"Xinghua is right, but I think too simply. When the army returns to Yangzhou, we will discuss it again. ”

Shi Kefa nodded seriously and said.

"Brother Xian, I went to Guazhou today, Yan Yingyuan told me that the artillery horses must be in place as soon as possible, I don't know if you have any arrangements here?" Luo Jian remembered Yan Yingyuan's words.

"There are arrangements, I am most concerned about the artillery matter, and I will send someone over early tomorrow morning, and I will not miss something."

"One more thing, Xiao Liu told me that there is a great shortage of craftsmen in Guazhou now, Brother Xian, do you see if you can recruit some from the people?"

"Oh, and that question? I'll let Shi Ze do this right away, and I can't delay it. ”

Shi Kefa really left after speaking, and Luo Jian was amused for a while.

As soon as Shi Kefa left, Hou Fangyu came with Li Xiangjun.

The two walked in front of Luo Jian and knelt down directly, and when Luo Jian saw it, he immediately frowned.

"Hurry up, Chaozong, you've been with me for so long, don't you know that I don't like people kneeling the most?"

Hou Fangyu glanced up at Luo Jian, but still pulled Li Xiangjun to kneel.

"Xie Dadu Governor saved Xiangjun, the student is here to ask the Metropolitan Governor to resign today, the student's parents are in the hall, and they want to go home to serve the second elder, and ask the Metropolitan Governor for permission!"

As soon as Hou Fangyu's words came out, even Li Xiangjun felt strange, turned his face sideways and wanted to say something to Hou Fangyu, but before she could speak, Hou Fangyu said to her: "Xiangjun, I have made up my mind, don't persuade me." ”

"Oh, isn't your home in Guide (now Shangqiu), Henan? Isn't it already occupied by the Manchus? Luo Jian said.

"The student is just a scholar, and the soldiers will not be embarrassed by the soldiers, so I just ask the metropolitan governor to let the students return."

"Then you go." Luo Jian said lightly.

Hou Fangyu pulled Li Xiangjun to kowtow to Luo Jian, stood up and walked away without looking back, and just a few steps out of the door, there was a quarrel between the two outside the door.

"What a white-eyed wolf!" Liu Lan said with a glare.

"Everyone has his own ambitions, so let him go." Luo Jian didn't have a good impression of this scholar, but now that he was determined to leave, he didn't want to stay.

"Two days ago, I heard him tell others that our Yangzhou set will not last long, saying that there is no way out with you. It's better to go, but it saves you from taking others badly. ”

Liu Lan said angrily, still puzzled after speaking, and then said: "Isn't Chen Zilong also one of the 'Four Sons of the Restoration Society'?" Why is the gap so big? ”

"Don't be surprised, there are definitely not a few literati like Hou Fangyu, this kind of person only has himself in his heart, and the concept of the country and the nation is very weak in their hearts." Luo Jian was very calm.

Hou Fangyu's departure did not stir up a slight stir in Yangzhou, and with the return of the second and fourth divisions, the soldiers and civilians of Yangzhou devoted themselves to the vigorous preparation for war.

The recruitment of the second regiment of the fourth division on the way back from Anqing was very smooth, and the good military discipline and treatment of the Yangzhou army attracted countless young people to come, and this way to Yangzhou, more than 5,000 people were recruited, and they were all young and strong, so that Luo Jian was very satisfied.

The captured people and horses of Zuo Mengeng's department, Luo Jian was useless, and all of them were sent to the Luzhou mine to mine, if these people were to deal with the captives according to the previous Shi Kefa, it is estimated that few of them would be able to stay.

Huang Shu was sent to Nanjing by Luo Jian, this is Ren Minyu's idea, this Huang Shu originally took Zuo Liangyu as his backer, and once made a big fuss in Wuyingdian, chased Ma Shiying with a fluorene board, and beat Ma Shiying to flee from the palace, Ma Shiying must have hated him to death, and now he is handed over to Ma Shiying, which is a favor for returning the water master.

The Yangzhou garrison division was still established, saying that it was a garrison division, but it was actually a recruit division, and Luo Jian transferred a small number of backbones from each division to be in charge of Wang Qiang, and they were being intensively trained.

According to the ideas of Shi Kefa, Huang Degong and others, it was to directly form the Yangzhou Third Division, and the establishment of these three divisions has always been empty, and now it is right to make up for it.

But Luo Jian resolutely disagreed, he believed that at this juncture, if the formation of three divisions could only be mixed with each division, in this way, the combat effectiveness of other divisions would inevitably be affected, that is, it would be formed, and that would be a post-war matter.

Luo Jian took the staff officers of the General Staff Department to shuttle around the divisions all day long to inspect, and the divisions did not dare to slack off at all, although the weather was still hot, but the training did not relax at all.

On the third day, Luo Jian found He Gang with a thick stack of materials and asked him to set up a wartime hospital as quickly as possible, and the battlefield first-aid training of the army has also become a compulsory training item.

Time passed day by day in the tense atmosphere of preparing for war, and seeing that the rice in the field was about to ripen, Luo Jian and the Yangzhou army entered a state of imminent battle, and the atmosphere of the entire Yangzhou City became tense day by day.

Aunt Liu's steamed bun shop on Dongmen Street is now very different from before, and after the renovation of the house, tables and stools have been set up, and guests now want to stir-fry two dishes here and drink a little wine.

Today's meal has passed, and there are two tables of guests who have ordered a few dishes, asked for a pot of wine and are drinking, Aunt Liu leaned in front of the counter and listened to them.

"I heard that the Tartars are coming again? Have you heard? The first division of Yangzhou has already driven to Xuyi. A guest took a sip of a sprinkler glass and said to the guest opposite.

"Shhh, these military affairs are also something we can discuss?" The guest opposite glanced at Aunt Liu and said.

"Cut, what's not to say? Most of the governors have said that this resistance to the invasion of the Tartars is not only a matter of the army, but each of us is responsible, and the angel girls of the Governor's Mansion are now calling on us women to help. Aunt Liu heard it and was a little dismissive of the guest's words.

"What can you women do? Isn't it true that you will also go into battle to kill the Tartars? The guest who spoke at first clearly looked down on the woman.

"What do you say? What do you mean that women can't contribute? Angel Girl asked everyone to help make military shoes and rations, and now they have made a lot of them, and I said you all eat quickly, and when you are done eating, I will rush to Angel Girl's place. ”

Aunt Liu was very dissatisfied with this guest's words, and the angel girl said, we women can hold up half the sky, why do you look down on women?

"Today's Yangzhou is different from before, the metropolitan governor calls on everyone to have money to pay, powerful to contribute, only to beat away the tartars, we people can have a good life. Today, I still see a lot of scholars on West Street... So what. ”

A guest in his forties at another table said, but the words behind him couldn't be spoken, and he choked enough.

"Cut, I don't know this, it's called propaganda, not only in the city, but many people have gone to the countryside, let everyone set up that, by the way, it's called a mutual aid group, that is, everyone should work together to grab the food back, the Metropolitan Governor said, that is called not leaving a grain of grain for the Tartars."

Aunt Liu's shop is very close to the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, and there are many people who come here to eat every day, and she is the most well-informed.

Liu Zhaoji had already led the first division to Xuyi, and was already deployed on the front line of Xuyi, and the second division took over the first division and one regiment to take over Tianchang.

Luo Jian sat alone in front of the map in the war room of the staff headquarters, staring at the map and thinking seriously, from which direction the Qing soldiers would attack, and what way they would attack, although there was no accurate information yet, Luo Jian felt that he had to think ahead.

There was a report outside, and as soon as Luo Jian casually said "come in", Xiao Liu's excited voice came from inside the house.

"Good news, chief!"

As soon as he heard the good news, Luo Jian got up from his seat and looked back at Liu Weimin, and saw that Liu Weimin was carrying a long cloth bag in his hand, and he was walking in with excitement on his face.

"Chief, the power of the masses is infinite, and the masters are in the people, I am really convinced!"

Xiao Liu opened the cloth bag in his hand as he walked, and a long musket was exposed.

"Mini Gun?" When Luo Jian saw it, he was suddenly a little excited in his heart.

"Yes, chief, among the folk craftsmen recruited by the superintendent this time, there are old people who have worked as supervisors in Beijing before, and some people can make flintlock pistols, I told them the principle of the Minny gun, but I didn't expect them to get it out in a few days, and said that our guys there are very good, get them quickly."

"Is there rifling?" Luo Jian asked anxiously.

"Yes, this kind of rifling is much more convenient than steel pipes. Watching the process of making the barrel, I was really convinced. ”

Luo Jian took the Mini gun in Liu Weimin's hand, and saw that this kind of gun was about one meter and five long, and the barrel was reinforced with an iron hoop, and there was already a crosshair in the front, and the butt in the back was almost the same as an old-fashioned rifle.

Xiao Liu took out a few lead bullets from his pocket and handed them to Luo Jian, Luo Jian saw that it was a long round head, and there was a pit in the tail, which was the Mini bullet.

"Have you tried it? The result? ”

"There is no problem in penetrating iron armor at a distance of 100 meters, we have done experiments, and so far we have made more than a dozen, but it is too difficult to make a barrel, and the others are much simpler than artillery."

"Take your time, Rome wasn't built in a day. Do you think the barrels of the old guns can be recycled? Luo Jian asked.

"That's not good, I've specifically investigated, and the previous shotguns and firearms were messy and couldn't be used at all. However, we are now drilling the barrel with water power, and it is an assembly line operation, which is much faster than that of pure hand. ”

"Well, we have to hurry up on this, we have to gradually replace all the arquebuses in the army, we must go ahead of the Qing soldiers, and the intelligence reflects that the Qing soldiers are now also attaching great importance to the production of firearms, and the Duoduo Department has distributed a lot of red-coated cannons."

"We also have more than 30 artillery pieces, and the production of shells has become a top priority, and there are already more than 3,000 rounds."

Xiao Liu's news made Luo Jian feel a lot more at ease, and after saying a few words to Xiao Liu, Luo Jian ran out directly to find Yan Yingyuan.

Yan Yingyuan's artillery unit has increased to thirty-four artillery pieces and more than eight hundred people.

The production of artillery shells is getting on the right track, and now Yan Yingyuan is willing to pull the troops out into the field to try a few shots.

Yan Yingyuan has also seen a lot of artillery in the past, most of them are used to defend the city, and there are some in the field, but they are all small cannons, not much bigger than firearms, like the Yangzhou army, Yan Yingyuan has never seen it.

Although the accuracy is not very good, the Metropolitan Governor said that this artillery is used to hit cluster targets, relying on a large number, so the requirements for aiming at the head will be reduced a lot.

But this kind of artillery is rear-loaded, and the reloading speed is extremely fast, and now the lads practice diligently, five or six times faster than the red-coat cannons.

What satisfies Yan Yingyuan the most is that this artillery is very convenient to move, under normal circumstances, one horse can be pulled, and when the road conditions are bad, two horses are used.

When Luo Jian found the artillery unit under the leadership of the staff officer of the General Staff, Yan Yingyuan was organizing troops to conduct live firing between Yangzhou and Tianchang.

Luo Jian didn't go over immediately, but stood not far away and watched Yan Yingyuan's entire organizational process.

Luo Jian saw that Yan Yingyuan did not organize a salvo, but the shooting of one cannon and one cannon, before and after the shooting of each cannon, there were people holding rulers and other things to compare, and holding a paper book to record.

This discovery made Luo Jian very happy, which meant that Yan Yingyuan was already beginning to prepare for the systematization of shooting, and if there were enough shells, Luo Jian estimated that he would be able to figure out the shooting table.

When the shooting was over, Yan Yingyuan ran over and saluted Luo Jian and reported, "Report to the Metropolitan Governor, the artillery brigade is conducting shooting training, please instruct!" ”

Luo Jian had already arranged for people to go to the artillery brigade for regular training, and now Yan Yingyuan also felt that these etiquettes were both convenient and crisp, and he had already adapted to them.

"Brother Liheng, how do you feel about this artillery?" Luo Jian asked.

"Governor, I'll tell you the truth, this artillery is good, but there are also many problems." Yan Yingyuan replied very truthfully.

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