Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 119: Northern Barbarians Go South
Outside the capital, the Jingying camp.

Yue Ling inspected the gunpowder department of the Ministry of War all the way to the defense at the city gate, and then went to the base of the Beijing Camp outside the capital.

Coming here, Yue Ling had only one purpose, which was to see how the matter of equipping the army with firearms was progressing.

Yin Taihe led the Northern Expedition Army's central army and rear army infantry to cover the rear of King Qin. Now the Beijing camp is under the direct jurisdiction of Yue Ling, which makes it much more convenient for Yue Ling to move around in the army.

"Grand Commander, the Firearms Battalion is over here, please follow me."

Led by one hundred households, Yue Ling came all the way to the firearm camp’s base.

At first glance, it was a vast shooting range, with a lot of broken targets scattered on the ground, as if a round of practice had just been done this morning.

Upon hearing that Yue Ling had arrived, the commanders of the Firearm Battalion all came out to greet him.

Xu Hui, the new commander of the Firearms Battalion chosen by the Prince of Qin, was also an old officer of the Prince of Qin's Palace. He had met Yue Ling several times, so it was relatively easy for him to get along with him.

And beside him, he saw foreigners who were helping Dachang train soldiers.

"Xu Hui, commander of the Firearms Battalion, greets the Grand Commander."

The foreigner also stepped forward and bowed to Yue Ling, "My friend, it's nice to see you again. I have asked someone to inquire about the books you mentioned before. It's a pity that our ship sank, otherwise it would have been delivered to you long ago."

Yue Ling nodded to the two men and said to the foreigner, "Don't worry, your Chinese is getting better and better."

The foreigner smiled and said, "General Xu taught me a lot, which benefited me a lot."

Led by the two men, Yue Ling first came to the armory of the current Firearms Battalion.

Xu Hui stepped forward and introduced: "Now there are a total of 108 French cannons and 8 red cannons. The heavy artillery has been transported into the city, waiting for the Grand Commander to choose a location to set it up. There are 300 heavy muskets and more than 5,000 other types of earthen muskets, enough for each soldier in the firearms battalion to be equipped with one."

"Can we produce shells in large quantities now?"

Xu Hui nodded. "With their help, it has now been adapted. However, we cannot fire continuously for too long, or there is still a risk of the barrel exploding."

"Long time? How long?"

Xu Hui thought about it carefully and replied, "The Portuguese cannon uses a barrel and switches between sub-cannons to fire continuously. The cannon they brought may explode after firing continuously for half an incense stick of time. The cannon we made ourselves is worse than this."

Yue Ling nodded and said, "Let's see if the soldiers have become more proficient in firing their muskets in rapid succession."

As a matchlock gun, it is very troublesome to reload the front-loading ammunition. In order to ensure fire suppression within a certain period of time, the only way is to practice military formations and shoot in rows to achieve the effect of continuous firing.

This places high demands on the quality and coordination of the soldiers, otherwise if they make mistakes in a hurry, it will affect the battle situation.

Therefore, for the soldiers in this life, Yue Ling imitated the method of training recruits in the previous life, using basic commands such as standing at attention, turning left and right, and marching, to first train the soldiers' coordination and obedience.

This epoch-making progress has brought extraordinary results. With just a small change, the mental outlook of the soldiers in the firearms battalion today looks a little different.

At first, Xu Hui didn't understand the significance of Yue Ling asking the soldiers to do this. Later, when he held the musket and heard the command, he suddenly realized it and couldn't help but admire him.

“All great things in the world must be done in detail.”

A slight change can bring about significant results; this is what a wise person does.

Xu Hui was different from Yin Taihe. He still attached great importance to people's abilities. Although the Crown Prince had boasted about Yue Ling several times in front of him, he was always skeptical about it because of Yue Ling's age. But now he had to be convinced by him.

"Your Highness is right. If we have a few more Grand Commanders, the war will be much easier. If we only let the Grand Commanders come to train the troops, I wonder what a completely different look the soldiers in the Beijing camp will have in a year or so."

Yue Ling waved his hand and smiled, "I don't deserve such praise. This is not just my achievement. It's also thanks to the general for his hard work."

Xu Hui shook his head and smiled without saying anything.

Soldiers of the Firearms Battalion responded to the order and gradually formed a formation of six rows and four columns under the command of flag signals. The team was not too dense, with gaps in the middle to facilitate the passage of soldiers who were replaced from the front row to the end of the team.

At the same time, after the gunpowder was loaded, a single flag was seen waving, and the first row fired their muskets. After hitting the target, they quickly moved to the end of the team to load ammunition.

A single flag rotated, the second row moved forward, and then listened to the flag signal to stimulate, and four rows of muskets fired back and forth. When the fourth row of muskets walked to the end of the team, the first row had already loaded ammunition.

Yue Ling was very satisfied with the results of the training. Now the Fire Gun Team can really be used as a card.

The Beijing camp had eight thousand elite cavalry, and the King of Qin took away five thousand. Yue Ling didn't have many cards left to play, so his chances of winning were uncertain.

"That's right. As for the gunners, I won't check them today. You should practice diligently. As for the Gunpowder Department, I've already told them that they need to have at least half a year's supply and be prepared for a protracted war."

"Half a year?" Xu Hui and the foreigner looked at each other in surprise.

Xu Hui asked: "Grand Commander, can it take that long?"

Yue Ling said frankly, "Whether it's fast or not depends on your Highness. If the Northern Barbarians have just invaded and your Highness has already returned, then there is nothing to worry about. Now, I can only make full preparations."

The two nodded in agreement.

At that moment, a soldier and a clerk hurriedly came to Yue Ling, and hurriedly saluted him, saying, "Grand Commander, the news we got this morning is that the northern barbarians have invaded the south, and the officials are still waiting for you to come back to discuss matters."

Everyone in the room looked cold, and Yue Ling nodded, "Okay, I'll go back."

Then he turned to Xu Hui and the foreigner and said, "I'll leave this place to you. I'm afraid the firearms battalion will be useful soon."

The two of them hurriedly saluted, "Yes."

……

political hall,
The place was already in chaos before Yue Ling arrived.

Few of the ministers expected the situation to be so critical, and the border troops were so vulnerable. It seemed that the northern barbarians would be at the foot of the capital in the blink of an eye. The situation was urgent, and now they had to be anxious.

Li Qiu, the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War, said angrily, "When the Crown Prince left the city, I don't know how many times he informed Datong Prefecture, but the border was breached overnight. How can this be possible?"

Feng Yu said, "Otherwise, they would not be able to defend it. Whether it is broken or not is not something they can control. I am afraid that it was broken as early as when King Kang was at the border."

"According to Mr. Feng's opinion, we are helpless?"

"Why are we helpless? If the northern barbarians come, we will fight them. Isn't there still the Grand Commander in the capital?"

Li Qiu snorted and sat back down.

Lu Yuan, a member of the Privy Council, also said: "The problem of Datong Prefecture cannot be solved overnight."

Soon, important officials of the two governments, including the left and right prime ministers, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Privy Envoy, the six ministers, and people from the palace, all gathered together to discuss countermeasures.

Yue Ling had not returned for a long time, so no one presided over the meeting. Li Qiu complained again: "This is the Grand Commander. He is not even in the classroom during the war. How can we hold meetings?"

Minister of State Affairs Dongfang Zhi frowned and said, "We haven't discussed matters yet, what's there to argue about? Just wait a little longer. What else is there that you need to deal with in a hurry? Is there anything more urgent than the war?"

After hearing Dongfang Zhi speak, and the Minister of War Guo Jian giving him a look, Li Qiu had no choice but to keep silent.

The government hall was not very big. The floor heating in the room was roaring, and with more than a dozen people gathered together, it made people feel even hotter.

Everyone wiped the sweat from their foreheads from time to time, and after a while, they finally waited for the protagonist of this scene, Yue Ling.

A gust of cold wind blew into the room. Yue Ling came in exhausted. He looked around first, bowed to the ministers in the court, and said, "I am late. I just came back from the Beijing camp. Along the way, I saw many dignitaries and nobles leaving the city with their wives and children, which is why there is a traffic jam."

"It seems that the news spreads very quickly. I found out about it late."

The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment. Many of them heard the hidden meaning in Yue Ling's words: Is there a traitor sitting in this room?

Left Prime Minister An Jingzhong tried to smooth things over, saying, "Perhaps the Northern Barbarians have someone in the capital who is deliberately spreading rumors to disrupt the capital?"

Yue Ling nodded, "It's not impossible."

After Yue Ling sat down, he saw Dai Quan beside him making eye contact with him. Following his gaze, Yue Ling found an urgent report from the border and opened it to read it.

Except for the Ministry of War, the Privy Council, and Yue Ling, other government offices not involved in the war had not yet read this urgent report.

After reading it through, Yue Ling placed the letter upside down on the table and said, "With the help from both inside and outside, it is hard to defend. Datong Prefecture will definitely not be able to be defended. Tuji Khan claimed that he had 80,000 troops marching south to attack the pass. When this letter was sent, Datong Prefecture was gone. Niu Jizong and Shi Ding had already retreated to Yingzhou! But Yingzhou cannot pose a big obstacle to the northern barbarians."

"There are only two options before us now. First, we can defend the three inner passes and keep the northern barbarians out of the inner Great Wall. Second, we can rely on the strong city and powerful artillery of the capital to launch a defensive counterattack. I personally prefer the second option. If we choose the first option, the battle line will be too long and the troops will be dispersed. The northern barbarians are cavalry and will be more flexible. We can only deal with them exhaustedly, and there is really no advantage at all."

The left prime minister An Jingzhong said carefully: "If the war spreads to the capital, the people in the capital area will be destroyed and killed."

Yue Ling added: "When the nest is overturned, all the eggs will be broken. What we can do is to rely on the pass to slow down the speed of the northern barbarians' advance, clear the fields around the capital, bring the people into the city, and prepare for the enemy. According to my estimation, it will take at least a month for the northern barbarians to transport their baggage into the pass, and then gather their forces through the three inner passes to attack the capital."

"This month is definitely enough for us to make adequate preparations."

Minister of War Guo Jian asked: "General Yue, don't we have a third option?"

(End of this chapter)