Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 644: Commander Sun in America
Although North and South America add up to more than 40 million square kilometers, at this time, on such a large continent, the total number of colonists, mixed-race people, and natives is less than 10 million, which can be said to be extremely sparsely populated. But after all, this is a meeting behind enemy lines. So Zhu Ciyi used his royal status to suppress the three people, especially Zhang Xianzhong. The team soon broke up and dispersed.
Of course, this dispersion was only temporary. Under the guidance of the guides sent by Zhu Shengmiao, after nearly two months of climbing, several teams arrived at the base that Zhu Shengmiao and Tiya had opened up on the Andes Mountains on the western edge of South America.
"Your Highness, Commander, this is Kunlun Village. This is the core village of our Andes base. Outside this village, there are six smaller villages guarding it."
"Well, how many people are there in the entire base now? How is the military strength? Where is the food? Where is the weaponry?"
"Shame on you." Facing Sun Chuanting's question, Zhu Shengmiao blushed slightly: "During the invasion of the Western Bandits last year, we lost all the plains and hilly areas at the foot of the mountain, and lost a large number of people. Now, there are more than 23,200 people in the seven villages, most of whom are old and young. There are only more than 3,700 strong people aged 16 to 30.
As for food, we have always had the habit of placing the old and the young in the mountains, and gathering the food in the mountains after harvest, so there is no shortage of food. But I see that the army brought by His Highness and the commander-in-chief this time is at least 10,000 people. With so many people suddenly pouring in, I estimate that the food in the village is only enough for three months. As for the military equipment?"
Zhu Shengmiao smiled bitterly: "The base has always lacked heavy weapons. We have lost too many brothers under the artillery fire in the battles with the Western bandits in the hills and plains. In the battle last year, we even lost all our cannons. Now, the main defensive force in the stockade is more than 300 heavy machine guns."
"What?" Listening to Zhu Shengmiao's introduction, Sun Chuanting's heart couldn't help but skip a beat: It seems these guys really don't know how to fight.
He was just thinking about it, while Zhang Xianzhong, who was two steps behind, had deliberately raised his voice and shouted: "More than 3,000 strong men, there are more than 300 heavy machine guns? This kind of firepower configuration is more powerful than the regular army division of my Ming Dynasty! Lieutenant Fengguo, you actually still have so many heavy machine guns left, how do you fight this war? Are you using these guys to defend the mountain pass?"
"What else? You know, the Andes base was able to survive, firstly because of the rugged terrain. Secondly, it relied on these heavy machine guns to guard every mountain pass."
"Pah!" Spitting out a mouthful of thick phlegm, Zhang Xianzhong said disdainfully: "Shouldn't such a good thing as a heavy machine gun be put into mobile warfare? It's better to carry it on a warhorse and get off to fire a burst of bullets when you get to the place? Just use it for defense? They have occupied all the coastal plains, and we can't get support from the mainland. When you run out of bullets, this heavy machine gun is no better than a fire stick! Hey, wasn't Madam Tia a leader in my Daming Military Academy? How come you don't even know this common sense? Could it be that you gave birth to too many children for Lieutenant Fengguo, and your brain is broken? Hahaha~"
"Zhang Xianzhong."
"Ah? Commander, I am here."
"Don't talk about others, talk about yourself. I heard that you are very famous in the Pampas in the east. Tell me, how is the construction of your base going?"
"Uh..." After thinking for a while, Zhang Xianzhong said in a very simple manner: "Commander-in-chief, my army now has about 30,000 soldiers, all of whom are cavalry. Heavy artillery is too cumbersome, and I have never asked the court for it. The youngest in my army is 13 years old, and the oldest is 52 years old, and they are all men who can ride horses . I have no base, because with that thing, it is easy to be locked by the enemy. My army is all cavalry, and cavalry are gods when they run, and they are soft dough that can be kneaded by anyone when they stop, hahaha!"
"You have no base, how will you replenish your men if they are lost? Where is your food? Where are your horses?"
"Hey , Commander, you just came here, so you may not know. There are many Indian tribes in South America. I am the most loyal person. When I conquer a village of Western bandits, I will share the things in it with my brothers. Those Indians usually live a hard life, but they can follow me. Oh, I said something wrong. Anyway, if they follow our team to conquer the village of Western bandits, if the village is big enough and these Indian tribes send enough strong men, the things they get at one time will be enough for their tribe to survive the cold winter. In this way, how can those tribes scattered on the grassland not obey my call?
As for war horses, hey, it is said that this place did not produce horses before. But the Western bandits have colonized here for hundreds of years. The horses they brought here are scattered in the wild, especially in places like the Pampas where there is abundant food and almost no natural enemies, and the reproduction speed is very fast. I go to catch horses every winter, and in the spring, another team of qualified war horses will come out...hahaha..."
"You summoned the local Indian tribes to fight for you, and the Spanish won't retaliate?"
"How to retaliate? It was me, Zhang, who attacked their farm, not this or that tribe. It was these Spaniards who bullied the Indians so harshly, damn it, oh, sorry, I am a rough man, please bear with me. Anyway, these Spaniards are too bad, they captured the strong men to work in the mines, they usually eat poorly, wear little, and pay almost nothing. The tribe has few strong men to begin with, and they are forced to work in the mines, and they don't get a decent reward... If it weren't for me, Zhang, how would they survive? The Spaniards want revenge? If you have the guts, why not try to massacre a tribe? As long as they dare to massacre, I, Zhang, can gather a bigger team!"
"Well, although Zhang Xianzhong is a bit rebellious, I have to say that he was able to survive in such a cruel environment and live well. He is a man of real ability. People like him need to be punished, but when it is time to let go, you must not hesitate."
After thinking about this silently for a while, Sun Chuanting turned to Li Zicheng and asked, "What about you? I heard that you called yourself the King of Chuang in Mexico?"
"General, I am so embarrassed!" Li Zicheng, who was only 29 years old this year, but looked like he was 50, half-knelt anxiously, "The so-called King of Chuang was created by me to better call on the local Indians to join our team. The local Aztec descendants said that this term means to break out of the future. God knows how it was translated into Chinese as King of Chuang... General, I am loyal to the Ming Dynasty . If it weren't for the emperor's selection, I would still be farming in northern Shaanxi! I will always remember the emperor's great grace, how dare I claim the title of king?"
"We will discuss this matter after His Highness's political commissar has been dispatched to your unit. Now, tell me, how are you doing in Mexico?"
"Yes, I have 120,000 troops in Mexico, including about 50,000 elite soldiers. The core city of the base, Xinmizhi, is built in a dangerous mountain range more than 500 kilometers north of Mexico City. The self-sufficiency rate of food is over 90%, and the rest is mainly obtained by attacking the Spanish transport team and attacking Spanish manors. In recent years, I have mainly relied on the Mexican plateau to deal with the Western bandits. Since the establishment of the base, in the past five years, I have killed more than 3,700 Western bandits. I have captured more than 200 manors of the Western bandits and once captured nine towns of the Western bandits. However, my problem is the same as Lao Zhang's. I lack heavy weapons, and my troops are no match for the regular army of the Western bandits in a head-on battle. Therefore, even if the town is captured, as long as the main force of the Western bandits comes, we will not be able to defend it..."
"How many troops does the Western bandit have in America? Who is the leading general? What are his abilities?"
After Li and Zhang exchanged a glance, Li Zicheng said, "Commander-in-chief, the Western bandits currently have about 60,000 regular troops in America, with advanced equipment and strong combat power. Our troops are no match for them in a head-on battle. In addition, there is the self-defense force organized by the Western bandit manor owners here. The strength of this self-defense force is unclear. When there are many, the mixed-race people, Indian natives and even black slaves in the manor are organized, and a manor owner can mobilize hundreds or even thousands of people. When there are few, those mixed-race people who have been trained for a period of time will take the initiative to train with the self-defense forces of other manor owners. At that time, a manor can only mobilize dozens of people.
As for the generals of the Western bandits. Commander, the generals of the Western bandits in America were originally called Espinola, and then in the past two years, they were replaced by Raimondo and Cromwell. The former is in the north, mainly to be an opponent of me. The latter is in the south, mainly to embarrass Lao Zhang. The one stationed in Lima is called Henry. Cromwell has not come into contact with these three people, so I will not comment on them. Just talking about Raimondo, I have to say that his ability to organize large-scale battles is better than mine. "
At this time, Zhang Xianzhong stepped forward and said, "General, Cromwell is as cunning as a fox when commanding a battle. I was almost caught by him several times. But I didn't let him have an easy time. I successfully ambushed his baggage train several times."
"Commander-in-Chief." Zhu Shengmiao also said, "Henry is a very conventional commander in battles. He doesn't have any brilliant ideas, but he also rarely has any loopholes. Because of the difference in the quality of the troops and equipment, our Andean Volunteer Army is most troubled by this kind of magnificent formation."
"Hmm... I have a general understanding of the situation of the Western Bandit Army. What about the Navy?"
"Commander-in-chief, I have no fleet under my command, so I don't know what the pirates' navy is like. But I approached Buenos Aires several times, and saw the pirates' fleet passing by the nearby sea. There were ironclad ships and sailing warships."
"Okay." He took a deep breath and asked, "What do you want to say, Your Highness?"
"Before I came here, my father repeatedly told me that military and civil affairs were decided by Commander Sun. Even if he wanted me to charge into battle, my father told me to obey."
Well, I don’t know if the emperor has told you that you will be my son-in-law in the future, and I, your father-in-law, will not be polite to you.
After thinking it over, Sun Chuanting said, "Everyone, this is my first time here, and I still need to explore and familiarize myself with many situations. This process requires your help. After I have a deeper understanding of the situation here, I will make adjustments to the development of this place. Before that, please escort the political commissars back to your bases. After returning, do two things first. First, reorganize the army. Second, prepare for moving. Although I don’t fully understand the situation here, and I don’t know where the new base should be located. But I am very sure of one thing. At this time, our forces here should unite and work together to deal a greater blow to the Western bandits!"
