Above Taohuaji, the sky was clear and cloudless, and even the cold wind died down out of courtesy.
The word "sunny and beautiful" couldn't be more appropriate.
However, the Taohuaji training ground was almost shrouded in black fog, and was accompanied by waves of earth-shaking "bang bang bang" sounds. Those who didn't know would think that there was a big monster undergoing a tribulation in the Taohuaji training ground.
The surrounding villagers had heard the repeated bang-bang-bang sounds since early morning. At first they thought it was someone's family setting off firecrackers for a wedding. Many village women kicked the men who were still in bed and asked them to go downstairs and see whose wedding was going on and why they hadn't been notified. Fellow villagers, do you want to go and lend a hand
Early in the morning, many men in the village went out to check the situation. At the entrance of the village, they met several fellow villagers who had also come out to check the situation.
After checking, they confirmed that no one in their village was having a wedding, and no naughty children were secretly setting off firecrackers. The source of the sound seemed to be at the foot of Taohuaji Mountain, so several villagers went over to check.
Then we saw the Taohuaji training ground filled with black smoke and the sound of gunfire becoming increasingly clear.
What's going on? Is Taohuaji haunted? Puffs of black smoke and bangs several times louder than firecrackers.
"The military camp is an important area. Outsiders, please retreat." The Zhejiang Army patrol soldiers were the first to discover the villagers who were checking the situation and sent them away in time.
However, the villagers also learned the truth of the matter from the Zhejiang Army patrol soldiers. It was not a ghost story or firecrackers, but the Zhejiang Army was firing muskets.
This is no secret. Officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were generally equipped with muskets, but in small quantities.
After learning that the Zhejiang Army was training with muskets, the villagers suddenly realized what was going on and went back home to report to their wives.
The more seriously their country's soldiers train, the more at ease they feel.
For the Zhejiang Army, their superiors ordered them to practice a new type of firearms battle formation - the Yongji formation - early this morning.
Seeing how seriously my master took this, I thought the firearms battle formation might be as high-end, majestic and complex as the famous Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation in ancient times or Mr. Zhuge Liang's Eight Diagrams.
However, he never expected that the firearms formation that his master attached so much importance to was just standing in a row.
Isn’t this the standing position at the beginning of military training
It's just that it's a little thinner than when it was standing still at the beginning. At that time, the military formation was very solid, with more than ten rows, but now the Yongji formation has only three rows; oh, and it's much more compact than when it was standing at the beginning.
"I asked you to stand closer together, not crowded together. Keep the current distance between people and rows. Whether you are marching, standing still, or charging, keep the current distance."
"No matter what happens, even if it's a rain of arrows, even if it's raining knives from the sky, you must keep your formation steady. This is a test of our Zhejiang Army's discipline. In the midst of mountains of swords and seas of fire, in the rain of bullets, people can die, but the formation must not be disrupted or dispersed! Once the person in front falls, the person behind must immediately step forward to fill the vacant position and keep the formation neat."
"Our battle formation is called the Brave and Disciplined Battle Formation. Why is it called the Brave and Disciplined Battle Formation? It is because the two most important requirements for this battle formation are 'courage' and 'discipline'. The brave will win when two sides meet on a narrow road, and the battle formation will not be disrupted even when a mountain collapses in front of it. Only the most courageous and disciplined army can form the Brave and Disciplined Battle Formation, and what our Zhejiang Army lacks the most is courage and discipline!"
"Why did I arrange such a brave formation? It's very simple, just to bring out the power of firearms. After yesterday's military parade, I found out, and I believe you all have found out too, that the accuracy and hit rate of firearms are limited. The hit rate is a little over 50% within 70 meters, and it drops to about 30% within 150 meters; and the hit rate drops to a little over 10% beyond 200 meters. With such a hit rate, we must concentrate the firearms to shoot intensively to improve the hit rate, so that it can be lethal. It is no exaggeration to say that the formation is the life of the brave formation and the guarantee of its combat effectiveness."
Zhu Ping'an divided the Zhejiang army into three groups, each with three rows. More than 2,000 people were divided into nine rows, each row had more than 220 people, and a row was about 100 meters long. The nine rows of people advanced forward like three huge waves.
Zhu Ping'an held a tin horn in the team, emphasizing the importance of discipline and courage over and over again, explaining the principles of training the brave and disciplined formation, and correcting problems exposed by the soldiers during the training from time to time.
Although the Zhejiang Army has always attached great importance to drill training since its establishment, and was relatively quick to accept the training when practicing the brave and disciplined formation, the brave and disciplined formation is different from drill training after all, and the requirements are more and stricter. During the actual training, the Zhejiang Army still exposed many problems.
Maintaining the queue and moving at a constant speed is easier said than done.
There are more than 220 people in one row, more than 660 people in one group of three rows, and more than 2,000 people in three groups. They need to move forward at a coordinated speed. They cannot walk too fast or too slow. They need to move forward according to a fixed stride. The difficulty is extremely great.
In addition, training is not easy during normal times, and it is even more difficult when you are on a battlefield with bullets flying everywhere and screams of killing.
After practicing for more than half an hour since early morning, the Zhejiang army barely met Zhu Ping'an's minimum requirements.
After the formation is taken shape, the next step is to shoot with muskets.
"Although our muskets are very powerful, their accuracy and range are limited. The hit rate within 100 meters is only a little over 50%. To unleash the power of the muskets, we must get the enemy close and shoot them. We must wait until the enemy is within 50 meters before shooting. Don't worry about the enemy's cold arrows, we have cotton armor. We must wait until the enemy is within 50 meters and wait for the order to fire before shooting together. The musket is different from the bow and arrow. It cannot be thrown or shot at an angle. It must be held level with both hands and shot forward."
"Now the first group moves forward. Okay, stop. This position is fifty meters away from the target. The first row squats, the second row bends down, and the third row stands up straight. Now load the ammunition and get ready to shoot!"
"Ready, fire!"
Zhu Ping'an divided the Zhejiang army into three groups, had them practice shooting one by one, and set up three rows of targets fifty meters ahead.
The first group of soldiers took out oil paper ammunition bags, loaded them with ammunition, pounded them with long iron rods, fixed the fuse, and prepared to shoot.
After Zhu Ping'an gave the order, the first three rows of soldiers fired their muskets together, "bang bang bang..."
Black smoke rose instantly.
The gunpowder these days all contains pyrotechnic powder, and black smoke is inevitable after shooting. As for advanced gunpowder such as smokeless gunpowder, Zhu Ping'an has only heard of it. As a liberal arts student, he doesn't know how to make it, the principle, or even the idea.