Rise From the Humble

The way the Zhejiang army practiced firearms really impressed Zhang Jing and others, it could even be said to be shocking.

The Zhejiang Army launched an earth-shattering artillery bombardment first. As soon as the bombardment fell, nine rows of people lined up neatly and advanced forward. After arriving at the predetermined location, the first wave of three rows of people opened fire together, squatting, bending, and standing upright. After firing, they retreated to the last row to reload ammunition, and then the next wave of three people stepped forward to fire a salvo.

Wave after wave, like waves, continuous, the intensity of the firepower is jaw-dropping and shocking.

This kind of firearms training method was something they had never heard of or seen before. It was the first time in history.

All the Ming armies they had seen used firearms as auxiliary weapons and mainly used cold weapons. They had never relied on firearms as much as the Zhejiang Army. No, the Zhejiang Army no longer relied heavily on firearms. The Zhejiang Army was better than the Shenji. The Ying Geng Shenji Camp is already pure firearms, and the types of firearms used are also simple. Currently, there are two types of firearms, one is a new type of small artillery, and the other is a unified firecracker.

The general Ming army, no, all Ming armies except the Zhejiang army, are a mixture of hot and cold weapons. About 80% are cold weapons, and about 10% to 20% are firearms. There are also many types of firearms, including rockets, three-eyed blunderbuss, fire blunderbuss, thunderbolts, poisonous fires, divine fire flying crows, etc. Each type of firearm has its own characteristics. The uses of rockets are to rush into formations and set fires, artillery and thunderbolts are excellent for defending the city, the three-eyed gun and the fire gun are powerful enough to break armor, the divine fire flying crow can shoot three hundred steps, making the enemy terrified... However, all firearms They are all used in auxiliary functions, and cold weapons are still the mainstay in combat. Firearms are also mixed in cold weapon battle formations for limited use.

This is also the case when everyone practices firearms. Firearms soldiers are mixed into the army, together with spearmen, archers, shield soldiers, etc. Their status is the same as crossbowmen, and their tactics are basically the same. They use firearms to shoot. The long-range advantage is that it can be used as a long-range damage just like the crossbow. Once the melee comes, the firearms soldiers will either take a back seat with the archers and fire coldly under the protection of the melee soldiers. Or they will put down the firearms and directly use the cold weapons to become Melee soldiers.

It is precisely because the Ming army has always been like this that the Zhejiang army's firearms drills appear to be groundbreaking, and why Zhang Jing and others are so impressed and shocked.

After the wave of firearms lasted for about ten times, the field training came to an end temporarily, and the gunpowder smoke filled the air and was pungent.

"Zi Hou, what do you think of your Zhejiang army practicing firearms like this?" Zhang Jing turned his head and asked Zhu Ping'an.

"My lord, it's actually only four words." Zhu Pingan replied.

"Which four words?" Zhao Wenhua on the side asked Zhu Pingan with great interest, one step ahead of Zhang Jing.

"Without him, just use your strengths and avoid your weaknesses." Zhu Pingan replied.

Hearing this, Zhang Jing touched his chin, Hu Zongxian was also thoughtful, and the others obviously didn't know the reason.

"Zihou, please tell me carefully." Zhao Wenhua urged. He didn't know why. He was not proficient in military matters. Firearms were a relatively obscure category in the Ming Dynasty's military map. It was normal for Zhao Wenhua not to know.

"Sir, the advantage of firearms over cold weapons such as swords, bows and crossbows lies in their power. I carefully studied the current firearms tactics and found that all current firearms tactics fail to effectively utilize the power of firearms. They only use firearms as a supplement to bows and crossbows. , only exerting a small part of the power of firearms. I carefully studied the bow and crossbow battle formations, combined with the characteristics of the firearms themselves, and created the battle formations currently being practiced by our Zhejiang Army to maximize the power of firearms."

Zhu Pingan briefly introduced the reasons and purposes for creating the Zhejiang Army's firearms battle array. In short, it was to unleash the power of firearms.

"Well, continue." Zhao Wenhua nodded and tapped the armrest of the chair with his fingers, indicating that Zhu Pingan would continue.

"There are mainly two battle formations practiced by our Zhejiang army personnel, or one tactical battle formation. The tactic is infantry-artillery coordination tactic, that is, artillery and infantry fight together. This tactic has two points. One is to shoot with artillery first. , long-range strikes against the enemy. When the enemy's formation is destroyed by artillery and they fall into panic, the infantry holds fire cannons and charges to the effective range to fire, destroying the enemy's effective strength. The second point is that during battle, artillery also fires at the same time, and the range of artillery is farther than that of fire cannons. , artillery fires to support infantry operations, continue to suppress and attack the enemy's deep targets, continue to destroy the enemy's battle formations, kill and injure the enemy, and undermine the enemy's morale."

"Of course, since our Zhejiang Army is still familiar with infantry and artillery coordination tactics, and the artillery and infantry are still running in, we can only practice the first point at the moment. When the artillery becomes more familiar with artillery, operates the artillery more accurately, and has a better understanding with the infantry, Let’s conduct the second drill to prevent the artillery from accidentally injuring the infantry. Now the artillery is almost up to par.”

Zhu Ping'an stretched out his hand and pointed at the artillerymen and gunmen who were resting on the field, and said slowly.

Of course, achieving these two points is only a very simple infantry-artillery coordination tactic. It is considered a fixed infantry-artillery coordination. In the future, dynamic infantry-artillery coordination will need to be practiced. This also requires the infantry and artillery to be more familiar with it, especially the artillery, which requires more familiarity and accuracy, otherwise it will be easy to accidentally injure the infantry.

"Infantry and artillery coordination?"

After hearing this new term, everyone couldn't help but repeat it, and then nodded slightly, realizing that Zhu Ping'an was worthy of being the number one scholar. The name was really artistic, it seemed simple and easy to understand, but in fact it had profound connotations.

"This is a tactic, what about the battle formation?" Zhao Wenhua asked.

Someone muttered in a low voice, "It's just a row of rows. How can I see any battle formations?"

The person who whispered was either Zhang Bao or Wei Liangyi. Both of them were fierce warriors with a straight temper. They had just eaten at the camp and were suffocating in their stomachs. They didn't have the guts to contradict or belittle Zhu Ping'an in person, but they still couldn't bear it. He muttered behind his back to vent his dissatisfaction.

It immediately elicited a chuckle.

Zhu Ping'an looked at it as if he had heard it, and pointed at the neatly lined up soldiers on the field with a proud look, and said loudly: "The name of the firearms combat formation practiced by our Zhejiang Army is: Brave Discipline Formation. Only those who have both the courage and courage to meet in a narrow road will win." Such a battle formation can only be set up with the discipline of enforcing orders and prohibitions, both of which are indispensable.”

"Isn't it just standing in a row? You can just carry any two-legged soldier up there. It's too exaggerated to rise to the point where you need the courage to win in a narrow encounter and the discipline to follow orders and prohibitions."

Another mosquito-like murmur sounded, and you could immediately tell that it was the same voice just now.

Naturally, it provoked another burst of laughter.

Indeed, in everyone's opinion, the firearms battle formation called "Yongji Formation" practiced by the Zhejiang Army is not a battle formation at all. Although the murmur just now is a bit exaggerated, that is the fact.

Didn't the Zhejiang troops just stand in rows, move forward together, and open fire when they reached the ground?

How come it has anything to do with the courage of the brave to win when faced with a narrow road, and the discipline of following orders and prohibitions?

Master Zhu’s words are indeed a bit exaggerated.