Since most of the official military forces of the Ming Dynasty were concentrated in the cities, and the ability to protect the vast non-urban areas was very limited, it was common for the gentry to organize paramilitary forces such as militia groups and security regiments on their own. Especially in the southeast coastal areas that are often harassed by pirates, almost all villages have militia groups, and in some densely populated areas, there are several large militia groups in which the militia is jointly defended, and the number of militia even exceeds 1,000 people. Li Nai has lived in Guangdong all the year round and has seen a lot of militia groups, but it is the first time he has seen a militia like the Haihan people training the militia like this.

In general militia training, a few martial artists or veterans who have retired from the army are invited by large households to teach the militia some basic fighting skills. Yes, it is only fighting, not fighting, because very few of the instructors have a clear concept of battle or war, let alone any command skills, and it is unlikely that such a militia instructor will be hired as a senior officer. The direct consequence of such a level of training is that the commanders of the militia regiments can often only effectively command battles at the squad and platoon level, and as for the mobilization of military forces on a larger scale and the skills of operational command, they lack relevant training and often can only rely on the performance of the battle to fight for luck.

The content of the militia training is basically based on physical training and fighting skills to keep the body alive. In view of the fact that the vast majority of people in this era eat twice a day, their caloric intake is very limited, so the physical training is mostly just for show. Combat skills, on the other hand, emphasize more on individual combat power than on the military's cooperative combat skills. As for the training in the queue, there is really very little, at most it is just for the militia to learn to assemble and stand in line, as for the maintenance and change of the queue on the march, there is no need to think about it.

Of course, more importantly, the financiers of the militia are all local wealthy gentry, and how much military spending the financiers are willing to pay is directly related to the combat effectiveness of the militia regiment.

This vice was learned from the Ming army, the regular army of the Ming Dynasty was practiced every four or five days, and the guards were often trained every ten days or even half a month because of the slackness of the system, and it is not surprising that some places with poor conditions practiced once a month. The training frequency of the militia must be under the regular border army, and the better ones can be about the same as the guards, and the worse ones are even worse than the guards, and they will only organize a joint training once every few months. Whether from the point of view of training methods, conditions, or frequency, it is difficult to believe that the armed forces trained in this way have any combat effectiveness to speak of.

The ancestral home of the Li family of "Fu Ruifeng" is in Panyu, Guangzhou Prefecture, and as one of the local gentry, the Li family also maintains a militia of about 80 people all year round. Every time Li Nai returned to his hometown with his family to worship his ancestors, this militia would be dispatched to maintain local order. Now looking at the militia group of the Haihan people, Li Nai silently compared the two teams in his heart.

In terms of the level of the queue drill, the Haihan militia undoubtedly left the Lijiazhuang militia far away from the eight streets, and in Li Nai's memory, the Lijiazhuang militia had not even conducted such professional queue training. However, the Haihan militia ordered and forbade it, and there was no phenomenon in the team that they were talking to each other or looking left and right, showing a strong discipline, which was also far from being the Lijiazhuang militia.

However, Li Nai still does not think that the actual combat strength of the Haihan militia is above his own militia, this is because the Li family has invested a lot of money for this militia group, not only invited several skilled martial artists from Foshan to teach, but also hired a staff general of the Guangzhou garrison to guide the skills of marching and arranging formations, which is a proper military adviser in later generations.

In addition, the Li family also spent a lot of money to equip all members of this militia with leather armor, single knives, spears and shields, and even five archers in the militia who were rare in the militia. As for the bird guns that have been commonly installed in the Ming army, the Li family also spent money to buy ten dispensers and gave them to this militia group. In terms of combat strength, Li Nai believes that it may be difficult for the entire Guangzhou Prefecture to find a few village militia groups that can be compared with the militia of Lijiazhuang. Although the militia of the Haihan people is extremely well trained, no matter how skilled the parade drill is, can these bare-handed militia beat their heavily armed opponents?

The queue drill here is over, and Li Nai's mind has not returned to the scene. However, He Qiang, who was behind him, coughed dryly and said, "Mr. Tao, although the military discipline of your militia is excellent, why don't you carry ordnance during the exercise? Could it be that you lack sophisticated weapons?"

Tao Donglai said with a smile: "That's not it, it was just a simple queue exercise just now, since the two of you want to see the ordnance, that's good." ”

He turned his head to Gu Wei and said loudly, "Instructor Gu, our guests want to see the practice of ordnance. ”

Gu Wei was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, no problem, then please follow me to the shooting range." ”

The shooting range is located at the foot of the hill to the east, very close to the playground, and is within easy reach. As soon as Gu Wei gave the order, someone went to set up a wooden target fifty meters away, while several other militiamen, led by other instructors, carried several long wooden boxes.

When Li Nai and He Qiang saw the militia setting up targets, they thought that this was to practice bows and arrows, and they also said in their hearts that the Haihan people really had some skills, and they actually trained a group of archers. When the wooden box was opened and the militiamen stepped forward to collect their weapons, the two men were shocked.

"Bird!" Li Nai couldn't help but exhale softly.

The militiamen received the muskets and ammunition, and did not rush to start loading and reloading, but first quickly lined up under the command of Gu Wei, a row of ten people, divided into six platoons. Li Nai's face was already a little pale, these Haihan people not only have bird guns, but also have trained a large number of bird guns!

"Check the guns!" After the line was lined up, Gu Wei ordered loudly.

The militiamen first inspected the three leather boxes they were wearing, which contained primers, propellants, and projectiles. Among them, the propellant has been packaged in paper packets to prevent soldiers from loading more and less propellants due to nervousness or negligence. This is followed by the primer hole and primer pot of the fire gun to avoid gunpowder residue blocking the hole and causing the launch to fail. If someone finds that they have a problem with their equipment at this time, they will raise their hand and then step back and let the person behind them replenish their queue first.

"Reload your ammunition!" Gu Wei counted the time and gave the second order.

The militia shakes the primer into the primer pot and closes the lid. Bite open the small paper packet containing the propellant with your teeth, pour the propellant into the muzzle, then load the projectile, remove the pass from the barrel and tamp the projectile and propellant tightly.

"Ignite! Aim!" Gu Wei continued to order.

The militiamen lit the arquebuses attached to the arquebuses with twists and then raised their guns to aim at the targets.

"Five rapid shots, fire!" Gu Wei waved his hand, and immediately there was a sound of ping-pong, startling a group of birds in the mountains and forests behind the target.

The militiamen immediately retreated from the gap in the queue to the rear, and the soldiers in the second row stepped forward and raised their guns.

"Ignition...... Aim...... Launch!"

In this cycle, the six platoons of militia musketeers fired five rounds each in a rotating fashion before they stopped at the whistle of the guards. Then everyone checks their guns in place, clears their chambers, and waits for the next order.

"What do you two think?" Tao Donglai asked with a smile to the two guests who were already stunned.

"It's amazing!" replied Li Nai in a very dry voice. He had seen arquebus drills before, but the striking power of the ten bird guns of his own militia was simply incomparable to the rotational shooting method in front of him. If the two militia groups faced off on the battlefield, wouldn't they have been knocked over by the Haihan militia before they even made contact?

Soon the militia retrieved the target, and looking at the bullet holes in the inch-thick plank, anyone could fully imagine how lethal this musket unit would be on a frontal battlefield.

Li Nai swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, and still argued to himself: "This bird gun is powerful, but the ammunition is limited, once it is used up, won't it become a burning stick?"

Tao Donglai nodded and said, "That's right, the Ming army's bird gun does have this problem, so we have already tried to overcome this defect." ”

Tao Donglai stretched out his hand, and Gu Wei handed him an arquebus, followed by a two-foot-long bayonet. At the end of the bayonet was a sleeve, and Tao Donglai aimed the hole in the sleeve to insert it into the muzzle, and then with a turn, the bayonet was fixed through the tenon on the body of the gun. In this way, the five-foot-long burning stick was immediately transformed into a seven-foot-long short spear. This must be thanks to the efforts of the military industry, who allowed the tenon bayonet to appear in this time and space more than half a century earlier.

Tao Donglai stabbed his hand a little harder, and the bayonet immediately pierced the inch-thick target. Li Nai and He Qiang, who witnessed the whole process, both opened their mouths wide, and they couldn't say a word of rebuttal.

After being silent for a long time, Li Nai suddenly asked something that surprised Tao Donglai: "Dare to ask Mr. Tao, how did you get these bird guns?"

Tao Donglai hadn't come back yet, but Schneider next to him had already smelled a hint of business opportunity from Li Nai's words, and quickly took over the conversation: "Does Mr. Li want to buy a few back?"

Li Nai did not answer Schneider's question directly, and said to himself: "Looking down, although this bird gun is similar to that of the Ming army, it seems that the system is more sophisticated, and there is a spear tip that can be installed on the mouth of the gun, this should not be the standard of the military department, right?"

Schneider and Tao Donglai exchanged glances, and then directly gave him the answer: "These arquebuses are all made by us, if Mr. Li is interested in buying them, then we can talk about this business." ”