On the first day of September of the 13th year of Yongli, Chen Wen personally led the young guard division across the Yangtze River and marched towards the established assembly place of Yangzhou.

However, in the assembly sequence formulated by the Nanjing Staff Office, the elderly Guard Division and the young Guard Division, which set out from the Niushoushan Training Camp, were not the first troops to arrive in Yangzhou, but were the sounders of the offensive horn, because these two troops were Chen Wen's biggest trump card against the new army.

"Report to the Superintendent, the Jinhua Division and the Jiangdu Division have completed the assembly at the forward base of Huai'an Prefecture, and the Yongjia Division is also ready to cross the Huaihe River..."

The three divisions stationed in Huainan were the most familiar troops in Huainan. Their horses repeatedly crossed the Huainan River to explore and had a clearer understanding of the north of the Huainan River. Of course, with the existence of sand tables and maps, the Staff Office of the Army could also have a sufficient understanding of the situation in Huainan, but this was the beginning of the Northern Expedition, and it was safest for these troops to fight.

"Teacher Danyang, Master Dalan and Master Siming are on their way to the base. In addition, Yuzhang and other divisions are on their way to Yangzhou, and it is expected to reach it within half a month."

While waiting for news from the Yongli court, Chen Wen was also preparing for the Northern Expedition. It can even be said that since the recovery of Huainan, everything Chen Wen did was to prepare for the Northern Expedition, and these were just the final preparations.

"In this battle, our Jiangsu and Zhejiang Kings Division divided into three groups. The Huainan line was the top priority. The army gathered here and was about to send troops to the north soon. You are strictly obeying your duties and lowering the mistakes to the lowest level. How can the captain court attack me as a king's division?"

"The last generals and others respect the orders of His Highness the Superintendent."

The Northern Expedition officially kicked off, but Chen Wen lost all the previous uneasiness. He had done everything he could. Even a few days before departure, Zheng Tai came to hear the news and handed over twenty large sea ships as support for the Fujian Ming army. At the same time, he donated 200,000 taels of silver in his private name.

The transfer of ships was made by Chen Wen when he entered Quanzhou. Zheng Chenggong said that he could dispatch the Fujian Navy to participate in the war. However, Zheng Chenggong is still competing for the rule of Taiwan with the Dutch and the natives of the Big Belly Kingdom. The navy is difficult to move lightly, but it is understandable. As for Zheng Tai's donation, it is more like Zheng Tai's doubts about the future after the failure of Zheng Chenggong's Northern Expedition, so he turned to this, just like Zheng Tai's privately transferred more than 400,000 taels of silver to Japan in just three years from the Battle of Nanjing to the death of Zheng Chenggong.

The Qin vassals in Xiying, the Shu vassal divisions, the Sichuan vassal troops in Sichuan and the remnants of the Dashun army, and the Zheng Tai are now in this way. Even in Yongli, Li Dingguo and Zheng Chenggong may not be able to be truly willing, and they no longer have the power to stop Chen Wen.

Of course, Chen Wen can actually delay the date of the Northern Expedition, for example, in the spring next year, the southern soldiers will be less affected by the temperature; for example, at the beginning of the following year, Shunzhi died at that time in history. Even if he was really sick or not, at that time, if the sea control power is in hand, the Qing Dynasty will be weakened to the point of being unable to sustain. If not, the Qing Dynasty would have been unable to waste it before that, and sent a new army south to Huainan to fight to the death with the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In this way, fighting in more familiar areas, the military chances of victory would be greater.

However, the energy can be boosted but not released. Chen Wen had already decided that during this period of the Northern Expedition, the army was ready, and had to fire like an arrow on the string.

Moreover, by next year, the first batch of aftermath loans and large loans he made in Jinhua will reach the repayment period, and the financial pressure will be greater in the next few years. Complete the Northern Expedition early can reduce some of the financial pressure, even if it is just a drop in the bucket for the current Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

What's more, Chen Wen set the rules on Dalan Mountain, and served in the army for ten years. Next autumn and the spring of the following year will be the period for the first batch of soldiers on Dalan Mountain and Tiantai Mountain to retire from active service. Even if these people are already generals and schoolmen in the army, it is impossible to have a large number of retirements. Chen Wen did not intend to interfere with the normal rhythm. Because after restoring several northern provinces, it is imperative to absorb a large number of soldiers from northern places, including Xiying, and the troops who broke into the camp. At that time, the Qi Palace, which controlled the whole country, should not be composed purely of southerners. She would represent the entire China.

"The 13th year of Yongli, this year is the year when Zheng Chenggong failed in the Northern Expedition in history. He also rose in the southeast, and I will reverse the future!"

While Chen Wen's eyes were looking at the north, Liu Cheng was also looking at the south in the Wuwei Right Army camp at Tianjin Weixiao Station. It was not a thought of homesickness. It was just because the autumn was getting colder and the wind in the south became more and more bitter. Even if he had not received the exact news, he had already smelled some wind.

In the past few months, the weapons and equipment of the Wuwei Right Army have been installed one after another, and the live ammunition shooting training has officially started for more than half a month. However, the weapons have arrived, and the muskets in them are really unsatisfactory.

It’s not that there is a problem with the quality of weapons. The Qing court’s butcher knife is in hand. Although the craftsmen at the Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau are under the enthusiasm of labor, they dare not make any mistakes in this.

The Wuwei Right Army is the last of the five new armies, and the only new army whose head commander is not a relative of Manchuria. On weekdays, the Wuwei Right Army is discriminated against because of Liu Cheng, a slave who carried the flag of the Han people, and the armor is arranged at the last. However, the weapons sources are complex, which really has a great impact on combat effectiveness.

The Lumi guns used by the new army were seized in the Liaodong battlefield and Fujian after entering the pass, and most of the ones that could be used were rusted in the warehouses, because the scale of the Lumi guns was very different than that of the bird guns, and the Qing court did not have much resources to invest in them. However, when the new army was formed, the Lumi guns that could still be used became training equipment for the Imperial Guards. As the Qing court began to invest resources to manufacture Lumi guns on a large scale and be equipped with the Imperial Guards, these weapons that were on the verge of scrap were locked in the warehouse again.

The Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang vigorously cracked down on smuggling, and most of the materials obtained by the Qing court from the south were cut off. Although occasionally smuggling ships came, not only were there a small amount of materials, but most of them were luxury goods from the south, which was of no benefit to the military and country. Now the fact that the production speed of weapons and equipment cannot keep up with the training progress exists. The Tianjin factory is also trying its best to focus on the Guard Army, the Wuwei Central Army and the Wuwei Left Army. As for the Wuwei Right Army, the sealed junk was temporarily used.

Liu Cheng didn't even dare to use these weapons that were about to be scrapped, so he could only let the soldiers practice loading with the master goods.

Putting aside most of these cannot be used for actual combat, the Japanese iron cannons mentioned by Zhang Daocheng last time have been sent. So far, a town has completed the equipment. The quality is pretty good, and it can be seen that it was made by the fine craftsmen. It is probably a weapon used by the Japanese. It is made by hand. There are almost no two pieces of the size and shape that are the same, and the soldiers are very affected when they use it.

After seeing the standardized weapons of the Military Industry Department of the Ming Army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, these things made Liu Cheng really awkward. However, although the Tianjin factory is also standardizing as much as possible, the production speed is preferred, so he has no choice.

Some old Lumi guns that meet the quality standards were picked out from old antiques, iron cannons purchased from Japan, collide guns smuggled from the south, Macau and even from Thailand, standard weapons created by Han craftsmen and Korean craftsmen in Tianjin factory. Although the Wuwei Right Army has been equipped, the "Wanguo Card" weapon always makes Liu Cheng feel that he is carrying a group of beggars waiting for the Qing court to give alms, rather than a loud new army.

"The Northern Dynasty power, which occupied half of the country, now cannot even unify the weapons of the new army. It's such a joke."

Helpless, Liu Cheng knew that with such treatment, only the right army of Wuwei led by him, were all made in Tianjin. Even if he was a Han Chinese, he was only a slave who was looked down upon, and that's all.

Back to the big tent and estimating the speed of weapon renewal, Liu Cheng kept scratching his head, but he was anxious, but there was no way to do so.

After a long time, Liu Cheng simply stopped being serious about these things. He left the tent and simply went to the camp to inspect the towns for training. At least he saw that the weapons of these soldiers were getting higher and higher, and the queues became more and more orderly. The rewards for their efforts were rewarded.

The four towns in front of the Wuwei Right Army were composed of Han military flags, occupying the large schoolyard and the small schoolyards of each town. The fifth town was composed of the Eight Banners of Goryeo. Some of them could not even speak Chinese and could not understand them. They all depended on the officers to accept the Chinese military orders and then used Korean dialect to order their subordinates. It was very awkward.

Liu Cheng first went to the fifth town for a walk. Kim Jong-in, the leader of the fifth town, was originally a national untouchable. When he was in North Korea, he relied on the lead in surrendering the Qing Dynasty to help the Qing army kill the Koreans step by step. He was also a tough person in the Goryeo Eight Banners. However, the combat effectiveness of the fifth town in the Wuwei Right Army was the worst for a discerning person like Liu Cheng, and even worse than many elite green camps. He was quite capable of bullying the people. He was not even as good as the Eight Banners of Manchu and Mongolia and the old traitors. He was also considered a strange flower.

These Eight Banners of Goryeo have land encircled in Zhili, and they are all proprietors. Like other Eight Banners, they agree with the principle that those who have Hengchang and Hengye mentioned before were persevering. But every day, it seems that their growth is much worse than the Eight Banners of the Han army. Over time, the difference is even greater.

Maybe there is a problem with race.

Shaking his head, Liu Cheng and Kim Jong-in gave a few words to him, asking him to strengthen his supervision of his subordinates' training, so he turned back to the university to inspect the troops in the first town.

Walking on the road, Liu Cheng was always thinking about the recruit training camp in Jinhua. In order to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, the new army first started to work together and train separately, rather than forming a training camp, which reduced the running-in time, but also led to uneven training effects and gains and losses.

"There is a long way to go."

Liu Cheng sighed, and in the distance, a group of people were returning to the camp.

Liu Cheng knew that this group of soldiers were from the third town. Since he was stationed here, he has robbed the surrounding area of ​​Tianjin Acropolis under the banner of attacking the rural rebel army.

It is a fact that the military farms in Xiaozhan have been harassed, and it is also a fact that there are many small rebel forces in the Tianjin Wei Township. What Liu Cheng had to do was to give him a crime of conspiring to rebel against the Qing Dynasty, and then send the army to "suppress". In addition to seizing his subordinates, he would bribe the officials of the court and hand over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He had to do things carefully before he could last for a long time.

“How are you getting today?”

Liu Cheng said with a smile, the general who led the team quickly treated Liu Cheng respectfully and looked respectful and even flattered.

"I have to ask the President for the blessing, and I have captured a lot. This fat sheep was originally walking across the sea in the previous dynasty. I bit it down and was full of oil." At this point, the general was full of lewd smiles on his face. It seemed that in addition to oil and water, there were some extra gains. However, this person did not dare to ask about women in front of Liu Cheng. Liu Cheng was the prince-in-law. Although the tigress in the family was also a Han Chinese flag-carrying flag, he was the goddaughter of the empress dowager, and his posture did not make the real princess at all.

A few days ago, they heard that when the tigress passed by, the concubine in Liu Cheng's mansion was sunk. Although it is common for this mandarin girl to die, a man of Han girl had to die in battle and his generals were scattered and the Fenghuang dared to treat Liu Cheng, the powerful red slave. The rumors that President Liu and the emperor were brothers of the same boots were really true.

Of course, President Liu's top color may not look good, but his opponents have always been very kind. As long as he is obedient, Liu Cheng always has a way to get extra hair. Now among the five towns of the Wuwei Right Army, there are few people who say that Liu Cheng is not good, and there are even many like him who think that Liu Cheng is more in line with their minds than those Manchu masters.

"The President's share has been prepared and will be delivered to the tent in a while. Please give it to the President for appreciation."

"Um."

Liu Cheng was very satisfied with the attitude of the general. For him, this was the support of the army. Now he was only in a poor place like the countryside of Tianjin Wei. When he defeated Chen Wen in the future, he would have to learn how to do horses and treasures when he went to the south. He would not have been able to smash money on his head.

By then, I am afraid that even if the Qing court wants to intercept their financial path, these guys who are used to the sweetness may not dare to turn the guns at the Qing court. Especially when they are still seizures by the Manchus and Mongolians on weekdays, the outbreak of conflicts will be a matter of time sooner or later.

Cutting off people's wealth is like killing parents, that's the truth!

"I am upset when seized and distributed to the soldiers as a reward. I will ask the soldiers to store them properly and stop causing such dirty things like stealing. As for the captured women, those who are left behind should not enter the camp. If military laws are disrupted, I will not be able to plead with the emperor at that time."

"The last one will obey the order, please rest assured that the president will make sure to make arrangements and not let the president be embarrassed."

Most of the seized were to be handed over and shared. The generals of the Han Army Banner had been robbed too much with the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners. They were all knowledgeable in this regard and could not do anything that was a small family. After a few times, Liu Cheng was relieved and ordered Li Zhifang to properly arrange the handed over and shared. He continued to inspect the training situation of each town.

Going out to rob is a reward mechanism for Liu Cheng. If you want to get opportunities, you must be obedient. The standard of obedience is now the training results. Even Murima has nothing to say, because the training results of the new army are directly related to the survival of the ethnic group. Some Han landlords are damaged, which is better than the training effect of the new army is not enough to deal with the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Chapter completed!