or you just pass the assessment, and there is no other way.

In Cao Bianjiao's view, this is also one of the reasons why the Jiangning army can maintain strong combat effectiveness and high morale. After all, when the food and salary are sufficient, and the non-commissioned officers and officers can see the hope of promotion, it is difficult for this army not to have high morale.

Looking around, Cao Bianjiao quietly asked, "Uncle, I heard that Master Hou intends to enter Nanyang, do you think we have a share?" ”

"What are you asking for?"

Cao Wenzhao glared at his nephew.

"As the commander of the army, we can do our part well, as for whether to march to Nanyang is a matter for the imperial court and the Hou Ye to consider, why do you want to be a guerrilla general so much?"

Don't look at Cao Bianjiao's majestic appearance, but he was brought up by Cao Wenzhao since he was a child, and he was the most afraid of this uncle, and after being scolded, he shrunk his neck and didn't say anything.

However, Cao Wenzhao felt sorry for this nephew who had been brought up since he was a child, and only after scolding did he say in a low voice: "What do you know, marching into Nanyang is a big deal." How can it be decided so easily, and who will consider it carefully.

Don't forget, the first battalion, the second battalion, and the third battalion, these people are old people who started with Hou Ye, and they haven't expressed their position yet, if we are too eager, what will others think? ”

As soon as Cao Wenzhao said this, Cao Bianjiao came to his senses.

After all, he has been in the military for so many years, and he naturally knows some things. Since ancient times, there has always been a tradition of seniority in the military, and although the Jiangning Army has not been established for a long time, it now has a faint shadow of this aspect.

The uncle and nephew of the Cao family, as newcomers, were reused by Yang Feng when they first arrived, which was already very attention-grabbing, and if they didn't know how to converge, it would be easy to cause others to be dissatisfied, which was not a good thing for them.

Thinking of this, Cao Bianjiao couldn't help but say with admiration: "It's still my uncle's calm and spicy, but my nephew is not as good." ”

Cao Wenzhao waved his hand: "What is this, it's just experience." But you have to remember that the most important thing now is to hurry up and bring the soldiers well, otherwise if you go to the battlefield in the future, all of them will become soft-footed shrimps, and if Master Hou doesn't cure your crimes, I won't be the first to spare you. ”

Cao Bianjiao arched his hand and said: "Uncle don't worry, if you don't train them to be a good person, my nephew will never give up." ”

"Well, that's good."

Before Cao Wenzhao could say anything, he saw a sergeant not far away hurrying over, stopped in front of them, and said loudly after giving a military salute: "General Qiyu, Master Hou is here." ”

"What...... Where is it? ”

"It's in your tent." The sergeant hurriedly said: "Master Hou instructed the villain to hurry up and let you go over with General Xiao Cao." ”

"So what are you waiting for...... Let's go! ”

When the two of them hurried to Cao Wenzhao's big tent, they saw Yang Feng looking at the big map of Nanyang hanging in the big tent with his hands behind his back, and Cao Wenzhao's uncle and nephew hurriedly bowed down and said loudly.

"The lowly Cao Wenzhao (Cao Bianjiao) see Hou Ye!"

Yang Feng turned around and said to the two: "The two generals don't have to be polite. ”

"Master Xie!"

"Come on...... Have a seat. ”

After the two of them sat down, Yang Feng looked at the two of them carefully for a while before he smiled and said, "Two General Cao, Ben Hou came in a hurry this time, so he didn't inform the two, I hope you don't be surprised." ”

"How dare you be humble."

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Yang Feng's style has always been very crisp, and he quickly got to the point, only to see him first look at the two of them and ask.

"Two generals, how is the change of clothes and training of your fifth battalion going?"

Cao Wenzhao said: "So that the Hou Ye will know that the training of the five battalions has been preliminarily completed, as long as you give an order, the five battalions can go into battle to kill the enemy!" ”

"The same is true of the lowly position, and the lowly cavalry brigade has long been waiting for your order!" Cao Bianjiao said without showing weakness.

"That's good!"

Yang Feng laughed, looking at the two most famous brave generals in another time and space, his heart was very pleased.

"Since the two generals are so confident, then Ben Hou will have an envoy to hand it over to you next."

Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao glanced at each other, their hearts were overjoyed, and they said in unison: "Please ask Master Hou to command!" ”

Yang Feng groaned for a while, stood up and pointed to a place on the map and said: "Now that Taiwan has basically fallen into the hands of my Ming Dynasty, our next goal is Nanyang, from today onwards, you must be prepared, half a month later, you will work with the Fujian Navy Division to take this place down to Benhou." ”

"The Kingdom of Sulu?" Both of them let out an exclamation at the same time.