While the Japanese pirate grocery store was nervously waiting for the summons, Zhu Cixiang was talking with three foreigners in the Dagong Hall. The three foreigners were Tang Ruowang, Alfonso Lopez and Shi Ruien. Among them, Shi Ruien was the mercenary captain Rui from Germany.

Like many Westerners who arrived in China at this time, he had a Chinese name. Because the "Stein" in his surname Reinstein means rock in German, Tang Ruowang gave him this name.

His name is Shi Ruien.

This German is 45 years old. He spent 20 years on the battlefields of the Thirty Years' War in Germany and the other 4 years in the English Civil War. He has never been a senior general, but he is just a general.

Youzi, a veteran on the battlefield, had the highest official position of being the leader of a mercenary group. In fact, you can also think of him as a military contractor. He received a contract and a deposit from an unstable monarch, and then recruited soldiers and purchased equipment on his own.

, form an infantry regiment, then go into battle and earn rewards.

After the English Civil War, Reinstein, who once served the British King, received another contract from the far East—not the contract given to him by Tang Ruowang, but a contract from the Dutch East India Company.

It turned out that Governor Antony van Diemen of the Dutch East India Company learned that the strongman Agung Sultan of the Mataran Kingdom on Java Island was seriously ill. He felt that there was an opportunity, so he sent people back to Europe to recruit mercenaries, hoping to recruit mercenaries in Agung.

After Sultan died of illness, he launched a war.

And this Reinstein was one of several mercenary captains hired by the East India Company. However, after taking dozens of his men all the way to Batavia, Reinstein and his men encountered difficulties due to the lack of local conditions.

Unable to accept it, they all fell ill.

This situation was very common in Batavia. The East India Company was unwilling to lose these mercenaries who had finally been transported to the East, so they were sent to Macau, where the climate was more comfortable, to recuperate. It was hoped that they would gradually adapt to the conditions in the south.

Hot and humid.

While Reinstein and others were raising troops in Macau, they met Tang Ruowang who was heading south from Yangzhou.

Tang Ruowang, as an envoy of the Ming Dynasty, sought help from Macau Governor Paul Paolo - Zhu Cixiang hoped that Paolo would follow the precedent set in the second year of Chongzhen's reign and send a mercenary group of more than 400 people and provide a batch of weapons.

Of course, Paul Shi agreed wholeheartedly - the operation in the second year of Chongzhen not only improved the relationship between Macau and the Ming Dynasty, but also won many arms orders for Macau.

In addition, the Ming court did not let Macau send troops and weapons in vain, but paid 57,000 taels of silver!

But this time, the conditions of the Ming court seemed to be more favorable! It was not that they paid more, but they asked the Portuguese Governor-General to send envoys to Nanjing to stay for a long time... This was an opportunity for the Kingdom of Portugal and the Ming court to establish direct contact.

ah!

Therefore, after receiving Zhu Cihong's order, Shi Paulo immediately collected 1,200 turtle-dove-footed muskets and 12 3-pound field guns and gave them to Tang Ruowang.

They also found Reinstein who was recuperating in Macau, and paid the same price as the Dutch to hire Reinstein who could not adapt to the hot climate of Java Island and more than 40 other German mercenaries.

Let them, together with Tang Ruowang and the envoy from the Macau Governor's Office Alfonso Lopez, escort the equipment provided by the Macau Governor's Office to the north first.

For Reinstein, who has spent half his life in European wars and is just a mercenary leader, this trip to Nanjing will not only change the trajectory of his life, but also open his eyes!

When he was in Dantu Town, he saw a sleeve bayonet for the first time, and he also saw an infantry regiment equipped with all muskets. On the way into Nanjing from Dantu Town, he also got a rifle through Tang Ruowang.

Loading paper shell ammunition... is also an eye-catching innovation!

According to Tang Ruowang, this innovation also came from the regent and crown prince of the Ming Empire...

And today, something happened that Shi Ruien didn't expect. After the young crown prince of the Ming Empire learned that Shi Ruien could speak fluent English, he directly talked to him in English!

"...His Royal Highness the Crown Prince," Shi Ruien spoke in Old German English, "The Spanish phalanx is actually constantly changing. The early Spanish phalanx was a bit like a moving bastion, with a spearman in the middle.

The phalanx consists of a phalanx, and there is a small musket phalanx at each corner of the spear phalanx. In this way, the entire formation can face enemies coming from all directions like a castle. Four of the small musket phalanxes are at

When facing enemies coming from one direction, two small musket phalanxes can form a larger horizontal array and fire under the cover of long guns.

When the enemy's cavalry or infantry approached, the musketeers retracted into the pike phalanx - the pike phalanx was not very dense, and there were always some gaps to accommodate a small number of musketeers. In order to maximize the effectiveness of the small number of musketeers,

Power, so heavy muskets are often paired with Spanish phalanx...

However, this tactic has been eliminated in the past ten or twenty years, because more and more situations have shown that firepower is the decisive factor. Once the musketeers fail in the battle, it is impossible for the pikemen to launch an attack against the opponent's firepower.

The more popular tactic now is the square formation tactic improved by the Dutchman Maurice. It is said to be a square formation, but it is not necessarily square. In most cases, it is a horizontal formation of six to eight rows. The spear is in the middle.

The muskets are on both sides. This formation is easy to assemble, but more complicated to use.

So I think your practice of attaching bayonets to muskets will eventually become popular around the world and make long guns obsolete. Of course, the muskets themselves also need to be improved, and flintlock guns with higher reliability and longer range are needed."

"Really?" Zhu Cixiang thought for a while, and it seemed to be true. Historically, Westerners stopped playing with spears in the 18th century. This Shi Yangren was quite discerning, "But that is a matter of the future. For now,

Is an all-musketeer team too aggressive?”

"It's hard to say. It depends on the actual situation on the battlefield." Shi Ruien has been thinking about this issue for the past two days. "But I think whether an all-musketeer team is feasible depends on the level of cavalry and artillery... In a pure infantry confrontation,

In an infantry battle, a team with all musketry should have a greater chance of winning.

In fact, on the European battlefield now, infantry fighting in Dutch or Swedish square formations sometimes arrange six deep rows of musketeers into three deep rows in two rows abreast, and then fire a volley."

The current European battlefield is actually in the stage of transition from phalanx tactics to line infantry tactics. The more popular tactics are Morris Square and Gustavus Square - which are based on the Spanish phalanx, with the addition of

The ratio of large musketeers was also reduced in depth, from more than ten lines to about six.

However, the organization of these two phalanxes and the Spanish phalanx is relatively complicated. Just grouping the pikes and muskets in the same company is a troublesome matter. Sometimes the muskets have to be divided into heavy ones, and some additional sword and shield soldiers have to be added.

Or halberdier.

In comparison, the line infantry tactics of pure musket company formation are actually relatively simple.

"But I don't have a strong field artillery," Zhu Cixiang shook his head, seeming a little worried, "I don't have a strong cavalry either... I think I still need a Morris or Gustav style phalanx.

?”

"You're right," Shi Ruien said with a smile, "but your cavalry is okay, but the horses are a bit lacking. Maybe you should buy some of their folding horses from India. I also suggest that your cavalry and infantry should be lighter.

The plate armor...the kind of plate armor worn by Governor Zheng (referring to Zheng Zhilong)'s Japanese mercenaries is enough.

In addition, the matchlock guns used by your army are also outdated. I suggest gradually replacing them with the latest flintlock guns...Flintlock guns plus bayonets will sooner or later completely eliminate the long gun.

However, every new tactic has a gradual improvement process, and being too radical is a risk. So I suggest you train and equip some Dutch teams. It is not difficult. As long as you fully trust me, my people can

A model regiment will be organized for you within 6 months. Several additional officer regiments will arrive later, so you will soon have four model regiments using Dutch tactics.

As for artillery, that’s more troublesome... Field guns can be purchased from Macau. In fact, Governor St. Paul has prepared 12 copper-cast 3-pound field guns produced in Macau for you. However, qualified field gunners are very
Chapter completed!