Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 404 Preparation
Everything in the tribe remained the same, and ordinary herdsmen lived their lives as usual. As the weather warmed up, the grass became abundant, and the cattle and sheep gradually became fatter. The herdsmen all had smiles on their faces. In their opinion, this year will be as good as last year. With the growth of the Tengger tribe, especially under the leadership of Zhu Shenzui and his wife, their lives are much happier than before.

But compared with ordinary herdsmen, Zhu Shenzui and his wife, as well as some leaders in the tribe, felt a sense of urgency. The grassland was sunny, but the atmosphere was heavy, as if a storm was about to come.

After making the decision, Zhu Shenzhui and Tana finalized the plan and began to make arrangements and prepare for the outbreak of war.

This arrangement was not only within the tribe, but also on the Ming side. This battle was related to the survival of Tenger, and Zhu Shencui absolutely could not lose. He had to make all kinds of preparations. Because of this, Zhu Shencui mobilized the new army in the Ming Dynasty in batches, and used trade to continuously transport people and weapons to the grassland.

By May, except for the remaining outpost of new troops in Zhaowuling that had not yet been trained, two battalions of new troops had all arrived at the tribe in small groups. With the arrival of these new troops, plus the weapons that were transported along with them, Zhu Shenzui felt confident.

Don't underestimate these two battalions of new troops. According to Zhu Shenzhu's optimization of the organization of Qi's army, one battalion of the new army has about 960 people, and two battalions have 1920 people.

In addition, there are some auxiliary soldiers. Of course, these auxiliary soldiers can be selected directly from the herdsmen of the tribe. The total number of people in the two camps reaches about 2200.

A mere 2200 people were not very noticeable in the Mongolian tribal wars that often involved tens of thousands of people. But don't forget that Zhu Shenzui's new army was no ordinary force. It was a new army built on the model of the Qi Family Army, and its equipment was better than that of the Qi Family Army at its strongest.

The new army not only had excellent leather armor, but also was equipped with more powerful firearms. Tiger squat cannons and Portuguese cannons were fine, but the fact that nearly half of the new army was equipped with new-style muskets was far beyond the reach of Qi's army.

The training methods of Qi's army and Zhu Shenzhui's new army were the same, and their tactics were not much different, but their firearms were different in terms of sophistication and power. After the yellow medicine trigger and revolver were successfully developed, Zhu Shenzhui's workshop in Zhaowuling started to produce them continuously for the past two years, gradually replacing the matchlock guns and bird guns that were originally used.

The new musket was not only easy to use, but more importantly, the impact of climate on firearms was greatly reduced. As long as there was no rainstorm, ordinary wind and rain would not affect the use of firearms at all. Moreover, the appearance of the revolver was an amazing invention. Compared with the three-barreled gun that could fire three times, this revolver, called the plum blossom gun, could be loaded with five rounds at a time and fired five times continuously. It was much more accurate and powerful than the three-barreled gun, and repeated loading became much faster because of the appearance of yellow medicine. Although it was still a lot more troublesome than later generations, it was considered very good in the current war.

Since the training of the new army, Zhu Shencui has invested huge financial resources and energy in this army. Not to mention other things, the amount of money spent on the new army alone is terrifying.

It was fine at first, after all, there were less than a handful of soldiers at that time. However, with Zhu Shenzhui's decision to expand the new army the year before last, the financial investment has skyrocketed. Now, the annual basic cost of maintaining these two battalions of new troops is at least more than 200,000 taels of silver, not to mention the weapons and equipment of the new army. If these are included, the cost will double.

Fortunately, Zhu Shenzui had some family background, and he made a lot of money from the private salt trade in the Ming Dynasty. Later, due to the development of bilateral trade, he gained huge wealth through Hengtong Trading Company and Tengger Tribe.

But even so, such huge expenses were a bit too much for Zhu Shencui to bear. In desperation, Zhu Shencui could only modify the original plan of training four battalions of new troops, first making it two battalions, and then training a sentry as a reserve, waiting for an opportunity to expand the army in the future.

All of this is due to financial reasons. Although the current financial resources can still support it, since Zhou Anmin handed over the trading rights, the trade between Ming Dynasty and the tribe has actually entered a countdown state. I am afraid that it will not be long before bilateral trade will stop.

Before coming to the grassland, Hengtong Commercial Bank had already begun to gradually withdraw from the leading role of bilateral trade, and turned its business to bill bank finance, no longer using bilateral trade as its main means. Therefore, bilateral trade has now come to an end. Although the tribe is still continuing, it is no longer as good as before in terms of trade volume and profit.

In addition, the purchase and stockpiling of large quantities of grain also requires silver. This matter cannot be taken lightly. Without grain, even if Zhu Shenzhui's new army is strong, it will not be able to survive. Moreover, there are signs of famine in various parts of the Ming Dynasty. Once continued natural disasters come and grain production decreases, it will be difficult to find ways to purchase grain. If we don't stockpile more grain now, we will have no chance by then.

In addition to the two new battalions, the Mongolian cavalry of the tribe was also ready. The Tengger tribe is no longer what it used to be. If the troops were to be drawn according to the population, a cavalry force of more than 20,000 could be organized at most. But Zhu Shenzhu did not intend to do so. Soldiers are more valuable than quantity. Not to mention that the more than 20,000 cavalry are of varying quality, which would affect the overall combat effectiveness once a fight breaks out. Moreover, the logistics required for more than 20,000 cavalry is extremely huge, even though the Mongolians fight differently from the Han people, mainly relying on looting and carrying cattle and sheep as consumption.

But even so, such a large cavalry force would still bring great pressure to logistics. In addition, Zhu Shencui's tactics and combat methods were different from those of traditional Mongols, and he did not blindly demand more cavalry. Therefore, after careful consideration, Zhu Shencui decided to select about 10,000 elite cavalry to ensure strong combat effectiveness and flexible command.

Along with the new army came not only the leading officers, but also the kid Wang Jinwu.

Seeing Wang Jinwu smiling in front of him, Zhu Shenzhui was immediately surprised. Why did this guy come here when he was not at home with his wife and children? He did not ask him to come, so how did he know?
But when he saw Lu Yisheng and Hu Lin standing aside with an unnatural look, and Li You with an awkward smile, he knew it! No need to ask any more questions, these guys must have spread the news, especially Li You. This guy is Wang Jinwu's disciple. After returning to Daming, he went to Zhaowuling to lead the troops. He often stayed in Zhaowuling in the past two years and visited Wang Jinwu in Pingshun from time to time. Maybe he accidentally let it slip when he set out this time. Wang Jinwu was not a quiet person. How could he sit still when he heard that there was going to be a war in Mongolia? Naturally, he ran over.

"You brat!" After glaring at him, Zhu Shenzhui was about to scold him, but Wang Jinwu approached him with a playful smile before he finished half of his scolding: "Don't worry, Sixth Brother, everything is settled at home. Your sister-in-law and nephew are being taken care of at home, so they will be fine. Besides, I told my father before I came out, and my father, your uncle, also agreed to let me come. As the saying goes, fathers and sons fight together in battle, and brothers fight together. How can I, as a younger brother, stand by and watch such a big event? Besides, it's a good thing for you if I come to help you!"

Zhu Shenzhu was stunned by what he said. He looked at Wang Jinwu and asked if his uncle and his sister-in-law had really made arrangements? Did his uncle have any objection?

Wang Jinwu patted his chest and promised that he would never lie to him. If he didn't believe him, he could write back and ask. Besides, how could he dare to hide such a big thing? Besides, he was here, so he should stay. He had been bored at home for almost two years. He was almost ruined. Now that he had a son, he should be allowed to come to the grassland to get some fresh air, right?
Zhu Shenzhui was so amused and scolded him that he had no choice but to keep him.

Just as Wang Jinwu said, since he's here, we can't send him back from such a long distance, right? Besides, now is the time to use people. Although the new army has promoted officers, these basic officers are inexperienced after all. Don't forget that Wang Jinwu personally trained the new army and led the new army to fight several battles.

When it comes to familiarity with the new army and command of tactics, no one dares to say Wang Jinwu is second to none. What's more, Wang Jinwu is indeed a fierce general and extremely ferocious on the battlefield. With him around, the war would be more confident once it started, so Zhu Shenzui could only acquiesce to this matter.

Besides them, the old military leader Lao Jin, who was in charge of training, also came along. According to Lao Jin, how could Zhu Shenzhui fight against the Mongols without an old soldier like him? He had fought against the Mongols many times when he followed Qi Jiguang to the north. Although he was old now, his heart was not old, and he was very familiar with the Mongols' tactics. With him around, even if he couldn't fight in the battlefield, it would be good to help with some advice.

Especially since Lao Jin is old, he doesn’t know how long he can live. Maybe one day he will fall asleep and never wake up again.

In the past few years, following Zhu Shenzhui in training troops in Zhaowuling, Lao Jin and the other three seemed to have returned to the military camps of the past. They ate and drank well, and training these new recruits made them feel comfortable all over. They seemed to have become much younger. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui gave them generous treatment, which Lao Jin and the others thought was too generous. However, their contribution was only to help train the troops, and they felt a little uncomfortable.

The first time Lao Jin followed Zhu Shenzhu to the grassland, he happened to encounter a civil strife in the tribe and commanded the new army to fight a battle. But to be honest, that battle was not large in scale and was not satisfying. But now it is different. Two battalions of new troops have been brought to the tribe, and the next battle will definitely be a big and fierce one. As a veteran, if he missed such a war, he would probably regret it until his death.

If Lou Lao Er and Yan Lao Si were not physically disabled and could not go to the battlefield, I am afraid they would have followed regardless of life or death. Now Lao Jin came as a representative of the two old brothers. After this battle, it would be considered as fulfilling their wish. In any case, he hoped that Zhu Shenzhu would agree to this matter in consideration of their efforts in the past few years.

Seeing the determination, resoluteness and expectation on Lao Jin's face, Zhu Shenzhui really couldn't say no. He could only sigh and nod in agreement.

(End of this chapter)