Chapter 2013

From a condescending perspective, Sun Bing was able to confirm through binoculars that this officer was not the most common Jurchens, Mongolians or Han people in the Qing army. This man had a tall nose and deep eyes, and his appearance was obviously similar to that of the Orientals he was familiar with.

The difference is quite similar to the Portuguese who had fought side by side in the previous wars in Manila and Korea.

The task force sent by Portugal participated in Haihan's emergency rescue operation against North Korea. It had just carried out several strikes against the Qing army with the Haihan army a few months ago. Naturally, it was impossible to carry out military cooperation with the Qing army at the same time.

.Furthermore, Portuguese activities in the coastal areas of the mainland north of the Yangtze River must be reported to Haihan in advance. Even business dealings with areas under the Ming Dynasty must follow this principle, let alone sneaking into Liaodong to contact the Qing Dynasty.

, presumably the Portuguese would not betray Haihan, a powerful ally, for some economic gain.

So after Sun Bing eliminated the suspicion of the Portuguese, the remaining answers seemed to be coming out. The Military Intelligence Bureau had reminded him in the intelligence provided before this operation that he should pay special attention to whether there were any Spanish-like people in the Qing military camp.

People from outside the region are active, because the muskets they equip are most likely to come from overseas channels, and the Spanish are currently the most suspected.

It was actually difficult for Sun Bing to distinguish the Spaniards and Portuguese whose hometowns were in the Iberian Peninsula from their appearance, but this was nothing new to him. After all, the Portuguese officer Simao who led the army to Korea to participate in the war,

It is also often difficult to tell the difference in appearance between Han people and Koreans in the north. Sun Bing's reasoning is also based on this similarity - since the object he is observing looks like a Portuguese, he cannot be a Portuguese.

Portuguese, then he must be a Spaniard.

Soon Sun Bing noticed that there was another person beside the Spanish officer who was worth noting. Looking through the telescope, he could see that this person was imitating the Spanish officer's expressions and movements from time to time, and was mumbling words. It seemed that he should be an interpreter, but he didn't know.

Did he translate the officer's instructions into Chinese or Manchu?

But in the far north of Liaodong, there are no talents who can understand Spanish. And the Spanish base is far away in the depths of the South China Sea. It is unlikely that anyone under their command is familiar with Manchu. But it is not difficult for people who understand Spanish and Chinese.

Look, Sun Bing had seen many local Han descendants in Manila who were bilingual. However, the traditional activity area of ​​the Spaniards is mainly the South China Sea. For them, Liaodong should be a very unfamiliar area. How did they follow

Got hooked up with the Qing Dynasty?

This question can probably only be answered by catching the Spaniard down the hillside for a trial, but Sun Bing knew that it was unlikely to realize this plan at the moment. Although the musketry team being trained under the hillside only had 50 or 60 people.

, there may be a chance of giving it a try, but even if the Spaniard is captured on the spot, it is unlikely that he can be taken away smoothly. After all, this place is too close to the Qing army’s camp, and they cannot outrun the enemy cavalry on two legs.

The pursuit will be counterproductive when the time comes.

Sun Bing tried hard to suppress his desire to take action and focused his energy back on observing the movements of these people.

Although these Qing troops lined up and raised their guns in a target shooting posture, they did not fire, they were just pretending. Of course, this is not surprising. After all, live-fire training is a very consuming method, even in

The Haihan army also had to act within its capabilities, and the Qing army must not be able to afford such expenditures. Money is only one aspect. The ammunition shipped from overseas and the loss of guns during use were very important to the Qing army.

It is difficult to replenish it in time, so I must use it sparingly.

But since the target has been specially made, it must eventually be carried out with live ammunition shooting, and it is this part that Sun Bing wants to see. Based on his experience in the military for several years, he believes that he can definitely see some problems from it——

For example, gun performance, reloading speed, basic tactics, etc.

The effect of such training in such cold weather will obviously be greatly reduced. The exposed hands will soon become stiff, and whether it is loading ammunition or raising a gun to aim, it will be obviously affected. And this musketry team is prohibited by law

There is still a long way to go as far as the Haihan Army can achieve. Sun Bing saw that many people were rubbing their hands or breathing on their hands from time to time, or stamping their feet to keep warm. They did not fully obey the officers.

instructions for training.

However, this slightly sloppy situation soon changed. Several cavalry and horses came from the camp. Sun Bing observed their actions. It should be a senior general of the Qing army who came to supervise the training. Those soldiers who looked a little lazy just now immediately

I braced myself, fearing that my boss would find me paddling during training.

Sun Bing raised the corner of his mouth slightly, as if he also found a familiar feeling from such a scene. He had done something similar in training before, but unfortunately he was caught on the spot and asked to be punished by the instructor by running around the school field.

After a full hour, he no longer dared to be lazy during training. However, he was still very lucky to have that experience. Otherwise, he would not have trained so hard in the future, and he might not have had the opportunity to join the ordinary army.

Was selected to serve in the Marine Corps.

Of course, Sun Bing would not have any good impressions of these Qing soldiers. After all, he was a Han from Liaodong. If his hometown had not been occupied by the Manchus, he would not have left his hometown and fled to the south. Fortunately, he

His life was not bad, but he accidentally joined the Haihan camp as a refugee, and then joined the army to fight in all directions. After being ordered to go south at the end of last year, he thought that he might not have another chance to return to Liaodong, but now he has returned again.

When Liaodong was performing a mission, if he had the opportunity to take action, he would definitely not hesitate to kill a few more enemies with ruthless hands to pay homage to the fellow villagers he slaughtered.

The Spanish officer paid great attention to details during the training, calling a halt from time to time and then stepping forward to correct the soldiers' movements in person. The Qing army general who came to supervise the training also seemed to be very patient, so he stood quietly and watched.

, did not intervene in the training process.

After practicing basic movements for more than an hour, the Qing general's patience was probably almost worn out, so he called the translator next to the Spanish officer to give him a few instructions and then conveyed them to him. The Spanish officer listened to the translator.

If so, he stopped the training and asked people to distribute ammunition to these soldiers. Sun Bing was refreshed and thought that after waiting for so long, the main show was finally here.

But the live-fire training scenes that Sun Bing saw actually didn't have much new stuff. They were basically the techniques and tactics he had practiced when he first joined the army. The reason is also very simple. The basic combat skills he learned came from

These are fixed routines taught by senior military officials, and the origins of these things are Western countries with more advanced gun tactics in history. Comparing the two, naturally there are many similar elements.

Of course, he has now joined the Marine Corps, and the rifle he uses is no longer the old-style flintlock rifle he was equipped with when he first joined the army. Therefore, the corresponding tactics have also been greatly changed, and he no longer uses this method under the hillside.

This is a formation of lining up to kill. The result of the battle with the Spanish army in Manila at the beginning of this year has fully proved the advanced tactics of the Haihan Army. So at this time, when Sun Bing saw the basic tactics of the musketeers down the hillside, he

I couldn't help but feel a sense of superiority in my heart, thinking secretly that even if you could learn this skill thoroughly, you would never be able to beat the elite soldiers of our Haihan Kingdom.

The advanced tactics of the Haihan Army are difficult for other countries' armies to imitate. This is not only a gap in combat concepts, but also a reflection of comprehensive strength in equipment, logistics, transportation, etc. At least until the performance of weapons is greatly improved, other

It is unlikely that the country's musketry tactics will break away from the existing framework, and the overall combat effectiveness will naturally not be effectively improved. Sun Bing does not understand these underlying reasons, but he knows that even if the Qing army can train some musketeers, it will not be possible at all.

Unable to change the current passive situation in the stalemate with the Haihan Army, such a musketeer unit can only ambush the careless Haihan Army patrol. If placed on the frontal battlefield to compete with the main force of the Haihan Army, it will not take a moment to be defeated.

Eliminate it cleanly.

Of course, if the opponent of the Qing army is the Ming army or the Korean army, then this kind of musketry unit will have much more room to play. Although the Ming army also has a firearms battalion in the formation, as far as Sun Bing knows,

Most of the muskets equipped are just relatively primitive matchlocks. However, when they attacked Manila this year, the local Spanish armed forces had already equipped a considerable proportion of flintlock muskets. If these weapons were provided by the Spanish, the equipment level should be

It can be even better than the Ming army. As for the Korean army, maybe it can be improved to a certain extent with the help of Haihan in two or three years, but for now, even the Qing army without firearms is not the Korean army.

For opponents who can resist, the strength gap between the two sides is not limited to the field of weapons and equipment.

Theoretically, it is possible for the Qing army to counter the Haihan army by improving the performance of their weapons, but the quality gap can only be made up by quantity. They must form a firearms unit several times the strength of the Haihan and Liaodong garrison.

It may eliminate the disadvantage of weapon performance. But the problem is that no country in East Asia of this era has such industrial capabilities, allowing the Qing army to arm thousands of troops with muskets and artillery in a short period of time.

Speaking of the Spaniards as far away as the South China Sea, even Haihan Ordnance Industry could not meet such production requirements.

Therefore, it is almost destined that the expansion rate of the Qing army's firearms force will be limited by the supply of weapons for a foreseeable period in the future, even if they have self-production capabilities in the future. However, if the development in this direction goes smoothly, then

The speed at which the Qing army installed firearms may catch up with and surpass the Ming Dynasty in a few years. This is why the Haihan Executive Committee regarded the Qing army's artillery troops in the Liaodong region as a hidden danger that must be identified.

One of the main purposes of Haihan's expedition to garrison in Liaodong was to hold back the Qing's military strength in this direction, so that it would not dare to boldly raise its troops southward to ensure the stability of the Ming Dynasty. But if the strength comparison between the Qing and the Ming Dynasty

If a big change occurs, causing Huang Taiji's ambition to go south to knock the pass in advance, it means that Haihan will have to send troops to intervene. After all, Daming is Haihan's main source of raw materials and sales market, and maintaining its social stability is very important.

The development of Haihan at this stage is of extremely important significance. The world is in chaos, which is an unacceptable situation for Haihan at this stage.

However, if such a large-scale war is fought inland, far from the coast, the Haihan Army will not be of much use. Therefore, the most effective way for Haihan is to suppress the Qing's military development as much as possible.

Technology, and launched several small-scale wars in Liaodong from time to time to tighten the clockwork of the Qing Dynasty, so that it could not distract itself from looking south.

One of the purposes of sending Sun Bing to perform a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines is to confirm how big the hidden danger is and whether it has reached a level that requires the use of means to eliminate it as soon as possible. However, judging from what Sun Bing has seen so far,

The training level of these musketeers is just that, and it is estimated that because they have too little actual combat experience, their formation conversion speed during live ammunition shooting is obviously too slow, so that the interval between two rounds of firing is too long, which greatly affects the firepower output.

Intensity. Sun Bing had trained with the Fujian Ming Army, which was also equipped with flintlock muskets, and its firing frequency was at least half as fast as this musketeer team.

If the Qing army's musketry force was only of this size, Sun Bing felt that it was far from enough to have a significant impact on the situation in Liaodong. However, how the Spaniards and these weapons were obtained is definitely a direction worthy of investigation.

If the source of its weapons can be cut off, the Musketeers will soon cease to exist in name only.

Sun Bing had seen Spanish warships during the battle in Manila. If a sailing ship with a special shape like that appeared in the Liaodong waters, it would definitely be a conspicuous target on the sea. However, so far, the Military Intelligence Bureau has never received any sighting reports in this regard.

, this is also a very strange phenomenon. Of course, it is possible that the Spanish avoided the Haihan Navy’s daily patrols in the waters on the east coast of the Liaodong Peninsula, but compared to this extremely risky approach, Sun Bing felt that there was another

The possibility is relatively high that the way the Spanish entered the Qing Dynasty may not have been on a large sailing ship with a conspicuous appearance. If a Chinese-style sailing ship appeared in this sea area, probably no one would pay special attention to it.

The more Sun Bing guessed, the more he wanted to go down the mountain immediately and capture the Spanish officer for trial. But he also knew that he could not be impulsive at this time. What he should do now was to continue to observe the movements of the musketeers. But wait until tonight

After returning to the beach, you must write a written report as soon as possible and report what you saw today to your superiors.
Chapter completed!