"Shi Aiqing, there are three reasons for this," I explained. "First, because the strange army I mentioned will take one to two years to grow; second, if we act in advance, it may disrupt the relationship between both parties.
Rhythm, everyone knows that both I and Kublai Khan will bet heavily on Xiangyang, both hoping to eliminate as many of the opponent's fresh troops as possible outside Xiangyang City, and the number of people is so dense.
A concentrated battle will be more suitable for the display of the power of our firearms; thirdly, before the Mongolian army reaches Xiangfan, its domestic army can be deployed at will, and its cavalry is highly mobile. I am worried that Yunnan will not be able to conquer it before
, the Mongolian army will move south in large numbers, trapping our army there, and when the battle of Xiangyang comes, the Mongols will not have many mobile troops."
Shi Yanzhi thought for a moment and said, "What your Majesty said is absolutely true."
I continued: "After defeating the Mongolian forces in Yunnan, most of the troops in the Sichuan Military Region, Guangnan, and the Miao Military Region will exceed the Mongolian West Route Army in number. When the combat strength of the soldiers on both sides is equal,
Next, our army with greater numbers can take the initiative,"
Fan Wenhuan praised: "Your Majesty is so tall that no one has ever seen before. As the saying goes, when playing chess, you only need to look at three moves, but with this move, your Majesty can already see ten moves away."
I smiled and said: "Lu Aiqing, Fan Aiqing, your Military Academy and the Ministry of War have made a preliminary plan. First, let the Sichuan Military Region's institutional envoy General Gao Dao, deputy establishment envoy General Zhang Jue and pacification envoy Zan Wanshou know. At that time, General Gao Da will be under unified command.
Southwest Allied Forces,"
"Yes, I obey your order,"
"Then there is the Lin'an Military Region. After Yi Yinglei returned to Lin'an, he immediately carried out new tactical drills. The Lin'an Military Region currently has three military compartments. With the addition of the newly expanded military compartment by September this year, it will have four military compartments.
Okay, among the soldiers from the four compartments, I plan to mobilize the troops from the two compartments to follow me.
Going to Xiangfan, the other group was commanded by Yi Yinglei, plus a small number of Marines, forming a special coalition of about 15,000 people. They went north by sea, landed on the Shandong Peninsula, and penetrated into the enemy's hinterland.
The lower wing needs to divide its forces to guard Ryukyu Province, Jeju Island and Lin'an."
Lu Xiufu said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Yin only led a group of soldiers and part of the Marine Corps deep into the enemy's rear. Isn't the number too small?"
"Although the number of people is small, it can only be like this. There are two reasons for this. First, after Yin Ying Lei lands on the Shandong Peninsula, he will stay away from our country. Logistics and supplies must be figured out by themselves. If there are many people, it will be very difficult.
It is difficult to solve the problem of food and grass for the soldiers; in addition, Mongolia’s Eastern Route Army
They dare not act rashly. They must be ready to resist the attack of our Jianghuai Army at any time, and the Route Army among them cannot get away at all in Xiangyang. Therefore, as long as Yin Yinglei avoids the key defense areas of the Mongols, it should be fine.
I will make a decision after careful discussion with Yin Yinglei,"
"Yes, I understand,"
"My dear friends, after finishing the tasks of each military region, I will finally talk about the distribution of firearms."
"Please give your Majesty's instructions,"
"By the end of this year, according to the plan, the number of muskets will be approximately 25,000. Among them, in addition to all the Imperial Forest Army being equipped with muskets, I plan to transform one unit of the Lin'an Military Region into musketeers. In addition, we will have musketeers from all over the country.
The four thousand musketeers trained in Lin'an formed an independent firearms division on the spot, consisting of four regiments. Jiang Wanzai served as the division commander, and Li Long, the former chief musketry instructor of the Imperial Guard Army, served as the independent division instructor and accompanied the Imperial Guard Army in Lin'an.
Let's train together and station in Xiangyang in the spring of next year. As for the artifacts, about two hundred and fifty can be produced by the end of the year. In addition to the fifty units allocated to the Navy, I will set up a separate artifact unit. This force
It belongs to the Royal Forest Army. After it is formed, it will follow me to Xiangfan. As for the other military regions, it is enough to equip them with a hundred muskets in advance, so that they can adapt first. When the number of firearms is sufficient next year, they will be gradually equipped."
Lu Xiufu asked: "Your Majesty, why should the firearms troops be concentrated? Isn't it good to equip each military region with some evenly?"
"Lu Aiqing, the level of firearms in our dynasty is still in its infancy, and there are still many shortcomings. In terms of speed alone, if it is one-on-one, the musketeer's combat effectiveness is still inferior to that of a skilled archer. Therefore, Only when they are concentrated can the power of firearms be maximized. Unless the breech-loading gun can be successfully developed, it will be difficult to change the status quo. Artillery is an artifact. Although it is very powerful, its production process is very complicated, so it is also difficult to change the status quo. It is impossible to mass-produce. At this stage, we can only use quantity to make up for the lack of quality in the use of firearms, and large quantities will cost a lot of money. Therefore, I can only use the limited firearm resources to the extreme,"
"Besides, with the emergence of a new type of arms such as musketeers, the techniques and tactics of infantry will also change accordingly. For example, there will be a phalanx of matchlocks protected by spearmen and sword and shield soldiers, which is also a horizontal formation (i.e. a line formation). array (referred to as line array), or a column attack plus a skirmish line, or a battle group approach, alternating attacks by leaps and bounds, with scattered soldier tactics in between. At present, the musketeers in our Royal Guards are attacking Training according to the formation I imagined (based on the Dutch Morris Square), its advantages and disadvantages need to be verified in war. If the musketeers' techniques and tactics can fully adapt to the development of firearms, and be in line with the army's When all aspects form an indivisible organic whole, a complete combat system can be formed. At that time, it is time to promote muskets on a large scale."
I have always been personally responsible for the technical and tactical training of musketeers. The Royal Forest Army is directly under my jurisdiction. The Military Academy does not know the content of its training. The musketeer formations such as horizontal lines, columns and so on that I mentioned today are also the first among the participants in the palace. I heard it once.
"I didn't expect that the training of musketeers is also very complicated. I thought I just had to stand in a row and take turns raising guns to shoot," Lu Xiufu sighed after hearing this.
"When firearms develop to a certain level, it will be as simple as Lu Aiqing said, but it is not possible yet. Now we still need to rely on formations and cooperate with cold weapons to form the most effective attack."
Lu Xiufu seemed to understand: "I really hope that I will be a musketeer."
"Well, it should be quite a while," I said with a sigh and continued, "I am very poor now, and war is about fighting for financial resources. This is really true."
These ministers all know that the production of firearms is entirely dependent on the accumulation of money.
Jia Sidao suddenly answered: "Your Majesty, I have two suggestions that can alleviate the current financial situation."
"Really? Sir, come and listen,"
Jia Sidao said slowly and calmly: "Your Majesty, the Red Cross Society in Lin'an has outstanding achievements, and its funding comes entirely from donations from charitable people. Therefore, I think we can follow suit and let our businessmen, landlords and wealthy people among the people donate money. In the past two years, the economy of our country has developed rapidly, and the prosperity of the people has been greatly improved. As long as your majesty ascends to the throne and calls out, you will definitely get the response and support of the people of our country. Secondly, whether our country will Deposit certificates related to the war can be issued, with DaSong Yinzhuang as the issuing institution, and then repaid in years, and a certain interest will be given according to the length of time, so that it can obtain more income than depositing in the bank. ,In this way, a two-pronged approach will definitely be able to prepare a considerable amount of military expenditures,"
"Donations, war bonds," I looked at Jia Sidao with some strangeness.
Jia Sidao was also stunned for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, the name of this war bond is very appropriate."
Bonds are debt certificates issued to investors when governments, financial institutions, industrial and commercial enterprises and other institutions directly borrow money from society to raise funds, and promise to pay interest at a certain interest rate and repay the principal according to agreed conditions. Bonds have a longer history than stocks.
, the earliest form of bonds
It is a public bond produced in the era of slavery. According to documentary records, in ancient Greece and ancient Rome, in the 4th century BC, national governments began to borrow money from private merchants, loan sharks and monasteries. Whenever they encountered financial difficulties, especially
When a war breaks out, the country will issue public bonds.
I once asked Jerry Polo to learn more about various situations in Venice, including finance. Jerry said that as early as 1189, the Venetian government tried to issue bonds. When he left, the Venetian government had officially
Authorizes Parliament to include the issuance of public bonds within its legal scope.
Public bonds with modern significance began in the United Kingdom in the 17th century, while my country's public bonds started relatively late. It was not until the early 20th century that the Qing government issued the first railway bond.
I don’t know whether Jia Sidao himself or his staff came up with the method, but this idea must be advanced and feasible. In any case, Jia Sidao still has some content in his head, although this idea is used in many
It sounds like fantasy to people.
Everyone who attended the meeting could understand the word "fundraising", but most of them were military commanders and had no idea what bonds were. Although Jia Sidao explained it in detail, where did they go in a short time?
Be able to react.
But, fortunately, I understand.
Seeing that I was silent, Lu Xiufu asked: "Master Taishi, is this war bond really feasible?"
"Of course it is feasible," I smiled and replied for Jia Sidao, "the issuance of bonds will be a matter of time, Master Shichen."
"I am here,"
"Do you have a specific plan?"
Jia Sidao stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I just have a preliminary idea. This kind of bond is similar to people depositing their own money in a bank, but its income will be slightly higher than a simple deposit. Simply put, bonds
The essence is that the imperial court borrows money from the people and pays interest to the bond owners year by year, or returns the principal with interest when it matures. As for the detailed plan, I don’t have it yet.”