"The Inspector of Haiphong Province in Guangdong is a very cautious person, and will not trust a person until he is sure that he is true and reliable, and will not let him touch important things. He called this the observation period, during which the personal freedom of the person under investigation was restricted......"

Eduardo Benjamin wrote in his diary.

When he was done, he carefully closed the leather diary and let out a sigh.

He has been in the habit of keeping a diary since 10 years ago, and in his opinion, a diary is the most appropriate way to record his life.

So whether it is in Madrid or Manila, he has been working hard, and it is naturally the same in Xiangshan County, Guangdong.

There are some risks involved, of course, but Eduardo Benjamin thinks that if he is careful, he won't get into real trouble.

After all, missionaries were still popular with the class of great scholars.

Although the Cantonese Haiphong Provincial Inspector did not have the same keen interest in Catholicism as the other great scholars, he did not refuse Eduardo's entry.

Of course, Eduardo could not build a church in Xiangshan County for the time being. However, in his opinion, this is not a problem, as long as he successfully passes the inspection period, everything can go according to his plan.

Eduardo has decided to live in Xiangshan County permanently.

Manila Governor Sanchez has been very kind to him, and he must not fail to live up to the Governor's trust.

Of course, he could not have had much contact with the Manila side during this period. This was both to protect themselves and the Spanish army in Manila.

Blitzkrieg is the plan of His Excellency the Governor, and the chances of victory will only be good if the war is waged without the Ming army knowing.

Eduardo Benjamin closed his eyes and prayed, hoping that the Spanish Armada could finish the battle and defeat the beast of Daming, and completely surrender.

......

......

"My lord, these are the thirty new Franc gunners we have hired."

In the Wuzhushan Island Military Academy, Qi Wen was introducing the Franc machine gunner to Ning Xiu. And these gunners also practiced the military salute against Ning together.

It was Ning Xiu's idea to hire so many Francophone people recently, and it was also the appeal of Qi Wen and the others.

After all, the dozen or so Franc soldiers hired by Ning Xiu at the beginning were barely enough in an army of a thousand people. But after the expansion of the army, it will be a drop in the bucket.

And a highly qualified gunner is a necessary condition for the formation of an artillery battalion. Ning Xiu had long been preparing to set up a special artillery battalion in the new army. Then it is necessary to hire high-caliber gunners. Naturally, the Franc robot man is the best choice.

However, Ning Xiu put forward a requirement, that is, the hired Franco-Robot must be of Portuguese descent, not Spanish descent.

Fifty artillerymen served as instructors, enough to support an artillery battalion of 500 or even 1,000 people.

Of course, Ning Xiu would definitely train those recruits step by step, and he would not hope to become a fat man in one bite.

"Very good, this officer set up a military academy to train high-quality talents for the new army, of which artillery is the top priority."

Ning Xiu paused for a moment, and then said, "You are all great talents who are proficient in the principles of artillery, and this officer hopes that you can teach the skills you have mastered to the students of the military academy without reservation. This officer can promise that after the artillery battalion is really formed, you will all become officers of the artillery battalion. And your professorship in the military academy can be retained, and you will receive two payments. ”

The most important thing for mercenaries is naturally profit. Hearing that they could receive two cents, they all showed excited expressions.

"The officer's initial idea is that one of you will teach ten to twenty people in small classes, so that every cadet can have time to practice personally."

The scale of military schools is limited, and the training capacity is even more limited, and 500 to 1,000 students is already the limit. This is still the result of Ning Xiu cutting down the other soldiers and only keeping the artillery.

At the moment, he really needs a sharp artillery battalion too much.

As long as there is a professional artillery team, even if he meets the Spaniards at sea, Ning Xiu thinks that he will not necessarily lose.

"Your Excellency, do you mean to familiarize each of them with the process of mastering artillery firing?"

One of the mercenaries said in somewhat jerky Chinese.

"Yes, you must be familiar with the whole process, not just a rough one."

Ning Xiu took a deep breath and said, "I know it will take time, I can give you time. As long as you can train them to this level in three months, I will reward you. ”

The Franc mercenaries looked at each other.

Three months is too short.

It took them about a year to master the use of artillery, not to mention these Ming people who didn't understand the principles of artillery at all.

Seeing that none of them spoke, Ning Xiu cleared his throat and said, "No matter what you were like at the time, this official will give you all reasonable support here." The officer had only one request, and that they must be trained to be a combat-ready division within three months. ”

"Don't worry, Lord Ning, we can do it."

A Francophone man was the first to speak, and then someone chimed in.

Ning Xiu's request was not unreasonable. After all, he had plenty of artillery in his hands for these cadets to practice, which was definitely different from the situation of the Franc mercenaries back then.

With a lot of practice, supplemented by theoretical guidance, it is easy for recruits to master the technique.

What's more, these cadets are completely out of work, and they don't even need to undergo basic training on weekdays, and learning artillery skills is the only thing they need to do.

If they can't even do this, it's definitely a matter of attitude rather than ability.

"In addition, this official requires you to set up a teaching and research group to discuss the teaching content, although it is not required to be completely consistent, but the general direction must be the same."

Ning Xiu paused for a moment and continued: "The teaching and research group needs to hold a regular meeting every ten days to discuss the problems encountered in teaching. Common problems must be solved, and if individual problems cannot be solved, General Qi must be informed in time. ”

Some people with active minds have already understood Ning Xiu's intentions. Lord Ning wants to "produce" artillery like an assembly line.

The advantage of this is that the trained artillery is a road number, and even if some of the others are lost, they can be quickly replenished.

And if it is a master with an apprentice, there will inevitably be hidden secrets. In this way, if some high-level artillery is sacrificed, it is unknown whether the rest can be on top.

"My subordinates understand!"

Everyone responded in unison.

"Good, good. Since you are willing to come to Wuzhushan Island, this official will not treat you badly, and each of you can get a house, and after the military academy, you can live on this island permanently. ”

It turned out that in order to cultivate the sense of belonging of the soldiers and generals, Ning Xiu built a lot of houses on Wuzhushan Island, the big ones had three into five, and the small ones also had one into two, and they were rewarded according to the merits of the soldiers and generals.

......

......