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

Chapter 671 Take the initiative to ask for help
Wu Sangui couldn't help dancing with joy when he talked about his excitement. He asked Wang Jinwu to let his Guanning Iron Cavalry take on this task. In Wu Sangui's view, his Guanning Iron Cavalry was the strongest cavalry unit in the Ming army, and the thousand cavalry he led were the elite of the elite in the entire Guanning Iron Cavalry.

Moreover, Wu Sangui was quite confident in commanding cavalry combat. In addition, cavalry combat did not require a large force to be dispatched. The number of these 1,000 Guanning Iron Cavalry was just enough to take on this task.

At this time, Wu Sangui had long forgotten the instructions given to him by his father Wu Xiang before he set out, and his mind was full of thoughts of leading troops to fight and establish meritorious service. Moreover, Wu Sangui, who was quite confident, issued a military order in front of Wang Jinwu, saying that if he failed to do it, he would be willing to be subject to military law and would never regret it!
Wang Jinwu was very moved by Wu Sangui's initiative. Although it was the first time he met Wu Sangui, he was deeply impressed by the Guanning Iron Cavalry he saw outside the city. Moreover, Wu Sangui was the bravest among the three armies in the Guanning Army and had a great reputation. In addition, after the discussion just now, Wang Jinwu admired Wu Sangui even more.

It is not impossible to give this task to Wu Sangui, after all, Wu Sangui's ability is obvious, and the fighting power of Guanning Iron Cavalry is not weak. Moreover, as the commander-in-chief, Wang Jinwu has to command the overall situation, and it is impossible for him to lead the cavalry charge personally as he did in the previous grassland battle. If he cannot lead the cavalry personally, he can only give this task to Li You or the Mongolian deputy general in the army.

Compared with Wang Jinwu, Li You is both civil and military, but he is better at commanding infantry. Moreover, the main battlefield of this battle is at Xifengkou and the high ground northeast of Xifengkou. To ensure that everything goes well, Wang Jinwu must send an absolutely trustworthy general to command in the front, and Li You is the best candidate.

If Li You does not lead the cavalry, the Mongolian deputy general can only lead the cavalry. Although these Mongolians have followed Wang Jinwu for many years and have no problem commanding cavalry combat, the problem is that they do not have a strong sense of the overall situation and are rather straightforward. Once they make a wrong judgment after a battle, or do something wrong because of being hot-headed during command, then this cavalry will suffer heavy losses, which is a result that Wang Jinwu does not want to see.

Now Wu Sangui's initiative to volunteer made Wang Jinwu think of letting him go to fight. With Wu Sangui's ability, he believed that he would not do worse than himself, and the combat effectiveness of the Guanning Iron Cavalry was not weak. Since Wu Sangui wanted to go, it couldn't be better.

"Uncle Chang, if you lead the troops to war, you must be aware of the risks. Once surrounded, life and death may take a moment. You must think carefully!"

"What's the big deal!" Wu Sangui said solemnly, "A real man dies on the battlefield, and it is an honor for a general to be wrapped in his horse's hide! Although I, Wu Sangui, cannot be compared with the Huo Huqi of the Han Dynasty, I believe that I am also a good man! Since the Jiannu started their rebellion, they have burned, killed and looted in Liaodong. My Guanning Army and the Jiannu have long had an irreconcilable feud. Now is a good opportunity to fight for the country and avenge the blood feud. How can Sangui retreat?"

"General Wang! I am willing to lead the Guanning Army to fight. If we cannot defeat the Jiannu, I will be willing to be punished by military law!"

"Good!" Wang Jinwu couldn't hide his love for Wu Sangui. This young general was indeed worthy of his reputation! He was courageous and resourceful, a rare talent!
"Since you insist so much, I will leave this task to you!"

Hearing this, Wu Sangui was overjoyed and hurriedly tried to salute to receive the order. But before he could bend down, Wang Jinwu held him back and said with a smile, "You and I are about the same age, I am older than you, if you like, you can just call me big brother, no need to call me General Wang anymore."

"This..." Wu Sangui was stunned and didn't know how to answer.

"Why? Is it that Uncle Chang doesn't want to?" Wang Jinwu asked back.

Wu Sangui shook his head quickly: "Of course not. I am a little scared that Marshal Wang is like this. Marshal Wang was personally appointed by the Regent as the Governor of the Beijing Camp, a Special Advancement Doctor, and the Left Commander of the Central Army Commander's Office. I am only the Deputy General of the Right Camp of the Guanning Army Vanguard. I really don't dare to be so high..."

"What's the point of trying to be high-class?" Wang Jinwu scolded with a smile, "The governor of the military affairs of the Beijing camp is just a title, and the special promotion doctor Ronglu and the left governor of the Central Army Governor's Office are just empty titles. Before that, I was just a soldier in the Shanxi Guard, with only a military rank of a hundred households. I am far inferior to my brother, who is fighting in the army as the deputy general of the right camp. With your talent, wouldn't it be easy for you to win military exploits? By then, it will be more than enough for you to be awarded a title of nobility. How can we compare? It is my luck that I, Wang Jinwu, can meet you today."

"I am very happy to see you today. You and I are very compatible, so I want to make friends with you and call you brothers in the future. Of course, if you really don't want to..."

"How can I be unwilling if Marshal Wang is so?" Without waiting for Wang Jinwu to continue, Wu Sangui interrupted him, his face flushed, and he said excitedly: "Since Marshal Wang is so, I will naturally not refuse. Sangui is also a straightforward person, so I will do as Marshal Wang says!" "Good! Good!" Wang Jinwu laughed and patted Wu Sangui on the shoulder. He was very happy to know such a brother. Then, he deliberately put on a stern face and asked Wu Sangui why he called him "Marshal Wang" just now? Since he had agreed, he should change his words.

As soon as these words were spoken, Wu Sangui also laughed, and openly called Wang Jinwu "big brother". Wang Jinwu was so happy that he changed his words and called Wu Sangui "second brother". He held Wu Sangui's hand affectionately and said that after the war, he would bring Wu Sangui back to Beijing to meet the Regent. The Regent would definitely be happy to see Wu Sangui. By then, with Wu Sangui's military achievements and abilities, he would be able to get any higher position, let alone the general. He would take care of everything.

The atmosphere was harmonious for a while, and the relationship between the two became much closer. After finishing the small talk, Wang Jinwu told Wu Sangui that the Guanning Army he brought with him was still a little short of 1,000 men, and it was slightly insufficient to rely on only 1,000 men. Once the Eight Banners were prepared, it would be difficult to break through with these forces.

Therefore, Wang Jinwu planned to allocate a thousand men from his cavalry to Wu Sangui for command. Two thousand cavalrymen were not a small number. In this way, Wu Sangui's strength would be doubled, and he would be more confident in going on the expedition.

When Wang Jinwu saw that Wu Sangui was a little hesitant and seemed to be hesitant to speak, he knew that Wu Sangui was worried about the combat effectiveness of the cavalry he had assigned to him. He immediately smiled and told Wu Sangui that his cavalry were also elite and would definitely not hold Wu Sangui back. If Wu Sangui did not believe him, he could go and see it in person after he had made the arrangements. If he felt there was no problem, he could do as he said. If Wu Sangui thought that Wang Jinwu's cavalry was not worthy of being used, that did not matter either, and Wu Sangui could make the decision himself.

Wu Sangui naturally expressed his acceptance of such an arrangement. At the same time, he was slightly moved. This elder brother he had just recognized was a really good person. He could take the initiative to hand over his cavalry to him for command. This alone was something that an ordinary general could not do. At this time, Wu Sangui even made up his mind that as long as Wang Jinwu's cavalry was not bad, even if it was not as good as the Guanning Iron Cavalry, he would not refuse. Having one more thousand cavalry was always good, and with his own command ability, it would not be a problem even if it was a little poor.

But when Wu Sangui went to see the thousand cavalrymen assigned to him by Wang Jinwu in person the next day, he was so shocked that his mouth could not close.

These 1,000 cavalrymen were not the ordinary cavalrymen that Wu Sangui had imagined before, or those so-called cavalrymen in the Ming army who were actually infantrymen on horseback. They were truly elite. Not to mention that at first glance, these cavalrymen looked well-trained and extremely tough. Moreover, their equipment was no worse than his Guanning Iron Cavalry. All the cavalrymen were armored and well-equipped. They were better at riding and shooting than the Guanning Iron Cavalry. After all, most of these cavalrymen were Mongolians.

In addition, these cavalrymen were equipped with muskets similar to three-barreled guns, and each of them had two. This somewhat strange-looking musket immediately aroused Wu Sangui's interest. Seeing that Wu Sangui was fascinated, Wang Jinwu smiled and asked someone to bring two plum blossom guns, and taught Wu Sangui how to load and shoot.

When he pulled the trigger and bullets were fired continuously, and it could fire five bullets in a row, with better range and accuracy than the three-barreled gun, Wu Sangui was surprised and delighted. He had never imagined that there would be such a convenient and sharp firearm in the world. A cavalryman was equipped with two, and a double shot could fire ten times continuously. In addition, unlike the three-barreled gun, the plum blossom gun did not require a matchlock, but was fired directly by a special primer. As long as it was loaded in advance, it could be taken out and used before the battle, and it was not afraid of wind and rain. It was really too convenient.

It is easy to imagine what it means to be equipped with such a musket for cavalry combat. Wu Sangui immediately asked whether he could equip his Guanning Army with the same plum blossom lance, but Wang Jinwu told him that there were not enough plum blossom lances in the army at the moment, and he could only give him 100, but not more for the time being. But he told him not to worry, he would apply to the regent after the battle, and it would not take long for the lance to be allocated to Wu Sangui to replace his equipment.

In addition to the plum blossom spears, Wang Jinwu's cavalry also carried a number of small tiger squat cannons and Portuguese lances, which the Guanning Iron Cavalry did not have. Although Wang Jinwu's cavalry was not as good as the Guanning Iron Cavalry in terms of neatness and military formation, in other aspects it was not only not inferior to the Guanning Iron Cavalry, but even better.

After seeing the cavalry, Wu Sangui couldn't help but sigh at the strength of Wang Jinwu's cavalry. This time Wang Jinwu brought 3,000 cavalry, and after allocating them to Wu Sangui, he left 2,000 mobile cavalry. These 3,000 cavalry alone were enough to fight against the entire Guanning Iron Cavalry. Even if they fought against the Eight Banners, which were known to be invincible in the world, Wu Sangui felt that they were not inferior at all, or perhaps even stronger.

With such a cavalry in hand, Wu Sangui's confidence increased greatly, and he was extremely looking forward to the upcoming battle. In the following time, Wu Sangui took the time to run in the cooperation between the two cavalry, and on the other hand, he familiarized himself with the combat methods of the troops. At the same time, he found a lot of information and studied the attack direction and retreat route after the battle. Two days passed in the blink of an eye. On the third day, the Shandong Army and the Dongjiang Town Army from Shandong arrived in Zunhua. One day later, Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army also arrived. At this point, all the troops had arrived, and Wang Jinwu completed the assembly of various units.

(End of this chapter)