Chapter 120 Grant's Cavalry Tactics
Chapter 120 Grant's Cavalry Tactics
"My lord, I believe that the court will not change much when the new emperor ascends the throne at such a young age. After all, the previous emperor had two princes, and the eight ministers who were in charge of his affairs were all mature and prudent. The Qing dynasty is still stable."
Zhang Zhidong is now the only subordinate who calls Shao Quanzhong "Lord".
As for the others, Shao Quanzhong would not allow his sworn brothers to be called. Shao Quanzhong attached great importance to loyalty. He would repay the sincerity of his sworn brothers, who were his buddies who shared his glory and wealth, not his subordinates.
Le Sen initially called Shao Quanzhong "Lord", but later he felt that he was not qualified to be a military advisor, so he changed his title to "Sir".
Zhang Zhidong was qualified to be a military advisor. With sufficient intelligence support, he used his troops like a god in the Wuwei Campaign, defeating the enemy with fewer troops and the weak with the strong, and he had established his prestige within the Huai Army.
Shao Quanzhong patted Zhang Zhidong on the shoulder and said, "Brother Zhang, you may be wrong this time. However, it really has little to do with us. Our power right now cannot affect the Forbidden City."
Shao Quanzhong left the headquarters with his hands behind his back, feeling relieved. It turned out that when the battle report was submitted, Emperor Xianfeng was not feeling well and was busy arranging his successor, so he had no time to take care of the reward.
But why did Emperor Xianfeng have two princes? Did I remember it wrong? Or did Prince Min survive by some strange coincidence?
Forget it, it has nothing to do with me. Anyway, the young emperor will definitely change his name to Tongzhi, and the situation of the two Empress Dowagers ruling the country from behind the curtain should not change.
Shao Quanzhong walked out of the dike in confusion to inspect the largest artillery training ground.
Hot air balloons were floating in the sky, constantly transmitting target data, which was currently still transmitted by roar. The artillerymen on the ground, holding binoculars in one hand and slide rules in the other, were carefully calculating the distance, and then there was a loud bang, and accurate artillery fire.
Emery came to report, "Sir, I am really surprised at your ability to learn mathematics. You must be smarter than Americans, but the number of artillery is not enough."
"We are already recruiting more people, and we will have all the people ready within two months. Xiao Ai, you are responsible for the training of both the artillery battalion and the engineering battalion. Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard. Your soldiers are hardworking and much easier to manage than our American soldiers. I only have two problems now."
"Just ask, I'll try my best to help you solve it."
"First, we need a lot of shells for training, but the amount we bring with the guns is limited..."
"I have asked Hailing Arsenal to make a copy of it."
"I went to see it, too. Your technicians are very smart. There is no problem making solid shells. It's only a matter of time before you can make shrapnel shells. The only problem is the manufacturing technology of the fulminate of mercury percussion cap. I heard that your imitation bullets also encountered a bottleneck due to the percussion cap technology. I suggest that you don't waste your energy on it, but go to the United States to buy Joshua Shaw's patent."
"Thanks for your reminder, Sven. Send someone to Shanghai to tell my father-in-law. He is going to the United States to recruit teachers. He can also go to Joshua's company to recruit a fulminate of mercury cap technician."
"Sir, sir, the digging technicians directly manufactured it in violation of the US patent law--"
"But it doesn't violate the Qing Dynasty law, right? Doesn't this save money? Let's make it first. When they find out one day, we can slowly study the patent fee. Maybe the patent will expire by then."
Ahem, Emery has come to recognize his superior, who knows how to exploit legal loopholes better than American capitalists.
"My second question is, when I was teaching at the Military Academy, I saw your lecture notes that the students had taken down, and I found that your combat thinking was more advanced than that taught at West Point. Why do you still need me to teach?"
"I don't know much about that. I only know the basics. I don't know as much as you do. That's not my creation. I learned it from the Prussian soldiers."
"I strongly request that when the students are sent to Berlin in the future, I will also go with them for further studies. If you agree, I will serve you all my life."
"Okay, I agree. Before that, you have to train my artillery and engineering troops well."
Emery stood at attention and said, "Thank you, sir. I will do my best."
Shao Quanzhong was in a good mood after leaving the artillery training ground. This Xiao Ai seems to be a great talent. If he goes to Berlin for training, he will be my chief of staff in the future. Zhang Zhidong is a well-rounded talent with a big heart. If he becomes my chief of staff now and passes the imperial examination in the future, I am afraid he will eventually be in charge of a region, so I can only be an ally in the camp who supports me.
Grant is a potential commander, but it's a waste to make him the chief of staff. If he had a better relationship with me, I could let him lead the troops.
It's hard to say, even if we drink a lot, we have to be close friends, but unfortunately foreigners don't care about sworn brotherhood. As for Hui'er, I have to ask her to get along well with Julia, and I have to try to please his children...
Shao Quanzhong met Grant at the cavalry training ground.
An internal cavalry exercise is being conducted here, with 480 regular soldiers divided into two groups to fight against each other.
Half used traditional tactics, shooting with carbines and charging with wooden swords, and the other half used the new tactics trained by Grant.
Shao Quanzhong studied Grant's cavalry capabilities with great interest.
Grant did not order all his men to charge, but instead divided the team into four parts: the assault team, the clamping team, the fire team and the reserve team.
Forty cavalrymen, acting as a pincer attack, charged diagonally at the enemy's 240 soldiers. They were constantly hit by rubber training bullets and hacked, and were judged to be eliminated. The pincer attack was on the verge of complete destruction.
Eighty members of the fire support team dismounted and served as dragoons, using carbines to kill the enemy. The casualties of both sides in the first phase of the battle were similar.
However, when the enemy got rid of the harassment team and rushed towards the fire support team standing and shooting under the rain of bullets, Shao Quanzhong shook his head and said, "Old Ge, this won't work. Your fire team's bullet reloading speed is limited. Aren't you going to lose?"
Suddenly, a hundred assault troopers appeared and charged into the enemy's formation in the dense formation and wall-like charge that Shao Quanzhong was familiar with.
The enemy's formation became sparse after being harassed by the pincer attack and the fire support team, and they were immediately defeated. Grant still had a reserve of 20 cavalrymen, which he had not used.
This was the new tactic that Shao Quanzhong didn't understand. Shao Quanzhong was delighted and stepped forward to pat Grant on the shoulder. "Grant, you are great. I just don't understand how those stormtroopers of yours were able to ambush on the plains without being discovered by the enemy?"
Grant laughed. "Come with me and you'll find out."
Shao Quanzhong arrived at the ambush site. Huh? There was nothing special about it. Cavalrymen couldn't dig trenches in a short time. How could they not be discovered?
At Grant's whistle, one hundred ambushed cavalrymen immediately demonstrated to Shao Quanzhong how to do it and lay down collectively.
Yes, the cavalrymen were lying down, even the horses were lying down.
Holy shit, there is such a trick? Shao Quanzhong, who had been a horse bandit for more than ten years, saw a horse lying down for the first time. The Mongolians also couldn't do this. It was really an eye-opener.
Grant laughed triumphantly. "The most important thing for cavalry is the suddenness of the attack, so an ambush is very important. Engulfing the enemy cavalry is not the main task. The most important task on the battlefield is to raid the enemy's artillery positions and destroy the enemy's largest firepower output point."
Okay, Lao Ge is really good at cavalry, and he is very happy to earn 400 taels of silver a month. Moreover, he is an infantry captain in the United States, so he has a lot of abilities.
"By the way, sir, not only the artillery, our cavalry also needs hot air balloons for reconnaissance. I suggest that each battalion, including the infantry and engineers, be equipped with at least two hot air balloons. In America, the troops carry hot air balloons everywhere."
This was his suggestion as Deputy Chief of the General Staff. Shao Quanzhong immediately ordered Zhang Siwen to convey and implement it.
"Report, the American Consul in Shanghai, Seaward, wants to see you."
Why is he here? He is not busy enough in Shanghai, why is he coming to Hailing?
In the headquarters, as soon as Xi Huade saw Shao Quanzhong, he came over and gave him a warm hug, "Shao, my old friend, I have a surprise for you."
(End of this chapter)