After seeing off Lin Xiaoyu and Ma Gonggong, the other members of the "delegation" still walked around Kaifeng City according to the original Jihua and experienced the atmosphere of the people celebrating the festival in the big cities of this era. Everyone strolled from the afternoon to the evening, and after having dinner in a relatively famous restaurant in Kaifeng City, they returned to the pavilion leisurely.

I thought that these people were the last to return, but it turned out that the reality was completely opposite to their judgment - they were the first to return, and the brothers and sisters who were independent had not yet returned.

Among the few people who "flew solo", Zheng Zhiwei was the first to appear. Wang Kunjun guessed from the expression on his face that this contact with Xu Xinsheng had not made any significant progress, and Zheng Zhiwei's subsequent report also proved Wang Kunjun's judgment.

According to Zheng Zhiwei, he asked Xu Xinsheng out in the afternoon in the name of wanting to go to the street when he first arrived in Kaifeng City. The two of them walked around the city, and Zheng Zhiwei invited each other to dinner again. During this period, Zheng Zhiwei tested the other party several times, hoping to learn more about the other party's life experience. But Xu Xinsheng always does not give a positive answer to this question, but goes around in circles. Although this increases the possibility that he is a traverser, it still lacks sufficient positive evidence. For Zheng Zhiwei, Xu Xinsheng's drunken remarks about "Hengshui Lao Baigan" when he was in Chen Qiaoyi can only be regarded as circumstantial evidence, and he cannot completely determine the identity of the other party before obtaining more sufficient evidence -- after all, the possibility that the other party heard it from others cannot be ruled out.

After listening to Zheng Zhiwei's report, Wang Kunjun and Zhang Weixin affirmed Zheng Zhiwei's work and encouraged him not to worry, because the "delegation" would not leave Kaifeng for a while, and he had plenty of time to get in touch with Xu Xinsheng. Wang and Zhang believe that with Zheng Zhiwei's ability, they will definitely be able to complete this work.

Zheng Zhiwei himself is also full of confidence in this matter, so after receiving the encouragement of Wang and Zhang, he has repeatedly said that he will definitely be able to handle this matter well, and before the "delegation" leaves, he will definitely give a clear conclusion to his brothers.

Here, Zheng Zhiwei just finished reporting on the day's work, and Xu Shaoan and Zeng Zhilin also entered the door. It's just that unlike Zheng Zhiwei, who went to report to Wang Kunjun and Zhang Weixin after entering the door, the first thing these two did when they entered the house was to grab the teapot on the table and pour tea into their mouths vigorously, as if Boss Zhao led them to work for a day, but they didn't even let them drink saliva. Of course, everyone would not believe that Zhao Kuangyin would be "stingy" to such an extent, they prefer to believe that these two have drunk too much and are thirsty at this time.

The facts also proved everyone's judgment, according to Xu and Zeng, after the two of them went out in the morning, they followed Zhao Kuangyin for nearly a whole day, and were dragged by Zhao Laodaqiang to the restaurant to eat at night, so they didn't come back until now. Moreover, according to what they said, this Zhao boss drank a lot of alcohol, although he drank a lot with Xu and Zeng, but he did not appear to be drunk - out of respect for this famous figure in the history of his previous life, Xu and Zeng did not deliberately pour Zhao Boss. This surprised Xu and Zeng, who often claimed to be massive, and made them more interested in this historical celebrity.

In addition to the emotion of Zhao Kuangyin's own drinking, Xu and Zeng also had a lot of emotion about the soldiers and officers in the forbidden army in front of the palace and the forbidden army they saw today. The two agreed that this army was indeed an elite division and a strong division, and it was no wonder that in the history of the previous life, it was invincible and invincible, and when Chai Rong was in the northern expedition to the clouds, he was able to make many passes and cities along the road fall from the wind. According to Zeng Zhilin's words, under the same number of people, the Flying Dragon Pioneer Battalion, which has been trained by the Military Department by combining ancient and modern Chinese and foreign methods, will certainly not be the opponent of the other side if it does not use firearms.

This conclusion made Zeng Zhilin, who had always thought that the pioneer battalion was strong, much calmer, and on the way back to the pavilion after bidding farewell to Zhao Kuangyin, he had been seriously thinking about how to enhance the combat effectiveness of the pioneer battalion. Of course, combat effectiveness here refers to combat effectiveness when firearms are not used. If firearms were used, the pioneer battalion would not be comparable to other armies of this era in terms of training or tactics -- Zeng Zhilin still had sufficient confidence in this.

But the problem is that the vanguard battalion is now mainly equipped with primitive firearms, and in many cases, firearms alone may not be able to completely solve the battle, and there are many times when close combat is required. If the defects of the pioneer battalions in this regard cannot be improved, then their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced before they complete the modernization of their equipment -- especially when it is difficult to make a breakthrough in the development of modern equipment for a while, it is all the more necessary to make up for this defect as soon as possible. ,

Regarding Zeng Zhilin's worries, although Wang Kunjun and Zhang Weixin expressed understanding, they didn't think it was a big problem at the beginning. After listening to Zeng Zhilin's statement, Zhang Weixin said: "Although there is some truth in what you said, I think at this stage, the situation of the team should still be very safe. Needless to say, the internal team members now get along well, and there are no conflicts between each other that cannot be reconciled. Moreover, even if there are any dissonant factors internally, it is handled by the Ministry of Security, and the Ministry of Military Affairs cannot be involved.

Externally, the team is currently a local shili with a certain influence in the Youzhou area. Not to mention ordinary people and squires, even the officials at all levels get along very well with us. Moreover, according to what the eldest brother said yesterday, we will soon be appointed from the Liao Imperial Court and have the status of an official. In that case, it's basically a black-and-white role, and there won't be any problems with security.

In addition, although the Ministry of Science and Technology has made slow progress in the research and development of modern weapons, I believe that after a period of exploration, they will be able to solve the current problem. When the time comes, as new weapons begin to equip the Pioneer Battalion, won't all this series of work you have done to improve the melee combat capabilities of the Pioneer Battalion be in vain?

Of course, as you know, my brother and I are a literati who doesn't know much about military affairs. What I have said above is based on my own understanding and is not necessarily true. If you have any disagreements, please don't hesitate to mention them, and let's discuss them together. ”

On the one hand, Zhang Weixin's remarks pointed out that the team's current security situation is very good, and the lack of melee combat capabilities of the pioneer battalion does not have a great impact, and it is not very necessary to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to carry out relevant intensive training for the pioneer battalion. On the other hand, it is also out of consideration for maintaining Zeng Zhilin's prestige in the pioneer camp. Just imagine, if the melee intensive training was carried out according to Zeng Zhilin's idea, but with the equipment of new weapons, the soldiers found that the intensive training they had conducted before was actually not very useful in battle, so it would inevitably affect Zeng Zhilin's status in the hearts of the soldiers.

Zeng Zhilin naturally understood Zhang Weixin's thoughts, he nodded, and said, "Seventh brother, brother understands what you mean." I spent a great deal of time and energy improving my soldiers' melee skills, but with the introduction of new weapons, these efforts became meaningless, thus affecting my brother's prestige in the Pioneer Battalion.

Actually, Brother Qi, you don't have to worry about this at all. You must know that an army, regardless of its level of weaponry, is very necessary at all times for melee combat. If nothing else, take the US military, which was recognized as having the most advanced weaponry in its previous life, for example, melee combat is also an indispensable subject in the training of its army. Therefore, no matter what kind of advanced weapons the Pioneer Battalion will be equipped with in the future, the melee combat ability must also be mastered.

Moreover, from the day the Pioneer Battalion was formed, the Ministry of Military Affairs, including the previous left-behind group, had been conducting melee training for it. It's just that at that time, the brothers and other members of the military department had basically no contact with the army of this era, and their understanding of the combat capabilities of the army of this era was very limited, so the training in peacetime was more focused on the use of firearms, and the investment in close combat was not enough.

I didn't think it before, but today my brother and starling followed Zhao Kuangyin through several troops in the next week, but I found that the more I understood the army of this era, the more clearly I saw the shortcomings of the pioneer battalion, and the more I felt how ridiculous my previous arrogance was.

It is true that our military Liliang has successfully eliminated multiple security threats to the team, and the casualties in all battles have been very small. However, if you think about it carefully, you will find that these battles were not only small in scale, but also faced with a rabble of very weak bandits and grass bandits. The combat effectiveness of these people, not to mention the forbidden army of the Later Zhou Dynasty, is afraid that even their local army for maintaining law and order is far inferior.

Not to mention anything else, the murderous spirit in the eyes of those veterans of the forbidden area army alone is not comparable to the veterans of the pioneer battalion. Although the veterans of the pioneer battalion have also fought and killed people, how can the petty fights of 100 people be compared with the big scenes of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people fighting each other experienced by those veterans of the forbidden army. To put it mildly, it may be okay for our soldiers to rely on firearms to fight a tailwind battle, but once the battle situation becomes unfavorable to our side, in the face of the huge pressure of the enemy's advance step by step, there are only a few who can persist in not running. ”,

Xu Shaoan also said to Zeng Zhilin on the side: "Fifth brother, seventh brother, brother thinks that the old twenty-sixth is very reasonable. In particular, the emphasis on training in melee combat is an unbreakable truth in any era.

Don't talk about it from afar, let's just talk about my brother. In my previous life, I commanded an armored infantry battalion, and although the equipment of our battalion was still insufficient compared with military powers such as the United States and the United States, it could be regarded as a modern armored mechanized unit. The entire battalion is equipped with tracked armored vehicles, and most of the time on the battlefield is fought by vehicles, and the opportunity to actually engage in face-to-face combat with the enemy should be rare. But a unit like ours has never relaxed its training in melee combat, and the importance of melee combat jishu to a soldier, especially the army, can be seen from this. ”

Zeng and Xu said these words to Wang and Zhang nodded again and again, Zhang Weixin also repeatedly said that he was a layman in the military, and some issues could not be seen as thoroughly as Zeng and Xu, and they still needed more advice from the two in this regard. While Wang Kunjun agrees with Zeng and Xu's statements, he is also very concerned about how the two plan to strengthen relevant training. In his opinion, there are some things that can be strengthened through regular training, such as fighting skills, group coordination, and so on. But there are some things that can not be obtained by training alone, such as murderous spirit, such as soldiers' experience in facing the enemy, psychological quality, and so on.

Faced with Wang Kunjun's question of "how to strengthen training", Zeng Zhilin's answer was very simple, that is, two words -- actual combat. But the problem is that this method is easy to say, but it is not easy to implement.

First of all, if you want to fight, you have to have an opponent. But just like Zhang Weixin just said, the security situation of the team is very good now, and there is no enemy that needs to be solved by force. The crossing team can't just attack the Liao Kingdom city in order to train the team. In that case, although it is possible to succeed temporarily, the ensuing counterattack of the Liao State is by no means something that the hundreds of people he is now can deal with.

Secondly, in addition to needing an opponent, the crossing team also had to consider whether such a real battle would attract the attention of the Liao government to their own military strength. If the combat capability of the pioneer battalion makes the Liao government feel threatened, then it will affect the development of the team in Youzhou, and at worst, it may lead to a large-scale clean-up, which will be ruined to the current good situation.

Regarding Wang Kunjun's worries, Zeng Zhilin and Xu Shao'an expressed their understanding on the one hand, and on the other hand, they believed that they could be avoided through detailed and meticulous arrangements.

Zeng Zhilin said: "Fifth brother, seventh brother, on the way back, my brother and starling brother have already thought of a good way, which can not only achieve the purpose of training troops with war, but also not attract the attention of the Liao State government. ”

"What's the solution?" Wang Kunjun and Zhang Weixin asked almost in unison.

"The solution is actually very simple," Zeng Zhilin replied, "I have discussed it with Starling, and we think that the relevant jihua can take two steps." In the first stage, the combat targets can choose the larger and stronger cottages near Youzhou. Although these cottages are also full of bandits and grass bandits, they are usually shili who have been in possession for a long time, and their combat effectiveness is much stronger than those small bandits we encountered before. Using them to train your hands, on the one hand, you can achieve the purpose of training the team. On the other hand, it is also possible to gradually improve the combat effectiveness of the vanguard battalion in a step-by-step manner, so that it will not be difficult to adapt to the sudden confronting of a strong opponent.

In the second stage, the combat object can choose the Northern Han Border Army. On the one hand, their combat effectiveness is much stronger than that of bandits, which can further enhance the combat capability of the pioneer battalion. On the other hand, since the Liao army often went to the Northern Han Dynasty to fight the grass valley, as long as we dressed up as the Liao army, it would not have an adverse impact on the political aspect. ”

"Actually, we have passed the third step," Xu Shaoan interjected, "In the original concept, we originally planned to use the Later Zhou Army to practice after training the Northern Han Army. However, considering that although the pioneer battalion can pretend to be the Liao army going south to fight the grass valley, there will always be some flaws left over time. We are all officials of Hou Zhou now, and once the matter is revealed, our good relationship with Hou Zhou will be ruined, and all the efforts we have made before will be in vain. So, we ended up passing this step. ”

Xu Shao'an's words made Wang Kunjun and Zhang Weixin stunned, they never imagined that these two belligerent guys would actually hit Hou Zhou Jun with their ideas. Although as long as the "delegation" returns to Youzhou, even if they really start a war with the Later Zhou army, Chai Rong can't do anything about them. But if you know this, why should these people go to Kaifeng to offer their hospitality.

Fortunately, the zuihou step mentioned by Xu Shaoan has been passed by themselves, so the current action only includes the first two steps that Zeng Zhilin said. In this regard, Wang and Zhang still supported it. Of course, this jihua is still only a prototype, and the specific implementation plan will have to wait for the "delegation" to return to Youzhou, and the committee, the military department, the security department and other relevant departments will carefully study before deciding.

However, although there is no specific implementation plan for the action, in order to show his support for this Jihua, Zhang Weixin immediately gave this action an apt name - "Tempering Action".

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