The Central Plains is already hot in June, but on the dam, the unique climate here is that there is no heat in summer. Even at noon, the temperature is the same as in March and April in the Central Plains. The day after Pei Zeng and the others set off for the eastern grassland with most of the goods in Huaihuang, Ling Yun also began to mobilize troops and officially prepare to suppress the bandits.

For the bandit cottage on the front line of Yanshan Yinshan, Ling Yun has long been clear. A large part of these cottages had joined the Tiger League back then, so Lingyun's green forest roster had the addresses of each participating cottages, as well as some records of the topography and defense of the cottages. As a former peer, Lingyun really knows these goals. These bandits set up camp on the Yinshan and Yanshan lines outside the Great Wall, plundering passing caravans, and even raiding the tribes on the grasslands, and even robbing inside the Great Wall. Most of their strength is not as good as that of the Tiger League, but because of this, the target is small and easy to hide, especially because Yanshan Yinshan is on the border outside the Guan, and it is a three-regardless zone, so there is often no one to encircle and suppress, which makes these cottages live a very nourishing life.

Ling Yun had already regarded these bandits as his own dish, and except for half of the 200 scout battalion led by Dou Jiande who continued to pay attention to the movements of the Eastern Turks, the remaining 100 scouts were all scattered, and according to the list given by Ling Yun, they carefully investigated the information of each cottage. Soon, information came back one by one, and basically the situation of those cottages was similar to that controlled by him on the green forest roster. Ling Yun gathered this information, summoned Qin Qiong, Shan Xiongxin, Wei Zheng and others to a meeting, and finally selected the first batch of targets. Several of the targets are small cottages in the Yan Mountains. They are all small cottages with less than 100 people, first easy and then difficult, at the beginning. Ling Yun didn't plan to directly target those big villages. Although it is very important to suppress bandits and obtain food, it is equally important to take the opportunity to train troops in actual combat. The first time I did Dazhai, the recruits didn't have much preparation, which might cause unnecessary casualties.

There are a lot of soldiers and horses in Huaihuang Town, and it is impossible to send them all, and they have to be responsible for the guards of Huaihuang in case of Turkic attacks. Therefore, the final decision was decided. Lingyun adopted the method of rotation and selection, and each time a small number of people were drawn from the 3,000 pro-army in the tent and the 8,000 army outside the town to form a combat team. First time playing. Ling Yun transferred Qin Qiong to lead a team of hussars from the pro-army in the tent, Wang Fubao to lead the first brigade of infantry from the pro-army in the tent, and then transferred two regiments of 400 men and horses from the outer town army, a total of 550 horsemen. A combat battalion was formed to fight. Such a combination is transferred. In fact, it is more about thinking less about combat strength, but about taking the opportunity to train troops. Qin Qiong led this battalion of men and horses to fight, and the next day, Ling Yun also formed a battalion of men and horses, led by Shan Xiongxin. On the third day, Ling Yun organized another battalion and led the battle. In this way, a battalion was sent out to fight every day. By the eighth day, the first battalion of Qin Qiong's troops had returned victoriously.

Qin Qiong led five hundred and fifty men and horses to battle. In seven days, he broke through three cottages, beheaded more than 30 levels, captured more than 200 people, and copied a lot of gold, silver and copper coins, more than 30 horses, more than 1,000 stones of grain, more than 300 sheep, dozens of knives, guns, bows and arrows from the cottages. With this fruitful result, only two of Qin Qiong's troops were killed in battle and five were seriously injured. Although there was not as much food as expected, after all, this was only three small villages, and Ling Yun still praised Qin Qiong greatly. According to the military merit book recorded in the army's record room, they will be rewarded one by one according to their merits.

The next day, Shan Xiongxin also returned with a battalion of men and horses victorious, carrying a load of grain and a cart of booty, as well as many cattle, horses, sheep, swords, guns and arrows. Looking at those loot, Ling Yun was very happy, and added a few thousand stones of grain, and took out a few nearby cottages, and the harvest was gratifying. And after Qin Qiong rested for a day, he also began to continue to lead his troops to fight against bandits. However, this time, in addition to the cavalry and the first brigade of infantry under his direct command of the pro-army in the tent, the other two regiments of men and horses brought this time were replaced by new recruits. Except for the casualties and attrition of the pro-army in the tent, the men and horses will not be replaced. Lingyun also took this opportunity to give the pro-army in the tent more opportunities for actual combat, while the new army took turns to participate in the war. Focus on building a pro-army in the tent, and the army outside the town belongs to sparring.

As for the garrison and garrison, Ling Yun did not transfer them for the time being. For Ling Yun, the current establishment of these garrisons and garrisons is actually just a group of militias. The garrison usually guards the city and maintains the law and order of the rudders, while the garrison is a front army early warning radar. Those who really fight the war have to rely on the pro-army in the tent, and even the outer town army, in Lingyun's current establishment, is just an auxiliary soldier of the pro-army in the tent. But these soldiers Lingyun also attached great importance to them, and let them take turns on duty, and the garrison of each city was divided into five teams, one team guarded every day, one team was on standby, and three teams were trained, so it was rotated. The training plan that Lingyun gave them was also very simple, that is, physical exercise in the morning, queue training in the morning, skill training such as knives and guns in the afternoon, and in the evening, they had to conduct an hour-long cultural course. There are few literate people in the cottage, and Ling Yun has set up a military judge Yu Hou above the team level, who is responsible for administrative affairs such as vigilance and patrol security in the army, and Ling Yun gives them a special task, that is, to give cultural lessons to soldiers at night. The cultural classes are mainly to teach them military discipline and regulations, command flags, communication passwords, etc., and by the way, teach them to read and write, and also teach them some battlefield communications, battlefield first aid, and so on. For Ling Yun's approach, many people felt that it was a little unnecessary, but Ling Yun still insisted. Teaching soldiers cultural classes is mainly so that these soldiers can be promoted to non-commissioned officers in the future, after all, officers who can't read a single word are not qualified.

Ling Yun didn't think that he would become a fat man in one bite, and he trained tens of thousands of soldiers and horses at once. That was too unrealistic, he just planned to train the 3,000 personal soldiers in the tent first, and the outer battalion soldiers, the outer town soldiers, the garrison and the garrison were all just reserve soldiers.

For this reason, Ling Yun now completely treats the pro-army in the tent as a seed soldier and teaches the team to train, and the pro-army in the tent also specially sets up a double adjutant system, and under the chief officer of each level, under the original adjutant, another person is added. Every time the pro-army goes to war, the first adjutants at all levels stay in the camp, and even if they encounter extremely unfavorable shapes during the battle, these adjutants will be sent away as the most precious seeds to break through. This practice is actually a practice of Lingyun imitating the Soviet Union in history, and this kind of setting of double adjutants is especially suitable for war times. Dual adjutant. A new unit can be formed with these adjutants at any time, and even if one of the troops is exhausted, there are these remaining lieutenants. It is also possible to immediately regroup the troops. Especially in the harsh shape of war, this is an excellent way to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army. Now these adjutants of the pro-army in the tent, when the time is right, can immediately pull out and build a new army, even if the soldiers are all new, with these excellent experienced officers with a complete rank system from top to bottom, they can still have good combat effectiveness from the beginning.

There were a group of outstanding officers such as Shan Xiongxin, Qin Qiong, Lai Quan, Sima Dejiao, and Yang Wei to lead the attack. Suppressing bandits and training troops and seizing food, Ling Yun's pressure suddenly decreased a lot.

He can also free his hands. On the one hand, he paid attention to Huaihuang and built forts and border cities, and on the other hand, he began to build equipment for the Huaihuang army.

The Huaihuang Army is now divided into five categories: the pro-army in the tent, the battalion soldiers, the town soldiers, the garrison soldiers, and the garrison troops, and the pro-army in the tent is the core force. Focus on building. The most elite people are concentrated here. The outer battalion soldiers are slightly inferior, and the outer town army is completely used as an auxiliary, and as for the garrison and garrison, it is only a militia at present. The equipment of these troops is also different.

Now there are 3,000 men and horses, 1,000 cavalry, and 2,000 infantry troops in the tent. The cavalry were armed with cowhide light armor and cavalry knives. Spears and iron helmets. The infantry army is divided into four categories: large shield soldiers, spearmen, sword players, and archers, and is equipped with different weapons according to different types of troops. The shield bearers are equipped with large shields, the spearmen are armed with spears, the sword players are armed with horizontal swords and light regimental cards, and the archers are equipped with bows and a small number of crossbows.

The equipment of these 3,000 people is the best in the Huaihuang army today, and the officers above the team are also equipped with Mingguang armor. Cavalry, with two horses, with a bow.

And the 3,000 soldiers from the outer battalion are far behind, and there is a lack of armor and few archers. Eight thousand soldiers from other towns, the equipment is more rudimentary, and as for the garrison and garrison troops, well, the equipment is even worse.

If there are soldiers without equipment, there is no combat effectiveness. Now Ling Yun is facing the trouble of how to equip his troops. Although Xu Gai's United Ordnance Workshop has begun to settle in Huaihuang, even Xu Gai is constantly transferring people from the Central Plains to expand the production capacity of the Ordnance Workshop. However, the equipment of 20,000 people is not so easy to produce.

Especially for a bow, a good bow requires at least three years to make a process, which is as troublesome as making a horse lance. At this time, the bow is basically a composite recurve bow, the process is extremely troublesome, all kinds of materials are extremely precious, and it is also troublesome to make zuò, and the pass rate is not high.

And when fighting outside the fortress, the sharpest weapon is precisely the bow.

To deal with the nomadic cavalry, in the vast grassland, there is no city to rely on, and the common tactics of the Han army are generally to fight in formation. The innermost layer is lined with archers, then the outer layer is occupied by cavalry, then by pikemen, and then by chariots and sword players. When encountering the steppe cavalry, they immediately formed a formation and formed a huge turtle shell, which was actually a defensive counterattack. Use the chariot formation, shields and spears as a defense, protect the cavalry in the formation, and then use strong bows and crossbows to deal with the siege of the steppe cavalry. If the situation is favorable, the final battle formation is opened, and the cavalry is released to break the enemy. If the shape is unfavorable, then defend it and consume it with the enemy.

Fighting bows and crossbows for long-range shooting, the Han people always have the advantage, which is also the so-called long and short to attack the enemy.

However, this is a trouble for Ling Yun.

Lingyun lacked cavalry, not enough shields, and the sharpest crossbows of the Han Chinese.

The bow and crossbow were too difficult to make, the materials were difficult to obtain, the craftsmanship was complicated, and there were fewer skilled craftsmen. In all dynasties, the technique of making bows and crossbows was strictly controlled by the imperial court. Although there are bow and crossbow craftsmen in the United Ordnance Workshop, and Uncle Wang has a group of skilled craftsmen, their production capacity is still too weak. According to the current capacity of their bow and crossbow workshop, they are running at full strength, and it is estimated that they may supply Ling Yun with 1,000 bows and 300 crossbows a year. Such a small output is just a drop in the bucket.

Compound, compound, Ling Yun sighed in his heart, the most troublesome part of the bow and arrow is the word compound.

It is impossible for the Huaihuang army not to be equipped with bows, and bows must be equipped in large quantities. In the best-case scenario, Ling Yun hoped that the Huaihuang army would all be equipped with bows, or even two bows per soldier. Not only should the pro-army in the tent be fully equipped with bows, but even those town barracks, garrisons, and garrisons should also be equipped with bows and arrows.

Of course, there are weapons that can replace bows and crossbows, such as muskets.

Unfortunately, talking about muskets in the Sui Dynasty was even more impractical than talking about bows and arrows. First, the production of gunpowder is troublesome, and second, the production of zuò muskets is much more complicated than bows and arrows. Not to mention making a sharp rear-loading gun, even the simplest front-loading musket, Ling Yun can't do it at all.

The musket is unrealistic, he knows the formula of black powder, but unfortunately the power of black powder is too small, especially in the face of cavalry coming and going like the wind, in the vast grassland, he can't think of what effect this primitive black powder can play.

You still have to use a bow and crossbow, and the bow is troublesome, and the crossbow requires more skill.

Suddenly, Ling Yun thought of something. (To be continued......)