Chapter 697 796 Review

In March, the weather in Beijing gradually warmed up, and the flowers bloomed one after another, turning the suburbs of Beijing into a sea of ​​flowers.

Today was the day agreed to go to the Beijing camp for inspection. Wei Guangde and Tan Lun met outside Deshengmen early in the morning and went out of the city to the Beijing camp together.

Because they were going out of the city, Wei Guangde did not take a sedan chair today, nor did he take out the long-idle carriage again. Instead, he directly picked a big black horse and rode off.

The same was true for Tan Lun. After all, he had been in charge of military affairs in Jiangnan for many years and was familiar with riding horses.

The two of them rode in front, and more than a dozen followers behind them did the same. The cavalry went straight to the Beijing camp in the northern suburbs.

Although horses are very expensive these days, especially this kind of rideable horse, and one is a cabinet minister and the other is a minister of the Ministry of War, whether it is his own horse or the horse prepared by the mansion, it is a military horse that can charge into battle, and the price of the horse is even higher.

In ancient times, horses were generally divided into two types: war horses and working horses.

War horses are of course those suitable for fighting. Usually, they are tall, strong and fast, suitable for long-term running and fighting.

Work horses, on the other hand, are of poor quality and can only be used for farming, transportation and travel.

The great unified dynasties of all dynasties were almost all completed by northern regimes with cavalry.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang unified from south to north, because the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty returned to pasture, and the main source of war horses was the horse breeding base in the south.

Therefore, war horses played an important role on the battlefield in the cold weapon era. In the Three Kingdoms, Cao Wei relied on its own strength to suppress Shu and Wu, precisely because it had the advantage of cavalry.

Wei Guangde and his group of people were all expensive war horses, and naturally attracted many passers-by in and outside the city.

But this is the capital after all, and there are so many dignitaries under the feet of the emperor.

Moreover, the second generation of the capital city in this era would inevitably show off in the streets, so the well-informed people in the capital city only took a few glances and found that these horse riders were dressed so poorly.

Compared with those second generations, Wei Guangde and Tan Lun were relatively low-key, and of course they would not be flashy and bright.

Although they were both wearing clothes made of Songjiang long cotton cloth, if you don't look closely or touch it, you really can't tell the difference from ordinary cotton cloth.

The horses stepped on the sea of ​​flowers and quickly approached the camp with wooden fences in front.

When the cavalry approached the Beijing camp, the gate was already open. The admiral of the Beijing camp, Chengguogong Zhu Xizhong, led the commanders of the Five Army Camp, Shenshu Camp, and Shenji Camp, Lin Qi, Wang Huaxi and others to greet them at the door.

The officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp may not know who Wei Guangde is, but everyone knows Tan Lun, the military governor of the Beijing camp, so when they approached, they were recognized and reported in.

In fact, Zhu Xizhong usually works in the Five Military Commandery and rarely comes to the Beijing Camp.

It is because of the Grand Review that he only comes here once a month to see what the soldiers trained by Qi Jiguang look like.

After all, if the Grand Review performs well, he will be proud.

If something goes wrong, although Emperor Longqing arranged Wei Guangde to be in charge, he, as the admiral, will always lose face.

Those people are all his subordinates.

When the two sides met at the gate, Zhu Xizhong bowed to Wei Guangde, while the other generals saluted.

After Zhu Xizhong introduced them, Wei Guangde told the purpose of this trip.

In fact, Wei Guangde and Tan Lun did not hide the news when they came to the Beijing Camp today. That day, they talked about this matter in the cabinet duty room in front of the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War.

That is why Zhu Xizhong went to the camp one step ahead today and made some arrangements.

You know, now the elite troops have been selected by Qi Jiguang for training, and the old, weak, sick and disabled are left in the front camp. It is really unbearable to not deal with them.

He has also seen the soldiers trained by Qi Jiguang, and they are much more powerful than before, so he is more assured about Emperor Longqing's review.

"Shandai, Qi Jiguang is really good at training soldiers. I have been thinking about the review these days. I come to see it whenever I have time. The training is really good."

On the way to the review field, Duke Chengguo Zhu Xizhong and Wei Guangde rode side by side and chatted casually.

"Are the 3,000 Zhejiang soldiers organized into a separate camp or mixed with the Beijing camp?"

The main purpose of Wei Guangde's coming here this time is to see the Qi family army and report the military appearance to Emperor Longqing. Therefore, what he is most worried about is that when the people arrive at the Beijing camp, they will be mixed with soldiers from other Beijing camps. In this way, the original Qi family army will not be seen.

"Originally, they were planned to be incorporated into the Shenji Camp. That team is familiar with firearms, and the Shenji Camp is the most suitable for them, not to mention that Qi Jiguang is the deputy general of the Shenji Camp.

However, in the military formation drill that Qi Jiguang envisioned, in addition to the troops of the Nine Border Towns and Liaodong Town, he also planned to use these 3,000 troops to conduct a separate drill."

Zhu Xizhong started to talk about what he knew, which was actually Qi Jiguang's idea of ​​the grand review scene.

In the military parade of later generations, the troops were formed into formations and passed through the review stand in sequence. The ancient grand review was actually similar, except that the troops did not march directly past the review stand, but had to display the battle formation in front of the review stand.

To be honest, such a review is much more beautiful than the military parade of later generations.

Of course, it also takes more time.

For example, the cavalry units of the Shenshu Camp and the Nine Borders had to practice tactical actions such as charging and archery in front of the review stand, while the Five Army Camp and other infantry soldiers practiced fighting in formation, and defense and attack had to be demonstrated one by one.

Of course, the most lively one was the Shenji Camp, where guns and cannons were fired simultaneously, and the photoelectric and sound effects were complete, which was very beautiful.

These were all said by Tan Lun and Wei Guangde, but Wei Guangde had not seen them in person, so he was also very interested.

After listening to Zhu Xizhong's words, Wei Guangde knew that Qi Jiguang was going to show the tactics of the Qi Family Army in suppressing the Japanese in Jiangnan.

Using soldiers to form countless mandarin duck formations to suppress the formation, and then using firearms to attack and kill, this is actually the mode of Qi Jiguang's army to fight.

Whether it is in Zhejiang, Fujian or Guangdong to suppress the Japanese, this move is always effective.

As for the mandarin duck formation that was passed down as a god by later generations, it was mostly in special terrains such as street fighting, and the firepower could not defeat the Japanese pirates and could only be exerted after they were close to them.

It is not to say that the mandarin duck formation is not powerful. After all, the Ming army always has an advantage in numbers, and they have formed large and small military formations to cooperate with each other, and the killing effect must be very high.

However, close combat is inevitable. Casualties, so using the mandarin duck formation against the enemy is definitely not Qi Jiguang's first choice.

However, when they arrived in the north, they found that the mandarin duck formation formed by the infantry was ineffective in the face of the charge of the enemy cavalry, and could not achieve the purpose of preventing the enemy from rushing into the formation. Therefore, they chose to form a chariot formation for defense, but they still relied mainly on firearms to kill the enemy.

The infantry in the complex chariot and chariot connection position were still trained according to the mandarin duck formation mode.

The enemy cavalry wanted to pass through the gaps in the chariot formation, and the horse speed naturally dropped, and they were no match for the infantry.

Wei Guangde did not go to the Beijing camp to rest, but went directly to the parade ground. He could hear the shouting and killing from a distance.

Such a battle of tens of thousands of horses was rare, and even Wei Guangde had only experienced it once, that was the battle of Ping'an Prefecture.

Soon, they boarded the generals' platform. At Wei Guangde's signal, they did not come here with a big fanfare, so as not to disturb the soldiers' training.

Only by watching secretly can we know the real level of soldiers' training.

On the generals' platform, Wei Guangde was a little surprised that he did not see Qi Jiguang here.

Logically, he should be watching the training of the army formation below and correcting any deficiencies immediately.

After asking the soldiers standing guard at the generals' platform, he learned that Qi Jiguang had stepped down and didn't know which battle formation he was in.

Wei Guangde, Tan Lun, and Zhu Xizhong stood on the generals' platform and watched below. Wei Guangde asked which troops the battle formations being practiced in various places belonged to.

No matter how the troops of the Beijing camp were mixed, they were composed of five military camps and five military formations, with five large flags in the front, back, left, right, and center.

The cavalry of the Shenshu camp was also divided into three thousand cavalry teams to practice charging and horse archery.

The Shenji camp was divided into two teams, one for the musketeers to demonstrate the five-stage shooting and the other for the gunners to demonstrate the release of the general cannon and the falconet.

In addition, the troops of Changping, Baoding, and Shandong will each have two military formations for practice, so a total of 27 teams will be gathered to demonstrate one by one.

That scene is spectacular just to think about.

"The training of the Shenji Camp is outside. There is no gunpowder being distributed now. It is just a movement training, so there is no sound."

When Wei Guangde asked about the training of the Shenji Camp, the right general of the Shenji Camp, the commander Lin Qi, came out to introduce it.

Qi Jiguang was transferred from the general officer of Fujian to the deputy general of the Shenji Camp in Beijing. In fact, it was mainly for training. The position was not high, which was why he had been seeking to be transferred outside.

In the Shenji Camp, he was not considered the boss.

It was just because of Tan Lun's relationship that the commander of the Shenji Camp, Lin Qi, did not say much about his drastic transformation of the army.

He was backed by a certain marquis' mansion in the capital, and behind the marquis' mansion was a certain duke, but he was still unwilling to have disputes with the senior officials of the Ministry of War, so he chose to cooperate completely.

Fortunately, Qi Jiguang knew how to behave. Not only did he give him generous gifts, but he also revealed that he was seeking to be transferred outside, expressing that he had no intention of competing with him for power and profit.

For Qi Jiguang, the generals of the Beijing Camp also liked him very much, not because of the person, but because of the money in his pocket.

When the Japanese pirates were suppressed in Jiangnan, the imperial court and local government not only offered high bounties, but the Japanese themselves were also valuable.

The Japanese swords that the Japanese used to use were mostly carefully crafted and could be sold at a high price in the Ming Dynasty. They also brought some Japanese items with them, which were rare in the Ming Dynasty and full of exotic customs, and could also be sold for money.

So the Japanese pirates were a moving silver mountain in Qi Jiguang's eyes, and the generals of the Beijing Camp regarded Qi Jiguang as a silver mountain. They loved to find him to drink and play when they had nothing to do. Qi Jiguang also accepted everyone, so the relationship was pretty good.

In front of Wei Guangde, there were mainly five military formations of the Five Military Camps, and one military formation each in Changping and Baoding. These people were selected by Qi Jiguang before.

Wei Guangde looked at it for a while and felt that it was not interesting. Although the military formation was very imposing, don't forget that he was also a military household. The exercises in the Beijing Camp, even the Jiujiang Guards, would be drilled several times a year, which were all common things.

It's just that the military pay of the Beijing Camp is higher, and the soldiers' morale is stronger than that of the original Jiujiang Guard.

"Let's go down and watch the drills of the Shenji Camp, Shenshu Camp and Zhejiang Army up close."

The good position must be occupied by the troops of the Five Army Camp, and the Five Army Camp, which is mainly composed of infantry, is indeed a better place to practice.

"Okay."

Chengguogong Zhu Xizhong didn't have anything important to do today, and he also wanted to see the current changes in the Beijing Camp, so he agreed very straightforwardly.

A group of people got off the generals' platform, and someone had already led the horses. Led by the generals who were familiar with the environment, a group of people rode fast to the distance.

The Zhejiang soldiers were actually nearby. After all, they were all infantry. The first thing that caught Wei Guangde's eyes was the Zhejiang soldiers. At first glance, they were in a league of their own with the previous five military camps and other military formations.

Watching the drills of the Fifth Army Camp from a high platform, the movements can only be said to be relatively neat, and can be regarded as orders and prohibitions. However, there is no harm without comparison. After watching the drills of the Zhejiang soldiers, even Zhu Xizhong, Wang Huaxi and others had to admire them in their hearts. .

At this time, the military formation of the Qi family was just as Tan Lun said. Behind the formation was a square formation composed of two thousand gunmen. There were more than a thousand bird cannons and dozens of small cannons pointing in one direction. Under the shouts of the team officers, A well-founded rotation position.

In front is a small formation composed of nearly a hundred or ten people. Under the leadership of the captain, they switch between offense and defense. The archers and gunmen in the small formation also raise their bows and guns in shooting postures from time to time.

The small formation's drills were done in their own way, and of course it was not neat, but the performance of the firearms hands behind them was what made their eyes shine.

"No wonder Zhejiang soldiers can win great victories every time when they fight against Japanese pirates. The soldiers defend and the gunmen attack and kill. As long as they hold down the position, no matter how many Japanese pirates they come, they will all be killed."

Wei Guangde confirmed that the Qi Jiajun's tactics were indeed similar to what he thought. The Qi Jiajun ingeniously created a small military formation like the Yuanyang Formation instead of the usual large army formation for large armies. It was indeed more suitable to deal with Japanese pirates who were like stragglers.

The Ming army's tactics at this time were still the same as when they fought in the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Swords, shields and spears formed the first line of defense to stabilize the position, and archers and firearmsmen in the rear killed the enemy from a distance.

Melee is not what the Ming army wants. It is a scene that will occur after the defense line is breached.

In later movies and TV dramas, the so-called war scenes in which thousands of people fight together are actually just tricks to fool people.

Once the formation is broken, the general army will be defeated if it cannot drive away the invading enemies in a short period of time and re-establish the defense line.

Because most of the people behind are archers who are not good at melee combat, they will often choose to run away when faced with the charging enemies.

This triggers a herd effect, and collapse is imminent.

The so-called strong army actually means how long it can withstand such an impact.

A strong army can quickly organize forces to seal the gap and quickly stabilize the front after the defense line is broken. This is also a sign of good training.

The military formation of the Qi Family Army was composed of countless small military formations, so if one was defeated, it would be easy to mobilize nearby military formations to fill the gap.

And because it is a combined attack technique, the remaining soldiers can quickly integrate into the temporary army formation.

The result is that even if the Qi family army is strongly dispersed by the enemy, the scattered soldiers will soon form a new formation under the leadership of the captain and deputy captain.

"The Qi Family Army is well-deserved, and this Yuanyang Formation is indeed exquisite."

This way of forming a new formation was not something that Wei Guangde could see, but the military formations exchanged comrades with each other from time to time during the drills. Of course Wei Guangde understood it after several times.