In October, Zhenshuo Fort was busy.

Inside the Zhenshuo Fort, there are a large number of military households who are rebuilding the Zhenshuo Fort, and the elderly, women, and children are also involved. The women and children who were originally stationed in Weizhenbao have all returned to Zhenshuo Fort. With 500 thatched huts, a third of the progress has been completed. Optimistically, if there are no surprises, the task will definitely be completed before the arrival of the harsh winter snowstorm. If everyone works harder, it is even possible to increase the number of thatched huts to more than 800, so that more military families can live in.

The construction of 1,000 houses is progressing more slowly, and it is estimated that it will not be completed until the end of next year. For the construction of thousands of houses, the white-clothed army is not in a hurry. Anyway, Xu Xingxia doesn't need an additional thousand-family house for the time being, and he can also handle official business in Weizhen Fort. Moreover, unlike other thousand households, Xu Xingxia has almost no chance to stay in a thousand households. The general clerical work is handed over to Yu Lijun, the deputy Qianhu, to handle it with full authority.

The four squads of the white-clothed army have also been transferred to the head of Zhenshuo Fort, paying attention to the movement of the field outside at night. The scout team led by Ming Hao even wandered around the vicinity of Zhenyuan Pass, discovering the enemy heading south at any time. At the head of Zhenshuo Fort, the red flag of the white-clothed army was also fluttering. In the Ming Dynasty and previous dynasties, there was no national flag, only the military flags of each army. And the military flags of each army are mainly pennants, and the surname of the commander is written on them.

Xu Xingxia specially designed a military flag for the white-clothed army. The military flag adopts the rectangle commonly used by the national flags of later generations, and the background color is bright red. In the middle of the flag, embroidered with a golden dragon. On the front claws of the wyvern, each clutches hold two sharp scimitars.

The previous golden dragon pattern, the appearance of the golden dragon, are all soaring clouds and fog, relatively peaceful, and there is no knife on the dragon's claws. Xu Xingxia felt that the original pattern was too peaceful and could not give others a little shock. The appearance of the golden dragon is depicted as ferocious, and after adding two knives, it looks much more vicious.

Such a military flag, Xu Xingxia gave it a name, called the Golden Dragon Dancing Sword Flag. In the past, the general dragon flag was a golden dragon and a pearl flag. Now, he has made a Golden Dragon Dance Sword Flag, but only with minor changes. After the Golden Dragon Dance Sword Banner was made, it fluttered high on the heads of Weizhen Fort and Zhenshuo Fort. The red military flag, in the open field, is particularly eye-catching, and can be seen from a long distance.

At this moment, Xu Xingxia was standing under the Golden Dragon Dancing Sword Flag, carefully observing the movements outside the city. Beside him, there were also Deputy Qianhu Yu Lijun, scout captain Ming Hao, fire gun craftsman Zhao Mengji and others, as well as the main members of the stewardship. Their gaze was equally nervous at the field outside. In fact, there is no movement in the field outside for the time being. But they all knew that a temporary silence would mean an even more ferocious outburst.

Xu Xingxia, who was standing on the military flag, had a somewhat serious face, a little expectation, and a little cold. In the past month, he has received basically not very good news. The Tartar Helkin tribe in the north seems to be moving again, and going south is basically a foregone conclusion. The situation in Ningxia Town to the south seems to be more complicated. In the town of Gansu in the west, a large-scale wage rush broke out, and I don't know if it will impact Ningxia Town. Anyway, there are already military households in Gansu Town who have fled to Zhenshuo Fort to settle down.

Ten days ago, news came from Ningxia City that Sawanna officially disclosed her identity as the queen of Khorasan, and Ningxia Town was shocked. King Qing personally represented the royal family of the Ming Dynasty and openly received Sawanna and protected her closely. Subsequently, the Imperial Court Rite Department, Dongchang, and Jinyi Wei all arrived one after another, and Ningxia Town was really lively. In the end, under the escort of Ariji, Sawana officially set off for the capital to meet the Wanli Emperor.

After Savanna's identity was revealed, rumors spread that she had been assassinated by someone with a heart. This person with a heart is vaguely Li Guozhen, the chief military officer of Ningxia. The rumors are vague and nowhere to be seen, but the influence cannot be underestimated. Originally, the situation in Ningxia Town was quite chaotic, and with the shadow of the assassination of Queen Khorasan, Ningxia Town was even more chaotic. The most obvious manifestation of this aggravation of chaos is the great increase in the number of fugitive military households in various health centers.

Of course, these things have nothing to do with Xu Xingxia. With the exception of a handful of personnel, no one outside knew of his relationship with Sawanna. Sawanna's departure has covered up all the relationships. Ningxia Town should do what it should do. All the formalities related to Xu Xingxia's own appointment as the representative of Zhenshuo Fort were also completed by Yu Lijun. He, the new deputy Qianhu, was originally in charge of this kind of thing.

"It's coming!"

Ming Hao said with a little excitement.

The people on the city tower looked at the field outside with more concern. After a while, I saw only a large group of men and horses coming from the fields to the south. There were infantry, cavalry, vans, and trebuchets, and there were three or four hundred people. The outermost part of this contingent was protected by cavalry. In the innermost part of the team, there is also a golden dragon dancing sword flag fluttering. This is the latest killer chariot battalion formed by the White Army.

After a period of training, the arrangement of the tank battalion of the White Army is already a bit eyebrow-raising. The whole tank battalion has a basic understanding of their job responsibilities. What they lack is proficiency. Today is the first simulated battle of the tank battalion. Xu Xingxia and the others, standing on the head of Zhenshuo Fort, just wanted to see with their own eyes how effective the training of the chariot battalion was, and what their ability to deal with in case of an enemy cavalry raid.

One by one, the side vans, pulled by the two war horses, slowly moved forward. Due to the restrictions of the road, the marching speed of the van is not very fast, and it is about the same as a person walking. On either side of the van were soldiers of the musketeers on horseback. During the march in peacetime, the musketeers rode their own horses to save the physical strength of the horses pulling the carts. In the event of an enemy attack, the musketeers immediately dismount from their horses and drive the horses into the side vans, which form a barrier against enemy bow and arrow fire.

Such an action, to be honest, is very simple and has nothing technical content. As long as you are not a fool, you can do what you are told. However, it is not easy to do well. The simpler the thing, the more difficult it is to do it well. An order is easier said than done. It must go through repeated monotonous training to achieve conditioned reflexes, and all actions can be completed without the command of the brain at all.

Nomads are known to be very good at surprise attacks. The infantry met the cavalry of the Tartars in the wilderness and was simply suicidal. However, in the plains, the distance of the Tatar cavalry may be three or four miles, and some may even be less than two miles. If the terrain is undulating, the distance is shorter. At the speed of cavalry, it may not take ten minutes to rush through three or four miles. The chariot battalion must change sides and prepare for battle in these ten minutes. If the distance is shorter, it will take less time.

"Da Da Da!"

The sound of horses' hooves sounded rapidly.

A detachment of cavalry appeared in the fields of the north.

This is the "enemy" cavalry played by the Xiao cavalry led by Zhang Quanfu.

Their purpose is to test the reaction speed of the tank battalion and whether it can meet the requirements.

According to the requirements of the exercise, the tank battalion had to complete all combat maneuvers before the "enemy" cavalry reached the designated position. If there is a delay, the tank battalion will be bad. If the chariot battalion did not have enough combat effectiveness, Xu Xingxia would never send it to the battlefield. He couldn't have given so much of his wealth to the Tartars!

"There are enemies!"

"Change formation!"

Chen Shouwang, the commander of the chariot battalion, hurriedly shouted.

The musketeers on horseback hurriedly dismounted and moved closer to the middle of the procession. The driver of the car connected the vans to each other in an orderly manner. The horses pulling the carts were also driven into the middle of the procession. The gaps between the vans were pushed and pulled by the fighters to plug the gaps as much as possible. After pulling all the vans together, the musketeers jumped on the vans and prepared to shoot out. At the same time, in the middle of the ranks, the artillery battalion also began to mount artillery. At this time, the soldiers of the Xiao Cavalry Army were only less than 300 meters away from the side van.

"No way!"

Xu Xingxia shook his head regretfully.

For the musket team, such a distance is indeed okay. If the Tatar cavalry had attacked from three or four miles away, the reaction of the chariot battalion just now would have been sufficient. However, for artillery battalions, such a speed was not enough. The ideal killing distance of the artillery battalion is about 500 meters. The distance is too short, and it overlaps with the musket, and it cannot maximize the power of the firearm, nor can it cut off the enemy's follow-up troops.

If you can kill the Tatar cavalry at a distance of 500 meters, it is estimated that the Tatar cavalry will definitely retreat. In the final analysis, when the Tatars were fighting, there was still a question of the surname-price ratio. The Tatars themselves could not afford to lose. If the losses caused to them by the White Army are very large, and they don't get any benefits, they will definitely not get entangled with the White Army.

Unfortunately, the Tatar cavalry had already reached 300 meters, and the artillery battalion had not yet completed the final work of erecting the guns, let alone projectile explosive packs. Based on the speed of the artillery battalion, it would take at least five minutes for the trebuchet to be deployed and fully ready for battle. In five minutes, it is estimated that the Tatar cavalry has already collided fiercely. Therefore, it is very necessary to significantly shorten the preparation time of the artillery battalion.

Of course, forcing the Tatar cavalry to retreat was not the best solution. The Tatar cavalry can't beat you, and you can't beat the Tatar cavalry either, and the military strength of the two sides still hasn't been compared. The Tatar cavalry is frightened and does not want to meet you, and you are in trouble. If you can't fight this time, you have to fight next time, and the longer the time drags on, the greater the cost.

(To be continued)