Lian Shanxiang led a group of guards to surround the emperor out of Deshengmen and headed towards the Daxiao field in the northern suburbs. Today is Chongzhen's review of the cavalry wing that went to Datong to form an army, and it can be regarded as the emperor's send-off for this cavalry wing before the expedition.

Sun Chengzong and other personnel from the General Staff who were already waiting here at Deshengmen also followed the emperor's ranks. Outside the gate of the big school field, Wu Huai and more than a dozen officers were waiting here.

4 or 5 meters away from his left hand, there were more than 30 military attachés in the Beijing camp who were also waiting for the emperor and others to come on patrol. Although the purpose of the two groups is the same, there is a clear distinction between the two sides.

The military attachés standing beside Wu Huai are all cadets from the Army Military Academy, and there are the first batch of cadets who have already graduated, and there are also the second and third cadets who have not yet graduated and are serving as auxiliary officers for recruit training in the new army training camp. These more than a dozen people lined up behind Wu Huai in an orderly manner according to their rank and the number of periods of study they had entered the school, like a small army ready to fight.

On the other side, the military attachés of the Beijing camp, who had a larger number, stood in a mess, and there was no formation. In addition to the lack of order, compared with Wu Huai and the others who were quiet and serious on the side, these military attaches were also more noisy.

Shi Hongmo, Yuan Xin, and Fang Mengyuan, the three battalion leaders of the Beijing camp, stood at the front of the team, and behind Yu Zhigao, the three of them were not in the mood to chat with the subordinates around them, but they glanced at Wu Huai and the others on the right from time to time, and they had some complicated and indescribable feelings in their hearts.

The emperor did not send their troops out to fight, and when they heard the news just now, the three of them were greatly relieved.

These military attachés, who have lived comfortably in the capital for so long, have long not known what the smell of war is.

In that year, Emperor Yongle's five expeditions to Mongolia were all based on the army of Jingying, and the combat power of the army of Jingying was stronger than that of the local border army, which was a matter of course.

It was this Yongle Emperor who dared to boast: "The respect of our dynasty is beyond the ancient times, and it controls the western oceans of the north and the south of the island, and there is no harmony between the Han Dynasty, no alliance with the Tang Dynasty, no Song Dynasty's thin coins, and no gifts of brothers and enemies." ”

However, since him, with the rapid corruption of the Jingying army, not to mention deterring the barbarians on the grassland, even the suppression of the Wenxiang Sect uprising in the neighboring capital seems to be a little powerless.

At the beginning, the two emperors Hongwu and Yongle had completely failed to set up a camp in Beijing to control the outside world.

The officers and men of the Beijing battalion, who live with the common people in the capital on a daily basis, have long forgotten that they are soldiers who need to go to the battlefield desperately.

Although after Chongzhen ascended the throne, he carried out a drastic rectification of the Beijing camp, and even laid off nearly 70% of the officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp, and turned them into civilians or police and fire brigades to maintain law and order in the capital.

However, the accumulated shortcomings left by the Beijing camp can be eliminated in a few months, although Shi Hongmo, Yuan Xin, and Fang Mengyuan all believe that compared with the Beijing camp half a year ago, the current three battalions of the Beijing army are very different, and they have the temperament of an army.

But they can only guarantee that these soldiers will not immediately abandon their weapons and flee when they go to the battlefield, and will be able to confront the enemy for a while.

If the enemy's superiority is obvious, or if their own army loses the upper hand after the engagement, they dare not guarantee what the war will become.

However, the three of them also believed that as long as the emperor could continue to supply enough food and salary to the Beijing camp according to the current standards, then after a year and a half of training, the Beijing camp should not be weaker than any border army.

The emperor can now resist not sending the Beijing camp to the battlefield and test his achievements after the restructuring of the Beijing camp, which is really great news for the three of them.

They were very unoptimistic about the cavalry wing led by Wu Huai. Although the backbone of this cavalry wing is a part of the Liaodong cavalry plus the cadets trained by the Army Officer Academy.

However, most of the people in this cavalry wing have been trained in the past few months in various marches, marching in formations, etc., and the cavalry attack training has hardly been arranged. This made the three of them very worried, and how many people would be able to return after the cavalry wing went to war.

Of course, in addition to these emotions, they were also secretly a little jealous of Wu Huai and his cavalry wing.

Let's not mention that the emperor named him as soon as possible, and let Wu Huai be the main general to form this cavalry wing, proving that Wu Huai was outside the emperor's heart.

Just after the formation of the cavalry wing, the attention paid by the ordnance supervision and logistics department to this cavalry unit has already made the old military attaches in Beijing fall through their eyes.

The size of this cavalry wing was less than half a battalion of the old system, but they received more military supplies than one and a half battalions of the old system. With the exception of that artillery squadron, the rest of the units were equipped with armor, and a third of them were even equipped with double armor.

The three even believed that if it weren't for the horse's physical strength and endurance, the Emperor might not mind having the entire cavalry wing in double armor. But even so, this outfit, plus the configuration of one person and two horses, is at least more than 100 taels.

There are more than 2,500 logistics personnel serving this cavalry wing, and the current cost of this cavalry wing alone has exceeded 200,000 taels.

This is a staggering amount, and the annual salary of the troops led by the three of them is only that.

What is even more surprising is that the large part of this large amount of silver was actually spent on the soldiers, rather than falling into the pockets of officials at all levels, which is a sight that the Beijing camp has not seen for many years.

So much silver taels were spent on a newly established cavalry wing, which naturally made these military attaches in the Beijing camp quite jealous. After all, although the current Beijing army is outdated, in the past, they were the last force to defend the capital. According to reason, whether it is equipment or treatment, it should be given priority to the Beijing camp.

When the two groups of people were waiting in front of the gate of the big school field, with different thoughts, they finally saw a team of people appear in the distance.

A small group of men and horses who were guiding the guard in front of the team quickly evacuated to both sides when they were about to reach the gate, and let out the emperor's team not far behind.

Yu Zhigao, the governor of the Gyeonggi Governor's Mansion, led the military attaches behind him, and prepared to salute Chongzhen, who was slowly walking on horseback.

Chongzhen, who originally planned to come in military uniform, considered that walking on the street in military uniform was not a period when the ceremony was not held, which would make the people of the capital feel uneasy, so he just came out in civilian clothes.

There were still more than 10 steps away from Yu Zhigao and other military attachés, so he grabbed the reins, and then dismounted steadily.

"There's no need to be polite, since I've come to the army, it's okay to salute, let's get up." Zhu Youzhen stepped forward quickly and said lightly to these military attaches who saluted him.

Yu Zhigao insisted on finishing the etiquette before getting up, and he said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty has not entered the barracks yet, and the ministers should do all the salutes." ”

Chongzhen smiled and nodded at him, although this Yu Zhigao did not have any outstanding talents in military affairs, he was very cautious in dealing with people, which was one of the reasons why Chongzhen was willing to hand over the Gyeonggi Governor's Mansion to him.

When Zhu Youzhen was about to walk to the school grounds, he turned back to Lian Shanxiang and said as if he had thought of something: "The imperial guards let them stay outside, you can take a few people with me, and it is better to be quiet in the barracks." ”

Lian Shanxiang agreed and took a few steps back, instructing his deputy to manage outside, while he himself ordered a few cronies to follow the team.

The Dianjiang platform in the Daxiao yard has been renovated, and the original earthen platform with wooden railings is now a gray-white concrete platform, and the platform is one-third larger.

After the group walked on the platform, Wu Huai asked the emperor for instructions on the official review team, Chongzhen nodded, and began to wait with anticipation for the appearance of this newly established cavalry wing.

To be honest, when he received the list of expenses for this cavalry wing, he immediately dismissed the idea of replacing the cavalry unit transferred from Liaodong with new equipment.

40 catties of armor, in the past, the price of the Ming military department was 12 taels of silver. But in reality, a body of armor often cuts corners to about 30 catties, and in addition to the use of cheap and low-quality iron sheets, the defense is usually stronger than leather armor and cotton armor.

After the restructuring of the Ordnance Supervision, the raw materials and processes were optimized and controlled, and the quality of each process was monitored, which made the weight, specifications, and defense capabilities of the armor standardized.

Now the weight of a pair of armor is about 38-40 catties, the defense power has increased by about one-third, and the cost has been reduced to 11 taels and 2 yuan. The cost of labor and purified iron for making the nail sheet accounted for nearly one-third, which also made Chongzhen lament the inconvenience of the lack of steam engines.

However, armor and horses are only the basic equipment of this cavalry, and the main factors that determine the equipment of this cavalry wing are not the funds provided by the imperial court and the ability of individual cavalrymen, but depend on what this cavalry wing is mainly used for on the battlefield.

At this time, both the Mongols and the Later Jin attached great importance to the training of mounted archery in the use of cavalry. However, compared with the Mongols, who lacked craftsmen and iron materials and had to prefer light cavalry and flying shooting, the Houjin cavalry was a cavalry closer to the tactics of the Ming army.

Nurhachi hibernated under Li Chengliang's door for decades, not only systematically learning the tactics of the Ming army, but also accepting the Ming army's habit of attaching importance to equipment. The Ming army here does not refer to those guards, but the most capable cavalry troops under Li Chengliang.

Nurhachi attaches great importance to the forging of armor and weapons, and even makes him very different from other Liaodong Jurchen tribes. This also made the border ethnic minorities, who have always been known for their brute bravery and personal force, actually overwhelm the Ming army in terms of weaponry and military organization and discipline.

Wu Huai had experienced several battles with the Houjin army, so in the process of dispatching cavalry to form a cavalry unit that imitated the Houjin, he paid special attention to the discipline of the cavalry, which coincided with Chongzhen. But when it comes to the way this cavalry attacks, the two have very different opinions.