In May of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, the soldiers and horses gathered in the Jiaozhou battalion were left behind except for 2,000 people. Most of the rest of the soldiers and horses returned to their original places to defend them.

The army led by Li Meng can be said to be getting smaller and smaller. Ma Gang, Chen Liu, and Zhao Neng were all halfway to the city guarded by their own towns, although they were marching with a large army. I don't know how much faster it was on this road than during the war in Dongchang and Jinan, because the supplies were completely supplied by the Tuntian Grange along the way. Something that requires hard labor. They are also nearby recruits and tenants. Conveniently very.

On the march. The news within a radius of 100 miles will be collected in the hands of the generals of the Jiaozhou battalion at any time, which is the so-called benefit of the inner line.

In the Jinan Military Conference, everyone's summary of the Jiaozhou battalion has one thing in common, that is, it is impossible to leave the baggage supply, and the light advance is not necessary in the battle of the army, if the baggage is sufficient, the supply can keep up. Even if the march is slow and the enemy takes the initiative to attack itself, the Jiaozhou battalion can win through the superiority of firearms.

The more everyone analyzed the encounter at the cavalry field of the Qing army in Qihe County, the more they felt that if this army was marching slowly, according to the order, and not in such a hurry, the Tatar cavalry would be in front of the combination of firecrackers and spearmen after the formation was completed and the ammunition was loaded. Nothing will be bargained.

In the final analysis. Li Meng was still in a hurry. Of course, the crowd did not explicitly point out the problem. Or Li Meng did his own self-examination.

Explained in those scholars. Li Meng's retelling of the war strategy and battlefield examples. It is often said that it is to fight with the barbarians, especially the Western Mongols and the Eastern Jurchens in the north. If the officers and soldiers do not have enough cavalry. Great armies engage in battle, even if they are victorious. There won't be much to gain. Because the other side is cavalry. Once it is a defeat, it will immediately flee on horseback, and the infantry of the officers and soldiers will not be able to pursue, and there are often chaotic formations because of the cavalry pursuing the opposing side. Instead, he was counterattacked by the other party. An example of a reversal of victory into defeat. And if the officers and troops are defeated. It can easily turn into a big defeat. Because the barbarian cavalry broke through. The soldiers broke up, and the rout soon turned into a massacre on the ground.

Therefore, those who wrote these war examples suggested that the officers and soldiers should also strengthen the cavalry, and those who had personal experience wrote articles. They don't pay much attention to firearms, but think that they should pay attention to hand-to-hand combat and bows and arrows.

But this is usually judged by the general public. In the discussion of the Jinan military conference, it was overturned. The number of foot soldiers in the Jiaozhou battalion was far greater than that of the cavalry. Even if it's a horse team. There was also a considerable part of the dismounted infantry. It's just that the power of the horse machine is increased.

It is said that such a unit should suffer a great loss in the face of the Tartar cavalry, but the Jiaozhou battalion is very different from the ordinary officers and soldiers, and the firearms in the Jiaozhou camp are not the kind of fireworks that are shoddy and indiscriminately set off outside the range of ordinary officers and soldiers. The firearms in the Jiaozhou camp are carefully crafted by craftsmen. There are highly trained killing weapons

In the absence of bows and arrows, scandium and artillery can already attack the enemy, and any enemy who is hit on the ground. According to the treatment methods of this era, at the very least, it is incapacitating and ineffective. As long as the Jiaozhou battalion calmly deploys the formation. Plenty of ammunition. Then the enemy, who is mainly cavalry, will not take advantage of it at all.

Li Meng and other officers at all levels were deeply touched by this during their journey back to Jiaozhou from Jinan. As long as it's on your own territory. There will be no problems with supply, intelligence, and other logistical problems. The more in such an environment, or an environment close to this, the army of the Jiaozhou battalion calmly deployed its formation. The higher the probability of a situation with sufficient ammunition. Other words. The above conditions are guaranteed. The odds of winning at the Jiaozhou camp are huge.

This is to tell generals at all levels. At the time of the battle. What to do, what to avoid.

On the way back to the division, it can be regarded as a benefit for ordinary soldiers in the Jiaozhou camp. Let them be cheered and rewarded by the common people along the way. In the propaganda of the government and localities, the Jiaozhou battalion achieved an extremely brilliant victory. Review it yourself and review it yourself, but you still have to maintain the state of returning to the place of victory externally.

The counties and counties they passed through were all protected by the Jiaozhou camp. The local gentry and the common people will only feel safe when they see a victorious army. Only then will they have confidence in the army of their own place of support, and they will feel awe of such an army.

Because it is necessary to publicize its own victories and show its military might. So the degree of walking is not fast. It was almost mid-May before I arrived in the Pingdu Prefecture area.

The Imperial Court Newspaper has been restored. Tangbao in Shandong. The urgent military report of the military department was sent to Li Meng by the imperial court and the messengers of Shandong.

Sprinkle on these. In the official report, Li Meng saw quite interesting news. Although the endpoints and nodes of the official road are all state capitals and county seats, the Jiaozhou battalion will never enter the city except in that kind of fortress city. They all chose the terrain outside the city to camp on their own, which kept them vigilant, and secondly, they were highly praised by the teachers of benevolence and righteousness in the local area.

Therefore, on a flat ground near Li Mengdi's military tent, Wang Hai, Tang Er, and several battalion commanders who followed Li Meng back to Jiaozhou had to come to this military tent every day to discuss matters, and they just arrived in time to send this proclamation. Watching Li Meng flip through the pages of the proclamation with a smile on his face, these people below all felt a little curious.

Li Meng put the pieces of paper in his hand beside him, and said leisurely:

Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai reversed again. Xiong Wencan also had to be convicted and lose his head this time, but I don't know how Yang Gebu will explain to the emperor this time?"

There was a lot of sarcasm in Li Mengdi's words, and several of the military generals below were also laughing gloatingly, and Yang Sichang, the secretary of the military department, advocated peace, sent people to the interior to appease Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, and sent people to the border outside the border to contact the Manchu Jurchens. Although there was no transmission. But it's also well known.

And it was during this time that civil and military officials in the Beizhili area began to be convicted by Yang Sichang, and many people were arrested and beheaded. The officials and generals of Shandong touched the scene, and they all felt that their necks were frightened, thinking that if it weren't for Li Meng of the Jiaozhou Battalion who fought a battle in Qihe County, the people who lost their heads today might also have themselves.

But the Tartars can enter the prison on the same day. The place where the decision was made was Yang Sichang, a cabinet scholar and secretary of the Ministry of War. Many of those who were beheaded were charged with land for carrying out Yang Sichang's orders and plans. only to incur a fiasco and was convicted of capital crimes, as for Yang Sichang, he withheld food and salary, and raised his troops to prevent rescue. Let Lu Xiangsheng die alone in the sand field, and it is enough to be killed. But he was cleverly disguised by his clever words, and instead became a meritorious man.

All the officials involved are extremely resentful of him. It's just that Yang Sichang won the favor of Emperor Chongzhen. There's nothing to be done about him.

All kinds of rumors and sarcastic jokes about Yang Sichang are flying all over the sky, and even the generals of the Jiaozhou battalion are quite resentful because of Yang Sichang's random deployment, and they almost let the Jiaozhou battalion suffer a big defeat. Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai rebelled again after being appeased. The crowd was not alarmed. Where feel schadenfreude. It is for this reason.

Xiong Wencan, the prime minister of the five provinces who went to appease Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, was a subordinate of Yang Sichang, and the place of execution was also to appease the land administration. As a result, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai were surrounded and intercepted by the officers and soldiers at that time. It is already a situation that cannot be supported, and it is necessary to start by recruiting peace. Occupy one or two cities to recuperate. It's finally a recovery.

In the two magistrates of Gucheng and Fangxian, seeing that Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai were doing everything to prepare for rebellion, they reported it several times, but they were a low-grade local official, and the news they said couldn't even reach Xiong Wencan, the prime minister of the five provinces, let alone the center of the imperial court.

Not to mention the reports of Yang Sichang and the governor. As long as it doesn't suit your own mind, you will suppress it and not report it. This county order is even more directly refuted back.

At this point. It's finally an unmanageable situation. But everyone in the world is gloating, it can be seen that Yang Sichang, as an important minister of the country, has done something, but it is such an important minister of the country, and Emperor Chongzhen still trusts him wholeheartedly unconditionally. It shows the absurdity,

For such a court, for such a minister, Li Meng is more and more disappointed, in modern times, Emperor Chongzhen is mentioned a lot in the film and television media, and the evaluation is although diligent and shocking. But the situation is irreversible. People still can't win the sky, but looking at this situation, it is not a natural disaster at all, but *.

This time, the Manchu army entered the army. Beizhili and Shandong certainly suffered heavy casualties. caused huge losses to the Ming Empire, but after the Manchu Qing Dynasty left the country, the imperial court actually had to kill again, and killed the local civil and military officials who were not guilty of death, or even innocent.

If this continues, who will be faithful? If the Qing army enters the Kou next time, will there still be people fighting to the death?

Those who have been fighting with officers and soldiers for many years are Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai's department. Once it is said to be Zhao'an. Officers and men were immediately ordered to disengage from them, and most of their demands were granted. Do everything to please and raise tigers. Wait until you recover. Then there was a cavalry rebellion. The officers and soldiers who were ordered to disengage did not even have time to arrive.

This corrupts the situation. How can it be said that it is a natural disaster? It's obviously *.

Since the situation of the imperial court cannot be changed, the overall situation is erosive day after day. Li Mengyu has a firm belief that he wants to become stronger. Only when you become stronger and the Jiaozhou battalion becomes stronger, can you change anything.