After all, the military expenses exceeded Zhou Shixian's budget, especially after Emperor Chongzhen showed some unsupportive attitude, Zhou Shixian had to make reserves for possible accidents in the future.

After all, according to Emperor Chongzhen's character, he could not guarantee that twelve imperial edicts would come down by then, urging him to fight Duduo as soon as possible and cut off the food and wages of his army, or kill two birds with one stone and hit him.

He defeated the Qing army and then eliminated himself.

The emperors and ministers of the Ming Dynasty could really do this kind of operation that had their brains beaten to pieces by a bear.

However, with the "sponsorship donations" from the ministers in the capital and the princes of Nanjing, there is absolutely no problem for Zhou Shixian to survive this year and the decisive confrontation with Duduo. The rest of the matter may have to be played according to circumstances.

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When necessary, "Qingjun's side" is also one of the choices of the filial son-in-law Zhou Shixian.

But before that, he must clean up the court and prepare enough capable ministers to prevent political turmoil from affecting the recovery and expansion of the army.

Back in front of us, Zhou Shixian inspected Zhang Hong's Wu'an Camp, Wuyong Camp and Wuyao Camp on the north bank of Yingtian Prefecture, and then went to Zhenjiang Prefecture to inspect Ren Xuan's Jinwu Camp.

"Jinwu Camp" is the only pure firearms camp in the army. All battalions use muskets, and Zhou Shixian plans to equip this camp with all the flintlock guns and Lumi guns bought by Tang Ruowang, so as to catch the Manchus off guard when necessary.

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On the Huaixi Plain, the power of heavy matchlocks and flintlock guns was not comparable to Malacca's light matchlocks.

At the same time, every soldier in the Jinwu Camp was equipped with a Qi Dao and a short axe, and practiced the art of slashing with axes to prepare for any eventuality.

Although the other battalions also have musketeers, they all use Malacca-style light matchlocks such as blunderbuss and their improved versions. The most important thing is that the workshop can quickly produce them and the cost is low.

"Bang, bang, bang bang bang!"

On the shooting range of the Jinwuying school ground, groups of soldiers were training in volley fire. The choking smoke filled most of the school ground. The officers' orders soon sounded, and every musketeer was orderly firing muskets.

action.

"Get the match rope...the captains of each team check the fire...clear the fire door..."

The procedures for shooting muskets in this era were very cumbersome. There were more than twenty steps before and after. Even those experienced and extremely skilled veterans often needed more than a dozen operations. But they had changed the training code beyond recognition.

Use technology and experience to accelerate the completion of tactical actions.

Zhou Shixian, accompanied by Sun Hu and other officers, watched for a while.

Order after order was issued from the mouths of the officers here, and then the musketeers quickly executed it. Few people made mistakes, but of course some people inevitably had to eat another meal of military sticks.

Musketeers have higher discipline requirements on the battlefield. If they are not careful, they will be beheaded, because during this period, muskets rely on volleys. Once there is a problem in the team, the power of the volleys is likely to be greatly reduced, or even lost.

Function, this is absolutely not allowed to happen.

Therefore, during normal training, if someone makes a mistake, he or she will be given a military stick. If someone fails to obey orders when shooting, he will be punished as a handyman, and his monthly salary will be deducted and he will receive 80 military sticks, which will cause serious consequences.

Yes, it is a direct execution.

Zhou Shixian looked at the uniform movements of the soldiers and nodded with satisfaction. Sun Hu was really good at training musketeers, and almost all of the veterans he brought out were good instructors.

Zhou Shixian wanted to train the musketeers into robots on the battlefield, execute orders meticulously, and give the enemy the most terrifying long-range firepower.

At present, the assessment standard for musketeers is mainly the rate of fire rather than accuracy. Zhou Shixian and Sun Hu thought together. They both believed that musketeers should be allowed to fire as many lead bullets as possible on the battlefield to form a more powerful and dense firepower.

At the same time, the weapons testing ground is also working with this goal, constantly testing the most suitable gunpowder loading, and how to thicken and strengthen the musket to avoid exploding the chamber.

This is why Zhou Shixian wanted to separate the workshop and operate it himself, and he did not hesitate to invest a lot of money for it. It was impossible for the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty to complete such a task, and the muskets they made were fire sticks that exploded in the chamber.

In fact, it was not just the musketeers. Zhou Shixian organized officers to improve training drills based on the characteristics and battlefield functions of different arms, of course, mainly combat soldiers, musketeers, and cavalry, in order to "standardize the production" of soldiers. During this period, the West

Various military reforms are doing exactly this kind of thing.

"Standardizing" the military's training and equipment, "streamlining" the training of officers and soldiers, and establishing officer schools, recruit training camps, and supporting military academies, weapons workshops, and agricultural war reserve systems are what Zhou Shixian is doing and will soon do.

Things to do.

The entire system of the Ming Dynasty was rotten to the core. Zhou Shixian was just clinging to it and taking advantage of the situation. He wanted to wait until he was strong enough to make a complete revolution, and the army in his hands was his biggest support.

In troubled times, only if you have soldiers in your hands can you have power.

What you can't get on the battlefield will only be lost at the negotiation table.

Everything is just the dependence of a strong army.

After inspecting the "Jinwu Camp", Zhou Shixian went to inspect the "Wufen Camp" in Zhenjiang Prefecture. This is the only cavalry battalion in the army, and almost all the excellent horses in the army are concentrated here.

But even so, it's just one person with two horses, far from meeting the requirements of an elite cavalry with one person and three horses.

Fortunately, Zhou Shixian will only fight on the inside in the short term.

On the battlefield of this era, cavalry is still the strongest combat force. Unless the three arms cooperate in a "gun and artillery battle", it will be difficult to withstand the charge of the cavalry.

However, except for Zhou Shixian who stood on the shoulders of the times, no one else in this land could have imagined this kind of warfare. Even the European continent at the same time had not reached this stage after fighting for so many years.

After all, any method of warfare requires weapons and soldiers capable of performing it. It is because of weapons and high-quality soldiers that tactics can continue to improve, and the continuous improvement of tactics requires stronger weapons and soldiers.

Soldier.

Zhou Shixian, as a later comer, obviously expanded the role of the latter countless times.

Wu Xingye was also his old subordinate, and he was always reliable in his work. After Zhou Shixian watched the cavalry drill, he emphasized the training of the cavalry formation, and then left the "Wu Fen Camp" and went to Yangzhou.

Historically, Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing and others were eyeing the fertile Yangzhou. Now that Xue Laoer is here, although they covet it, they dare not act rashly. However, in their respective jurisdictions, all kinds of burning, killing and looting continue.

Zhou Shixian had long wanted to use this as an excuse to teach these military leaders a lesson and establish prestige.
Chapter completed!