Due to the inconvenience of the road, when Wang Zezhi received the news that the border soldiers were besieging Jiulonggou, it was already a unitary hour.

Wang Zezhi was furious, and immediately organized 3,000 Tartar battalion light cavalry and 1,000 steel armored heavy cavalry to set off.

But he didn't expect the battle on the Jiulong Ditch side to be one-sided.

The combat effectiveness of the Datong border soldiers is outrageously low.

Therefore, the team he led was only halfway through the journey when he encountered Yang Guo and Li San's escort of the captives.

Li San and Yang Guo stepped forward and told the battle situation in Jiulonggou.

Wang Zezhi understood what happened, and was a little embarrassed.

It turned out that he looked down on these border soldiers.

More than 30,000 people were beaten by more than 1,000 people, and the fart was full of urine, which was simply a joke.

As far as Wang Zezhi knows, there are several reasons for the low combat effectiveness of the Ming army.

The first is that military salaries are not in place.

The emptiness of the treasury and the inability to pay military salaries were the main reason for the low combat effectiveness of the Ming army.

The problem of empty wages is a perennial problem.

At that time, the failure to pay military salaries would seriously affect the combat effectiveness of the army, for example, the main force of the Ming army, there was a serious problem of military salaries.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, only the closest family members of the military generals were paid in full, and in addition, the standard battalions that existed in peacetime could only receive half of the military salary.

It would be wrong to think that this was the end of the army, because these people together only accounted for one-third of the troops, and the rest would wait for the strong men to be captured before the battle began, and the combat effectiveness of the team thus formed would be quite problematic.

In this way, the first reason for the low combat effectiveness of the Ming army was created, and the emptiness of the treasury would lead to the second problem - equipment.

Secondly, the weapons and equipment are of poor quality.

Although the Ming Dynasty army seems to be large, it is actually extremely weak, which is mainly reflected in the equipment.

Although the Ming army was equipped with a large number of firearms, there was only one such team, and that was the Shenji Battalion.

The three major campaigns of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty were carried out on the basis of Zhang Juzheng's Zhongxing, but the three major expeditions used almost the money and grain accumulated since the reform, and the country was weakening in the three dynasties of Jiajing, Tianqi and Chongzhen, and the equipment could not be guaranteed.

Some of the standard equipment that needs to be issued by the Ming government is becoming increasingly insufficient.

At that time, before the Battle of Salhu, the maintenance, rationing and logistics of the Ming army could not keep up with the situation seriously.

Among the troops issued to Liaodong, the weapons and equipment also included helmets and handcuffs during the Zhengde period.

They should be glad that if there is a Yongle period, maybe they can still keep it as an antique.

Yang Hao's knife before the sacrificial flag went out to fight, and the cow did not die after three slashes, and in the end, it was Yang Hao's Shang Fang sword that the cow was hacked to death.

Not only that, but the helmet of the last juniper on the Salhu front was pierced by an arrow due to the rust of age.

Speaking of Salhu, one of the main reasons why the Ming army was in a hurry to attack was also due to insufficient logistics, which ultimately led to defeat.

Qi Jiguang, the general of the anti-Japanese Ming Dynasty, once complained in "The Actual Record of Military Training": "Today's armor of mine, the outside is new, the inside is impressive, the inside is iron, there are several eyes, rust and rot only exist in the iron shape, it is still good, its emptiness is like a sieve, the enemy can be penetrated, the knife can be broken, and the armor is not as good as him." ”

It can be seen that although some people say that in ancient times, wars were not only fought by the economy.

However, for the agrarian people, the war is really the economy.

This is the reason for the problem, not that they can't defeat the Japanese invaders, but that most of the people who fight the Japanese are soldiers of the Ming Dynasty Guard.

These soldiers are basically unequipped, and their morale is not as good as that of the peasant army.

If the army of the northern frontier is mobilized to suppress the bandits, the gains outweigh the losses, so the "Qi family army" can be born.

Finally, there is the corruption of the civilian clique.

The chaos of the civil official group made the Ming Dynasty even worse, since Zhang Juzheng's death, the Ming Dynasty's Yanguan is like opening Pandora's box.

The court was completely in chaos, and although it was somewhat relieved during the Wei Zhongxian period, there were still frequent discords.

For example, during the period of Wei Zhongxian, because Wei Zhongxian dominated the rivers and lakes, the imperial court was quite clean.

However, Xiong Tingbi, who did not belong to the "eunuch party", had a dispute with Wang Huazhen, who had the support of Wei Zhongxian.

The focus of this dispute is the question of whether Houjin is offensive or defensive.

In the end, Wang Huazhen in the background attacked Liaodong, and finally lost his troops and generals, Wang Huazhen had a problem, but Xiong Tingbi saw Wang Huazhen's lone army going deep and just watched coldly, is it really no problem?

Therefore, the low combat effectiveness of soldiers in the late Ming Dynasty was caused by many aspects.

However, more than 30,000 people could not defeat more than 1,000 people, which still refreshed Wang Zezhi's perception of the low combat effectiveness of the border soldiers. Bashan Academy

Wang Zezhi took over the captives in their hands and ordered them to go back to the garrison first.

As for their merits, the king was ready to reward them for their merits on the second day.

Wang Zezhi took more than 18,000 captives back and forth to Guihua City.

On the fifteenth day of the lunar month, in the middle of the night, Zili.

Outside the naturalized city, on the prairie.

The weather was very cold, and from time to time a cold wind blew.

Wang Zezhi gathered the more than 18,000 captives and ordered them to be cooked a steaming meal.

After these people finished eating and their bodies were much warmer, Wang Zezhi led people to stand on a high ground carrying boxes of silver.

"Gathering troops to make trouble, rebelling and making chaos, you are not small.

But then again, we soldiers are paid to earn money to earn a living. ”

"That's right, we're all trading our lives for pay."

"Yes."

When the well-fed border soldiers heard Wang Zezhi's words, they resonated and echoed excitedly.

They thought that Wang Zezhi was going to give them three months' salaries.

"However, you shouldn't, you shouldn't, attack the Jiulonggou garrison.

This is the territory that I have killed and injured countless brothers, and I have worked so hard to snatch back from the hands of the tiger and the rabbit. ”

Wang Zezhi's face sank, and he reprimanded sharply.

"Then you can't go unpaid."

"Yes."

"If you don't pay us, forget it, we were almost eaten by wolves."

"That's it, that's it."

"We want to get a salary for the New Year, if the chief soldier doesn't give it, none of us can think about having a good year, pay it!"

"Pay, pay, pay!"

"Pay, pay, pay!"

The border soldiers were still unsure of whether they were alive or dead, and they were so excited that they united and raised their fists and shouted in unison.

The barefoot are not afraid of wearing shoes, they themselves have nothing, and the only thing they have is military pay in exchange for their lives.

Therefore, even if they have no weapons in their hands, they still don't know whether they are alive or dead.

Wang Zezhi saw that this group of people was still unrepentant and had murderous intentions, so he beckoned.

The sergeant of the fire gun battalion was in place and raised the Lu Mi gun in his hand.

The cavalry surrounding them, bows and arrows, ready to attack at any time.

The scene was silent.

The border soldiers were frightened, did not dare to move, and did not dare to squeak again.

Wang Zezhi's subordinates were waiting for his orders.

"Originally, I was going to pay you, but you wanted to rebel.

You see, here is a full 200,000 taels of silver, which is more than enough to advance your military salary for three months.

There are now two paths before you to go.

The first one, I don't know whether I am alive or dead and fight back, you see, you don't even have weapons in your hands, I can kill you all, do you think it's worth it?

After you die, I will tell the emperor about your charges of making trouble, and the emperor will definitely exterminate all three generations of your ancestors and grandchildren, as well as the nine clans of the Manchu family.

Second, the one who took the lead in the uprising has already surrendered to the law, and you can put the sin on his head.

Let's just say that he coerced you to make trouble, as long as you are obedient and obey my arrangement, the total army will ensure that you and others are not guilty.

Those who agree, they all squat down for Lao Tzu. ”

Kill them and these people are not afraid, but destroy their nine tribes, and these people will be afraid.

Wang Zezhi's last sentence almost roared out angrily, and these border soldiers were moved by the words and squatted down one by one.