He seemed to be worried that Wang Shiyang would not believe his words, so Director Qian handed over a set of winter clothes that had been distributed yesterday.
Wang Shiyang took the winter clothes. He weighed it in his hand and felt it. He knew what kind of goods it was.
However, he still had a sliver of hope in his heart. Thus, he took off his military uniform and put on this military uniform. He lifted the curtain, and a gust of cold wind blew over. Lao Wang was blown back a few steps and retreated into the military tent.
Awkward, very awkward, very awkward.
"Bring a few more sets over."
Lao Wang braced himself and gave the order. Director Qian could only bring a few more sets of military uniforms. Lao Wang wore three sets and wrapped himself tightly. Only then could he barely withstand the cold outside.
"Distribute three times the number of military uniforms. Send 30,000 sets to the 10,000 most elite soldiers first. Let them set off to Yanmen Pass and Pingxing Pass as reinforcements. I will naturally think of a way to handle the rest!"
Wang Shiyang could only respond in this way. The attendant beside him immediately wanted to go back and do it, but Director Qian stopped him.
When he saw Wang Shiyang's puzzled expression, Director Qian braced himself and said, "Supervisor, we can barely wear three sets of clothes, but we can't wear three pairs of shoes. If we run outside wearing these shoes, we won't feel cold, but our feet will be frozen. If our feet are frozen, we won't be able to run at all. If the weather continues to get cold and we get frostbite, we'll be done for."
Wang Shiyang's expression became even worse.
"Distribute some temporarily unused cloth from the treasury. Let the soldiers wrap their feet with it to keep them warm. We'll deal with it first. The reinforcements at the two passes cannot be delayed."
Director Qian sighed and agreed.
After another four hours of hard work, there were finally ten thousand soldiers outside Taiyuan City slowly moving toward Yanmen Pass and Pingxing Pass. Wang Shiyang sat on his warhorse and watched the unsteady pace of these soldiers. He was deeply worried. Coincidentally, a gust of cold wind blew at him, hurting his hand that was holding the reins. He hastily shrunk his hand into his brocade robe to keep warm.
The soldiers' hands did not have anything to keep them warm. If it was too cold, they could not even hold weapons. How could they fight then?
There was nothing Wang Shiyang could do. He could only pray for the heavens to be merciful and not let the weather get any colder. At the same time, he hoped that the imperial court would send reinforcements as soon as possible, bringing food and enough warm clothes.
The only thing that made him happy was that it was not raining. In fact, it was very dry. Under such circumstances, it did not matter if the soldiers started a fire or used firearms. Yanmen Pass and Pingxing Pass were equipped with a large number of firearms. There were many cannons lying on the walls of the pass. With these firearms, they should be able to stop the Mongolians for a while.
Wang Shiyang thought so, but Wei Yunzhen did not. At this moment, in the arsenal of Yanmen Pass, Wei Yunzhen looked at a row of 17 blasted muskets in front of her, as well as 17 soldiers who had been seriously injured by the blasted muskets. Her expression was extremely ugly.
"Why do these muskets explode the moment they are used? Don't you have any explanation for me?! Seventeen of our soldiers did not die in the hands of the Mongolians, but in the hands of our own muskets! What the hell is going on?! "
Wei Yunzhen stared at the armory officials who were kneeling on the ground. Looking at the panic-stricken faces of the armory officials, he could barely suppress the killing intent in his heart.
"Fu Tai! Fu Tai, please look carefully! These muskets were sent to the warehouse by the Ministry of Works. We have never tampered with them since they were sent to the warehouse! These muskets are not popular in the Northern Lands. The soldiers do not like to use them. Besides, the quality is so poor that even if I wanted to fill my pockets, I would not be able to sell them for a good price. Fu Tai! Fu Tai, please look carefully! "
The head of the armory knelt in front of Wei Yunzhen. Snot and tears mixed together on his face. It was a disgusting sight.
"Poor quality? I have been inspecting Shanxi for four years. Why have you never reported this to me?! "
Wei Yunzhen cursed loudly. What he hated the most were these bastards who usually didn't say anything and only dropped the ball at the critical moment. The existence of these lazy officials had caught him off guard time and time again. Even when he was lying down, he was still hit by arrows. It was the same this time!
"Fu Tai, please look carefully! These firearms have been like this since the Jiajing period. This lowly official has been in the armory for twelve years. Every year, it would be a miracle if more than half of the muskets and other firearms were sent here. Basically, only thirty percent of them were of good quality. In the beginning, this lowly official would always report it, but there was no news. After that, this lowly official did not continue to report it. "
The head of the armory was an official. He did not have any scholarly honors and could not be promoted. Under these circumstances, without any news, he naturally became lazy and did not continue to report it to his superiors. This was because he knew that even if he did, there would be no results.
Wei Yunzhen took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed his rage.
"In the past, when the army trained, did the army ever use firearms? When this Governor gave the order for military exercises, did the army ever use firearms? "
"Yes, but very few. The winds in the Northern Lands are strong, and the Mongolian cavalry is fast. It is difficult to release the muskets, and it is not easy to operate them. There are no generals who like to use them. Very few generals have firearms. At most, they have cannons, but cannons often explode. Nowadays, soldiers would rather use crossbows than firearms."
"Why haven't I heard about the explosion of cannons?"
"Because since the Jiajing period, it is normal for firearms to explode. It is not rare at all, so it has never been reported. Everyone is used to it."
Wei Yunzhen rubbed his temples. He felt extremely frustrated.
He waved his hand and ordered his subordinates to bring the seventeen heavily injured soldiers out for treatment. He walked around the armory a few times and saw some shocking firearms.
When he touched it, the barrel of the gun broke. Upon closer inspection, it was rusted beyond recognition. Some of the barrels were crudely made. The muzzles were not round. Some were oval, and some were even square. There were a lot of crooked barrels, and they could not be used at all. It was no wonder that firearms often exploded.
The firearms issued by the imperial court were so crudely made, but as the Imperial Inspector, he did not pay attention to it for four years. This was a great dereliction of duty.
He threw a musket on the ground, and it immediately broke into three pieces.
The Mongolian attack was very intense, and there were not enough arrows in the armory. He wanted to use firearms to defend for a while. After all, the power of gunpowder was very strong. Wei Yunzhen heard that Xiao Ruxun used firearms to defeat the Japanese pirates in North Korea. He changed his view of firearms, but he did not expect them to be so disappointing.
"Are there any usable firearms now?"
"Yes, but not many."
"Take out all of them. Use them first!"
"Yes, Sir!"
The officer in the armory immediately started to make arrangements.
Outside the city, the deafening sound of explosions could be heard. Wei Yunzhen looked at the walls of the city from not far away. He looked at the place where the sounds of killing could shake the sky. He was very worried.
Suddenly, a huge fireball exploded above the wall. Wei Yunzhen turned pale with fright.
"What is going on?!"
The person he sent to check on the news had not gone far when he came back with another soldier with a black face. When he came back, he said hurriedly: "Futai! A cannon on the city wall exploded, and three barrels of gunpowder exploded. A part of the city wall was damaged, and the soldiers suffered heavy casualties! "
Damn it!
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.
