The timing was pretty good. In about half a cup of tea, everyone was at their combat posts, including the artillerymen. They were all ready for battle. As long as there was a specific direction, the artillerymen could open fire immediately.
"Wu Desheng, come here."
Wu Desheng is the stationmaster of this military station. Many people feel uncomfortable with the title of stationmaster, but that is the name given by the court. The nearly a thousand soldiers under his command are under his command. In addition, there are more than seventy servants. He is considered a small ruler. When he heard Cheng Chuliang's call, this guy immediately jumped down from a height of more than one meter and trotted over.
“How many times a day do you conduct these drills?”
Cheng Chuliang didn't smile. Wu Desheng was also wondering, "Are we not rehearsing fast enough? Or is there something else wrong?" It shouldn't be. All the training was done according to military instructions, and this speed should be among the best among the nearby military stations.
"Reporting to the commander, we will conduct this operation once a day, and sometimes twice a day, alternating between day and night."
Although he didn't understand what Cheng Chuliang wanted to say, he still answered honestly. The people around were watching, which made Wu Desheng a little nervous. After all, he was just a small station chief, and the people around him were all high-ranking officials, even the governor was here.
"Your drills are excellent, but if you continue like this, it would be a waste of manpower and resources. From now on, when all personnel are assembled, these artillerymen must conduct live-fire drills. Can they just place the artillery in the center of the field and aim in a certain direction? How do you know their shells will hit anyone after they are fired? So starting tomorrow, during the drills, you must set up an enemy in the field at irregular intervals and have their shells attack there."
Everyone present knew how important artillery was to an army. The reason why the Tang army was invincible was that artillery played a very important role. But if they were just asked to pose, then this kind of exercise would be useless, so Cheng Chuliang wanted to change this method.
After hearing what Cheng Chuliang said, Wu Desheng was happy in his heart, but their place was too remote, and the transport convoy could only come once every twelve days or so. If they used up all the artillery shells due to problems in the drill, how would they deal with the real enemy when it came?
So Wu Desheng brought up this problem. In our army's barracks, there are transport teams coming every day, so artillery shells are not a problem. They can fire artillery shells and train new recruits as much as they want. But in a remote military station like ours, it is really too difficult when the transportation problem is not solved.
When Wu Desheng said this, the people present were also stunned. Since following Li Xiang, they have never worried about logistical issues. After all, Li Xiang will give them more weapons and supplies. When you want one, Li Xiang can send you three. So no matter how great the losses on the battlefield are, these people never care, as long as they can win the battle.
But we need to analyze the specific situation. What Wu Desheng said is true. This place is not on the main transportation line. If they are asked to conduct live-fire drills every day, the warehouse will not be able to withstand this consumption mode and may be used up soon. Once there is a real danger, no matter how good their technical training is, if there are no shells in the warehouse, they can only watch.
"How about we try a compromise? How many shells do you have here?"
Xiao Shougui saw that the two were in trouble, so he stepped forward to solve the problem.
"Reporting to the Protector General, we have a total of over 1,600 artillery shells of various sizes."
Wu Desheng thought about it for a while and gave a rough number. In such a small military station, there were more than 1,600 artillery shells, which was already a very rich reserve. However, the weather conditions in the Western Regions were uncertain. Once there was strong sandstorm weather, it might take twenty-two days, let alone twelve days, to survive. Therefore, the food and drinks were stored for nearly forty days.
"We have a total of seven artillery pieces. During each training session, each artillery piece will fire two shells. This consumption is within the permitted range and will not affect your combat effectiveness."
After Xiao Shougui finished speaking, Wu Desheng did a quick calculation and found that about twenty to thirty artillery shells would be consumed every day, and each replenishment cycle would be about four hundred artillery shells.
If there is strong wind and sand weather, then this kind of training can be stopped. The method mentioned by Xiao Shougui was also recognized by others. The infantrymen train their speed of movement, and the artillerymen must train their accuracy. But if they are not given artillery shells, how should these people train?
It’s okay for veterans, after all, they have been trained on the battlefield. Although new recruits have passed the boot camp, they must also practice regularly. If they don’t practice regularly, their hands will gradually become stiff, and when the day comes that they go to the battlefield, they may not be able to fight.
"Just do as the Protector-General ordered. Now send a message to them one thousand two hundred meters to the southeast."
Because many of the measurement units in the Tang Dynasty were too confusing, Li Xiang gave them some new measurement units. In the past, they were all calculated by steps, but the problem was that the difference between one unit and another was too big, and the difference between tall and short people was also too big, and there was no clear way. So Li Xiang began to implement reforms in the army, and it seems to be working well at the moment.
After receiving Cheng Chumo's order, Wu Desheng gave orders to the artillery. One thousand two hundred meters to the southeast, an artillery observer rushed to the nearby wall and used a small flag to signal the people here. The people here were slowly adjusting the angle of the gunpowder and artillery.
Although Xiao Shougui had never been on the battlefield, he had seen artillerymen fire their cannons before. The skills of these men were passable. If they couldn't even do this after three months of boot camp, then the general in charge of training the new recruits should be beheaded. The Tang court gave you so much money and excellent seeds, and you produced such useless soldiers? Who else should be beheaded?
boom…
