Chapter 160 The combat effectiveness of the Haihan Militia

Since most of the Ming Dynasty's official military armed forces were concentrated in cities, their ability to protect non-urban areas was very limited. Therefore, it was common for large gentry households to organize their own militia groups and paramilitary forces such as security groups. Especially in areas that were often harassed by pirates.

In the southeastern coastal area, almost all villages have militia groups. In some densely populated areas, there are several large militia groups that jointly defend the villages. The number of militiamen even exceeds a thousand. Li Nai lives in Guangdong all year round and has visited many militia groups.

But this was the first time he had seen people training militia like the Haihan people.

In general militia training, large families invite several martial arts masters or veterans who have retired from the army to teach the militia some basic fighting skills. Yes, it is just fighting, not fighting. This is because there are very few instructors.

Some people have a relatively clear concept of combat or war, let alone any command skills - it is unlikely that such militia instructors will be able to hire senior officers. The direct consequence of this level of training is that the militia commanders

Often they can only effectively command battles at the squad and platoon level. As for larger-scale military force mobilization and combat command skills, there is a serious lack of relevant training, and they can often only rely on their luck on the spot.

The content of the vigilante training is basically based on physical training and fighting skills that beat the body. Since most people in this era eat two meals a day and their caloric intake is very limited, there is also a lot of physical training.

It's just a show. Combat skills emphasize individual combat power rather than collaborative combat skills of the army. As for the formation training, there is really very little training. At most, the militiamen learn to gather and stand in line.

, as for the maintenance and changes of the queue during the journey, there is no need to think about it.

Of course, more importantly, the funders of the militia are all local wealthy gentry. The amount of military expenditure the funder is willing to pay is directly linked to the combat effectiveness of the militia - regardless of when fighting is really needed, even if it is

For daily drills, rewards must be given to these amateur soldiers, otherwise no one will take part in the training seriously.

This bad habit was learned from the Ming army. The regular army of the Ming Dynasty practiced every four or five days. Because of the lax system, the guards often practiced every ten days or even half a month. In some places with poor conditions, they only practiced every one month.

It’s not surprising. The training frequency of the militia is definitely lower than that of the regular border army. The better ones are about the same as the guardsmen, and the worse ones are even worse than the guardsmen. They only organize joint training every few months. No matter what

From the perspective of training methods, conditions, and frequency, it is difficult to believe that the armed forces trained in this way have any combat effectiveness.

The ancestral home of the "Fu Ruifeng" Li family is in Panyu, Guangzhou Prefecture. As one of the local gentry, the Li family also maintains a militia group of about 80 people all year round. Li Nai always returns to his hometown with his family to pay homage to his ancestors.

During the war, this militia would be dispatched to maintain local order. Now looking at the Haihan people's militia, Li Nai silently compared the two teams in his heart.

In terms of the level of formation drills, the Haihan Militia Group undoubtedly left the Lijiazhuang Militia Group far behind the Eight Streets. In Li Nai's memory, the Lijiazhuang Militia Group had not even conducted such professional formation training. However, the Haihan Militia Group banned the formation of troops.

There was absolutely no whispering or looking around, showing a strong sense of discipline. This is also an aspect that the Lijiazhuang Vigilante Group is far behind.

However, Li Nai still doesn't think that the actual combat power of the Haihan militia is higher than that of his own militia. This is because the Li family has invested a lot of money for this militia. Not only did they hire several outstanding martial arts masters from Foshan as instructors, they also

He spent a lot of money to hire a general from the Guangzhou garrison to teach him the techniques of marching and formation - in later generations, he would be a proper military consultant.

In addition, the Li family also spent a lot of money to equip all members of this militia with leather armor, swords, spears and shields. There were even five archers in the team who were rare in the militia. As for the Ming army, they have been widely equipped

The Li family also spent money to buy ten guns and gave them to this militia. In terms of combat power, Li Nai believed that it would be difficult to find a few militia groups in Guangzhou Prefecture that could compare with the Lijiazhuang militia. The Haihan people

Although the militiamen are well-trained, no matter how skillfully the troops are drilled, can these bare-handed militiamen defeat their heavily armed opponents?

The formation drill here was over, and Li Nai's mind had not yet returned to the scene. However, He Qiang behind him coughed dryly and said: "Mr. Tao, the military discipline of your militia is indeed excellent, but why is it during the drill?"

Not carrying ordnance? Could it be that you lack sophisticated weapons?"

Tao Donglai smiled and said: "That's not true. It was just a simple formation exercise. Since you two want to see the ordnance, that's fine."

He turned to Gu Wei and said loudly: "Instructor Gu, our guest wants to see ordnance training."

Gu Wei was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said: "Okay, no problem. Then please follow me to the shooting range."

The shooting range is located at the foot of the east mountain, very close to the playground, and can be reached in a blink of an eye. After Gu Wei gave an order, someone set up a wooden target fifty meters away, while several other militiamen were led by other instructors.

Below, several long wooden boxes were carried.

When Li Nai and He Qiang saw the militiamen setting up targets, they both thought they were practicing bow and arrow exercises. They thought that the Haihan people were really capable and actually trained a group of archers. When the wooden box was opened, the militiamen stepped forward to start.

When they received the weapons, the two of them were shocked.

"Bird gun!" Li Nai couldn't help but exhale softly.

The militiamen received the muskets and ammunition, and did not rush to start loading ammunition. Instead, they quickly lined up under the command of Gu Wei, with ten people in a row and divided into six rows. Li Nai's face was already a little pale.

Now - these Haihan people not only have muskets, but they have also trained a large number of musketeers!

"Check the firearms!" Gu Wei ordered loudly after the team was lined up.

The militiamen first checked the three leather boxes they wore, which contained primers, propellants and projectiles. The propellants had been packaged in paper bags to prevent soldiers from loading more and less launchers due to nervousness or negligence.

Then there is the primer hole and primer pot of the gunpowder to prevent gunpowder residue from clogging the hole and causing launch failure. If someone finds that there is a problem with their equipment at this time, they will raise their hands to signal, then step back and let the people behind them

People add to their own queue first.

"Load ammunition!" Gu Wei counted the time and issued the second order.

The militiamen shook the primer into the primer pot, then closed the lid. They bit open the small paper package containing the propellant with their teeth, poured the propellant into the gun muzzle, then loaded the projectiles and removed the purge strip from the barrel.

Tamp the projectiles and propellant tightly.

"Fire! Aim!" Gu Wei continued to order.

The militiamen used fire to light the match rope fixed on the match rope clamp, and then raised their guns to aim at the target.

"Five rapid fire shots, launch!" Gu Wei waved his hand, and immediately there was a ping-ping-pong-pong sound, startling a group of birds in the forest behind the target.

After firing, the militiamen immediately retreated from the gap in the queue to the rear, and the soldiers in the second row stepped forward and raised their guns.

"Fire...aim...fire!"

Going back and forth like this, six rows of militia musketeers each fired five rounds of bullets in a non-stop manner, and then stopped amidst the whistle of the ancient guard. Then everyone checked the firearms on the spot, cleaned the barrels, and waited for the next step.

One step command.

"What do you think?" Tao Donglai asked the two stunned guests with a smile.

"It's amazing!" Li Nai replied in a very dry voice. He had also seen matchlock drills, but the impact of the ten muskets of his militia was completely different from the rotational shooting method in front of him.

If two militia groups were to face off on the battlefield, wouldn't it mean that the Haihan militia had already overthrown a large area before they even came into contact?

Soon the militiamen retrieved the target. Looking at the bullet holes shot through the inch-thick wooden board, anyone could fully imagine how lethal this musketry unit was on the frontal battlefield.

Li Nai swallowed hard and argued: "This blunderbuss gun is indeed powerful, but its ammunition is limited. Once it is used up, won't it become a fire stick?"

Tao Donglai nodded and said: "That's right. The Ming Army's muskets do have this problem, so we have already tried to overcome this flaw."

Tao Donglai stretched out his hand, and Gu Wei handed him a matchlock gun with understanding, and then a two-foot-long bayonet. The end of the bayonet was a sleeve, and Tao Donglai aligned the hole of the sleeve with the muzzle of the gun and inserted it.

, and then turned it around to fix the bayonet through the latch on the gun body. In this way, the five-foot-long fire stick immediately turned into a seven-foot-long short spear. This must be thanks to the efforts of the military industry department, which is their

The latch-type bayonet appeared in this time and space more than half a century earlier.

Tao Donglai stabbed his hand with a little force, and the bayonet immediately penetrated the inch-thick target. Li Nai and He Qiang, who had witnessed the whole process, opened their mouths wide and could not utter a word to defend themselves.

.

After being silent for a long time, Li Nai suddenly asked something that surprised even Tao Donglai: "May I ask Mr. Tao, how did you get these blunderbuss?"

Before Tao Donglai could recover, Schneider next to him had already smelled a hint of business opportunity in Li Nai's words and quickly took over the conversation: "Mr. Li, do you want to buy a few?"

Li Nai did not directly answer Schneider's question and said to himself: "Looking at it below, although this blunderbuss is similar to the one equipped by the Ming army, it seems to be more sophisticated and has a spear tip that can be installed on the muzzle. This

It shouldn’t be the Ministry of War’s standard, right?”

Schneider and Tao Donglai exchanged glances, and then told him directly: "We made these matchlock guns. If Mr. Li is interested in buying them, we can have a good discussion about the business."
Chapter completed!