In this regard, Xiao Ruxun said that at the beginning of the war, the other party would definitely concentrate their main forces in a certain strategic town. They could join forces to attack this strategic town together and try to coordinate the effect of fighting together. If the main forces fought against the main forces, they would definitely pull most of the main forces, including the war elephant troops, up. It would be good if they could annihilate them in one battle. After that, it would depend on the situation. Anyway, the battlefield was changing rapidly. We weren't weak, so we just had to persevere and fight.
King Narui Xuan agreed. Anyway, no matter how good it was now, the battlefield was changing rapidly. Anything could happen. It was best not to split up the troops. However, if the time came and the other party's main forces were defeated, it was inevitable for them to split up the troops.
Then there was the problem of logistical support. Before Xiao Ruxun proposed to pay for it, King Narui Xuan expressed his sincerity and was willing to support a batch of food for the Ming Dynasty Army. However, they weren't very rich themselves. It was difficult to maintain the burden of food for 80,000 people. Therefore, Xiao Ruxun took out the 100,000 taels of silver that Lin Yuanshan and other Chinese people had donated and gave it to King Narui Xuan.
"Just treat it as the 100,000 taels of silver that we bought. It should be enough for the army to use for half a year. Please guarantee it, Your Majesty. It is inconvenient to transport food from the country. If we can solve it on the spot, we hope to solve it on the spot. If we find that we don't have enough money after the war, we can bring it up again. The Daming will definitely not be short of your Majesty's money!"
Xiao Ruxun made such a request. King Narui Xuan held the money, but he couldn't let go of his hand. He was stunned and couldn't say anything against it.
The most important problem of logistical support for food had been solved. Xiao Ruxun didn't have to spend his own money.
After that, some weapon repairs and gunpowder bullets would be transported by the Ming Army Navy from Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang provinces. There was no need for Siam. The Ministry of War had ordered the three provinces to provide logistical support for the expeditionary army. They asked the Nanjing Ministry of War's Minister to supervise the implementation. In this way, Xiao Ruxun was relieved because of Ye Mengxiong's existence.
Ye Mengxiong was previously appointed as the Nanjing Ministry of War's Minister. In Nanjing, he was far away from the disputes of Beijing. He lived like a hermit in the mountains, spending time with his old friends. He rarely cared about the Nanjing Ministry of War's Minister, which made some people feel very relieved. Until the imperial edict came, ordering Ye Mengxiong to supervise the manufacturing and transportation of military supplies for the Southern Punitive Army, Ye Mengxiong quickly learned that the commander of the Southern Punitive Army was none other than Xiao Ruxun, whom he regarded as the Daming's Light.
Because of their previous friendship and the logistics transportation, plus his father-in-law, wife, and children living in Nanjing, it was the best choice to let Ye Mengxiong take care of them. When the fleet arrived in Zhejiang, Xiao Ruxun also took some time to visit Ye Mengxiong in Nanjing. The two had a meal and talked about many topics after they separated. Then, they said goodbye reluctantly.
Xiao Ruxun had entrusted all his logistical support to Ye Mengxiong. Ye Mengxiong was also a trustworthy person, so he didn't worry about his own logistical problems.
After the specific matters were discussed, they waited for King Narexuan's troops to be assembled and the Ming Army's adaptive training to be completed. Then, they could send troops. Before that, they also needed to collect enough intelligence. This was not something that Xiao Ruxun and King Narexuan had to do alone. The supreme commanders of the two armies walked and chatted in King Narexuan's palace, talking about some things that they were concerned about.
"That is to say, when the Heavenly Soldiers train their guns, they practice with live ammunition, and they ensure that everyone can shoot more than three shots a day?"
King Narexuan was surprised by the way Xiao Ruxun trained his soldiers. Gunpowder, lead, and match ropes were not expensive, but these things required a large number of inputs to form combat effectiveness. In this way, a gun was nothing, but thousands or even tens of thousands were terrible. The cost was very high.
Of Xiao Ruxun's thirty thousand main forces, seven thousand were musketeers. In other words, Xiao Ruxun's subordinates had a total of seven thousand muskets. In a battle, seven thousand muskets firing at the same time, what kind of power would that be? Not to mention Narexuan himself, the musketeers in Myanmar probably didn't have such a big lineup. So many musketeers had to practice shooting every day. How much would it cost to practice with live ammunition? Anyway, King Narexuan couldn't even afford to support 1,000 musketeers in Siam.
In this regard, Xiao Ruxun had his own understanding.
"Flintlocks require a lot of practice in order to be proficient in using them. Furthermore, compared to cavalry and crossbowmen, the speed at which gunmen can form an army is much faster. They will be able to master it in about a month. However, if they are truly elite gunmen, they must practice live ammunition at least once a day to maintain their familiarity with it. Only then will they be able to perform well in battle. Furthermore, it is very likely that there will be sharpshooters similar to Sharpshooters.
"What I'm thinking is to make the soldiers stronger under the current situation. So, let them practice live ammunition more and master that feeling. When they arrive on the battlefield, their hit rate will increase a lot. In this way, the money spent on their practice will not be in vain. After all, if you want a horse to run fast, you have to let the horse eat well. If you don't eat enough, you naturally can't run fast. Similarly, if you don't practice well, you naturally won't be an elite."
King Narexuan had to nod in agreement.
"You're right, commander. However, the Siam Kingdom has just been established, and I don't have enough financial surplus for the soldiers to practice. Compared to this, it's more cost-effective to recruit some Franco and Red-haired Barbarians. They can fight as soon as they get used to, and they're very accurate. They helped me win a few fierce battles in the past."
This was the only thing Xiao Ruxun could not agree with.
"After all, Franco Barbodes Rhododendri is a foreigner. I don't know what their intentions are when they came to our land. The Franco people had a war with Daming decades ago, and their attitude was very bad. After being severely taught a lesson by Daming, they left dejectedly. Now they are rooted here, far away from their hometown. In addition to money, they must have these ulterior motives. Your Majesty, for these people, if you can use them, then use them. If you can't use them, then kill them!"
King Narexuan was a little surprised that Xiao Ruxun didn't like these people so much.
"Before Admiral came, the Nihonese people were still worried that they would be hated by Admiral. But now it seems that Admiral doesn't hate the Nihonese people, but he hates Franco Barbodes Rhododendri very much. Why? Admiral has just fought with the Nihonese people. As for the Franco people, Admiral probably hasn't fought with them, right? "
"The Nihonese people are close neighbors, and I know them very well. If they dare to disobey me, I can send 100,000 troops to wipe out the Nihonese country in an instant. They can run away, but they can't run away. But these Franco Barbodes Rhododendri are different. Their country is far away. Even if we kill them, we can't find their nest, and we can't completely eliminate them. If they come back one day, it will be even more troublesome!"
King Narexuan thought about it and felt that what Xiao Ruxun said might not be unreasonable.
"Admiral Xiao, I think you are right. These Franco people don't care about their homeland, but they are willing to go thousands of miles away to join the army to fight. What does this mean? Don't tell me it's really just for the money?
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
