Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 170 Final Preparations Before War
"Brothers, today's meeting is mainly to follow the instructions of His Highness and organize everyone to identify the hypocrisy of the Seven Great Hates and the significance of our coming to Liaodong to fight this battle. Hahahaha, brothers, you all know that I, Man Gui, am a rough man. It is rare for me to speak so much. Next, according to the old rules of our centurion, I will hand it over to brother Wang Shunwen. Everyone applaud and welcome him."
Amid the unanimous applause of more than a hundred people, Wang Shunwen, who had been beaten with a military stick for a long time in Fangshan School because he often dodged the opponent's gun tips out of instinct, walked onto the podium.
He was from Huai'an Prefecture in Southern Zhili. Because the Yellow River took over the Huai River and flowed into the sea, the Huai River often flooded. Finally, when he was twelve years old, the roaring river swallowed up his home. He was the only one in his family of twelve who survived because he went to the hillside to catch fireflies that night.
The Huai River burst that time, directly causing more than 400,000 victims. The imperial court did provide relief, but facing such a large number of victims, the relief materials were simply a drop in the bucket. The old, weak, sick and disabled could not get any food at all when faced with the anxious strong men. Wang Shunwen did not eat a grain of rice for three whole days. In the end, he drank a bellyful of dirty water and lay powerlessly in the mud waiting to die.
Fortunately, he met Cao Huachun.
Eunuch Cao, wearing brocade and embroidered robes, personally ran to the muddy ground to help him up, gave him porridge, changed his clothes, treated him, and then sent him to Honghe Village.
When he got there, he realized that it was His Royal Highness the Grandson who asked Eunuch Cao to look for and adopt orphans from all over the place. When he got there, he realized what reading was all about. When he got there, he realized that the world was so big, and there were so many miserable people like himself.
First in Honghe Village, then in Fangshan, Wang Shunwen's academic performance was always among the best. But no matter how he berated himself, he could not overcome the fear of the spear tip poking at him, and his body would dodge every time against the command of his brain. For this, he was not only laughed at by his classmates, but also had a bad face from his class teacher.
It was His Highness who, after accidentally hearing about his story, specifically talked to him once. He also smiled and told him that if he really couldn't overcome this fear, he didn't need to join the army in the future, but could take the imperial examination or directly become an assistant in Fangshan Laboratory, and being a scholar in the future would also be a good idea.
I don't know what happened, but in His Highness's gentle words, Wang Shunwen suddenly found that his fear was gone. From then on, whether it was a spear or a bayonet fight, he was brave and brave, which impressed his instructors.
Not only that, after the introduction of live ammunition shooting with flintlock rifles in the drills, his talent in shooting amazed the whole school. His Highness even gave him a hand cannon that could fire continuously - this was a treatment only for officers.
More than two years ago, when Henghai Guard was rebuilt, His Royal Highness wanted to find some students from Fangshan School to serve as junior officers. All of the fourth-grade boys in the school signed up enthusiastically, and even some third-grade students clamored to serve His Royal Highness. In the end, Wang Shunwen was successfully selected with his top-notch shooting skills.
During the more than two years in Henghaiwei, he was in charge of fifty brothers, made many new friends, and grew up rapidly.
At this time of year (1612), he was already over 19 years old and would soon be 20. Finally, it was time for him to really contribute to the reconstruction of his own grandson!
"My dear brothers, after carefully reading the seven great hatreds mentioned by Nurhaci, the chieftain of the Jiannu, I have only one feeling: they are too low-class, just like a quarrel between the wives of the brothers, or a shrew scolding in the street."
"Hey! Mr. Wang, whose wife do you say is a shrew?"
"That's right, you don't even have a wife!"
"Hahaha~~" After laughing along with the other brothers, Wang Shunwen said, "Everyone, let me tell you the first one first. Well, the grandfather and father of Nu Chief went into the city to persuade them to surrender on behalf of our Daming, but they didn't come out for a long time. Then our Daming army rushed in and killed Nu Chief's grandfather and father in the chaos. Hiss~~ How strange, if you can't persuade them to surrender, just come out. Even if you are detained and can't come out, won't our Daming army open their mouths to explain their identities when they rush in? Well, even if our Daming army killed him by mistake, right? Didn't my queen compensate him with thirty horses? Everyone, the people of our Henghaiwei are either disaster victims or miners. Tell me, is this enough compensation?"
"It's more than just a generous gesture, it's simply a great favor from heaven. This slave chief actually had the nerve to use this as his number one hatred. Doesn't that mean he is a heartless person who doesn't know what's good for him?"
"Brother Li, you've got it right. Now let me tell you the second point... the last one. Hahahaha, everyone, we've been stationed in Shenyang for so long. I'm not being overconfident. If you ask me, there are definitely some elite soldiers in these so-called nine important towns, but if it really comes down to a fight between 5,000 people and 5,000 people, I estimate that except for the Kuandian Guard, the others are no match for our Henghai Guard!"
"General Wang said it well! Who are we? We are His Highness' personal army, and we are also the most powerful army in the Ming Dynasty!"
"General Wang is right. In a one-on-one fight, we may not be a match for some of the heroes in the border army, but in terms of organization and discipline, I think only the Kuandian Guard can compete with us."
"That's it." Wang Shunwen spread his hands and said, "Our Henghai Guard is the strongest army. Kuandian Guard was also raised by His Highness, so it's the second strongest army. The commander of the damn second strongest army came to your Jiannu territory, shouldn't he act arrogantly?"
“Hahahaha~ That’s absolutely right!”
"Okay, brothers, I'll stop here to talk about the seven great hatreds. Next, let's talk about the significance of our coming to Liaodong to fight. Well, I want to talk about this question from a different angle. I want you brothers to think about it. What will happen if we lose the next decisive battle?"
Seeing everyone lost in thought, Wang Shunwen cleared his throat and said, "Brothers, if we lose this battle, then His Highness's position as heir will definitely be unstable. If we were not His Highness, we would have been a handful of dirt somewhere. Tell me, can we afford to lose?"
"Never! We must not lose. Even if it costs our lives, we must ensure that His Highness's position as crown prince is secure!"
"Well said, everyone. If we lose this battle, we, as His Highness' personal soldiers, will undoubtedly all die in battle. And the Kuandian Guards will probably be killed in the same way. In short, there are definitely no deserters in our two guards, right?"
"Of course. If it weren't for His Highness, how could we eat so well, dress so well, and even marry a wife? During the decisive battle, if anyone dares to escape, don't let the superiors do anything, I will shoot him first!"
"So, if we lose this battle, the two strongest armies of the Ming Dynasty will be gone. Moreover, the elite troops in the nine important towns will also suffer heavy losses. And at that time, someone like Your Highness who has the potential to be a sage king will also lose his position as the crown prince. Everyone, do you think there will still be hope for our Ming Dynasty at that time?"
The atmosphere in the tent had been very heated , but it had obviously cooled down. It was obvious that everyone felt a chill in their backs when they thought about the consequences of losing the battle.
"Everyone, we are all from the south. We came to Liaodong to fight for His Highness and for ourselves! If we lose here, the country's best soldiers will be lost here, and the country's best commander will also be lost here! By then, will our families in the south be spared?
Brothers, have you heard this? The brothers in the border army have been saying that we are lucky to follow the crown prince. But they only say that we have good food, good clothes and good equipment. When the time comes to fight, it will be good if we don't collapse at the first blow. Why do they say that about us? Isn't it because our Henghaiwei has never fought a battle since its establishment? Brothers, we have encountered such a fierce opponent in our first battle. Do you have the confidence to win?"
"Of course!"
"This is our first battle, but as His Highness often joked before, our debut is our peak!"
"We are at the peak now, and we will always be the peak of all the armies of the Ming Dynasty!"
"Okay!" After seeing everyone's emotions being aroused again, Wang Shunwen said, "Brothers, let's make a pact: In the next battle, if we don't win, we will die!"
"If you don't win, you will die!"
"Kill the slave chief in formation!"
"Fight to Hetuala!"
"If you don't win, you will die!"
