Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 80: Alliance
The twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month is the day of grand ceremony.

The sky was clear and the breeze was gentle. The Yongan Army organized its first joint battle formation training, with flags fluttering and the military might was impressive.

Battle formations are extremely important. From a small team of 100 people to a large battalion of 3,000 people, or even a regiment of 10,000 people, they must form battle formations. Only by forming battle formations can the soldiers not panic in battle, and even if they are defeated, they will not suffer a crushing defeat.

The Ming people were open-minded and their culture was exceptionally developed, so the number of military books they produced exceeded the total number of all previous dynasties. When it comes to battle formations, there are naturally many military books to refer to.

As for the military generals of the Ming Dynasty, Danchu particularly admired Yu Dayou of the Jiajing period, and carefully studied his works such as "Military Strategies", "Datong Town Chariot Drills", "Guangxi Elite Troop Drills", and "Explanation of Military Strategy".

When Yu Dayou was the general of Guangxi, he selected the elite troops of Guangxi Ming Army and formed a 1,000-man elite force, and left behind a book called "Guangxi Elite Force Drill Method". When Danchu organized the joint formation training of the whole army, he focused on referring to this book.

At 9:00 pm, the soldiers had assembled. Danchu was wearing golden armor, riding a tall horse, with an upright posture and a solemn expression. Including the guards, the entire army of Yong'an Town was about 2,500 people, all assembled on the training ground outside the city.

In less than a month, the town had taken shape. The officers were doing their duty and the soldiers were enthusiastic, which was very gratifying.

According to the Jixiao Xinshu, the newly recruited soldiers of the Qi family army only needed two months to master martial arts and various battle formations, which was enough to fight against the Japanese invaders. Later, Zeng Guofan stipulated that the new recruits of the Hunan Army only needed one month of training before they could go to the battlefield.

Danchu was in the center of the army and issued an order: "Form a stacked formation, with the first infantry battalion as the front team and the second infantry battalion as the rear team. The standard battalion and the third infantry battalion are the reserve teams."

The stacked formation is a very basic battle formation that was already mature in the Tang Dynasty and can be used in most combat situations. Yu Dayou improved it to make it more suitable for the terrain of Guangxi and more conducive to the development of firearms.

A signal cannon sounded, reminding the whole army to pay attention to the central army's flag. The flag bearer changed the flag, and each battalion received the order and began to change formation.

The 1st Infantry Battalion was the first to leave the town and line up in a horizontal line. From left to right, there were the cavalry sentry, the first team, the artillery sentry, the second team, and the third team, with each team about 50 steps apart.

The second battalion followed behind, also forming a horizontal line. From left to right, they were the fourth team, the fifth team, the artillery sentry, the sixth team, and the cavalry sentry. They were located ten steps behind the sentries of the second battalion, in a staggered formation.

The Standard Battalion and the Third Battalion were the reserve forces and also started to move. However, the Standard Battalion and the Third Battalion did not cross each other, but were arranged on the left and right, and there was no gap between the internal sentries. The Standard Battalion was on the left and the Third Battalion was on the right, protecting the Central Army in the middle.

It is not easy to form a battle array in a short time for more than 2,000 people to act at the same time. The commander's flag command must be concise and accurate, and the troops' formation discipline is also crucial.

Dan Chu's face was as gloomy as water, but he was generally satisfied and issued the second order: "Forward!"

The signal gun sounded and the central army raised a red flag.

The battalions began to advance. Whenever a battle came, the troops often advanced very slowly. Even the cavalry rarely charged blindly.

The cavalry outposts of the first and second battalions were located on the two wings, guarding the infantry's advance. The first battalion was in the front, but kept its troops still, while the archers and musketeers were in the front, keeping alert together with the artillery, to cover the advance of the second battalion.

The second battalion was in the rear, and the sentries of each team passed through the gap reserved by the first battalion and advanced to a place ten steps in front of the first battalion, where they stopped and reorganized their formation. Like the first battalion, the archers, musketeers, and artillery of the second battalion were in the front, and they quickly went on alert to cover the first battalion's alternating advance.

The standard battalion, the central army, and the third battalion were behind, followed by the first and second battalions, and they advanced slowly.

Like formation training and flag training, full army formation training is boring and tedious, but crucial.

The key to the formation of an army is to use formations and flags to unify orders. The key to the army's ability to fight is to use battle formations to gather troops and gather the strength of the entire army to bravely face the enemy. Dan Chu held a telescope and carefully observed the formations of the first and second battalions. According to the "Military Training Minutes", each infantry team has three officers, who are in the front, middle and back of the team, with the team leader in the front, the team leader in the middle, and the deputy team leader in the back.

In today's joint formation training, all the team officers were able to take their positions. If there was a battle, would the leader of the team dare to stand in front of the team to command? Most of the team leaders were promoted from sentries, and they lacked experience in managing a team. Would they be able to remain calm in the face of danger?

Actual combat is the best teacher. No matter how well you teach, it is not as good as fighting a real battle. Mo Guangshu was ordered to go on a mission to the Jinxiu Tusi. I wonder what the result will be? If you want to use force, it is a good opportunity to practice with the Jinxiu Tusi.

It turned out that there was a place called Jinxiu (now Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County) 100 miles southwest of Yong'an, where most of the inhabitants were Yao people and ruled by chieftains for generations. This place was barren and mountainous, but there were iron and copper mines. During the Wanli period, miners revolted and the mines were abandoned, but they were reopened during the Tianqi period.

Jinxiu was close to Datong Gorge and was not valued by the Ming court. However, the area was rich in minerals and was crowded with miners. It was becoming more and more prosperous, with a population no less than that of Yong'an. The Yong'an army lacked firearms and urgently needed to expand pig iron production. Danchu sent Mo Guangshu to the chieftain of Jinxiu to prepare to set up a patrol inspection office in Jinxiu to appease the Yao people and develop mineral deposits.

Thinking back to the training, Danchu ordered: "Engage in battle!"

Several flag bearers blew the horns, and the sound of the horns was dull and sonorous. This meant that the imaginary enemy was already a hundred steps away.

The first battalion was in the front and immediately launched an attack. Although there were no enemies in front, they still launched an attack with muskets and artillery. In order to save ammunition, the muskets and artillery were fired only once.

The second battalion took the opportunity to advance to ten steps in front of the first battalion, gathered its formation, and used firearms to attack the enemy.

After alternating cover twice in this way, the imaginary enemy is as close as sixty steps away, and you can use the three-barreled gun and bow and arrow to attack the enemy.

At this time, no matter which battalion is in the rear team, it must speed up and become the front team as soon as possible. Of course, speeding up is not a charge, but more like a fast-paced race. The front team is still responsible for covering the rear team, and advances alternately with the rear team until they engage in close combat with the enemy.

"Retreat!" Danchu gave the order, simulated a defeat in the battle, and was the first to retreat.

The sound of golden gongs rang out, and the first battalion remained where it was and continued to fight with the enemy. The second battalion took the lead in retreating to a place ten steps behind the first battalion, then stopped to cover the retreat of the first battalion.

Similar to the advance, the first and second battalions retreated alternately to avoid a crushing defeat.

This is one round. When the ancients talked about a battle lasting several rounds, they were referring to this.

Cavalry sentries were always on both wings, flanking the infantry to prevent sneak attacks by enemy cavalry.

"Stop retreating! The third battalion will attack the enemy's right wing!"

The sound of the horn resounded through the sky again. The third battalion left the rear army, went around the right wing of the second battalion, and attacked the enemy from the flank.

When simulating the enemy's pursuit, a loophole appeared on the right wing. The commander made a prompt decision, deployed the reserve troops and launched a counterattack.

The first and second battalions launched a new attack, repeating the previous actions.

It's very boring and tedious. But the stacking formation is just a very basic battle formation. There are more complex battle formations such as the front-grabbing formation, the star-filled formation, the long snake formation, the hollow square formation, and the triple stacking formation.

It is difficult to know without experience. There is still a long way to go to train Yongan Town into a strong force!
(End of this chapter)