Number of People

  Chapter 1698 Ren Zijuan One Step Ahead

  He Huchen finally received a letter from Feng Ziying when he was leaving the city.

  Receiving Feng Ziying's letter at this time made He Huchen feel more at ease.

  The letter was very long and the content was very rich. After He Huchen read it several times, he really understood why he was rushed out of the city by King Zhonghui to seize Gonghua City at this time.

The emperor's assassination coma, the threat of war that may be brought about by the rebellion of Xuanda governor Niu Jizong, and the significance of the Xuanfu army and the Jizhen army competing for time to control the capital inside and outside the city, Feng Ziying told in the letter without any concealment He Huchen.

  At this time, He Huchen realized that it was Feng Ziying who suggested to King Zhonghui to use the Beijing camp, especially the Fifth Army Battalion, and his own department would definitely bear the brunt of it. Feng Ziying naturally took this step into account.

The Fifth Army Battalion mobilized 8,000 troops, which is close to 60% of the Fifth Army Battalion that has just formed less than 15,000 people so far. This is He Huchen's suggestion to King Zhonghui, and King Zhonghui even hoped to dispatch Twelve thousand people.

In He Huchen's view, it doesn't make much sense for too many Beijing camps without combat effectiveness and combat experience to go out of Beijing, and it may even act as a drag. Just cumbersome.

  Instead of that, it is better to use my own 5,000 people as the main force and attach an army with stronger combat effectiveness and more cooperation.

  If these 8,000 people can't withstand a blow from the Xuanfu army, then adding another 3,000 to 5,000 people can't do it either.

   King Zhonghui finally accepted He Huchen's suggestion, eight thousand people, it depends on whether Gonghua City can be defended in this battle.

  He Huchen chewed over the contents of the letter repeatedly, and also realized the importance of this battle to himself.

If he can resist the Xuanfu army's entry into the palace in this battle, then his prestige will be completely established in the Fifth Army Battalion and even the Xinjing Battalion, and he will be promoted to other positions in the future, and even covet the three major battalions of the Beijing Battalion The possibility of the main general is not out of the question.

He Huchen didn't care much about this. What he cared more about was whether the five thousand troops, to be precise, the three thousand backbone strength plus the two thousand troops attached to them in the later period, would be able to get what they wanted after months of painstaking training. To achieve the expected power and effect.

  Professor Feng Ziying gave him the Spanish square formation, Morris horizontal formation and line salvo tactics. He Huchen specially organized a group of officers to conduct research and ponder, and choose the most suitable tactics for his own side.

  In the end, they came to the conclusion that the Spanish large phalanx is suitable for a situation with extremely strong troops, but it is not suitable for a situation where there are only 5,000 troops.

The Morris horizontal team is the most suitable to say that it uses ten teams to take turns to shoot, maintain the fire output, and then use the spearmen in the middle to provide auxiliary protection, but this also has a problem, that is, when facing the enemy's superior cavalry. The requirements for formation change are very high. The spearmen must quickly turn from the middle to the periphery to protect the gunmen. This takes time, and it is easy to disrupt the formation of the gunmen, which greatly affects the firepower output.

Line salvo tactics are undoubtedly the most advanced, but its requirements are higher, because its formation is thinner. disaster.

  Currently, He Huchen's department has completed the equipment of 2,400 ordinary musketeers, that is, matchlock guns, and another 300 heavy-duty musket guns (Musket) have also been equipped in place.

  In view of the fact that the eagle-billed gun is too heavy and needs to be supported by the gun frame, each eagle-billed gunner needs to be equipped with an auxiliary soldier.

The purpose of the auxiliary soldiers is firstly to help set up the gun rack, secondly to help complete a series of charging and filling process to improve efficiency, and thirdly, to temporarily replace the gunner when the gunner is injured or killed, and it is also regarded as a reserve gunner. Prepare your hands, accumulate experience, and when the new heavy-duty firearms are in place, you can immediately push these auxiliary gunmen to the front line as official gunners.

After obtaining 2,000 supplementary soldiers, He Huchen distributed them as 1,500 spearmen. This force is relatively simpler, because most of them are veterans who have experience in fighting with spears. 300 of the 100 people are arranged as artillery soldiers, 30 tiger squatting cannons can form a strike group, and the other 200 people are used as auxiliary soldiers, mainly for logistics transportation and support.

   This is also Feng Ziying's suggestion to him. To establish a new type of army that is different from the old traditional ones, the logistics support and transportation capabilities must be greatly improved, and a dedicated logistics support force is particularly important.

  However, this is all for later. It will not be achieved overnight if it is really established according to Feng Ziying's idea, and He Huchen is just a member of the general, and now he is not qualified to make such major changes to the military.

  As soon as he left the capital, He Huchen ordered his troops to speed up the march.

It is self-evident that the emperor and the Ministry of War attach great importance to the Xinjing Camp. It can be seen from the equipment of mules and horses. Thousands of mules and horses and a large number of carriages can easily carry all the military supplies needed by the army. The speed is greatly accelerated.

  As soon as you leave the capital, head west all the way, pass through Qinghedian, and you will be able to see Gonghua City in the distance.

  Qinghedian is the last market town west of the capital city, but if the army approaches here, there is basically no danger to defend.

This year's training He Huchen has never given up, making his troops completely different from the previous Beijing camp in terms of marching ability and morale. The pampered Beijing camp model should be treated, otherwise the failure of the Santun camp will continue to repeat itself.

  Feng Ziying even mentioned to He Huchen and Yang Zhaoji that when the Beijing battalion is established, it should consider taking turns defending the border with the frontier army, using war instead of training to maintain the combat effectiveness of the Beijing battalion and prevent the degradation of combat effectiveness.

  He Huchen also greatly agrees with this point. In his opinion, the old Beijing camp has not fought for decades and gradually degenerated, and eventually became a pile of waste.

The continuous march of more than one hundred miles was undoubtedly a huge test for He Huchen's troops. Fortunately, there were enough mules, horses and vehicles. Even so, more than a thousand people were still dragged behind in this march, but let What He Huchen was satisfied with was that the 3,000 backbone forces basically kept the formation according to his requirements, and never fell behind.

  Of course, the speed cannot be very fast, and you still need to constantly adjust and rest on the road, but you finally arrived at Gonghua City within the scheduled time of He Huchen.

  There is only one thousand households in the garrison in Gonghua City, and they have already been notified from Jizhen and the Ministry of War. It was just when they were anxious, and the arrival of He Huchen's department finally made these people feel relieved.

Together with He Huchen's department, Zhao Keming's department also came to Gonghua City from Beijing. This is also a department that He Huchen is more respected, but they are basically organized according to the old-fashioned Beijing camp model, with spears, sword shields, and cavalry. It cannot be compared with He Huchen's department.

  When the leading troops of He Huchen entered Gonghua City, they were still thirty miles east of Gonghua City, which shows the gap between the two departments.

  He Huchen has never been to Gonghua City, but the conditions of these other cities are similar. There are only two gates, and the Yu River passes by Gonghua City obliquely less than two miles ahead.

  He Huchen didn't dare to be negligent, and at the same time let his soldiers enter the city to deploy defenses and settle down. Everyone was exhausted during the march, but he didn't dare to rest.

  Invited thousands of households to inquire for a while, and made an understanding of the surrounding situation of the entire Gonghua City.

This official road comes from Longhutai, and there is a town called Hongqiao about 30 miles ahead, and the Red Bridge is less than 40 miles away from Longhutai. This is the main pass on this road. up.

If the Xuanfu army came over, it is estimated that they have already controlled Longhutai. Now Changping in the north and Baiyangkou and Zhenbian City in the south will not be spared. The safety of these two wings must be guaranteed by the Xuanfu army. This is for the generals The most basic quality.

I asked if there were scouts from the Xuanfu Army today, but this Qianhu didn't know anything about it, but he also admitted that during this period of time, soldiers on horseback often passed by the field, and some strangers came to inquire about the situation. If there is no accident These are all scouts from the Xuanfu army.

After learning that the water in the Yu River has risen a lot due to the autumn rain some time ago, if you want to come from the Red Bridge, you must pass the stone bridge in front, otherwise you have to cross the river from the Red Bridge, but the Red Bridge Crossing the river, Henan is full of wild land, which is extremely unfavorable for marching. Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for a large army to walk in wild land, which will greatly limit the speed of marching.

   "How wide and long is the stone bridge?" He Huchen asked as he immediately dispatched scouts towards the Red Bridge to see where the Xuanfu army had arrived.

"It's about three feet wide. This is the official way from Yanqing. It's about ten feet long." The Yu River is not very wide, but it's the late autumn season, and the flood makes the water much wider. .

  Although the scouts were sent out, He Huchen was still a little uneasy, but at this time it was dark, and the soldiers were exhausted, and they all looked forward to resting early.

According to the speed of the Xuanfu army's arrival and the information they obtained, the Xuanfu army stabilized the situation on both sides after they took control of Longhutai. There is a distance, but thirty miles is nothing to cavalry.

He Huchen thought for a while, and still gritted his teeth and gave the order, ordering one hundred hawk-beaked musketeers and three hundred fire musketeers to cooperate with five hundred pikemen to rush to the stone bridge of the Yu River in front. If what Qianhu said is true, As the Yu River swelled, this stone bridge could become a key point to stop the Xuanfu army, or at least bring a lot of trouble to the Xuanfu army.

  (end of this chapter)