nucmednet Chapter 374 The Ambition of the Guan Ning Army
Chapter 374 The Ambition of the Guan Ning Army
Wu Xiang had a round face and wide ears, and a plump build, making him look more like a wealthy old man than a military general. He picked up where his son Wu Sangui left off: "General Liu, we saw the firearms you used when fighting the Shandong soldiers and rebels; they were indeed incredibly powerful. The arquebuses could fire in rapid succession and were effective in close combat, truly formidable weapons for the army. We especially envy those small cannons. Liaodong also has cannons allocated by the court, but they can only be used for defending cities; transporting them for field battles is too inconvenient..."
Hearing Wu Xiang's seemingly complimentary words, Liu Ye vaguely guessed the other party's intention, but he did not reveal it. He simply followed the other party's words without showing any emotion: "That's right. The Hongyi cannons are very powerful and can shoot far, but they are too cumbersome. By the time they are transported to the battlefield, it takes a lot of effort, and by then it's too late."
Wu Xiang coughed and said, "Ahem, well... we have a favor to ask. I wonder if General Liu could part with some muskets and small cannons and sell them to us?"
Just as I thought! No wonder they didn't claim all the credit; they needed something from me. But this request put him in a difficult position. The Patriot rifles and mountain guns were the lifeblood of the Qiongzhou Battalion's army, and in principle, they couldn't be sold to other armed forces. Although the Guan Ning Army wasn't hostile to him at the moment, he knew perfectly well what kind of people the entire Liaodong warlord group, led by Zu Dashou, was. They were a separatist warlord who fattened himself up with the Liaodong military pay raised from the blood and sweat of the entire nation's peasants, and who held considerable power.
Historically, the Guan-Ning Army never launched proactive attacks, focusing solely on defending its own territory. Furthermore, several battles fought on the Liaodong front, including those involving Zhejiang troops and Sichuan White-Spear soldiers based on the old Qi Family Army, resulted in their demise, primarily due to a lack of timely support. Who can truly know the inside story behind these defeats? No one can be certain whether the Guan-Ning Army deliberately allowed the Later Jin to devour these last elite forces of the Ming Dynasty in order to maintain the status quo on the Liaodong border and prevent the Later Jin from being defeated and losing their greatest asset in controlling Liaodong.
Having come from a business background, Liu Ye has never hesitated to speculate on the wickedness of human nature with the utmost malice. He prefers to believe that the actions of the Guan Ning Army are all aimed at maintaining their vested interests, and that such a warlord group is not worth trusting or relying on. Even if the two sides do not necessarily clash in the future, they are fundamentally incompatible and can never see eye to eye.
However, given the current situation, a flat refusal wouldn't be a wise choice. He had already offended the local Shandong troops; if he offended the Guan Ning Army as well, he would be ostracized by everyone, making it impossible for him to survive. How could he then implement his plans in Shandong? After much deliberation, Liu Ye decided to adopt a delaying tactic for the time being.
“Well, manufacturing such muskets and small cannons takes a lot of time and is quite expensive. I toiled for four years in Qiongzhou to scrape together these resources. Your ministry's sudden request to purchase them is probably too much to handle in such a short time…”
Wu Xiang immediately replied, "Silver is not a problem. The Guan Ning Army is not short of money. Whatever amount of silver General Liu says, that's it. We will not haggle. However, how long will it take to manufacture such muskets and small cannons? If we add more silver, can you work day and night to expedite their delivery to us as soon as possible?"
Liu Ye feigned difficulty and replied, "Well... General Wu, as you know, drilling and polishing the barrel of a musket takes a month, and you can only drill one inch a day. Add to that the previous processes of rolling the barrel and the subsequent welding and binding, and it takes at least two months to make a musket. Artillery is even more troublesome. Just getting the iron of good purity takes ten to fifteen days, and a single batch of iron may not be enough. Then, it's cast in clay molds, and it won't dry completely without being exposed to the sun for a month or two. Next, you have to polish the inner bore, which is also a very time-consuming process. If it's not done properly, it's easy for the barrel to explode... In short, everyone in the Guan Ning Army is a hero, and I'd love to make your acquaintance. Earning some money is secondary. However, even if I were willing to sell, it wouldn't be quick!"
In fact, these were all outdated techniques used by Ming Dynasty craftsmen to make muskets and cannons. According to Liang Xiaoming's method, a qualified flintlock gun could be made in seven days and a mountain cannon could be cast in half a month. But how could Liu Ye tell the other party these secrets?
Zu Dabi and Zu Kuan were both impetuous warriors, and while Wu Xiang and his son were more shrewd, they weren't experts in gun and cannon manufacturing. They were completely bewildered by Liu Ye's eloquent explanations about drilling gun barrels, using clay molds, and grinding the inner bore. Upon hearing the word "burst," everyone shook their heads. Whether it was a musket or a cannon, the worst thing was a burst. Otherwise, why would the Guan Ning Army have abandoned the muskets supplied by the imperial court? They had observed the entire battle of the Qiongzhou camp, and during the continuous and intense firing, not a single musket or cannon had burst. This was unbelievable to them—the bursting of the imperial firearms was only a matter of time and probability; no one had ever dared to hope they wouldn't.
The more Liu Ye piqued their interest, the more eager Wu Xiang and the others became.
Having already possessed a cavalry force that was among the most powerful in the Ming army, the Guan Ning Army was willing to lower its stance and communicate with the Qiongzhou Camp if it could also establish an elite firearms unit, enabling it to operate on two fronts. Otherwise, there were plenty of other capable troops, such as the Zhejiang soldiers and the White-Spear Soldiers, whom the Guan Ning Army might not have paid them any attention.
As the Ming army that had the most contact with the Later Jin army, the core generals of the Guan Ning Army, whether it was the brothers Zu Dashou and Zu Dabi, or the father and son Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui, all understood one thing: in terms of pure hand-to-hand combat, the Later Jin army was the strongest in the world, without exception; otherwise, there wouldn't be the saying, "Ten thousand Jurchens are invincible." What the Later Jin feared most about the Ming Dynasty was firearms, especially cannons—Nurhaci, the old slave, was fatally wounded by cannons fired from the walls of Ningyuan, and cannons had become a shadow in the Later Jin's mind. By obtaining firearms from the Qiongzhou Camp, the Guan Ning Army gained more confidence in confronting the Later Jin and had more room to maneuver between the court and the Later Jin.
Maintaining the state of war between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty, ensuring their own importance, and preserving the status quo of the independent kingdom of Liaodong were the greatest ambitions of the Guan Ning Army.
Wu Sangui was quick-witted. Although he didn't know if the other party was lying or if it would really take that long to manufacture guns and cannons, he saw a fatal weakness in the Qiongzhou camp that he could use as a bargaining chip.
He went straight to the point and asked, "Does General Liu not have any cavalry units under his command? No matter how powerful the firearms are, cavalry is an indispensable branch of the military!"