The most critical factor in the formation of the combat effectiveness of the tank battalion is not the weapon, but the quality of the people. The chariot battalion is not a simple hand-to-hand combat unit, not a hot-headed class that rushes up with a machete with a flick of the hat. Its core content is still the cooperation between each other, and it must be seamlessly connected between different arms.

In this year, there are almost no soldiers who can read and write, so they can only try to find some soldiers who are shrewd and have a stronger comprehension ability, so as to adapt to the requirements of the tank battalion as much as possible.

For the training and operation of the tank battalion, it is more important that orders and prohibitions must be carried out and everything must be obeyed by commands. It seems very simple, but in fact, it is really not easy to do it. In the tank battalion, the personnel in charge of different positions have different job responsibilities. It's not like you just shout and they're going to get into the groove.

The only military book that can be referred to is Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Discipline and Effectiveness". It's a pity that when the ancients wrote books, they were too streamlined. A few simple words contain too many meanings. You have to think carefully to understand what you need. If the understanding is poor, it is a misguided path. Moreover, some of the descriptions in Ji Xiao's new book are too different from the actual situation. For example, the words that are often fired with a cannon and eroded for ten miles make people speechless. The cannon is really so powerful, and the boar skin has long been blasted into the sky.

There is no way, everything has to start all over again. Xu Xingxia calmed down, and according to the knowledge he had mastered in later generations, he first listed the basic training outline of the chariot battalion, and then carefully improved it. Obviously, this kind of water grinding work is very exquisite. To start from scratch and write a training syllabus is not something that ordinary people can do.

At the beginning, Xu Xingxia used a brush to write, but later felt that the brush words were too uncomfortable, and it was better to write hard characters. Quill pens and the like, Xu Xingxia still knows. As long as he makes a suggestion, there will naturally be craftsmen to help him complete it. Liu Guangliang himself is a master craftsman, isn't he? With the help of a quill pen, this training syllabus finally took shape. As for how to improve it, that's a matter for later.

The syllabus begins with an emphasis on discipline. What is the most important thing about the chariot battalion? Of course, it is discipline, it is the execution of orders and prohibitions, and all actions are under command. Inside the tank battalion, there are fighters, coachmen, logistics, craftsmen. Among the soldiers, there were musketeers and gunners. Different people, mixed with each other, without iron discipline, the chariot battalion would certainly not be able to function. However, this iron discipline cannot be one-size-fits-all.

You can't demand that the soldiers who are fighting, and the craftsmen who are responsible for maintenance, be on the same level. You can't ask musketeers and gunners to behave in the same way. Even the craftsman and the coachman, the responsibilities of the two are completely different. You must carefully list the differences of each post and each branch of the army, what you want to do and what you can't do, so that you can prescribe the right medicine and have a specific purpose.

The advantages of being a traverser are fully reflected at this time. If it is a person of this era, it is already very good that the idea can be 20 years ahead, let alone 400 years ahead? I've never eaten pork, and I've seen a pig run, haven't you? Mobile troops, armored troops, what should they look like and how they should develop, in this era, except for Xu Xingxia, no one else has a clearer understanding.

The tank and armored units of later generations, in terms of application, can be summed up in two words: fast and fierce. With fast speed, fierce firepower, and super assault ability, he is a true king of land warfare. The chariot battalion of the white-clothed army obviously can't do the first word. The first word, for the time being, is still the strength of cavalry. To make the chariot faster than the war horse can only be achieved with the advent of the Second World War. However, the second word can be done.

Fierce, in short, has super lethality. In order to strike a single blow, the enemy will break his backbone and make the enemy completely afraid. How can you be fierce? Fierce firepower, of course! In later generations, there was a word for throwing firepower, which means pouring the most ammunition on the enemy's head in the shortest time.

The chariot battalion of the White Clothes Army should strive to do exactly this. Xu Xingxia's concept of army building is very simple, that is, if you don't make a hit, you will be a blockbuster. As soon as the battle unfolds, all kinds of guns and cannons will be thrown overwhelmingly at once, and the enemy will be defeated directly and at once. By the time the enemy reacted, its main force had already suffered heavy losses.

Isn't your nomadic cavalry a good bull? Aren't you often rushing up without fear of death? Then I'll do it for you. As much as you come up, I will throw you down. The harder your impact, the greater the casualties you will suffer. The longer you storm, the longer the battle lasts, and the greater the losses.

According to this line of thought, Xu Xingxia is ready to arm the chariot battalion to the teeth. Each trebuchet is equipped with at least thirty packs of explosives. Each musketeer was armed with at least three hundred rounds of mini rounds. In addition to explosives packs and mini rounds, auxiliary equipment such as horse stops, horse stakes, and tripods should also be equipped. All in all, if the enemy's cavalry wanted to rush up, it was absolutely impossible. The rain of bullets and the ferocious firepower directly knocked it down.

After tossing for half a month, all kinds of equipment are finally basically complete. The first tank battalion of the White Clothes Army officially appeared. In order to test the combat effectiveness of the troops, Xu Xingxia specially prepared fifty wooden horses. Well, it's a real wooden horse model, exactly the same size as a real war horse.

"Ready!"

"Put!"

Xu Xingxia personally ordered.

All the fire of the tank battalion, opened fire at once.

Ten trebuchets dropped ten explosives packets at the first time, at a distance of between 100 and 130 zhang, exactly where the Trojans were. Hundreds of moon guns also opened fire at the same time, sweeping towards those wooden horses. As a result, after the first round of firepower, fifty wooden horses were basically destroyed. Even if there are alive, it is estimated that they will be injured. In front of this mobile battle fortress, the Tatar cavalry could never have been pleased.

"Now, only one last question remains......" Xu Xingxia took a deep breath and said to himself. The last question is the mobility of the tank battalion. It's really hard to solve. The standard partial van is pulled by two war horses, and the speed of travel is about 80 miles a day. Much slower than the speed of the cavalry. A fast cavalry can run 200 miles a day. Of course, a little faster than the infantry.

Such a speed of movement means that the use of tank battalions must be focused on the main forces of the enemy during the period of the great war. To put it simply, it is used in decisive battles. Guerrilla warfare, sparrow warfare, sabotage warfare and the like are not suitable for combat vehicles. At the same time, the chariot had to be protected from sporadic Tatar cavalry at all times.

"Take your time!" Xu Xingxia could only comfort himself like this. You can't eat hot tofu in one bite, and you really have to work hard to improve the chariot battalion. Anyway, he had plenty of time. It is only the forty-fourth year of Wanli, and there are still four years before the Emperor of the Apocalypse ascends the throne.

Xu Xingxia, who came from later generations, always felt that the Apocalypse period was the last chance for the Ming Dynasty to save itself. During the Apocalypse, the Ming Dynasty still had the opportunity to reform from the top down, Liaodong had not yet been eroded to the point of being out of control, and the peasant uprising in Shaanxi had not yet broken out in full force. If there was no Wei Zhongxian, no Donglin Party, no party strife, and no emperor's inadequacy, the Ming Dynasty would have had a chance to rise.

In the early years of the Apocalypse, there were quite a few talented ministers. Xiong Tingbi, Sun Chengzong, Xu Guangqi, Zhu Xieyuan, Bi Ziyan, Li Changgeng and others are all talented. Sun Chuanting, Lu Xiangsheng, Song Yingxing, Yang Sichang, Chen Xinjia and others also began to emerge. If these people are used well, it is definitely not difficult for Zhongxing Daming.

…… The month of July passed quickly, and August came very quickly.

During this period, Xu Xingxia was basically tossing the chariot battalion. In the middle, he occasionally took time to write a letter to Zhu Yuzhi. There is nothing to do, just a simple list of the big and small things that have happened in Fort Weizhen recently. After sealing the letterhead, he handed it over to Wang Qinian. As for whether she can receive it, Xu Xingxia doesn't care.

The situation outside Fort Weizhen is like a pool of stagnant water, dying. Over the past month, the Tatar cavalry has raided the southern part of the town of Ningxia, causing great losses. Yongkang Fort, Xuanhe Fort, Shikong Temple Fort, Ning'an Fort and other places were all captured by the Tartars, and a large number of people were either killed or taken captive. Basically, the entire Ningxia Left Guard was destroyed in one fell swoop. There is a rumor that the water of the Yellow River is dyed red.

The entire town of Ningxia was shaken. The court was also shaken. There is such a big mistake, no one knows what measures the imperial court will take to deal with Ningxia Town, anyway, the interior of Ningxia Town is already panicked, and the undercurrent is surging. High-ranking officials from all sides are busy leaving favors and inquiring about news. The governor of Shaanxi, the governor of the three sides, is said to have also personally come to Ningxia Town. It seems that Ningxia Town is about to blow a strong wind and blow off many people's official hats.

Even if the Ming army is [***] internally, if such a major event occurs, someone will still have to take responsibility. As for whether it is the governor or the chief military officer, it depends on the game behind it. The town of Ningxia is more eccentric, it was originally a purely military town, and there was no governor. Later, the number of households moving to Ningxia Town continued to increase, and the contradictions between civilian households and military households increased, so an additional governor was set up, but it was under the jurisdiction of the governor of Shaanxi, which was a bit different from the governors of other provinces. Otherwise, the chief officer would not be able to defeat the governor at all.

(To be continued)