Chapter 62 62 Strengthen Firepower
The Ming Dynasty during the Jiajing period was truly a troubled period.
From the civil uprising in Lipu, Guangxi in the first year of Jiajing, to the civil war of the miners' uprising in Qingzhou, to the repeated violations of the border wall by the little Mongolian prince, as well as the pay mutiny caused by excessive oppression within the Ming army, and the intrusion of Japanese pirates, It seems that the entire empire is in a precarious situation and is besieged on all sides.
Especially in the 29th year of Jiajing, the Mongolian Tatar Anda Khan invaded the capital and completely exposed the weakness of the empire's military power.
Pushing forward more than a hundred years ago, during the Yongle period, the Mongol Tatars saw that the Ming army had not run as far as they could, so how could they have the slightest idea of attacking Beijing.
In those foreign wars, whether it was the Mongols or the Japanese pirates, the number of troops actually invested was not very large. In that case, Anda Khan brought more than 10,000 troops.
Each raid by the Mongolian Tatars ranged from a few hundred to two or three thousand, and it was over. They could capture a few border towns and loot them and then return home with a full load. However, the scale of the Japanese pirates was even smaller, with dozens or hundreds of people on the coast. They landed, plundered one or two coastal villages, and sailed out to sea before the local guards and government officials arrived, rarely engaging in battles with government troops.
They all came here for the money, whether they wanted to fight or not, whether they were officers, soldiers or Japanese pirates, everyone had the same thoughts.
And just now, Wei Guangde actually heard from his father that tens of thousands of Japanese pirates gathered along the coast. What are they doing?
The first war of aggression against China?
This was Wei Guangde's first reaction, but he soon thought that the Japanese pirates in this era were actually a nickname, a name for pirates. In fact, the absolute main force among the Japanese pirates was not Japanese, but Han people, so the term "Japanese pirates" was used. "Red scarf and red eyebrows" has a similar meaning when used as a metaphor for an intruder.
"If the Coastal Guard Station could fight, would it have urgently reported military information to Nanjing? This is a tremendous military achievement."
Wei Meng smiled bitterly and looked at Wu Zhankui.
Tens of thousands of Japanese pirates gathered together. If they were defeated, it would definitely be a great achievement, but for the current Ming army, who would dare to claim this credit.
"Who is the leader of the Japanese pirates? Does the higher ups know?"
Wei Guangde also knew that although he had never seen the situation in other health centers, he still knew a lot about the situation in Jiujiang Wei from his father and uncle. The health center was in decay and could no longer be used.
"Not sure."
Father Wei didn't answer. This time it was Wu Zhankui who spoke.
"It stands to reason that if the Japanese pirates were able to join forces, there must be someone who contacted them. Anyway, the news did not say who was behind the scenes."
What Wei Guangde can think of, others can naturally think of.
The Japanese pirates changed their previous way of robberies in small groups and began to try to join forces vertically and horizontally. Naturally, their plans were very big. The Nanjing Military Department, the Fifth Army Governor's Office and the Coastal Guard Station had all taken precautions. However, they failed, and the guard station had no fight. No matter how much you think about it, it is useless.
Since the guard post is not easy to use, then gather more troops and crush them with numbers. This is the method that the Nanjing Ministry of War can think of.
You assemble a large team of people, and I will also assemble a team. There are more people than you. Let's see if you dare to make trouble.
It is quite laborious for the imperial court to maintain an army of tens of thousands of people, let alone your small Japanese pirate group. It is just a waste.
"The news coming this time is that there are only ten hundred households in the guard station. Nanjing wants elite soldiers, otherwise they will not pay for it, so the other hundred households will not gather, so the two hundred households will be transferred The manpower will go over.”
Wu Zhankui continued: "The Ministry of War needs people to make up the numbers and elite soldiers. Fortunately, we have been training on hand. I guess we have passed this hurdle, but other guards may not be able to do so."
"How to say?"
Wei Guangde asked curiously, as if there was something he didn't know yet.
"This time all the garrison posts in South Zhili are mobilized, and each garrison must gather ten elite soldiers from a hundred households. The adults in the Ministry of War must have been disgusted by the incident the year before last, with teenage boy soldiers and pestles. The old soldier with a cane, haha
Zhenjiang Guard, Yangzhou Guard, Xuanzhou Guard, Anqing Guard and our Jiujiang Guard. In addition to all the guards in Zhejiang, those in the south of the Yangtze River and the Yangtze River are also mobilized. The guards in the north of the Yangtze River are also mobilized at any time. Be prepared to support.
It seems that except for a few guard posts near Zhongdu, all South Zhili must be prepared. That is only 20,000 people, and the formation is large enough. "
As he spoke, Wu Zhankui's face showed a look of disdain.
Due to their different positions, he naturally knows more about the situation than Wei Meng, and Wei Guangde is naturally inferior to him.
Those health centers are worse than Jiujiang Health.
The year before last, Jiujiang Guard could still provide more than half of its strength. What about the other guards? Less than half.
It is estimated that this time there will be ten hundred households in each health post, and this is also the reason.
"Uncle, I think you should bring all the bowl-mouth blunderbuss. That thing is for water warfare. It's only scary for land warfare. It's not very powerful.
If you really go to the north, don't bring it with you. If you really encounter Japanese pirates, it is still very effective to use that thing to smash the Japanese pirates' ships. "
This year, during military training at Bengshan Fort, Wei Guangde learned how to use a bowl-mouth gun.
When he first saw this thing, Wei Guangde thought it was for firing shotguns. He helped his elder brother to move it out and try it out, only to find out that this thing was actually used on warships. It used live ammunition to bombard the waterline of enemy ships.
When it comes to shooting loose bullets, the muzzle of the gun is just a small trumpet, which is not accurate at all. It flies around as soon as it comes out of the barrel, and the range is also short.
I don’t know who designed this piece of junk, but it’s actually made of copper.
In naval battles, it can only be used to bombard the opponent's deck during gang battles. At that time, shotguns did not require accurate aim, and the distance was also close.
"It's troublesome to transport. Besides, there's not enough gunpowder, so we can only stick to the gunshot hand."
Wu Zhankui still shook his head.
In fact, the guards allocate a little gunpowder regularly, but of course the guards below will not use it for military training. They secretly sell it for money and turn it into firecrackers set off during festivals.
This year, fewer firecrackers were sold because those two hundred households needed gunpowder practice. This also caused the price of firecrackers in Pengze County to increase by three points during the Chinese New Year this year.
"Bring it with you. Guangde said there are roads. If we go north, we won't bring it with us. Maybe we can get the Zimu Cannon. But for fighting Japanese pirates, bringing it with you is better than nothing. When the time comes, put it on the grain truck. Put two statues on a grain truck."
Although the bowl-mouth blunderbuss is not very powerful, it was often pulled out to fight in Bengshan Castle, in order to cooperate with the battle formation.
Just because he doesn't like the power doesn't mean that Wei Guangde doesn't know that cannon is the god of war.
At the very least, although the range was short, Wei Guangde still felt that after the enemy got close, he could mow down a large area by blasting a bunch of shotguns with a bowl-mouth blunderbuss.
It was precisely because of Wei Guangde's influence that Wei Wencai and Wu Dong actually understood his meaning, strengthened their firepower projection, and strived to defeat their opponents before engaging them in close combat.
Phobia of lack of firepower.
This is a disease that Wei Guangde saw in later generations. As for how to cure it, it is to build more cannons to make up for the firepower.
Wei Guangde didn't understand the firearms of this era, so naturally he didn't know that in the next few years, someone would come up with a small melee firearm, the Tiger Crouching Cannon. Its usage was actually similar to Wei Guangde's idea. The most ferocious group of enemy elite soldiers were killed.
Since you don’t understand, then adapt to local conditions and use whatever is available. Something is better than nothing.