In early February, the third wing of the Shenwu Army was about to leave Beijing.

This time, I was not as strong as last time. Because I had to travel thousands of miles by land this time, I had a huge formation. There were more than 100,000 servants who transported baggage, armor, food, supplies, and auxiliary soldiers, and servants. It can be said that it was a waste of money and money.

Compared to the last time the troops were sent, the third and fourth troops would go directly to Guazhou. When waiting for Yang Hongzhao to dispatch, not only the army was accompanied, but also an imperial edict to send troops immediately.

Because of the last defeat, many people were not optimistic about this military service, and they could even complain. Many wives, daughters and parents gathered around the imperial guard camp outside the city, crying to send their husbands and sons away from Beijing.

Outside the south gate, the spring breeze was raging, and flags were waving. A vast crowd surrounded the imperial guard camp, spreading for dozens of miles, all of which were seeing off the road, with the people with wine, meat, rice and salt. The atmosphere was roughly not very good. Many people were sobbing in a low voice and forced to hold it back. After all, crying farewell was not good...

But at this point, how many people can hold back? It is unpredictable to go there. It depends on the fate of heaven. There are only a few thousand people in the south, countless injured, and many missing people. At this time, who can rest assured that their family members will be safe?

Li Xingzhou followed He Zhao. As the prefect of Kaiyuan, he had the responsibility to maintain order and appease the people. The emperor also handed over the task of farewell to the army.

He Qian was also dressed in heroic and handsome arms, carrying her close-fitting sword, and mingled among the crowd.

He Zhao had hinted at Li Xingzhou several times before, hoping that he would talk about how to soothe people and boost morale, but He Zhao still couldn't bear to face after all, and finally asked He Qian to help him ask.

Inspire soldiers?

Of course, it is a swear word. From the perspective of war psychology, swear word is the best way to eliminate fear and boost morale, so what kind of civilization is there to talk about when fighting?

But he didn't know if He Zhao could really scold him.

Sure enough, when he stepped forward to speak to the Ming and the Imperial Guards, He Zhao said that a large number of soldiers were serving the country, defending their country, living a great life, and dying as an official. As the chief official of Kyoto, he was grateful to everyone and others, and spoke passionately and sincerely. Unfortunately, the response was not good, and no one agreed.

Li Xingzhou couldn't help but shake his head. He Zhao was still shameless. For example, Zhong Daoyu and the old emperor could definitely do whatever he wanted to achieve his goal.

In a depressing atmosphere, the army began to set off.

The leaders were two wing commanders, four deputy commanders, and two Du Yuhou, all wearing exquisite ink armor and riding tall horses. Behind them were the high flags of generals and a vast army...

He Zhao gave everyone a farewell wine, and then said politely for a while, and both sides bowed to each other.

Amid the sound of firecrackers, several yamen runners came up with carts hanging with red silk cloth, loaded with cattle and sheep, which was a sacrifice.

In ancient times, sending troops required killing and sacrifice to the flag, which meant that the flag was opened and won. At the same time, the soldiers could see blood and smell the blood, so as not to feel fear when they first saw blood on the battlefield.

Now it has gradually changed to killing livestock. These livestock are also called "sacrifice". The butcher in red clothes began to kill cattle and sheep, and blood was like a spring. The butcher caught the steaming blood with a large wooden barrel in the eyes of everyone. Then several strong soldiers as strong as cows carried them to the front of the flag and poured them on.

Suddenly, the smell of blood spread. The rich blood made people who were not used to it even want to feel disgusted and disgusted. The flags were bleeding and the army set out on the battlefield!

The imperial guard camp began to beat the trumpets, and the long queues slowly moved at this time. The soldiers said goodbye to their relatives and slowly left...

I don't know if I can come back safely after going there.

Jing Chao has suffered many disasters in the past two years, and Li Xingzhou couldn't help but sigh that he had encountered all kinds of troubles.

"I'm going to your house in the afternoon." At this time, He Qian quietly pulled the corner of his clothes and whispered behind her, fearing that her father would hear it.

"If you want to go, go, I can't stop you anyway." Li Xingzhou spread his hands.

"I want to shoot."

"No!" Li Xingzhou immediately refused.

The little girl stopped doing it, glared at him, raised her delicate chin: "I'm going to hit me!"

Unfortunately, Li Xingzhou pressed her down as soon as she looked up: "Rejected." Who told you to be short...

"Me!" The little girl wanted to be tough, but probably knew that this move was useless to Li Xingzhou, so she pulled his big hand and shook it around and said coquettishly: "Just shoot five times! OK..."

Li Xingzhou shook his head.

"Please!"

Li Xingzhou shook his head again.

"Hmph! Spicy." He Qian shook his arm away, looked dissatisfied, and her mouth was almost raised to the sky.

"Ahem!" At this moment, He Zhao, who had finished speaking, walked towards the two of them with a dark face: "Go back to the government office!"

He Qian angrily ignored Li Xingzhou. He Zhao spoke. An official from Kaiyuan Prefecture hurriedly followed He Zhao back because there were too many people and the surroundings were blocked and the carriages could not move. Even the Kaiyuan Prefecture Prefecture could only walk...

Due to Li Xingzhou's identity, except for He Zhao, most other officials of Kaiyuan Prefecture were respectful to him and often please him.

While walking, the officials of Kaiyuan Mansion also subconsciously gathered around and said some good things, most of them praised him for his outstanding literary talent and talent. After all, before the Shangyuan Poetry Conference, everyone could not find any words to flatter him even if they wanted to please and flatter him. Now, after the Shangyuan Festival, some people have already thought that Li Xingzhou was the number one talented man in Kyoto, and the officials of Kaiyuan Mansion were also looking for an opportunity to flatter the emperor. How could they not hurry up?

These people are more shameless than the other, and each one is more shameless than the other. It makes Li Xingzhou really comfortable.

He Qian stuck out her tongue in contempt, but most of these people were her elders, so she couldn't say anything, but she couldn't interrupt and was very upset, and she angrily kicked the stones on the roadside.

It was not until He Zhao turned around and coughed twice that everyone was sensible and dispersed and stopped being a lickering dog.

He Zhao took a few steps back, looked serious and asked in a low voice: "You tell me, how about you going to go to the army this time."

"You're asking me?"

"Nonsense!" He Zhao's face looked bad, and he looked around carefully, and found that no one was paying attention to them and they were relieved.

Li Xingzhou spread his hands: "What else can I do? Lord He must have a clear idea of ​​what he was going to do this time."

He Zhao stopped talking and sighed, "Is this worth it?"

"Value, of course, it's worth it, at least for the emperor." Li Xingzhou said bluntly: "After all, the emperor is the country, the country is the emperor, and the prince is the future emperor. What's the point of dying for him?"

"Are you angry?" He Zhao asked with a tense face.

Li Xingzhou was too lazy to pay attention to him, but in fact he could avoid this matter these days.

Whether it is practicing shooting, or smacking with Tie Niu, or going to Shiyu to spend the night at night, I don’t want to think about the troublesome things. After all, that’s not something he can control, and I have repeatedly warned myself not to interfere, otherwise there will be big trouble.

But people's emotions are always difficult to control, and they will gush out when they touch it. The difference is that some people are good at concealing and controlling, while others do not. Li Xingchu is a good person, but he is only an individual and is not impeccable.

"Why don't you try it? Are you too many conspiracies and vulgar tricks?" He Zhao said carelessly again.

Li Xingzhou looked at He Zhao again, it was wrong, did He Zhao take the wrong medicine today...

"Do you see what I am doing!" He Zhao glared.

"No, why didn't Lord He argue with me today?" Li Xingzhou looked him up and down.

He Zhao was so angry that his seven orifices were smoked, and his eyes were almost spitting out of fire. He stared at him fiercely for a long time, and finally snorted heavily, and then suddenly became serious: "I am also considering the country and the country."

"So you thought about the country for a long time, and the only conclusion was that you would not argue with me?" Li Xingzhou asked with a funny look.

"You can be smart! I am too lazy to fight with you..." He Zhao whispered: "I am not kidding, I will think about it, maybe you can save them."

Li Xingzhou shook his head quickly: "Don't, Lord He, don't think about pulling all bad things on me. If you want to take revenge, I will just say it."

"You! Hum..." He Zhao snorted, then said with a dark face: "You are also the descendant of the royal family! You are the direct descendant of the emperor. The second position of King Xiao is already higher than the prince. You... think about it carefully."

"So? What do you want to say? Let me go to the south to die." Li Xingzhou looked at He Zhao vigilantly as he walked.

He Zhao really nodded: "I think you will always have a solution."

Li Xingzhou almost wanted to beat him, but he was able to come up with such a bad idea. I don’t know where He Zhao’s inexplicable trust in him came from. Didn’t he give him a look before?

It is said that women are fickle, but He Zhao, a big man, is so fickle...

Unless he was given two thousand guns and two thousand well-trained gunmen, he would go to die. The situation in the south is complicated and there are too many uncertain factors, so it is likely that he would go to the gift.

Li Xingzhou is not a fool, he needs to act within his ability.

"Don't even think about it." Li Xingzhou refused without hesitation: "I said to Lord He, you are really scheming to harm me. You can think of such bad tricks. If you think it is useful, you can talk to the emperor and tell me what to do."

"You..." He Zhao glared at him, then waved his sleeves: "Forget it! The rotten wood cannot be carved." Then he walked away quickly with anger, leaving only a chic back.

This old man is cursing...

.........

"Shoot!" Li Xingzhou waved the flag, bang! bang! bang! bang!

There was a burst of sound, and the first row of guards who were kneeling on one knee fired all the time, and the wooden target in front of them was beaten so hard that debris flew across the board.

Soon, Li Xingzhou raised the flag again, and the guard standing in the back row quickly handed the loaded gun to the first row. The guard in the first row quickly raised the gun, placed it flat, and aimed!

Li Xingzhou waved his hand and bang! bang! bang! bang! Another volley.

After several days of practice, the guards were able to shoot about three to four times in one minute, but it was not fast enough. The tactics were used to make the famous three-stage shooting.

In fact, the three-stage shooting is not what many people imagine. Each person has a gun, lined up in three rows, and then the front row is replaced with a row of shooting in the back.

This formation is not easy to maintain. Not only does it take a lot of physical strength to change the formation for a long time, the shooting accuracy cannot be guaranteed, because the soldiers' shooting skills are of varying quality.

Three-stage shooting is to select the soldier with the best shooting skills, and then give him two deputys, three people in a group, one in a group, and three guns.

When starting shooting, soldiers who are good at shooting are in the first row, kneeling on one knee to prepare for shooting. Then, one of the two soldiers behind is responsible for filling ammunition, and the other is responsible for adding gunpowder into the gunpowder warehouse, and then handing the filled gun to the soldiers who are good at shooting in the front row.

The advantage is that the shooting is entirely handled by the soldier with the best shooting results. He only needs to concentrate on shooting, so that the shooting accuracy can be improved; at the same time, the two loading soldiers in the latter perform their duties and only need to be responsible for one job, assembly line work, practice makes perfect, and the filling speed is accelerated.

Now there are thirty-two guns in the palace, and more guns are being produced continuously, just enough to form three-stage shooting in a row of ten people.

These more than 30 people were all drawn from the royal palace guards. They were led by Yan Shen. After several days of training, they were already familiar with the shooting of the guns. Now they can shoot three or four times in a minute, which is very fast.

But the sharpshooters were all fed by bullets. Li Xingzhou didn't care about that little money, and still let them train every day and consume bullets and gunpowder.

The guards are also very enthusiastic. After all, no one has seen this new weapon before. Its terrifying lethality also makes people's bloody life. The most important thing to inspire them is their deep recognition and sense of belonging to the royal palace...

The practice continued until the afternoon, and then everyone shouted slogans from the back mountain and walked back to the royal palace in unison. Discipline and morale were far superior to bravery for these new troops.

Brave can be gradually replaced by weapons or even eliminated, but discipline and morale are indeed eternal and unchanging, the fundamental of the combat effectiveness of the army.

At first, the guards didn't understand the prince's training method very well, but gradually they got used to it. The prince obviously wanted to train troops. After all, King Xiao had also practiced it, but when the prince really trained people, the guards realized that it was completely different.
To be continued...