The thief of the fortress dominates the world

Chapter 387 Placement
The question of captives is indeed a big one.

If these captives were placed in Li Zicheng's hands, the way to deal with them would be much simpler.Adapt these people casually and send out some weapons.You can also hold a farm tool, a stick, or something in your unarmed hand.

no armor?That's even less of a problem.The armor of the Dashun army was scarce, and the only armor was used to equip the old battalion soldiers of Li Zicheng's direct lineage, as well as the personal soldiers used by the generals to equip their own soldiers. If there was any excess armor, they would be given to these captive soldiers.

Some people may say, didn't the Dashun army defeat and recruit many Ming army troops? Everyone in the Ming army should have armor, how could it be possible that there is only such a little armor.

This problem is actually easy to understand. In the early and mid-Ming Dynasty, the treasury was abundant, and military expenditures were naturally sufficient, and the soldiers were basically all in armor.

Because the cost of armor is not cheap, after all, it was made by hand in ancient times.One is that the technical cost is too high, and the other is that it is done by a craftsman from start to finish just like making weapons.

This leads to very low efficiency in the manufacture of armor, and the cost is even higher.

And even if they wear armor, they should first use the frontier equipment for guarding the frontier.For guard soldiers in many places, only some generals and officers and some soldiers around the generals are eligible to wear armor.

It's not bad for ordinary soldiers to have a uniform of a regular army.

In the late Ming Dynasty, the national power declined and the treasury gradually dried up.Coupled with the corruption of officials at all levels, the military expenditure will be even less.Not to mention the general guard soldiers, even the frontier soldiers can't guarantee that everyone is wearing armor.

Moreover, with the advancement of firearm equipment and power, the iron armor, which was heavy and poorly defended against firearms, gradually became unsuitable for the needs of the battlefield.

In this case, cotton armor and paper armor, which sound a bit unbelievable, were born.

In order to resist firearms in the Ming Dynasty, the cotton armor began to be lined with iron sheets and fixed with copper nails on the outside.The cotton armor of the Qing army was first seized from the Ming army, and later improved by itself.

Cotton armor is easy to make, cheap, and unlike traditional heavy armor that needs to be tailored, it is convenient for mass production, light in weight, and has strong protection against early firearms (shot wounds are not serious).

The method of making cotton armor is also relatively simple. Use 7 to [-] catties of cotton, put cloth in the jacket, sew it tightly with thick thread, soak it in water, take it out and lay it on the floor, and use your feet to keep it firm so that it does not become bloated.It can be used after drying.

In fact, most of the armors of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties that we see in film and television dramas are made of cotton armor.This kind of cotton armor has a better defense effect on early firearms, but it has a poor defense effect on cold weapons such as bows and crossbows.On the contrary, iron armor has a better defensive effect on cold weapons.

And paper armor, as the name suggests, is a simple body armor made of paper, which is made of hard cloth to mount the bones, and then used paper tendons to prevaricate.

Paper armor is light in weight and easy to wear. It has a certain protective effect against bows and crossbows, but it is useless against firearms.This kind of paper armor is generally used on soldiers in the southern region or navy.

However, cheap cotton armor and paper armor were not available to everyone in the Ming army at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Most of the soldiers in the Ming army wore mandarin duck battle robes.

Under such circumstances, it is naturally impossible for the Dashun Army to have extra armor to equip the recruits.

Moreover, Li Ziben himself used these recruits as cannon fodder.

Jiang Chuan's thinking is naturally different from his.As mentioned earlier, in Jiang Chuan's eyes, these captives are the source of labor and reserve soldiers.

What he wants is the complete return of these captives. No matter whether they are ordinary people or soldiers in the end, they must show their true loyalty and gratitude to him, Jiang Chuan, not the kind of cannon fodder soldiers who just want to survive and have no choice but to follow along.

After understanding Jiang Chuan's meaning, the three pondered for a moment, then Bai Shan said: "My lord, since this is the case, let's rectify here for a few days first, and according to the performance of the prisoners in these few days, we will send those who are willing to continue serving as soldiers and those who are not." I hope that the soldiers who want to return to the common people will be separated, and then according to their physical condition, those who are healthy and qualified will be kept, and the rest of the old, weak, sick and disabled will be dismissed. The remaining people will be sent back to Liaodong, let The military division went to resettle."

Di Qing and Shanjia also agreed with Bai Shan's opinion.

Jiang Chuan pondered for a moment before nodding his head and said: "Just do it like this. Another thing to remember is that during the screening process, a standard should be set, for example, men between the ages of 16 and 30, in good health and with normal intelligence will be included first. In the army, personal wishes are the second consideration. The rest who are healthy and able to work will be reorganized into civilian households."

"You, Baishan, are responsible for this matter," Jiang Chuan confessed.

"The last general obeys the order!" Bai Shan got up to accept the order.

"My lord, there are many women among the captives, how should we deal with them?" Di Qing continued to ask.

Although men and women are equal, in all the wars throughout human history, especially in the plundering wars carried out by nomadic peoples against developed nations, women, cattle, sheep, and property are all the same objects of plunder.

The reasons are naturally understood by everyone. One is to be the private slaves of those victors, and the other is that these women will be rewarded to those warriors who have made military exploits.

With more women, the tribe or nation can have more population, thus gain more fighters and become stronger.

Even to some extent, women made history.

Although for Jiang Chuan, who has received modern equal education, it is cruel to treat these captive women as reproductive machines and targets of plunder.

But he can't change this fact for the time being.After all, this is a chaotic world.What he can do now is to let these poor people who live in troubled times take shelter under his wings and gain more dignity and sense of security.

This is what he can do now.

As for equality between men and women, it is obviously unrealistic.

After walking around twice, he turned around and ordered: "For these women, those who are willing to go to Liaodong will be sent to Liaodong to be incorporated into private households, and those who are not willing to be resettled on the spot. Isn't there a lot of wasteland in the whole of Beizhili now, including The same is true for the vicinity of Tianjin Wei. These people are incorporated into civilian households and carried out according to the Baojia system."

"By the way, including the old, weak, sick and disabled among those men, those who are willing to be resettled on the spot will also be registered as civilian households."

Bai Shan took the order in a deep voice.

After speaking, Jiang Chuan deeply felt that the marching speed was too fast, so now he had to stop to digest and consolidate these victories.

Moreover, Liu Ji's civil affairs office should have been responsible for these matters.However, Liu Ji is now in Liaodong, and his subordinates still have a lot of work to do, and there is simply not enough manpower.

But he couldn't stay here forever and be entangled by these things.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Chuan turned to Di Qing and said, "General Di, you and General Bai Shan are in charge of the size of the Tianjin Guard for the time being. Bai Shan is mainly responsible for the distribution and resettlement of the captives. Overall, you can make overall decisions. Shan Jia, three days Afterwards, you will take your troops to follow me to the capital. Don’t worry about the Jinan Mansion, they won’t be able to escape.”

"The last general obeys!" The three stood up and took orders in unison.

(End of this chapter)