In 1862, Han went down Baideng Road and Hu took a peek at Qinghai Bay.
The young and old men of the pirate group have committed a serious crime this time.
They are all kings and hegemons on the southeastern sea, and this is their first time entering the arid northwest desert climate.
Their faces began to peel, their lips became chapped, and their nasal passages even felt uncomfortable.
As soon as I took a breath, there was a clicking sound in my nose, and hundreds of people had nosebleeds.
The south is relatively humid, so regardless of skin color, skin is generally moist.
The humidity at sea is very high, and they are used to living in a humid environment. Now since leaving Gansu, especially after passing Xingxingxia, the climate has changed drastically.
It's dry here with almost no moisture at all.
In fact, luckily it's winter now and it's just dry and cold. If it were summer, it could make people die of dehydration due to heat.
They tried their best to apply palm oil on their skin to prevent it from cracking. Otherwise, the small cracks would be very painful.
Apply palm oil and then sheep oil to prevent freezing and cracking of the skin.
Last night, when they were camping, they gathered 15,000 dromedary camels from the Horn of Africa in a circle to form a camel city fortification. There were three concentric circles in total.
The pirate group was originally full, with more than 3,600 people.
Previously, more than 300 people were taken away by Mo Table to do private work. These people took the money from robbing Mo Table's enemies and fled back to the Southeast China Sea. In addition, due to the attrition of members for various reasons, the pirate group currently has only
Three thousand two hundred people.
However, they also bring two thousand militiamen, a total of four battalions of auxiliary troops. The battalion-level officers are all retired disabled veterans. They are rich in experience. The squadrons and squads are all officers of the militia at all levels, and they have all received accelerated training.
class.
These people undertook various chores, including patrolling at night, standing guard, guarding supplies, etc., so that the regular soldiers could be freed to rest well and maintain sufficient physical strength.
These auxiliary soldiers are also capable of fighting. They are all recruited by the militia.
The militia is organized at five levels: district, town, township, village and commune.
The district will usually allocate a battalion, the town will usually allocate a squadron, the township will usually allocate a squad, and the village will usually allocate a group. Community streets will randomly select a corps. Generally, there are
Several community streets are generally assigned to serve in turns.
The proportion of young men selected for training generally does not exceed 10%. The time period does not exceed one year, usually six months.
Now Yang Fan provides a large number of modernly designed metal agricultural tools and human-powered agricultural machinery. These equipment can be used by one or several people. The use of mechanical and lever principles is very labor-saving.
With these human-powered agricultural machinery, women and the elderly can farm, harvest, plow, etc. normally. Even if there is one less strong man in the family, agricultural production will not be affected.
According to the regulations of the Yang Mansion, men and women over the age of fifteen and under the age of fifty are obliged to serve in the military. They must spend at least four days for training every month.
Military training is generally carried out on Saturdays and rested on Sundays. If there is a busy farming season, the time will be adjusted. In short, military training should be no less than two full months a year.
They must also purchase a full set of weapons and armor for a strong man, including spears, sabers, steel crossbows or bows, daggers, heavy weapons, armor, marching equipment and military uniforms. At the same time, they must also carry axes, saws, and chisels.
, planes, hammers and other woodworking tools.
Because they do odd jobs, the most important ones are setting up camp and cooking. Without carpentry tools, they can't do it. If they attack a city, they have to make siege weapons. They even build pontoons, repair roads, etc.
Hu Qing is the militia captain of a village in Yang Mansion's territory. He is responsible for managing 230 households of farmers.
There are more than 370 strong men among these farmers.
This time, ten people were transferred and he was added to form an auxiliary group, a total of eleven people. After he went on the expedition, the original militia management and training work was taken care of by Deputy Captain Kong Dahui.
A lot of things happened along the way, including the arrest of the regiment leader Zhang Fengxian and even the nearly execution, the defection of more than 300 people, etc. Along the way, they camped, felled trees, made fires for cooking and boiling water, dug wells, and served animals.
Setting up tents, transporting baggage, night patrols, etc. are all their tasks. The work is trivial and complicated.
Auxiliary soldiers actually work harder than engineer soldiers, as they serve the main soldiers.
Because the only task of the regular soldiers is to go into battle, they must be well rested and have sufficient energy and physical strength.
All chores are left to the auxiliary soldiers, allowing the regular soldiers to put down the burden and fight with peace of mind.
Last night, their team was responsible for pushing down the camels, lying on the ground, and wearing blindfolds. Then they formed a circle to form a camel city similar to a city wall.
The terrain here is a five-kilometer-wide gorge. On both sides are wind-eroded landforms, soil forests, terraces, mountains, etc. There are some small lakes along the way, which can provide fresh water for livestock.
Therefore, this is the main trade route to Tingzhou (Dihua, Urumqi).
Ten thousand camels were pulled into a circle and surrounded the entire camp.
A total of two levels of camel cities were set up at the front and back. One mile and one outside sealed off the surrounding area of the camp.
In the middle area, a circular Chinese camel city was formed with 5,000 camels.
Now Li Ningguo, the military supervisor, Zhao Ting, the deputy regiment, and Hou Xian, the military police captain, form a three-person team responsible for commanding and managing the affairs of the third pirate regiment.
Moreover, the Human Resources Department of the Yang Mansion has sent a telegram asking Zhao Ting to act as the group leader.
Judging from this, Captain Zhang Fengxian will not be able to come back.
If Zhao Ting doesn't make big mistakes, he will soon correct himself and become the official leader.
Zhao Ting brought the staff of the regiment, and according to his habit, he came to check the situation of the camp at night. This is the responsibility of the deputy of the regiment. The regiment leader is responsible for commanding and making decisions on major matters, regardless of these routine trivial matters.
"Lao Hu, how are you practicing with the Camel Cannon? Are you proficient?" Zhao Ting said to Hu Qing.
"Don't worry, Captain, the people coming out of our community this time are all veteran artillerymen. Last year, the old and outdated artillery such as the Tiger Crouching Cannon and the Thunderbolt Cannon were decentralized to the village. Everyone in our militia can use it. Although this camel swivel cannon is a bit complicated, it can also be used.
It's not difficult." Hu Qing said, patting his chest.
Zhao Ting knew that Lao Hu had rich experience. He had fought against the rebels who came to steal wheat during the Jizhou mutiny, and had also fought against bandits.
Zhao Ting stood on the inside of the camel wall. These camels stand about 2.2 meters tall at the shoulders and have legs less than one meter long. When lying on the ground and used as fortifications, the shoulder height is about less than 1.3 meters, which is equivalent to the height of the parapet.
.The height of the head and hump is about 1.7 meters.
This height is enough to cover the infantry behind.
Every fifth camel in front of us has a 75mm camel cannon with a rotating bracket mounted on the hump.
This kind of camel cannon weighs about 120 kilograms. When firing, the bracket needs to be opened and the four legs supported on the ground to avoid damaging the camel's bones.
Because the camel cannon is a light artillery with low chamber pressure. The recoil is relatively small. After all, the camel can't bear it if it is too big. Therefore, the range is not far, usually within five hundred meters.
Yang Fan simply replaced the Camel Cannon with a Fran cannon. This breech-loaded cannon with a musket has a high rate of fire, but because the seal is not tight and air leaks, the range is short.
But putting it on a camel that can't withstand heavy recoil is actually an advantage. You can't charge more powder anyway, so wouldn't it be better to simply increase the rate of fire?
Zhao Ting patted the golden bronze Franco machine camel cannon and looked into the distance with emotion.
This ancient road has been the passage for the Han army to go west since ancient times. It is also the main route for nomadic people to enter Qinghai and Gansu. Since ancient times, conquests have been continuous, and the bones of countless soldiers are buried here.
"The poor bones by the Wuding River are like those in a spring boudoir dream."