Chapter 324

"Those who are good at fighting should first not be able to win, and then wait for the enemy to be able to win!"

Ye Xiaotian said, "My soldiers are good at fighting! But that is only in terms of individual bravery. How to deploy a large army, how to cooperate, and how to fight, I am not good at it, and neither are you. Therefore, we must be careful at every step, and first seek to not lose, and then learn in battle, and then seek victory! "

Ye Xiaotian's tent was full of people, and other than Hua Yunfei, none of them were his original subordinates. Ye Xiaotian knew where his problem was, so he dared to use new people. Shen Jianyu, Tang Jiancheng, Luo Dun, Wu Zhen, Gao Dabao, and the others were all people he had discovered to be skilled in military affairs, and then promoted.

These young generals had either fought in the army before, or were familiar with military books and strategies. Among them, there was a cripple called Ding Yue, who was originally a qian hu under Qi Shaobao. On the way to the south with Qi Shaobao, because of an injury to his leg, he ended up becoming a cripple, so he simply stayed behind and settled in Nanjing.

A cripple, the imperial court was full of talents, and would not use such a person as an official. Ye Xiaotian did not stick to one pattern, he had planted spies in Jinling, and when he consciously wanted to cultivate his own generals, he hired Ding Qian hu with a large sum of money, and now he was also a general under his tent.

Ye Xiaotian said, "My soldiers are good at fighting in the jungle, but just being good at fighting in the jungle is far from enough! We will eventually have to walk out of the jungle. Fighting in the open, defending a city, attacking a siege, fighting on foot, fighting on horseback, and fighting in coordination with foot and horse, all of these must be known, practiced, and excelled at! Today is an opportunity! "

Ding Yue coughed and said, "Daren is right. In a war, is victory and defeat decided only when the two armies go to war? Sometimes yes, but most of the time not! If he made some deep, meticulous, steady, and meticulous calculations beforehand, he would have a higher chance of winning. When Qi Shaobao was fighting in the past, he was invincible because of this, and not because he relied on his bravery on the battlefield! "

At this time, a personal guard quickly walked into the tent and whispered a few words to Ye Xiaotian. Ye Xiaotian stood up and said with a smile, "Liu Dadao is really good to me, knowing that I am going to attack, so he specially transferred eight cannons! I will go receive the cannons, Yunfei, Ding Yue, continue the discussion! "

All the generals stood up to receive the order. Ye Xiaotian quickly walked out and everyone sat back down. Ding Yue said, "There's a huge difference between an infantry regiment's attack and a cavalry regiment's field assault. There's also a difference between a siege and a field assault. As a result, there was a lot of knowledge in the allocation of personnel, the composition of the troops, the armament, the provisions, and the methods of battle formations. I've thought of a few arrangements before. Everyone, take a look! "

As Ding Yue spoke, he took out a stack of papers filled with words and distributed them to everyone. Everyone lowered their heads and looked at them. Hua Yunfei looked especially carefully. He knew that if he wanted to assist his big brother, just relying on good archery would not be of much use, so he eagerly and tirelessly absorbed all the knowledge he could.

Ding Yue said happily, "Now that we have cannons, we have a greater chance of attacking the city. But everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Cannons are a powerful weapon, but it is very difficult to carry them on the road. Dingshan Pass is only our first pass. Once we conquer it, there will be a lot of battles to fight later on. If the transportation was not effective, it would drag down the entire army. We need to immediately send people to prepare horses and mules in case we need them. "

Hua Yunfei stood up and said, "I will do it immediately. General Ding, if there are any other things to take note of, please tell everyone in detail."

Hua Yunfei's position was higher than Ding Yue's, but he knew that he was inferior to Ding Yue in deploying troops and fighting battles, so he was very respectful of Ding Yue. Ding Yue was respected by him and felt like a fish in water in the army. Although his leg was crippled and he could no longer carry his saber into battle, he could still command the battlefield. To this old soldier, there was nothing more pleasing than this.

The cannon that Liu Dadao gave Ye Xiaotian was the Crouching Tiger Cannon. Ye Xiaotian knew that Liu Ting was greedy, so he gave him an extremely valuable treasure in the name of Super Knife Fan. Liu Dadao naturally returned the favor by giving him eight cannons as a gift. Now that Ye Xiaotian was acting as his vanguard, it was reasonable and fair to give him cannons.

At this time, the Great Ming army did not have the Red Barbarian Cannon. Ever since the invention of gunpowder, its burning and explosive power had been recognized and rapidly used in the army. In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the famous general who resisted the Jin, Yu Yunwen, used the "thunderbolt cannon" to defeat the Jin army at Caishi Ji.

At that time, the so-called thunderbolt cannon was more like a large shotgun. It used bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder, steel sand, and porcelain shards. When it was fired, it formed a fan. It had a large killing area and a short range, but it could only injure people. It was difficult to use it to attack an enemy.

When Genghis Khan conquered the West, tubular firearms flowed into the Arab world and thus into the West. Thus, the Easterners invented it and the Westerners perfected it. At that time, the development of cannons in the West surpassed that in the East.

During the reign of Zhengde, the Ming court obtained the Franco cannon. At that time, although the Chinese officials looked down on the obscene techniques of the West, they had no difficulty in accepting weapons from the battlefield. They absolutely followed the principle of "bringing it in". Following this research and development, they quickly created their own General Cannon.

At this time, the development of cannons in the West had entered a new stage. Later, the Ming people called the Hongyi cannon appeared. This cannon was two zhang long and could split a stone city and send shockwaves for dozens of li. However, the Ming people had yet to see it. It would take another ten years for the Ming army to experience the power of this cannon: "The first time we see a wisp of smoke, the few hands are rotten and there is no trace to be found. Slowly setting sail, not a single arrowhead is broken, and the casualties of the imperial army are innumerable."

It was not until the 48th year of Wanli that the East India Company's "Unicorn" sank in Guangdong. The Ming court sent people to salvage it. Only then were they able to get 22 Hongyi cannons, each weighing three thousand jin. From then on, the Ming court's cannons developed by leaps and bounds.

At this time, no one had seen the Hongyi cannon. The eight Crouching Tiger Cannons that Liu Ting gave to Ye Xiaotian were already one of the most advanced weapons of the Imperial court. The Crouching Tiger Cannons were a type of cannon modified by Qi Shaobao. Its power was also very great. It was similar to the mortars of today and was especially suitable for fighting in the mountains.

Ye Xiaotian went to receive the cannons. He specially brought Tian Xiufeng with him. Caressing the black cannon barrel, Ye Xiaotian was unable to contain his joy.

Ye Xiaotian's army did not have any soldiers who knew how to use cannons. Liu Ting had also considered this point. He specially sent eighteen cannoneers to stay in Ye Xiaotian's army until he could train qualified cannoneers. Ye Xiaotian asked the cannoneers sent by Liu Dadao to test fire a cannon. The sound was like a sudden clap of thunder. A cloud of thick smoke rose from the distant cliff. Large pieces of mountain rocks came crashing down. The sound was terrifying.

Ye Xiaotian patted the hot cannon barrel. He glanced at Tian Xiufeng and said proudly: "I have this thing, can Yang Yinglong still defend it?"

Tian Xiufeng was also shocked at the power of the cannon, but she still raised her head in disdain. The sunlight shone on her beautiful face, bright and beautiful: "The Heavenly King cannot defend Ding Shan Pass, but you … cannot attack Lou Shan Pass!"

"Is that so?" Ye Xiaotian looked at Tian Xiufeng, his eyes flashing with a strange light. He did not bring Tian Xiufeng with him for eye candy. He remembered these words in his heart!