Xu Tiezhu replied: "The battalion head is mainly equipped with firearms. Mr. Chen said that the weapons in the world are long-range, but whenever the two armies are in a circle, they all shoot at each other with long-range weapons first, and then fight hand-to-hand, so if they shoot far, they will be one point stronger, and all kinds of weapons, with firearms as the distance, should be formed with firearms first, so Mr. set up a firearms battalion. ”

The two swayed on their horses, the more Wang Huan listened, the more interested he became, Xu Tiezhu said that Chen Qiyu's idea of building an army was very close to the modern military system, so he couldn't help urging: "And then? What is the regulation of this firearms battalion? ”

Xu Tiezhu saw that Wang Huan seemed to be very engaged, and poured out the words that Chen Qiyu taught him: "Mr. Chen said that the battalion is divided into three categories, one type of cavalry, which comes and goes like the wind, advances and retreats freely, fights if you can fight, runs if you can't fight, and covers and maneuvers, all of which are indispensable forces; The second type of chariot soldiers, when marching for the baggage, when going into battle for the barrier, with the chariot soldiers, if there is a moving city wall, the desert in the box car end to end, with artillery crossbows, let you thousands of troops and horses can not get close, hold on, exhaust the enemy's energy, and wait for it to be exhausted when it is tired, and when it is tired, it will rush out, and the defeat will be like a palm; Three types of foot soldiers, dignified military formations, foot soldiers fill them. The cavalry is the spear and the infantry is the shield, and Mr. Chen's firearms battalion is based on the foot soldiers. ”

"Mr. Chen said that the general firearms grow up and are cumbersome to use, so the cavalry can only use simple firearms such as the three-eyed system, and the bird artillery can only be used by foot soldiers, so the firearms battalion is the infantry battalion, according to his meaning, there are 2,500 soldiers in Kuizhou Prefecture, divided into three battalions, including 500 cavalry, 1,200 car battalions, and 800 infantry firearms battalions."

"There are five hundred cavalry, all of which are Sichuan horses, but the Sichuan military disaster is serious, and horses are scarce. The battalion has 1,200 people, equipped with a total of 240 side vans, five people and one car, with a commander, equipped with a bird unified pole, four soldiers, each with a spear and a crossbow to destroy the mountain. There were 800 people in the firearms battalion, all of whom had a unified rod and a crescent axe. ”

"All the soldiers, mostly the locals of Shizhu, and occasionally a few displaced people who fled from other places to settle here, are guaranteed by joint households, clean family backgrounds, and are related to each other, with strong cohesion and combat effectiveness."

Speaking of this, Wang Huan made a gesture to interrupt Xu Tiezhu's narration, and said strangely: "Partial van? But the side car used by Sun Chuanting's Qin army was passed down from Qi Jiguang? ”

Xu Tiezhu nodded: "Exactly, but Mr. Chen has made changes, it is a lot thicker, and it is covered with cowhide for fireproof, which is stronger." ”

"In this way, your men and horses are equivalent to the regulations of the Tianxiong Army plus the Qin Army Carriage Battalion, and the two are combined into one, taking the strengths and weaknesses of the two to complement each other's weaknesses, so it is extremely ingenious to form an army." Wang Huan groaned, secretly admiring Chen Qiyu in his heart, in a short period of time, according to local conditions, with ready-made weapons and manpower, to form a useful team, which is very remarkable.

"Yes!" Xu Tiezhu said: "Mr. Chen said that the eldest brother's Kuizhou army is dominated by strange firearms and cannot be replicated, so we can only learn from the strengths of the people and establish an army suitable for the topography of Kuizhou Mansion, not to mention, it really works." ”

His lips flipped over, and he couldn't help but dance when he was happy: "He Tengjiao sent Ma Shixiu and Wang Yuncheng, two towns in the general army of the thirteen towns under his command, to come together in an attempt to attack the stone pillar and seize my silver mine. The younger brother was wandering, Mr. Chen arrived, and formed an army in half a month, while asking Qin Taijun to send Qin Yiming and Qin Gongming two general soldiers to train the troops, while recruiting the people, pulling up three iron cables at the dangerous place of Kuimen, blocking the river across the river, and building several water villages behind the iron cables, which were prevented by fireboats, completely blocked the waterway, and forced Ma and Wang to abandon the boat and go ashore. ”

"On the dry road, Mr. Chen will not let them succeed, northern Sichuan is mountainous, the road is narrow, except for the official road, there are bird roads that cannot be walked. And the official road of Kuimen is not wide, a few side vans stopped, destroying the mountains and shooting crossbows, no matter how heroes and heroes can't break through, the eldest brother ordered Li Huaien to catch up with the bird system came one after another, as soon as the guns were released, they could kill dozens of Huguang soldiers who were crowded together, Huguang soldiers were helpless, stayed for more than half a month, washed several nearby cities, and retreated on their own. ”

Wang Huan had already read these battle reports, but at this moment, when they came out of Xu Tiezhu's mouth, they added a bit of vividness, and Wang Huan couldn't help but be a little fascinated when he heard it, and the gratitude to Chen Qiyu in his heart became stronger and stronger.

You must thank you in person, without him, Kuizhou will not be guaranteed.

Wang Huan stopped Xu Tiezhu's chatter and urged him to hurry up and go straight to Fengjie.

Fengjiefu city has been renovated, more regular and orderly than before, the damaged part of the city wall is all new stone masonry, blue brick wrapping, the ground loess sprinkles the road, solid and flat, through the city gate, over the long street, into the eye, the crowd is crowded and lively, the shops on both sides of the street are lined up, the flags are swaggering, the sound of bargaining is endless, the noise can be heard for several miles across the city, the merchant who carries the burden shakes the tambourine, the porter who works hard carries the bag, the pot-bellied merchant shakes the folding fan, and the literati wearing Confucian shirts take square steps, The women who stayed in the rouge gouache shop were wearing blush, and all kinds of people were walking on the bluestone street, bustling, as if making people feel like they were in a big city like Chengdu.

The streets were crowded, and Wang Huan didn't like the big stick to open the way, so it took a lot of effort to get to the yamen of the mansion, dismount and enter the door, Wang Huan went straight to the backyard under the leadership of Xu Tiezhu.

Chen Qiyu's living room is in a small courtyard at the back, the yard is not big, but there is bamboo and water, quiet and natural, although it is in summer, but people's hearts are cool.

There were servants waiting at the door, recognizing Wang Huan, bowing down, turning around and gently pushing the door open.

Wang Huan walked a few steps quickly, rushed into the door in front, and a strong smell of Chinese medicine came to his face.

The room is not big, a stepping bed takes up most of the area, there are no others in the room, Chen Kun is red-eyed, squatting in the corner of the house guarding a small earthen stove boiling a clay pot, the juice in the tank is boiling, and Chinese medicine is boiling.

Hearing the knock on the door, Chen Kun turned around and saw that it was Wang Huan who arrived, he was taken aback, and hurriedly got up to greet him.

Wang Huan waved his hand, signaling that there was no need for this, and his gaze fell fixedly on the bed.

An old man with a thin face and a dead gray face is lying on the bed with his eyes closed, although it is the height of summer, there is a stove in the house to boil medicine, the temperature is very high, Chen Kun who is guarding in front of the stove is still hot and sweaty, and the sweat that flows wet his clothes, but the old man on the bed is covered with a satin quilt.

"Mr. was afraid of cold, and he kept whispering cold in his coma, so he covered it with a quilt." Xu Tiezhu followed behind Wang Huan and explained softly.

Wang Huan didn't say a word, walked slowly to the bedside, sat down on a stool, and looked at the sleeping Chen Qiyu with a complicated expression.

The world-famous cabinet ministers, the towering figures, at this moment like an ordinary peasant old man, lying quietly, no one could have imagined that this dying man, who had almost changed the fate of the Ming Dynasty, a pair of eyes that could pierce people's hearts in the past have been dimmed, and the face of the spirit is like a withered old tree, losing its vitality, the body that once stood proudly in front of a million male soldiers, no longer has a posture as tall as a green pine, is wrapped in a quilt, motionless.

Wang Huan closed his eyes, took a deep breath slowly, and slowly stretched out his hand to pinch Chen Qiyu's hand exposed outside the quilt.

The hands are thin and fleshless, as if they were covered with a layer of skin around the bones.

Wang Huan squeezed tightly, feeling the faint body temperature on that hand.

There was a sobbing sound behind him, it was Chen Kun, who was squatting on the edge of the stove, crying and boiling medicine.

The pulse in his hand and the beating rhythm were almost inaudible, and Wang Huan tried his best to sense it, so that he could detect the slightest insignificant tremor, which was so weak that it seemed to stop at any time.

There is no way to recover.

No one speaks, but the mind is self-conscious.

Wang Huan held Chen Qiyu's hand, like an old monk who had entered the meditation, and sat for a long time.

The smell of traditional Chinese medicine in the room is like sandalwood, one after another, dyeing Wang Huan's body.

Chen Kun finally couldn't stand it anymore, he wiped his tears, walked over and whispered to Wang Huan: "My lord, the governor has been in a coma for several days, and he won't wake up at this time. ”

Xu Tiezhu also chimed in: "My lord is riddled with everything, and it's not a way to stay here, so leave it to Chen Kun and me, and my lord will go first." ”

The two spoke earnestly, from the bottom of their hearts, Wang Huan was stunned for a while, felt that he had said it well, and was about to withdraw, but suddenly felt that Chen Qiyu's hand, which was pinching, tightened.

Wang Huan was taken aback, and hurriedly looked at Chen Qiyu's eyes, but found that his eyes were still closed, without the slightest sign of opening.

Immediately afterwards, the hand trembled and slowly moved Wang Huan's hand to Chen Qiyu's heart.

Chen Kun and Xu Tiezhu, who were standing behind, were surprised and happy, and cried out with sadness.

Chen Qiyu's eyes never opened, his face was dead, and except for the hand, there was no movement in his body.

Wang Huan's hand was held by Chen Qiyu, and he listened to it in his heart.

The heart beat weakly, and through the quilt, it faintly shook Wang Huan's hand.

Then, Chen Qiyu's hand let go of Wang Huan, raised it tremblingly, and pointed in a direction.

He pointed very hard, so hard that Wang Huan had to gently hold it with his hand so that it would not fall off.

A tear slowly flowed from the corners of Chen Qiyu's closed eyes, along the dense wrinkle lines, and dripped onto the pillow.

Wang Huan raised his head and glanced in the direction Chen Qiyu pointed, it was the other end of the bed, there was nothing but a white mosquito net.

But Wang Huan knew that it was the north.

The direction in which Beijing is located.

(End of chapter)