At midnight, lights were brightly lit in a tightly covered tent by the Yellow River.
Yang Fan and the generals in the Beijing camp were sitting cross-legged around a map spread on the carpet.
Yang Fan was surrounded by the commanders of various regiments and battalions in the Beijing camp.
When the Beijing camp set out, there were more than 80,000 people in total, organized into 22 regiments and a Chinese army. In addition to two cavalry guard regiments, the Chinese army also had more than 1,000 officials at all levels of the headquarters.
noble descendants.
According to the original name of the 12th Regiment Camp of the Beijing Camp, it was renamed the 24th Regiment Camp.
As early as during the training in Nanyuan, starting from the general banner, the chief officers at all levels were veterans of the Jia Ding Regiment.
As the war continued, the people sent by Chongzhen improved rapidly. Yang Fan gradually promoted them from Jingwei martial arts students to the position of deputy chief officer. Chongzhen was quite satisfied with this.
So far, Yang Fan has replaced all the commanders of each battalion with noble disciples of Jingwei Martial Arts. The servants have retreated to the position of military judge.
As for the eunuchs who came last, Yang Fan temporarily let them serve as supervisors. They should get familiar with the environment first. They mainly focused on studying.
After the eunuchs arrived, the people in the Ministry of War were greatly stimulated.
They wrote to the emperor one after another, saying that the logistics of the army was very important, and that the so-called three armies should go ahead without using food and grass. They requested that the accompanying officials for this expedition be also arranged to join the army, so that they could better serve the northwest war.
At this time, the emperor did not want to fall out with Donglin. He was still counting on Yuan Chonghuan to regain Liaodong. Therefore, he ordered Yang Fan to watch over the arrangements.
Yang Fan was also helpless. However, considering that Zhang Shize would soon replace him as governor of Jingying Rongzheng, he didn't care. Since the emperor has something to say, let's make arrangements.
As a result, each battalion and regiment level of the current Beijing camp has a distinguished general and a civilian deputy general. Other officers and assistants include a eunuch to supervise the army, a Jin Yiwei observer, a commander of the East Factory, and a Yang Fan
Zanhua (staff officer) who was promoted and came from the army.
The main reason why Yang Fan still retains one person he promoted is because an army must have at least one person who knows how to fight.
These praise paintings were selected from the night school of Yang Fan's army, soldiers with good academic performance and from low-level military families in the Beijing camp. They were trained by the military academy, which is also the staff trainee training team.
They systematically learned common sense about troop formation, logistics, training, intelligence reconnaissance, combat command, etc. There are not many of them, one in each battalion, and two to three people in each regiment. Yang Fan's Chinese Army staff group has
Thirty.
They are responsible for formulating combat plans, drawing combat maps, making sand tables, organizing and analyzing intelligence, and sending and receiving military orders and various documents.
During wartime, they put forward multiple sets of combat plans for the chief officer to choose. When the chief officer was hesitant, they were ready for consultation. Their official ranks were the same no matter what level they were in. They were all from a hundred households.
This is an insurance measure for Yang Fan to be responsible for the Beijing camp so that the Beijing camp can still fight without his supervision in the coming years.
At this time, their official ranks in the Beijing camp were considered to be mid-level.
Generally, a sentry team consists of a hundred people, and the chief officer is generally at the level of one hundred households.
The camp is organized into five hundred households, with more than 500 people, and the chief officer is at the level of one thousand households.
The regiment has six battalions and a regiment headquarters, with a total of 3,600 people. The chief officer is at the rank of guard commander.
Chongzhen planned in his mind that when Yang Fan took over the northwest and handed over the Beijing camp, he planned to rebuild the Beijing camp and tentatively designated twenty-five guards. He would change the twenty-two regiments into guards and add 2,000 men to each regiment, reaching one
The guard's 5,600 men were fully established. Each battalion under the regiment was expanded to a thousand-household camp.
The cavalry of the Chinese army was expanded to three guards. They were personally led by the minister of Rongzheng in the governor-general of Jingying and were used as directly subordinate troops. The other regiments and camps were headed by nobles' sons.
In this way, in addition to Zhou Yuji's chariot camp, a total of 36,000 artillery, infantry, and cavalry troops as the emperor's personal army, he also had the rebuilt twenty-five guards of the Beijing camp.
You can basically take control of the situation without worrying about your own safety.
The transformation of Jingying was something that the emperor never dreamed of. The current state of Jingying has at least returned to the level when Zhu Zhanji was emperor in the Xuande era. It has even reached the level of Zhu Di's era.
This was also because despite Yang Fan's growing power, the emperor felt uncomfortable and became increasingly suspicious.
However, the key to why he can still trust Yang Fan is that only Yang Fan has these abilities.
The emperor's standards for employing people are very simple. They have been two things since ancient times.
The first is loyalty, the second is competence.
But many times, it is difficult to find someone who is both loyal and capable. Then you have to choose.
At least Yang Fan was a solitary minister and did not associate with any forces. He had no background and a clean origin. And there was nothing behind his back. Everything was laid out in the early Ming Dynasty for everyone to see.
He wanted to mix it with sand and send noble disciples to the capital camp. Yang Fan accepted them all and was very happy without any hesitation.
After the Guihua City was captured, Chongzhen sent a large number of eunuchs, but Yang Fan didn't care. However, someone reported secretly that Zhang Shize was very unhappy and angry. He didn't give the eunuchs a good look.
Yang Fan assigned these eunuchs to the battalion and regiment levels, and asked them to cooperate with the battalion and regiment leaders to work as assistants. If they had merit, it would be better to share the profits with them. This won unanimous praise from the eunuchs.
Especially, they also got a share of the auction trophies.
In the secret report written by the father-in-law to the emperor, Yang Fan could not be more praised.
Since they have such professional ethics and will do things for their money, Yang Fan will not treat them badly.
Although Chongzhen was increasingly wary of Yang Fan, the emperor knew everything that Yang Fan did and what happened in the capital camp thousands of miles away every day.
Under this kind of organization with civil servants, Jin Yiwei, Dongchang, Royal Horse Supervisors, and honorable nobles stacking up their beds, there are no secrets at all. Everything is almost transparent to all parties.
Therefore, Chongzhen felt relatively at ease placing the capital camp with Yang Fan.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! His greatest hope is to defeat Monan and transfer the Beijing camp back. Deprive Yang Fan of his military power and let him serve as the supreme commander of the newly established Suiyuan Province.
Military attache. Served as the commander-in-chief of the Suiyuan capital.
Yang Fan deserves to be granted a marquis title for his contribution. Taking down Monan is well deserved.
Before sending troops, he made a plan.
Chahar and Jiannu were at loggerheads. As the saying goes, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain, and Lin Dan Khan could not spare any effort. But Khalkha was too far away, separated by the desert. They had suffered from severe drought in the past two years, and their strength was greatly reduced. And Eastern Mongolia was separated by
With Chahar.
Therefore, when the Ming Dynasty captured Monan, it was considered as meat in their mouths.
Chongzhen sighed, it's a pity, God's calculations are not as good as those of humans.
In today's desert Mongolia, those Taiji and Khan kings don't know what stimulation their brains have received.
They were all beaten violently by the Tatars and rushed to the Western Regions for more than a hundred years. Now they are actually shouting that they want to avenge their brothers in Monan. The Ming Dynasty will never be allowed to occupy Monan.
Moreover, the Choros family still responded to the call, including the Yarkand south of the Tianshan Mountains, the remnants of Alxa, the remnants of Mongolia in Qinghai Haihai, the Yongxiebu tribe, and even the seven tribes in Guanxi and Zasak Tuhan in Khalkha.
Hundreds of thousands of troops marched eastward. Now Jiuyuan City has become the front line of fierce fighting. Yang Fan and the Beijing camp army have been dragged there.
When Chongzhen heard the news, he was confused. Who can tell me the reason for all this?
Didn't they have a feud with the Tatars? Weren't they plotted to assassinate by the Tatars in the first place?
Wasn't the Choros family repeatedly ravaged by the descendants of Anda Khan and Dayan Khan? Didn't they resist for several generations before overthrowing the inheritance of Alatan Khan, the descendant of Dayan Khan, who ruled the Mongolian Mongolia?
Ming Dynasty avenged them. These ungrateful, repaying kindness with evil, wolf-hearted dogs.
He actually turned the other way and wanted to bite Daming.
Don't they remember the past when the King of Shunyi and his family, relying on the blood of the Golden Family, oppressed them? Don't they remember the history of blood and tears when the Tumote cavalry went to Central Asia to beat them up when they had nothing to do?
However, it is useless to say anything now. Their army has already arrived.
Jingying was dragged into Jiuyuan City and could not move.
Chongzhen never corrected his judgment on foreign relations even once.
From his wrong policy towards the Chahar people when he came to the throne to his current judgment on Mongolia's trends in the desert, they are all wrong.
Several horse lanterns were adjusted to maximum brightness, illuminating the tent as bright as day. Yang Fan's current arrangement was for the Buddha's dawn time, when the army would cross the Yellow River and attack the Yarkand Khanate's army.
Now, due to the obstruction of the Yellow River, the 30,000 Yarkand infantry and cavalry army is actually a lone army.
The Mongolian tribes in the Desert had no time to support them. The Seven Kansai tribes in Jiayuguanxi stayed on the west side of Helan Mountain to threaten the defenders of Ningxia Town from the flanks, preventing them from going north to attack Houtao and support Jiuyuan City.
Therefore, they were left alone in Henan. They only had 30,000 infantry and cavalry, and Yang Fan could mobilize the entire Beijing camp, giving him a two-to-one advantage in strength.
Yang Fan decided to make a time difference first.
He handed over Jiuyuan City to Tuan Lian for guarding. He led a 60,000-strong imperial battalion and a regiment of servants to forcefully cross the Yellow River and annihilate the Yarkand army before the siege began. This would frighten these arrogant Central Asian bullies.
The course of the Yellow River is shrouded in darkness.
There is no moon tonight, it is a cloudy day. Moreover, the howling wind obscures the sound of engineers building the pontoon bridge.
It was dark on the other side, and Mongolian sentries occasionally patrolled by on horseback from the river.
The camp in Wuli, Henan was even more dark, and everyone was sleeping. It was not easy to cross the river in this era.
They came here from the Tarim Basin south of the Tianshan Mountains, bringing with them a large number of sheepskin rafts. When they met a river along the way, they relied on this to cross the river.
This thing is very light, like a balloon, and is usually stacked on the carriage. When necessary, blow into it and tie the mouth tightly. Tie the sheepskin bag on the grid made of bamboo poles, and you can paddle across the river.
.
They arrived yesterday and camped the whole day today. In addition to the long march, they were even more exhausted. They didn't think that across the dangerous Yellow River, the Beijing camp could come and attack them without being discovered by their scouts. So they all slept well.
Very dead.
The three pontoon bridges extend little by little towards the north bank. The 60,000 Beijing Battalion has been prepared. As soon as the pontoon bridges are repaired, they will head straight to Henan.
In the big tent, Yang Fan looked around and sighed inwardly.
He is surrounded by noble disciples.
They are all the eldest sons and grandsons of the Duke's uncle's family. They are the first candidates to inherit the title in the future.
These candidates were appointed by Chongzhen. Basically, those in the Chinese Army were from duke families. Those who served as regimental leaders were all from marquis families, and those who served as battalion commanders were all from earl families.
Well, the Ming Dynasty was also an era of fighting for one's father. This era was about family background and rank.
The emperor arranged this to prevent anyone from being dissatisfied. Don't you know your identity? What family you are born into? This is arranged by God. This is fate.
The regimental leaders sit in the first circle around the map. Behind them in the second and third circles are the supervisors, Zan Hua, and battalion commanders.
This unit will be handed over to Zhang Shize. He is waiting for Zhang Shize to come back.
But Yang Fan is a little worried about how long they can maintain their current combat power after being handed over to the imperial court. It is said that doing good is like ascending, doing evil is like falling. Decay is very fast.
However, Yang Fan didn't care. He had never thought of controlling Jingying. He had not yet suffered from hysteria.
The emperor used him as the governor of the capital camp and military affairs for the same reason as when he used him to bring the Xinghe regiment to the capital to defeat the governor of Wei. If he couldn't find a suitable person temporarily, he would use it reluctantly. Once the matter was done, he should
Stayed aside.
Therefore, if Yang Fan has good things, he will never buy a house for Jingying.
The last time he defended the Qianhu Station in Hexi, he worked hard. In addition to training, he also spent his own money to purchase 500 armored carriages and 500 heavy copper-fired cannons.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! This cost him a lot of money.
In the Ming Dynasty, copper was money. A cannon weighed 500 kilograms, which equals 250 tons of fine bronze.
Gun metal is a copper-tin alloy bronze that was used to cast cannons in the old days.
Gunmetal is not like ordinary bronze alloys. There are three categories: brass, bronze, and white copper. The composition is: zinc 29%, tin 1%, and the rest is copper.
Yang Fan's gun metal is tin brass. Add 1% tin to brass to get tin brass.
Tin brass is corrosion-resistant in both seawater and fresh water, and is mostly used to make copper ship parts and cast artillery. The cost of this kind of gun is not much different from that of pure copper.
At that time, Yang Fan regarded the Hexi Guard Qianhu Station as his subordinate. Because according to the management, the guard system was hereditary. From now on, Yang Fan's descendants will automatically inherit Yang Fan's army and territory.
If the imperial court uses itself in the future, it will let this army go. This will cover up its true strength in private soldiers.
Yang Fan thought it was worth the investment at the time. After all, swords and guns are blind on the battlefield. He took it with him on the expedition, and without a turtle shell, fangs and claws, he was not worried about his own safety.
He didn't care whether he could win the battle for the imperial court, but at least he had to protect himself.
Due to the extremely long life of bronze artillery, the service life of bronze artillery often exceeds a hundred years, and many even exceed 150 years. Undoubtedly, the most important reason for the long life is that the casting cost of bronze cannons is prohibitively high.
Yang Fan did not even use the formula used by the United States during the Civil War. He used 80% copper, 1% tin, and the remaining lead, which caused the artillery to glow red.
The best formula is directly used. The copper materials are imported from Chile and imported from Chile in modern times. The quality is much higher than this era.
As a result, the emperor was very shameless and directly transferred his Hexi garrison of Qianhu to others.
As for the 250 tons of copper invested by Yang Fan and the labor costs, I will not talk about it in black and white.
250 tons of copper is not a small amount.
The Chongzhen Tongbao cast by the imperial court weighs 11.7 grams and contains five grams of copper. This is copper material worth 50 million yuan, totaling 50,000 coins.
At this time, 650 yuan was exchanged for one tael of official silver. Adding labor expenses and fire expenses, Yang Fan lost one hundred thousand taels of silver.
In addition to the armored four-wheeled carriages and pack horses, the armor and weapons of the soldiers, as well as the training costs, building water conservancy projects, allocating land to the families of military households, recruitment and settlement expenses, etc. Yang Fan spent another 200,000 taels.
Yang Fan said to himself afterwards, I was so stupid. I threw 300,000 taels of silver into the water.
Therefore, he will no longer spend his own money to equip the Beijing camp. He is just a temporary worker, so why should he worry about the boss? If the emperor needs anything, let the emperor purchase it himself.
Fortunately, Chongzhen also knew that you can't keep a sheep and keep shedding its wool.
In addition, he also earned 10 million taels of silver from selling goldware. For the subsequent construction of the capital, Yang Fan would basically get him whatever money Chongzhen was willing to spend.
It's just that Yang Fan reformed the military pay distribution system and changed it to Xinghe Bank. The money was not in the hands of the officers. It was directly deposited into the bankbooks of the officers and soldiers. This eliminated the bad habits of empty pay and corruption.
In addition, Yang Fan kept an eye on the military supplies and the canteen of the military camp to ensure that the food and supplies were actually used by the officers and soldiers. This was the only way to reverse all the unhealthy tendencies in the Beijing camp.
In addition, Yang Fan and Zhang Shize auctioned off the spoils of war to make up for the arrears of military pay over the years to the Beijing camp and the border troops from the four towns participating in the war.
And with money in hand, the Ming Dynasty's beheading reward was truly implemented. A real Tatar head worth fifty taels was cashed in immediately.
Coupled with the continuous victory to boost morale, the Beijing camp was finally reshaped into a combatable force.
In fact, Yang Fan doesn't want to waste time here anymore.
He wanted to free up his hands and use his own private soldiers to deal with Mongolia in the desert.
He was considering how to drive Mongolia from Mongolia back to the west of Hami, so that the Beijing camp could return as soon as possible. He could then take up his post and concentrate on building the outer and inner jackets, so as to firmly control the north of the Great Wall.
He wanted to give Mongolia a heavy blow first and make them recognize the reality.
If a temporary peace could be negotiated, Yang Fan would be able to accept it.
This matter depends on how it is done. Only by driving them away and returning the capital camp can Yang Fan escape from the emperor's surveillance.
Only then could Yang Fan let go of his hands and feet and enjoy himself outside the Great Wall.
If Yang Fan relied on his 100,000 elite cavalry and infantry troops, it wouldn't be too difficult to defeat Mongolia. It's just that he didn't want the emperor to discover his true strength.
His relationship with the emperor still needs to be carefully maintained, at least for a long time to come.
Jingying is actually an eyesore here. There are too many eyes here, and he is restrained, which is very uncomfortable.
Therefore, in the early morning of tomorrow, the army will cross the Yellow River and first annihilate the Yarkand Khanate's army.
Then quickly retreated into the city and faced a stormy city attack and defense battle.
Hold the city until winter. When the snow falls heavily and the cattle and sheep have nothing to eat, the desert-Mongolian coalition forces will have to retreat.
Next, Yang Fan can use his private army to first defeat Zhasak Tuhan and the Tuva people (Tangnu Ulianghai). Then he will attack the territory of the Oirat Alliance and eliminate them.
There is no need for Chongzhen to know about these things.
He just needs to know that the Oirat Alliance army has withdrawn. Just let him know that there is no war in the northwest. Of course, Yang Fan has to fulfill his promise to the master and send troops to escort him back to the snow area.
This is not difficult. When the time comes, we will send shallow-water heavy artillery ships and steamers up the Yellow River to Xining. Then we can use yaks to march.
As for the escort personnel, Yang Fan has already found them. It is up to Yan Yingyuan to lead the group training.
After the Jiuyuan City defense battle is over, let's see how many of them are left. Unify them into a few regiments and go to the snowy area to defend the country and defend the border. Let them start a family with the women in the snowy area and take root.
Yang Fan believes that with Yan Yingyuan's ability, he will definitely make great achievements in the vast world of snow areas.