At night, on the pier of the inner harbor of Haojiang.

Wu Shifan stood quietly in the dark, his face cold.

Although this "grandson" of King Wuxi is a little older than when he was first rescued by Wang Zhongxiao, he is still too delicate, with fair skin, big and bright eyes, long eyelashes, red lips and white teeth, and he is as beautiful as his own sister-in-law.

But his psychology is much more mature than almost a year ago, when his family suddenly suffered a catastrophe, and he doesn't love to cry so much, although sometimes he will quietly hug and cry with his own sister Xiaogang, but in front of others, he always looks calm and strong.

And he also learned a lot from his protector, the handsome big brother Wang Zhongxiao.

Wu Shifan is a very smart child, with a good memory, the ability to never forget, and the ability to logic and understanding is also very strong, almost like a "cow baby of someone else's family". If you were born in the Taiping period and can get a good education, you may become a scholar or a literati.

Wang Zhongxiao, who was an examiner in his previous life, liked this boy very much, and after he left Beijing, he always took him with him and personally taught him to "do problems" and do math problems! Wu Shifan learned quickly, and in less than a year, he had already entered the door of geometry and algebra.

However, although Wu Shifan is very interested in mathematics, what he wants to learn most from Wang Zhongxiao is the ability to use soldiers to fight.

He has to find Kangxi for revenge! How can you do it without learning the ability to fight a war with soldiers?

So whenever Wang Zhongxiao went to teach the students of Jingwutang, or went to the school to practice in person, Wu Shifan would follow with a small notebook, reading and listening while recording. It doesn't matter if you can understand it or not, write it down first.

After a few months, there was a thick stack of notebooks!

Through auditing and asking Wang Zhongxiao for advice from time to time, Wu Shifan has indeed benefited a lot, and has already found the essence of the "Wang Art of War", in a word, it is to unite, mobilize and organize the people!

According to Wang Zhongxiao's point of view, with the advancement of artillery and musket technology, the era of guns dominating the battlefield is coming!

And in the new era, a general who has been trained for a long time, has super physical strength and martial arts, can wear heavy armor, hold a horse lance, and ride a horse to kill. For example, a fierce man like Wang Zhongxiao is likely to be destroyed by a small soldier who has only received three or two months of training with a flintlock pistol worth less than ten taels of silver!

This point of view is not something that Wang Zhongxiao said casually, but the conclusion reached by President Wang after leading the students and cadets below and practicing for several months with 500 Dutch flintlock pistols!

Principal Wang himself already knew the correct answer - isn't this a cannon bombardment, plus stragglers, cold guns, plus privates lining up to shoot and cavalry charging or outflanking, and finally another wave of bayonet charges!

But this "right answer" cannot be determined by the golden words of President Wang. We have to let the people below participate in the research together, so that everyone can really understand, and it can also enhance the relationship with President Wang!

In addition, Wang Zhongxiao was not the reincarnation of a marshal under Napoleon, and he did not know how the war in the era of "queue to shoot" should be organized? Therefore, I can only work together with the teachers and students of Jingwutang, let them help use their brains, and turn Wang Zhongxiao's idea into reality little by little.

Of course, drills and training are also essential!

According to the results of the exercise of the Jingwutang cadets and cadet corps, the ideal configuration of an infantry battalion is four musket teams (the team is equivalent to a company) and two spear teams. If the number of flintlock guns is not enough, then reduce it to two musket teams plus two pikes.

And each full flintlock corps should include at least one captain, one lieutenant, two trumpeters, two drummers, four platoon commanders, sixteen shed chiefs, forty veterans, one hundred and twenty village soldiers, and fourteen men, for a total of 200 people.

A fully staffed "village barracks" should include at least four squads (if there are enough flintlock guns, maybe six) and a battalion headquarters, totaling eight hundred and several dozen people.

A fully staffed "township brigade" (the commander is called the brigade commander) should include four battalions and a brigade headquarters that combines a small number of artillery, engineers, cavalry, and baggage troops, with a total of more than 4,000 people!

Above the "brigade", there should be a "township division" (the commander is called the division commander), and a division should include four brigades - a considerable establishment! However, in order to form a large phalanx, it had to be a "four-four formation" - plus the artillery battalion, engineer battalion, cavalry battalion and baggage battalion directly under the division headquarters. When it is fully loaded, there are almost 20,000 people smaller!

In other words, Wang Zhongxiao's Sanxian Township Soldiers and Jingwutang is actually a "mobilization division".

The Jingwu Academy is actually a "teacher", and the teachers and students of the Jingwu Hall are officers at all levels. The veterans of the cadet corps (veterans drawn from Wang Fuchen's new army) are the backbone of this "mobilization division." Now, with the addition of village soldiers from Xiangshan, Xinhui, and Xinning, a roughly complete division (still lacking cavalry) has been put together.

At the division level and above, Wang Zhongxiao also envisioned two large formations: "army" and "corps"!

Large establishments are better than small establishments, and of course this is also a trend that has emerged in the "era of queuing to shoot". Because the "queue to shoot" tactic allowed the army to quickly form a large number of standardized troops, the role of individual bravery on the battlefield was further reduced, and the effect of multi-arm coordination and multi-unit cooperation was greatly amplified.

In this case, the advantages of a large establishment become obvious.

However, the army that Principal Wang can pull out now can only form one division at most, so there is no opportunity to practice the two-level establishment of "army" and "corps" for the time being. However, Wu Shifan still wrote down Wang Zhongxiao's content on the "army" and "legion" in his notes.

However, if he formed and commanded a division, it was only a small part of the military knowledge that Wu Shifan learned from Wang Zhongxiao, and it was still very immature. And the real "ruthless work" he learned from Wang Zhongxiao was to organize and mobilize the landless and landless poor peasants through the equal distribution of land. Probably this is the only way to mobilize 20,000 township soldiers on the territory of just three counties, right?

When I see my father, I must tell him about these tricks

The night wind on the pier was very strong, blowing the white robe and clothes belt worn by Wu Shifan flying with the wind. The light of a few lanterns shone on the fluctuating water surface of the Hao River, and reflected on his overly beautiful face. In the sparkling waves, that face seemed uncertain, and gradually there was some domineering arrogance.

Many bird boats and galleys are moored on the water surface of the Hao River, and they are lining up to dock. A large bird boat of several thousand materials slowly approached the dock, stopped, and lowered the gangplank.

Wang Zhongxiao, Wang Jizhen, Wu Xiaosuo, Wu Xiaogang, Wu Xiaorong and others walked over together.

"Shifan, get on the boat!"

Wang Zhongxiao said in a low voice.

Wu Shifan quietly turned his head and glanced deeply at Wang Zhongxiao, tears flashed in his big eyes with long eyelashes, and he respectfully saluted Wang Zhongxiao: "Principal, thank you for your great kindness, Shifan has taken his leave, I hope that when I see you again, China has been fully restored, and the Tartars have been expelled by our generation!" ”

The ambition is not small!

Wang Zhongxiao looked at Wu Shifan, this young man had changed into a white robe in the style of the Ming Dynasty, his hair had grown a lot, he combed a bun, and inserted it with a hosta.

"Good!" Wang Zhongxiao nodded, "When we meet later, it must be the day of China's reconstruction, and then you will have to drink three hundred cups with Brother Shifan!" ”

"Okay, it's a deal!"

Wu Shifan hugged his fists towards Xiao Su, Xiao Rong, and Xiao Rong again, and when he reached a few cherished sounds, he turned around and strode on the gangplank amid the sobs of the three women, and stepped onto the big bird boat that was about to sail to the dock of Haikang County, Leizhou Prefecture.

This bird boat is an armed merchant ship belonging to the general army town of the sea route, and it was brought to Haoao by Chen Yonghua - because Ao Bai and Wu Sanwei arrived on Xiangdao. So Emperor Kangxi immediately ordered Chen Yonghua to lead his troops south to Guangdong!

And after Chen Yonghua received the order, he immediately went to the port of Dagu in Tianjin with Yang Qilong, where he boarded dozens of armed merchant ships that he had recruited from the "sea", and then went straight to Haizhou, North Korea!

Yang Qilong can take Kangxi's holy decree and a team of Eight Banners Heavenly Soldiers led by Na Qin! Therefore, the fleet led by Chen Yonghua was warmly received by the North Korean side, and finally loaded several boatloads of ginseng, furs, and Dongzhu, first went to Ningbo Port to collect information related to Aobai, and then sold ginseng, fur, and Dongzhu by the way, and then bought silk, cotton cloth, tea, porcelain and other daily necessities, and then went all the way south to Dayuan Island, sold cotton cloth and all kinds of miscellaneous daily necessities, and bought sugar and deer skins, and sailed to Xiangdao and Haoao again.

After Hao Ao unloaded silk, cotton cloth, tea, porcelain, and sugar, it served as a troop carrier for the Wang family's army!

This time, in addition to Wang Jizhen, there were also two standard new armies led by Wang Zhongxian and Wang Zhongren - the new army of the Association assigned to Wang Zhongxiao by Wang Fuchen had a total of two standards under its jurisdiction, plus some directly subordinate troops.

Wang Zhongxiao generously handed over the two standards and baggage teams to his brother Wang Jizhen as the "soldier", and he only needed the artillery team, cavalry team, and guard team of Xiezhi, all of which were incorporated into the student barracks of the Jingwu Academy and became part of the "mobilization division".

So this night, there were more than 4,000 good people who quietly boarded the ship from the Haojiang Inner Harbor Wharf!

Seeing Wang Jizhen, Wu Shifan, and Wu Xiaorong boarding the Chen Yonghua boat together, and watching the springboard on the boat put away, hoisting the sails and turning the rudder, rowing two water waves, and gradually leaving the dock, watching the white figure waving goodbye to him on the side of the boat gradually disappearing into the darkness, Wang Zhongxiao reluctantly turned his head and said to Wu Xiaosu and Wu Xiaojiang: "Go!" Return! ”

Macau's Ho Kong Inner Harbour is quite a busy port!

When it was ruled by the Portuguese, it was so prosperous that it was not good, and after it came to Wang Zhongxiao's hands, it caught up with the east wind of the Qing Dynasty's opening up of Dagu, Ningbo, Fuzhou, and Macao's "four-port trade".

On both sides of the Inner Harbor of the Hao River in Macao, there are contiguous shops, shops, and construction sites under construction, even at night, they are brightly lit and people come and go.

Although Wang Zhongxiao arranged for the two target recruits to board the ship at night, he still let the details sent by the old Shang family to the port of Hao Ao be discovered-Shang Kexi has been doing "legal smuggling" business with the Portuguese for more than 20 years, and there are inevitably spies of their family among the merchants who do business in Hao Ao.

These spies have now been instructed, and they must work overtime to spy on the information of the old Wang family! In particular, the movement of the new military association stationed on the territory of Xiangshan, Xinhui, and Xinning - the association allocated by Wang Fuchen to Wang Zhongxiao and Wang Jizhen had long been stationed near Haoao, and without the support of this association, the three counties would not have succeeded at all!

If this association doesn't leave, there will be no possibility of a sneak attack on Haoao.

After all, Haoao Castle is very strong, and after Wang Zhongxiao became the owner, he added Wangxia Mountain Walled City, Gongbei Walled City, and Songshan Walled City as a place for garrison defense!

Although these four walled cities are not as good as the fortress of Haoao, they greatly expand the area of Haoao's defense and increase the difficulty of besieging the city.

If there are another three or four thousand new troops to be armed, more than 10,000 Shangjia troops will not be able to break through, and it will be difficult to carry out a sneak attack - it is the most that can steal a Gongbei Village, and as soon as Wangxia Village and Songshan Village see that Gongbei Village has an accident, they will immediately be fully armed.

The Shang family army has to storm the walled city everywhere!

In addition, the armed merchant fleet brought by Chen Fufu was also a trouble.

Because Shang Kexi's spies also found out that Wang Zhongxiao and Chen Fufu had a great relationship, the latter deposited all the silver he exchanged for selling silk, cotton cloth, tea, porcelain, and sugar into the Guangdong Customs Bank!

Based on this alone, that Chen Fufu would not let Hao Ao be taken away by the Shang family.

And now the Wang family's New Army has left overnight on Chen Fufu's armed merchant ship. Shang Kexi, Shang Zhixiao's grasp is coming!

"Amma, Amma is overjoyed! The night before yesterday, the new army of the Wang family stationed in Haoao had boarded Chen Fufu's ship and left Haoao together, probably to Leizhou! ”

It was his second son Shang Zhixiao who rushed to report to Shang Kexi.

"All gone?" Shang Kexi, who was reciting sutras in the Buddha, heard the news, and suddenly became energetic, and he stopped reciting the sutras.

"Basically gone. There may be a few hundred people left, but that's okay. Shang Zhixiao replied with a smile.

"Where's the village soldiers?" Shang Kexi asked again, "How many village soldiers are there in Haoao Commercial City?" ”

"It's not too many, just two or three thousand." Shang Zhixiao said, "It's just some farmers who have just put down their hoes, and they can't beat the elite soldiers of our domain." ”

"Then rest assured." Shang Kexi sighed.

Shang Kexi really didn't care much about the combat effectiveness of these township troops, how many people did he have when he entered Guangdong with Geng Jimao? It's only 20,000 if it's full, isn't it like entering a no-man's land?

How many people are there in Guangdong? But what's the use? Isn't it devastating?

"Second son," Jin Guang, a strategist who accompanied Shang Kexi to worship the Buddha on the side, said with a smile, "Don't underestimate the enemy Wang Shikai's township army is still very hard-working, I heard that he also recruited many blacksmiths from Foshan to help build bird guns, and also bought a batch of bird guns from the Dutch Hongmaoyi and the English Hongmaoyi, plus the shotguns captured from Portugal, there may be thousands of shotguns on hand now!" ”

"What's the use of a shotgun barrel?" Shang Zhixiao waved his hand, "Strategist, I have already sent someone to find out, Wang Shikai's township soldiers only have shotguns and pikemen, among which the spears are still cheap bamboo pole guns." There was no armor or a sword, so you could only be beaten when you encountered archers on horseback or covered by shield carts! ”

Not to mention, Shang Zhixiao's investigation is quite in place.

Shang Kexi smiled: "The township soldiers are like this!" And Cantonese people also like to use shotguns, and this has been the case for a long time. But it didn't work, it didn't take much effort to beat them for my father back then. As he spoke, he frowned again, "But Wang Zhongxiao is still a little powerful. He took Haoao Castle in less than a month, uninterrupted! Is he still in Ho O? ”

This old man is still an expert in warfare after all, and he knows best that tackling tough battles is the most testing of skills! He himself fought the city of Guangzhou back then, but it took a lot of effort, and in the end, he was hungry and built a quadrangular fort before he barely broke it.

This is still that there is no siege expert Wang Zhongxiao in Guangzhou City - siege experts, and they are generally experts in defending cities!

"Probably gone." Shang Zhixiao said, "His eldest brother Wang Jizhen is a scholar, how can he let him lead troops to fight Zu Zeqing?" Doesn't this send you to death? ”

"Good!" Shang Kexi smiled and said, "Then hurry up and send troops. You must remember that the land army must travel day and night, quietly approach Xiangshan County, take Xiangshan in one fell swoop, and then go straight to Haoao. In this way, if you can't fight it, you can still retreat to Xiangshan and them last. ”

"The child knows, the child will definitely succeed!" Shang Zhixiao said with a smile, "The child has already arranged for Huang Laosi to sneak into Haoao, so much land in his family has been taken away by the surnamed Wang, and there are still dead people, this time he has enough strength to take revenge!" ”

(End of chapter)