Daming Military Empire

Chapter 603 Art of War and Combat with Thermal Weapons
Is the art of war in the era of cold weapons necessarily not suitable for fighting in the era of hot weapons?This is not entirely true. If it involves the formation of troops, it is indeed not very suitable. However, in the cold weapon era, there is another type of military manual that can be used in ancient and modern times.

In later generations, this kind of military book is a book that expounds military theory. This kind of military book is not limited to weapons, but focuses on describing theoretical knowledge such as strategy and tactics, military management ideas, and war issues, so that people can understand war from the ideological level. , planning strategies, and formulating tactics, these are not contradictory to thermal weapon warfare, but are the theoretical basis that must be possessed in combat.

The representative work of this kind of military book is "Sun Tzu's Art of War". "Sun Tzu's Art of War" can be said to be a concentrated expression of the essence of ancient military theories and military thoughts. .

For example: if you know your enemy and yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemy but know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemy and yourself, you will lose every battle.

Another example: Therefore, the upper army attacks the plan, the next attack is Jiaojiao, the next attack is the army, and the next attack is to attack the city.

Another example: Therefore, a hundred battles are victorious, and it is not good to be good;

Wait, etc., it can be said that the words are pearls, and the sentences are thought-provoking. Naturally, this kind of military masterpiece must be studied. Whether it is cold weapon warfare or hot weapon warfare, it can be used as the core idea to guide operations.

There are many other military theoretical works like this, and although they are not as comprehensive as "Sun Tzu's Art of War", they are also very representative.

For example, "Wu Zi's Art of War", the main idea is to combine politics and military affairs, cultivate civility and morality internally, and prepare for war externally. "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and "Sun Tzu's Art of War" are collectively called "Sun Wu's Art of War", which shows its importance in the field of military art.

There are also "Six Secret Teachings", the ancestor of strategists and strategists, "Wei Liaozi", the representative work of the military legal system, and "Sima Law", the originator of military regulations, etc. are all rare military theoretical works.

Sun Yuanhua found a lot of military books, in addition to military theory, there are also actual combat, but most of them introduce cold weapons and formations, and there are few hot weapons methods.

This is not surprising. After all, thermal weapons have not been around for a long time. In the true sense, they were used in combat from the Ming Dynasty, and they were not the dominant weapon on the battlefield at the beginning. Until the Chongzheng Dynasty, the Ming army Only then did most of the cold weapons be abandoned, and instead focus on hot weapons. In such a short period of time, it is naturally unrealistic to summarize and write many military books.

Of course, it is not to say that there is not a book on military warfare that introduces thermal weapons. Qi Jiguang, a famous anti-Japanese general, once wrote two military books "New Book of Ji Xiao" and "Records of Military Training", both of which are about the application of thermal weapons. It has reference value.

In the fifth year of Chongzheng, Zhu Cijiong ordered Lu Xiangsheng, Qin Liangyu and other generals to jointly compile the "Infantry Exercise Code", which is a classic work introducing hot-weapon combat methods.

In the end, Sun Yuanhua, Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, Qin Liangyu and others selected a total of eight military books as the tutorials of the Ming Army Military Academy, and played them to Emperor Chen for his decision.

This time Zhu Cijiong didn't approve right away, not because he was dissatisfied with these military books, but mainly because they selected too few military books, to be precise, there were too few military books that introduced hot-weapon combat methods.

For this reason, Zhu Cijiong specially summoned Sun Yuanhua, Lu Xiangsheng and others to discuss and solve the problem of insufficient military skills.

Therefore, another imperial meeting was held, with only Sun Yuanhua, Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, Qin Liangyu and Cao Wenzhao among the few participants, and the location was chosen in Qianqing Palace, Zhu Cijiong's private study.

Everyone understands that the emperor has not approved the tutorials of the Daming Army Officer Academy for a long time, and it must be that these military manuals are not in line with the emperor's wishes. Sure enough, at the beginning of the meeting, Zhu Cijiong asked: "Chuyang, do you have any other questions about firearms?" A manual for combat?"

When Sun Yuanhua heard this, his heart skipped a beat. He also knew that there were too few military books on firearms warfare.

He said fearfully: "The emperor forgives the crime. I have searched through the records of military books in the past dynasties, but I really can't find a few military books about firearms warfare."

Zhu Cijiong heard the words and said calmly: "You can't blame this. Firearms have not been around for a long time, and they have been used as main combat weapons for even less time. It is normal to not find relevant military books."

Sun Yuanhua heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the words, the so-called clever woman can't cook without rice, there are only a few books on war, and it is impossible for him to find more.

Zhu Cijiong changed his tone and continued: "However, now the Ming Dynasty is basically equipped with firearms regardless of the army or navy, and the main weapons of the European powers are also firearms. The future development of weaponry will also focus on firearms. For army officers, the "Infantry Manual", "New Book of Ji Xiao" and "Records of Military Training" are obviously not enough."

Everyone was ashamed when they heard the words. Yes, firearms are used on the battlefield now, but there are not many military books introducing firearm warfare. How can we train qualified officers like this.

Zhu Cijiong glanced around, and seeing the dejected looks of the crowd, he couldn't help but encourage him: "Everyone, don't be discouraged, this is actually a trivial matter."

This is a trivial matter. The officers trained by the Ming Army Military Academy are the backbone of the Ming Army in the future. If they are not trained well, they will directly affect the combat power of the Ming Army. To use the saying in "Sun Tzu's Art of War", "Soldiers are the country's major event. The place of death and life, the way of life and death, must be observed. ', this is a major event related to the life and death of Daming.

What Zhu Cijiong meant was not to say that the training of officers is a trivial matter. He then explained: "There are not enough military books, so you can compile them. You are veteran generals who have experienced many battles. It shouldn't be difficult to compile one or two military books?"

When everyone heard the words, they all fell into deep thought.

For them, it is not difficult to compile a military book, their combat experience is not a cover, and they are not uneducated reckless men, like Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting are both Jinshi, but the question is what to compile?
After half the salary, Lu Xiangsheng finally couldn't help but asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being stupid. The things on this battlefield are complicated. If you want to write them all, it will take a few years or even ten years. I'm afraid it won't be a book. If so, isn't it a bit late?"

Hearing this, Zhu Cijiong shook his head and said, "You don't need to write them all out, just write what you need. For example, now that Ming's gunpowder weapons are emerging in endlessly, I'm afraid few people can operate them all. This is a problem. You can compile a book "Firearms "Fundamentals" to introduce the performance, usage and maintenance methods of these weapons, so that all trained officers will not be able to understand the use of various weapons. In addition, armored combat vehicles will also become the main development direction in the future, and all There are no military books on the tactics of armored vehicles. You can compile a book "Armored Vehicles" to introduce it. Also, guns and artillery are constantly being updated. You can use "Infantry Exercises" according to the actual situation. How about improving it, so it’s almost the same?”

When everyone heard the words, they all nodded their heads. Indeed, there is no need to write everything. Many military books are complementary, and it is enough to write what is lacking in them.

Finally, Zhu Cijiong consulted everyone’s opinions and decided that Sun Yuanhua and Qin Liangyu would be responsible for compiling "Basic Firearms", Sun Chuanting and Cao Wenzhao would be responsible for compiling "Armored Chariot Warfare". .

So far, the tutorials of the Daming Army Military Academy have been finalized. There are ten books in total, namely "Sun Tzu's Art of War", "Wu Zi's Art of War", "Six Secret Teachings", "Wei Liao Zi", "Sima Fa", "Infantry Exercise Code", " Ji Xiao's New Book", "Records of Troop Training", "Basics of Firearms", "Armoured Chariot Warfare", five books each of military theory and firearms combat methods, the combination of theory and practice can be described as complementing each other.

(End of this chapter)