When Guo Dajing saw the messenger sent by Liu Xingzuo, he had finished his inspection and was on his way back.
"How about we find a base to stay for a few more days, and then we can go back after that Founder is gone?" Liu Qishi guessed Liu Xingzuo's intention of sending someone to notify him, and put forward a suggestion tactfully.
Guo Dajing just pondered for a moment, then said with a smile: "It doesn't have to be like this. The person we are going to meet sooner or later is just an eunuch who oversees the army. Where can I be afraid of him?"
Liu Qishi looked at his brother, rolled his eyes helplessly, and said to himself: It's just because you're not afraid of him that accidents happen easily!
Guo Dajing's mind had opened up and he continued: "It turns out that when we were on Guanglu Island, we could give the imperial court some confidential information through Zhao Guang and the two Jin Yiwei. Now, there is no chance for this again."
"Without them, wouldn't it be the same if Mao Shuai performed the performance?" Liu Qishi shrugged his shoulders and didn't care.
Guo Dajing smiled and said: "It's different. Some information is not convenient for Marshal Mao to report. The eunuchs who supervise the army are close ministers of the emperor, so they can gain the emperor's trust."
Liu Qishi knew this sworn brother so well that he couldn't help but curl his lips, "What kind of information are you going to make up?"
"No need to make it up, there is just information." Guo Dajing chuckled, but it was a bit cunning and sinister.
Eunuch Fang, please wish yourself good luck, and don’t let my third brother be fooled to death.
Liu Qishi secretly expressed respect for Fang Zhenghua, but he still admired his brother for his cleverness.
Guo Dajing was trusting the horse and stroking his chin, and began to think about how to make good use of this square change.
Yawn! Fang Zhenghua, who was patrolling in Bisha City, sneezed for no reason and thought it was the mountain wind.
"If we set up camp on the top of the mountain, there won't be any shortage of water, right?" Fang Zhenghua wiped his nose and asked Liu Xingzhi, "Ma Ji lost his street pavilion and was trapped on the mountain with no water to drink."
Liu Xingzhi was a little amused, but he still explained his doubts seriously, "Eunuch Fang is very concerned. Our army has been prepared. There are mountain springs over there and there are reservoirs in the city."
"Well, well, the arrangement is very thoughtful." Fang Zhenghua nodded repeatedly, looked around, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion at this steep mountain city, "It is indeed a dangerous and fortified city that can be blocked by one man and cannot be opened by ten thousand people. It is enough to become the Nanguan Pass."
The barrier of defense.”
Liu Xingzhi smiled and nodded in agreement.
In line with the principle that talking too much will lead to mistakes, Liu Xingzhi could not figure out the temperament of the new eunuch, so he dealt with it cautiously.
"General Liu is General Guo's capable general. He went on several expeditions with General Guo and made many achievements." Fang Zhenghua looked at Liu Xingzhi and said with a smile: "Such a dangerous mountain city is guarded by General Liu. It can also be seen that General Guo
of trust."
Liu Xingzhi hurriedly bowed and said: "The last general is just the commander-in-chief, and I dare not call him a general. It is a blessing for the last general to go on an expedition with General Guo. I learned a lot from him."
Oh, Fang Zheng Huaxiang let out an exclamation of surprise and asked: "When it comes to joining the army and fighting, General Liu is an old soldier, and he is still before General Guo, right?"
"Having said that, you can't judge the quality based on the length of time." Liu Xingzhi was not hypocritical, nor was he lying. He was truly convinced by Guo Dajing's views on military reform and military theory.
After a pause, Liu Xingzhi continued to explain: "It's just like reading military books and tactics. Some have read them for several years, and some have only read them once. But when they have to lead their own troops in battle, it's not necessarily who is superior and who is inferior."
Fang Zhenghua thought for a while and then agreed with his jaw: "We have different understandings and mental differences. We really cannot generalize."
Liu Xingzhi finished his explanation and saw that Fang Zhenghua understood it, so he said no more.
"General Liu, that tall wooden tower is used to keep a lookout for the enemy." Fang Zhenghua pointed at it and asked with some confusion: "What is the red and green flag hanging on the wooden shelf sticking out next to it for?"
Liu Xingzhi took a look and said with a smile: "This is a communication signal tower built according to General Guo's idea. The sequence of red flags and green flags is changed to convey more detailed military information."
"How to convey it?" Fang Zhenghua asked curiously.
Liu Xingzhi turned to look at a young officer and asked: "Boss Zhang, come and explain to Eunuch Fang."
Mr. Zhang hurried forward, took out the code book from his arms, and began to explain to Fang Zhenghua.
The red flag represents "1" and the green flag represents "0". There are four flags in total, forming a code. Each code represents the meaning of a Chinese character.
For example, "0000" is "me", "0001" is "enemy", "0010" is "east", "0011" is west...
The wooden shelves have a total of four layers from top to bottom, which means that four Chinese characters can be expressed at a time; theoretically speaking, by constantly replacing the wooden shelves, information can be continuously transmitted to the outside.
"Because our army has telescopes, the signals on the towers can be clearly seen with telescopes at a distance of ten miles." President Zhang pointed into the distance, "Once the mountain city is besieged by the enemy, there is no need to send people to break out, and intelligence can be transmitted."
Fang Zhenghua's eyes lit up, he slapped his thigh suddenly, and shouted: "Wonderful, so clever. When listening to storytelling, cities are often besieged, and people are required to break through desperately to ask for help. If there is this signal tower, then
How can it be so troublesome?"
"Well, this also requires someone outside to respond and receive the signal." Fang Zhenghua suddenly said: "Bisha City is not as good as a flat city, so it is very suitable. It can convey complex information, and it is very convenient to have an internal and external attack.
practical."
Liu Xingzhi glanced at Fang Zhenghua in surprise. He didn't expect that this eunuch was quite smart and could think of so many things and could see the importance of this signal transmission.
General Zhang Ba bowed and said: "General Guo is only conducting experiments in front of Beisha Mountain City and Jinzhou Acropolis. If there are no problems, signal transmission lines will be built from Nanguan to Lushun and Dalian."
"Not bad, not bad." Fang Zhenghua nodded in praise, "The communication speed is much faster than the stagecoach transmission, right? Have you tried it before?"
Liu Xingzhi said: "It's more than ten times faster. But we also found some problems. We need to report them to General Guo and make some improvements."
According to the historical transmission speed of signal towers, it took more than two minutes to complete a message transmission over a distance of 230 kilometers.
This speed is not only ten times faster, but almost a hundred times faster. Moreover, the farther the distance, the more obvious the advantage of transmission speed.
It is still in the experimental stage, and Guo Dajing will make improvements based on actual conditions. For example, adding redundant bits at the end to prevent errors when receiving signals.
The most important thing is that this transmission system can transmit more complex information and is more accurate than beacon and beacon.
By using flags during the day and lanterns at night, and without requiring too high a speed, military information can be transmitted much faster than before.
"General Guo is so smart that he can have such fantastic ideas." Fang Zhenghua was quite emotional, and he seemed to have found the fundamental reason why Guo Dajing was promoted like a rocket in a short period of time.
Liu Xingzhi felt the same way and said: "General Guo's intelligence is one of the best in Dongjiang Town. Our army's repeated victories depend on this."
Fang Zhenghua nodded thoughtfully, glanced at Liu Xingzhi, and said with a smile: "General Liu is here to guard the isolated city. Aren't you worried about the siege or fierce attack by Jianlu?"
Liu Xingzhi smiled and said: "The general who is stationed in Bisha City took the initiative to ask me to join him. Naturally, he is not afraid and has more confidence."
Guo Dajing's subordinates highly praised and admired him, and his colleagues also praised him. This did not seem to be superficial perfunctory or some sophistication.
Fang Zhenghua became more interested in Guo Dajing and decided to go back to Jinzhou Acropolis and wait a few more days. After all, this was Guo Dajing's defense area and there were all his generals and soldiers, so it was more convenient to talk.
……………….
"Hu Duntu is no match for Huang Taiji, and he has lost the courage to confront him head-on. But the grassland is vast, and it will not be easy for Huang Taiji to completely defeat Hu Duntu. At least, not this year."
Regarding Guo Dajing's analysis and judgment, Liu Qishi agreed, saying: "In other words, Huang Taiji will withdraw his troops and return soon. Doesn't that mean that Jinzhou will usher in a war?"
Guo Dajing pondered for a while and said: "Whether it is returning early or late, the usual time for Jianlu to launch should be in winter, or maybe after the autumn harvest. Jinzhou is no longer Lushun, with a population of hundreds of thousands, and another year of harvest. The emperor
Tai Chi is unlikely to ignore it."
Liu Qishi thought for a while and said: "The two red flags were defeated and the blue flag has not recovered its strength. Jianlu should have troops from the five flags available."
Guo Dajing smiled and said, "Even if all the Eight Banners come, what's the point of fear?"
Now that Jinzhou has been recaptured and the vast majority of the people in Dongjiang Town have been resettled, they are ready to resist the large-scale attack by Jianlu.
The entire army of Jianlu came with only 50,000 to 60,000 troops. Dongjiang Town could also mobilize more than 30,000 troops, and it had strong fortifications and sharp firearms, so it was not afraid.
Guo Dajing now has a very relaxed attitude. If the Jianlu invaders copy the capital, he will go straight to Huanglong and smash their lair. If the Jianlu invaders come to attack Jinzhou, he will hit them hard and kill them with corpses everywhere.
In the past, Guo Dajing was still thinking carefully about how to protect Jinzhou without causing too much vigilance among the Jianlu captives and changing the military operation to plunder the capital.
Now, Guo Dajing doesn't have to worry about it and let nature take its course!
Fight when you need to fight, spend when you need to spend, do whatever it takes to hide your strength, make plans, make yourself use your brain too much, and even be a little timid, but in the end, you still don’t know what the result will be!
Of course, if Jianlu came to attack Jinzhou again and incurred heavy losses, they would probably not dare to plunder the capital, or they would leave a considerable number of troops to look after the country.
Guo Dajing has not yet thought of a way to deal with this. But there is nothing to worry about. There must be a road before the car reaches the mountain, and the preparations he has been making will always come in handy.
Regarding Guo Dajing's bold words, Liu Qishi just laughed and did not think he was bragging. On the contrary, even he was quite confident.
What's more, it is impossible for the Eight Banners to mobilize in full force. At most, the Six Banners can be mobilized, and if the Dongjiang Army is fully mobilized, the Jianlu will not have much advantage in strength.
The improvement in strength and combat power has caused a fundamental change in the combat between the enemy and ourselves. If it relies on solid defense and with the help of various firearms, the Dongjiang Army has been able to defeat more with less.
In fact, compared to the defensive side, this should be normal. Otherwise, why would there be "ten encirclements" in the military manual!
Of course, the gap in weapons, equipment and combat power made it impossible for the Dongjiang Army to fight a defensive battle with fewer enemies and more enemies in the past.
However, Jianlu's chariots, heavy armor, bows and arrows, and hand-to-hand melee combat, these tactics that were relied upon to win, have either lost their effect or are difficult to use, and are no longer a major threat to the Dongjiang Army.
The key still lies in the psychology of the soldiers. After several victories in the battle to aid Korea, as well as the defense battle of Lushun and the blocking battle of Xiaoheishan, the fear of the rebels was greatly reduced, and they dared to rely on fortifications to fight more with less.
No matter how good the weapons and equipment are, if you fear the enemy like a tiger, you will not achieve any results. The Guanning Army in western Liaoning is a good example.
As he spoke, he arrived at Dahei Mountain and saw the shadow of Besha Mountain City.
Soon, Liu Xingzhi, who received the report from the peripheral sentry, came to greet him personally and reported to Guo Dajing the situation of the eunuch Fang Zhenghua who had just left yesterday.
"We haven't met each other, but we can't help it." Guo Dajing didn't take it seriously and asked with a smile: "Xingzhi, what kind of temperament and temperament does this Eunuch Fang have? Is he easy to get along with?"
Liu Xingzhi scratched his head and said: "Eunuch Fang, he is quite peaceful and does not boss around. I don't know if he is pretending or if this is his nature."
"On our territory in Dongjiang Town, it's probably just an act." Liu Qishi came to the conclusion, rolling his big eyes, "After all, this place is no better than other military towns. Even the eunuchs who supervise the army don't have much power."
Guo Dajing was not sure, so he asked Fang Zhenghua in detail about his inspection in Beisha City. After pondering for a while, he said: "Whether it's just a pretense or true nature, we don't have much dealings with him, and it actually doesn't have much to do with us.
"
Liu Xingzhi thought so. The generals should only concentrate on fighting, and Chen Jisheng, the eunuch who oversees the army, would have to deal with it.
Led by Liu Xingzhi and others up the mountain, Guo Dajing asked about the signal tower and signal transmission experiments. After learning that it was pretty good, he was very pleased.
The signal transmission in Besha Mountain City does not require internal and external cooperation, but a method of communication between the main force stationed in the mountain city and the squad sent to harass.
The mountain city is located high up, so you can observe the surrounding enemies more clearly. However, the raiding team travels through the mountains and forests, and their field of vision is limited.
Through the changes in the enemy situation prompted by the mountain city signal tower, the raiding team can know where the enemies are weak and which road has more enemies.
Therefore, Guo Dajing also thought about this during his inspection and made appropriate improvements. During the experiment in Beisha Mountain City, he also discovered some minor problems.
"Shorten the words some more and compile them into Besha City's own code book." Guo Dajing came to the mountain, summoned relevant people, and expressed his thoughts, "Like east, south, west, north and other directions, as well as numbers.
expression, or the names of places and roads in the mountains..."
Mr. Zhang nodded repeatedly and said: "What the general said is absolutely true. If it is just a command and prompt, it really does not require so many codes. If it is less, it is best to express it clearly with a single signal, and it will be easy for the soldiers to remember."
A wooden frame should be able to hang eight layers of flags from top to bottom, which means eight characters.
"For example, 'There are enemies in the Northeast, five hundred people.'" Liu Xingzhi said: "Seven or eight words can almost explain it clearly. It would be more concise to mark the names of some small roads and hills."
Guo Dajing's eyes turned to the sand table on the table and said with a smile: "The sand table is almost ready. Xingzhi's work is done very quickly! As you said, you can code your own names and select soldiers who are smart and memorized.
Become a correspondent!”
"Eunuch Fang was full of praise for this signal tower, and he also praised the general for being extremely smart!" Liu Xingzhi said with a smile: "In this case, it will be more smooth to build the signal tower transmission system in Jinzhou."
Guo Dajing smiled, but didn't really care.
There is no urgency in the construction of signal towers yet. It doesn't matter if it is done sooner or later. Besides, Founder has no power or reason to stop this.
After talking about the signal tower, Liu Xingzhi reported to Guo Dajing on the addition and improvement of the mountain city's defense facilities.
Compared with flat areas and cities, mountain cities often have more favorable defense conditions.
First of all, on rugged and steep hillsides with obstacles such as stones, trees, and weeds, the truck is basically useless;
Secondly, the attacking enemy is limited to the terrain and cannot maintain a strict battle formation.
Then there are the rolling logs and rocks that roll down the mountain, which are more lethal than throwing them from the city.
"We can bring in more Fran cannons." Guo Dajing said with certainty: "The workshop can cast them, so there is no need to buy them from outside."
The Pine Cannon is simpler and easier to make, but it is less powerful and is rarely produced. In comparison, the troops prefer the Fran cannon with a fast rate of fire.
In this regard, Guo Dajing also weighed and finally decided to cast the Franco machine and not build the Hongyi cannon for the time being.
The air tightness of the Fran cannon is a flaw, but it also makes the casting of the barrel easier because the bore pressure is much smaller.
The imitation of Fran cannons has been in the Ming Dynasty for nearly a hundred years. It is not difficult. There are no technical obstacles and it is faster to build.
The three to five hundred pound Franco machine gun can be pulled by a horse with the gun mount and wheels. It will also be quite important for the army's field battles in the future.
The short range is not a problem. The bombardment of shotgun shells of about 100 meters is more powerful than the lead bullets of light muskets. Moreover, it is extremely lethal.
If it were replaced by a single solid bullet, it would be damaged if it hit the carriage, which would be larger than that of a musket.
Although weapons and equipment are advanced and lagging behind, how they are used is more important.
Just like the Franco machine was eliminated by the Hongyi cannon, but the flaws of the Hongyi cannon were also obvious. In Guo Dajing's view, the relatively light and flexible Franco machine was more suitable for the Dongjiang Army.
"More than a dozen prototypes of improved muskets have been delivered, and the soldiers praised them after trying them." Liu Xingzhi said: "The large-scale replacement should be very fast, right?"
Guo Dajing smiled and said: "We will try to complete the change of equipment before the autumn harvest, increase the number of light musketeers, and eliminate some pikemen."
"A musket equipped with a bayonet is different from a long gun in terms of fighting, and you cannot relax in the assassination training of melee combat."
Liu Xingzhi nodded vigorously and said: "According to your training plan, in addition to loading and shooting with muskets, there are also assassinations. Well, there are also field marches and disguised lurking."
"Our army must be able to defend and attack, engage the enemy in the wild, and be able to quickly deploy formations to fight." Guo Dajing emphasized seriously: "We must work hard to achieve this goal before next winter."