"Handsome man, this fireworks display is really amazing. Even from a distance away, we were all shocked and confused, even the horses under our crotches were frightened. It's amazing, it's really amazing." Zhang Guangda was obviously excited.
, he ate the horse meat and said carelessly.
However, Guo Yingxian was still brooding about withdrawing his troops early. He grabbed a piece of horse meat in his hand and said, "It's a pity that the Tatars escaped after all."
Although he was still a staff general in the Xuanfu Army, he was still a veteran general in the army. When Zhang Cheng was still General Qian, Guo Yingxian was already a guerrilla general.
What's more, Guo Yingxian is also the backbone of the generals in Xuanfu Zhenbiao!
After Xuanfu Town Marshal Yang Guozhu was killed in Songshan, the Xuanfu Town soldiers and horses who accompanied him to aid the Liao Dynasty temporarily attached themselves to the new Xuanfu Commander-in-Chief Zhang Cheng. However, after all, it was still young and the two sides had not fully integrated.
There is far from a tacit understanding and mutual trust.
Although they completely obeyed Zhang Cheng's orders in terms of military command, they were of a different faction internally. Naturally, they respected Guo Yingxian, who had the most military rank and prestige.
This is the old army faction in Xuanfu Town, and the generals of the original Xuanbei Army directly commanded by Zhang Cheng are regarded as the new army faction. The remaining officers and generals in Xuanfu Town are currently considered to be in the middle
Faction.
From Zhang Cheng's point of view, it doesn't matter which faction he belongs to. He believes that given time, he will be assimilated into his own camp. After all, who can survive in a system with clear rewards and punishments, safety and security, who wouldn't want to?
?
As for the other middle factions, as long as they don't cause trouble for themselves, Zhang Cheng will naturally not make things difficult for them and will give them the opportunity to choose freely.
Because Zhang Cheng also knows that there are all kinds of people in this world, especially those who have climbed to the powerful class, so it is impossible to make all people agree with him.
What's more, when it comes to taking sides, it is related to personal interests, and some local big families, as well as those military families, are related to the interests of the entire family, or even the entire clan.
What Zhang Cheng needs is not that they are of the same mind as him, but that they work for him without causing trouble, even if they are forced by his own powerful force, it doesn't matter.
As long as the armed forces in Xuanfu Town can be firmly in their own hands, other people and forces will not be able to cause trouble, and Xuanfu will not be able to overturn the sky.
Moreover, Zhang Cheng does not need to completely control all the armies in Xuanfu Town. As long as those few brave and capable troops are firmly in his hands and stationed in the town and other important places, Xuanfu will be in his hands.
.
What's more, he also controls the military production department of Xuanfu, which is the foundation of a strong army. Moreover, Zhang Cheng also hides a powerful intelligence department. They not only spy on intelligence and monitor officers and generals, but are also good at assassinations.
!
However, Zhang Cheng still has great respect for Guo Yingxian. After all, this veteran can be said to be his elder, but he still treats him as a brother.
He had always had a very good relationship with him, and he was very close to him, and he had always been very protective of him. Zhang Cheng also knew that he was still loyal to him because of his more straightforward personality.
At that moment, he spoke to persuade: "General Guo, there is no need to be upset. In today's battle, our army defeated the slave thieves and beheaded more people than ever before. We even killed the puppet king Duduo, the younger brother of the slave chief Hong Tai, in one fell swoop. This is unprecedented.
Unprecedented miraculous achievements should indeed be publicized and celebrated with great fanfare.
However, although the slave thieves were defeated, they still had some remaining strength, and our soldiers had traveled a long way to come back for reinforcements. They were exhausted after repeated bloody battles, and now suffered heavy casualties. It was not appropriate to pursue the slave thieves.
What's more, the road ahead is blocked by poisonous smoke. If you take a detour and delay, you can only hope that the enemy will flee and it will be useless to pursue. General Guo need not worry about this. He will march outside the slave bandit camp tomorrow and attack Chen Zheng from both inside and outside.
Just quit slavery in one fell swoop!"
Zhang Guangda and Guo Yingxian have known each other for a long time and have similar temperaments. They have been getting along harmoniously these days. He also tried to persuade him from the side: "That's right. General Guo, tomorrow I will ride with General Guo to attack the slaves side by side. We will definitely kill them."
I have to cry for my father and mother, so that I can let him know the power of my Xuanfu army and avenge our Marshal Yang."
When Guo Yingxian heard this, he said nothing and just hit his fist hard on the small table in front of him.
Zhang Cheng smiled, then looked at Zhang Guodong, the commander of the Chicheng Battalion, with a solemn expression, and said solemnly: "Guodong, the Chicheng Battalion fought hard today, but it also really established the reputation of our Xuanfu Army."
He then looked at the people in the military tent and continued: "In today's battle, our soldiers from the Chicheng Infantry Battalion fought bravely against the slaves. With their bloody courage, we fought hand-to-hand with the slaves and thieves and did not retreat for several hours. This is extremely commendable.
.
And it was our Chicheng Battalion that, with its extremely strong fighting will, resisted the attack of the heavy infantry of the slave thieves, and finally forced all the slave thieves and cavalry out, creating favorable conditions for our carriage camp to fire flying cannons."
Under the eyes of everyone, Zhang Cheng solemnly announced: "Chicheng Camp should be the iron camp of our Xuanfu Army, a model for the officers and soldiers in all camps, and the first contribution to today's victory over the slaves and thieves!"
As soon as Zhang Cheng said these words, all the generals in the military tent also cheered in unison and congratulated Zhang Guodong one after another.
Zhang Guodong also seemed to have realized something. He quickly stood up and went to the middle of the military tent, knelt down on one knee and said: "General Zhang Guodong, on behalf of all the soldiers of the Chicheng Battalion, thank the commander for giving the camp number!"
This time, it was Zhang Cheng's turn to be stunned, but he quickly came to his senses, laughed loudly and said loudly: "Okay. Let the secretary record it first. After our army returns to Xuan Town, at the celebration and commendation meeting, I will
You, Chicheng Camp, personally teach you the camp flag of the 'Iron Camp'."
The generals cheered and congratulated again, their eyes filled with great envy.
But in today's battle, although the soldiers of the Chicheng Battalion suffered heavy casualties, they also showed a strong will to fight. Everyone had witnessed the battle, so it was obvious to all.
The casualties of the Chicheng Battalion in this battle exceeded more than one-third of the number of soldiers in the battalion. Despite such a high casualty rate, the Tatars still refused to retreat.
Why don't you make everyone admire you?
Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, perhaps only the soldiers of the Xuanfu Army could do this!
Moreover, even among the various camps of the Xuanfu Army, I am afraid that not all are as capable as the Chicheng Battalion. The test is not just armor and equipment, guns and cannons, etc.
In addition to excellent armor, weapons, and cannons, the whole battalion also needs to be united, the general must have outstanding emergency command capabilities, and the soldiers must be well-trained, not panicking in battle, and able to obey orders.
Even among the Xuanfu army, only Chen Zheng's Monolithic Infantry Battalion is qualified to compete with the Chicheng Battalion in terms of combat strength.
However, Doshi Camp has a huge weakness, that is, it has few opportunities to go on expeditions and lacks combat experience. From this point of view, Chicheng Camp is well-deserved for its title of "Iron Camp"!
I saw Zhang Guodong, the leader of the Chicheng camp, cupping his fists and shouting: "The last general will take the order."
Here, just after Zhang Guodong returned to his seat, Lin Fangping, the leader of the Tiger Guard Battalion, said: "Commander, we have won such a great victory today. Should we report it to Governor Hong as soon as possible so that we can spread the word about our Xuanzhen army and horses?"
’s reputation.”
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the military tent echoed. Who wouldn't want to become famous? What's more, today's victory was the result of the concerted efforts of everyone here.
Naturally, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but chill everyone's hearts, so he immediately said: "Yes. When Fang Zhihai comes back from patrolling the camp, I will ask him to write a success report. Tomorrow, he will collect the information obtained by the sentry and report it to Governor Hong for his knowledge."
He went on to say: "Today, the flying cannons in the carriage camp showed their power. After that, our Xuanfu army has another battlefield killer!"
"You have to admit, these explosive bombs are really powerful. The ones that exploded with "vigor", don't say it's a Tatar. Even if the King of Heaven comes, it will be for nothing!"
When Guo Yingxian thought of the tragic situation of the Tatar cavalry being blown up by explosive bombs on the battlefield, he felt extremely happy in his heart.
He even looked at Zhang Cheng with envy and asked: "How did the commander-in-chief create such a powerful weapon? If our Xuanfu army has this weapon in the future, why should we fear the Tatars and their cavalry!"
Zhang Cheng looked at Guo Yingxian and said with a smile: "Flying cannons are not unusual at all. In fact, they are derived from poisonous fire flying cannons. In the "New Book of Jixiao", there is a kind of 'Sub-Mother Cannon', and its principle is the same as that of flying cannons.
Similar.
Weng Wanda, the governor of Xuanda during the Jiajing period, felt that it was inconvenient to carry the poisonous fire cannon, so he thought hard and finally miniaturized it, creating an iron rod thunder cannon that could be operated by one person, which is our kind of flying cannon.
gun.
However, later on, Mongolia declined, the nine-border warfare gradually decreased, the border troops in each town became increasingly lazy, the military was depleted, and deadly weapons such as flying cannons gradually became a dusty past."
When Zhang Cheng said this, he even sighed, and then continued: "Especially after I paid tribute, the border problems in the northern frontier of Ming Dynasty have been alleviated. Apart from small disturbances, there have been no major wars.
In order to deal with the small groups of northern rebel cavalry, the practice of privately raising "household servants" among the army generals in each town became popular. However, its disadvantages were also obvious. If the "surprise soldiers" were strong, the "regular soldiers" would be weak.
Since ancient times, the only way to raise an army is money, food, armor, weapons and other supplies. However, the cost of raising a servant is far more expensive than that of a regular soldier. Therefore, although the servants are strong, the regular soldiers are getting weaker and weaker.
Although it was more advantageous against the small group of northern rebels, once the situation changed and the rebels gathered in large numbers, it would be difficult to deal with it with just the servants. At the same time, the regular troops in each town were desolate and difficult to use.
Furthermore, most of my servants relied on their prowess and often abandoned their firearms instead of using them. As a result, many of my sharp weapons were idle or even decayed in the arsenal, not enough for use. This flying cannon has since faded out of the arsenals of various towns."
Zhang Cheng's words can be said to have exposed the military shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty, which was also a major problem that troubled the emperor and officials of the Ming Dynasty.
The solution was a series of reform measures carried out by Zhang Cheng on Xuanfu North Road. However, this method was feasible in Xuanbei, but it could not be replicated elsewhere in the Ming Dynasty.
This is just because inherent interest groups have been formed in various places in the Ming Dynasty. They are intertwined and no longer distinguish between big and small. They are only bound by interests. As the saying goes, one hair can affect the whole body.
Small landowners in various places often hook up with the county gentry and the county magistrate, and the county magistrate will hook up with the state officials, especially the tycoons in the county. They are more powerful and even often have something to do with the powerful people of the day.
Collusion.
Over the past two hundred years, the Ming Dynasty produced successive officials. After they became officials, most of them returned to the counties and villages where they were originally from and purchased land, thus giving birth to powerful families of gentry from generation to generation.
They have already formed interest alliances through various methods such as marriage and interest transfer, but at the slightest sign of trouble, they will stick together and fight back with all their strength.
Now, after more than two hundred years of operation, corruption is prevalent in the Ming Dynasty. The military is not repaired, the government is not upright, and the interest classes are seriously solidified. It is precisely the internal fighting that also includes this alliance.
Whether it is the current emperor or any emerging forces, once their inherent interests are threatened, the combined force formed by them will spare no effort to kill them.
Therefore, there are solutions, but there is no suitable solution.
The reason why Zhang Cheng was able to succeed in Xuanbei was not only because of the trust and support of the current emperor, cabinet ministers, and border ministers, but more importantly, because Xuanbei was one of the few solid military bases in the Ming Dynasty.
The so-called Shitu Guards Station means that there are no prefectures or counties on Xuanfu North Road, and there are no administrative officials sent by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The administration, taxation, criminal sentencing and other matters here are directly responsible for the local health stations.
manage.
Zhang Cheng's official position is the commander of the Kaiping Guards in Xuanbei District, and he has local military, political, financial and criminal powers, although there are also other restriction mechanisms such as supervisory roads and patrol patrols.
But most of them have become decorations and reduced to tools to fight for interests, and most of these officials are appointed by the imperial court. No matter who among the local powerful factions wins, their share of the interests will not be lacking.
Therefore, as long as there is no major incident such as rebellion and rebellion, they mostly adhere to the concept that doing more is worse than doing less, and maintain their status and interests extremely skillfully.
Just like Zhang Cheng in Xuanbei, recruiting troops, suppressing bandits, reclaiming wasteland, nuclear fields, household inspections, etc., even if he went too far, it was all allowed by the imperial court. Moreover, there was the support of the emperor, so how could they do it?
Ask.
Zhang Cheng used this to attack local military leaders, disrupt the intricate local network of relationships, and free up generals for his own use.
But even so, it was not until Zhang Cheng used the assassination incident to kill Xue Liangqing, the Kaiping Guardsman, and Wu Youlu, the Chicheng Guardsman, that he took the initiative. It was not until he further eliminated Zhang Guowei, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, that Zhang Cheng truly took control.
Xuanbei place.
Just imagine, how could this be done in other provinces and prefectures in the Ming Dynasty?
Of course, except for the complete use of force!
…………
In the Chinese army's tent, everyone was eating and chatting. Xia Shuncheng and Fang Zhihai, the governors of the Chicheng camp and the cavalry camp, returned from patrolling the camp. Zhang Cheng ordered them to eat some hot food first before discussing anything else.
Finally, Fang Zhihai was responsible for writing the documents reporting the victory, while Xia Shuncheng reported on the merit evaluation of the soldiers in each battalion today, as well as some information on the recent inspection of the camp.
Zhang Guangda and Lin Fangping resigned early. One of them was responsible for scouting outside the camp to prevent the enemy from stealing the camp, and the other was responsible for patrolling inside the camp to prevent the occurrence of camp roars.
Zhang Guodong also resigned in advance. He wanted to return to the camp to see the situation of the soldiers and inspect the barracks again in person.