Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 63 Instructor

"Getting the Matchlock"

"Team leaders, check the fire sources."

"Hold the gun upright. Hold the cartridge. Fire the powder backwards."

"Loading. Compacting"

The procedures for firing a musket in this era were very complicated, with dozens of steps involved. Even veterans who were experienced and skilled in the operation often needed to complete more than twenty steps before they could start shooting.

However, the way they increased the firing rate was often to change the musket shooting manual beyond recognition, and in fact they relied entirely on technology and experience to speed up the completion of tactical actions.

Zhu Cilang and his civil and military ministers watched intently on the podium. Commands came one after another from the mouth of the officer at the head of the musketeers, and then the soldiers carried them out quickly, with few mistakes.

You have to know that during this period, the effectiveness of muskets on the battlefield depended on volley fire. As long as one soldier in the team had problems with the operation, the volley power of the entire musket phalanx would most likely be greatly reduced or even lose its effect.

This is something that is absolutely not allowed to happen on the battlefield!
Therefore, during normal training, if there was any misstep in the operation of the musketeers, the instructors would directly beat them with military sticks.

If a musketeer disobeyed orders and caused serious consequences, it would only take one time for the corresponding musketeer to be punished as a menial servant, have his monthly salary deducted, receive fifty military sticks, or even be executed immediately.

“Woo, woo, woo~~~”

“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!!!”

Hundreds of neatly arranged musketeers began firing in turns upon hearing the bugle call. The pungent smoke instantly filled half of the training ground.

After the three rows of musketeers in front and behind had completed their volleys, the officers' orders rang out, and each musketeer methodically carried out a series of tactical actions such as taking the ignition cord and clearing the firing port.

However, according to the musketeer training manual, the second round of volleys, retreat and change of teams, and cooperation with the soldiers in the side phalanx were not carried out as scheduled.

In order to achieve higher scores in the assessment, the Tianwu Left Camp musketeers under the command of Zhao Guanhu only trained in the key assessment skills of loading ammunition and firing in formation, while other items that were not the focus of the assessment were not trained well according to the requirements.

If soldiers trained in this way act on their own will go to the battlefield and face powerful enemies, there will definitely be big chaos.

The biggest opponent of the Palace Army was the Qing cavalry, which had extremely strong mobility and assault power. Once such a chaos occurred, it would be absolutely fatal.

After Zhu Cilang finished interrogating Zhao Guanhu, he immediately ordered a thorough investigation by the entire army because he saw these deeper problems.

However, he was mentally prepared at this time and knew the reasons for these problems. Looking at the uniform tactical movements of the musketeers below and the fact that the damage to the wooden targets seventy steps away was far greater than that of the archers, he was quite satisfied.

Although there were some structural problems in the training of these soldiers, they did receive rigorous training. Moreover, because they were discovered early, they only needed to be corrected in subsequent training and the problems were not serious.

What Zhu Cilang wanted was to train the musketeers into machines on the battlefield, to execute orders meticulously and to give the enemy the most terrifying long-range firepower strikes.

He also planned to equip the army with all the turtledove-foot guns and other muskets purchased from Guangdong and Fujian, so that he could launch a surprise attack on the Qing army heading south.

On the Jianghuai Plain, the power of the heavy matchlock gun was not comparable to the Malacca light matchlock gun and its improved version, such as the bird gun, which was commonly equipped by the Ming army at that time.

Currently, the assessment criteria for musketeers is primarily based on rate of fire, rather than accuracy. Zhu Cilang and his fellow officers agreed on this point, believing that musketeers should be allowed to fire as many lead bullets as possible on the battlefield to create a more powerful and intensive firepower.

At the same time, the military camp's weapons testing ground was also cooperating with this goal, constantly testing the most appropriate amount of gunpowder loading, as well as how to thicken and strengthen the musket to avoid explosion.

This is why Zhu Cilang asked Li Banghua to set up the "Yingtian Weapons Bureau" and invested a lot of money and food for this.

Before the Nanjing court's Ministry of Works was reorganized, it would have been impossible for the officials to complete such a task. The muskets they made were even more like explosive fire sticks.

In fact, Zhu Cilang not only organized musketeers but also some literate officers to improve the training manuals according to the characteristics and battlefield roles of different arms in order to "standardize" the production of soldiers.

Various military reforms in the West during this period were doing exactly this.

The "standardization" of military training and equipment, the "assembly line" training of officers and soldiers, the establishment of officer schools, recruit training camps, and supporting weapons workshops and reserve soldier systems are the keys to Zhu Cilang's future formation of a strong army and defeat of the Qing Dynasty.

The entire system of the Ming Dynasty is rotten to the core, and Zhu Cilang is now just clinging to it, taking advantage of the situation and temporarily breathing a sigh of relief.

He would wait until he was strong enough before carrying out a thorough reform, and the army in his hands would be his greatest reliance.

In troubled times, only those with soldiers in hand have power.

What you can't gain on the battlefield, you will only lose more at the negotiation table. Everything is just a dependency of a strong army.

After inspecting the Tianwu Left Camp, Zhu Cilang immediately went to inspect the Tianwei Central Camp, the Tianwu Right Camp, and the Tianqi Camp.

The Tianqi Battalion is the only cavalry battalion of the Dianqian Army at present, and almost all the excellent war horses of the entire army are concentrated here.

But even so, there were only two horses per person, which was far from the requirement of three horses per person for elite cavalry.

Fortunately, Zhu Cilang will only fight on the interior in the short term, and the cavalry will mainly be used to cover the infantry. This rate of warhorse equipment is sufficient for the time being.

On the battlefields of this era, cavalry is still the strongest force. Unless the three major arms of muskets, artillery, and combat soldiers work together, it is difficult to withstand the cavalry charge.

The Tianqi Battalion was led by Chang Denggui, the commander-in-chief of the Palace Army. They were trained strictly according to the drill manual. In addition, they were cavalry, so the results of their drills were far beyond what other battalions could achieve.

After watching the collective drill of more than 700 cavalrymen of the Tianqiying, Zhu Cilang left the "Tianqiying" base the next day and led a group of ministers back to Nanjing City. He set the final inspection destination at the "Yingtian Weapon Bureau".

After this period of discussion by the generals of the various camps of the Palace Army and officials from the Ministry of War, solutions to the series of problems discovered during this inspection have basically been worked out.

In order to restrict the power of the battalion officers, Zhu Cilang also planned to add an instructor in each battalion to be responsible for the management of military law, the collection of soldiers' opinions, the development of ideological work, and at the same time to restrict and supervise the power of the battalion officers.

As for the training arrangements, after some discussion, Zhu Cilang, the generals in the army, and the officials of the Ministry of War all agreed that the intensity should continue to be maintained, but they must not train randomly, especially in order to meet the assessment standards, they would act on their own and train more in one part and less in another part.

Of course, to avoid this situation, the assessment standards for military training results must be adjusted. However, Li Banghua and his military officials have not yet been able to come up with a specific adjustment plan.

Li Banghua also needs to accompany Zhu Cilang to inspect the "Yingtian Weapon Bureau", the Palace Army, the Nanjing Jingying and the Jiangbei Gao Jie, Huang Degong, and Liu Zeqing's three battalions' equipment. Most of them need to be replenished from here.

(End of this chapter)