Zhu Yuanzhang always attached great importance to military affairs, because he had built the Ming Dynasty from a time of chaos.
The three major military camps of the Ming Dynasty were highly valued by Zhu Yuanzhang when he ascended the throne; they were the strongest armies of the Ming Dynasty.
Among them, the Five Armies Battalion was arguably the most elite of the three major elite armies of the Ming Dynasty, a field army composed of elite cavalry and infantry selected from various provinces of the Ming Dynasty. The Five Armies Battalion was divided into the Central Army, Left and Right Wings, and Left and Right Outposts. In addition to the soldiers from the capital's garrison, the soldiers were also transferred from the Zhongdu Garrison and the garrisons of Shandong, Henan, and Daning to the capital for guard duty and training, and were called the "Standing Army".
Subordinate to the Five Armies were the twelve battalions that commanded the cavalry accompanying the emperor, the Enclosure Battalion that commanded the training of the straight-forked swordsmen and the imperial guards, and the battalions of the junior officials, Danzhong and Xiaoyi.
The Three Thousand Battalion was based on three thousand Mongol cavalry, but the actual number was more than three thousand, all of whom were cavalry. It was divided into five departments, each in charge of the emperor's flags, clothing, weapons, drums, and imperial treasures.
The Shenji Battalion, on the other hand, was a dedicated firearms unit.
If the emperor were to personally lead an expedition, the three major camps would surround the emperor's main camp, with the Shenji Camp on the outside, the cavalry in the middle, and the infantry on the inside.
Even if the emperor does not personally lead the expedition, the three major camps will still select some soldiers to accompany the main army.
Protecting the capital and preparing for war; this is the duty of the three major battalions, and this is what makes them special.
Today, the Shenji Battalion is responsible for training firearms and escorting the emperor's cavalry. It is a strategic mobile force directly commanded by the emperor. The Shenji Battalion differs from the garrison troops established in the early Ming Dynasty. Its highest organizational level is the battalion, which consists of two supervising eunuchs, two military officers, and two signal officers. The battalion is further divided into five armies: the Central Army, the Left Wing Army, the Right Wing Army, the Left Sentinel, and the Right Sentinel.
The entire battalion normally consisted of 3,600 infantry, 1,000 cavalry, and 400 artillerymen, all equipped with firearms. This differed from ordinary garrisons, as the Shenji Battalion had a full strength of 5,000 men. There was even a subordinate battalion of 5,000 men attached to the Shenji Battalion, namely auxiliary troops, etc.
As for weapons, there were heavy artillery and repeating cannons for field use, 3,600 thunderclap cannons, which were infantry muskets. There were also 200 multi-barreled muskets, 400 short-handed muskets for artillerymen's self-defense, and 160 small-caliber general cannons... This does not include bullets, grenades, landmines, etc.
There were also chariots here, because the Ming army not only equipped its infantry and navy with a large number of firearms, but also equipped its cavalry with muskets and cannons, and creatively developed chariots that had been abandoned by previous generations.
This is the sidecar vehicle. The tank battalion is organized into five levels: battalion, assault vehicle, chariot, and vehicle. Each battalion has four assault vehicles, each assault vehicle has two chariots, each chariot has four chariots, and each chariot has four vehicles, which is 128 tanks. This is basically allocated to infantry battalions.
Old Zhu knew that Zhu Yunying valued firearms, and the Shenji Battalion had actually already been equipped with new weapons.
Compared to the early days of the People's Republic, the Shenji Battalion's firearms are now much less prone to barrel explosions and also feature flintlock mechanisms. This means that some firearms no longer require a fuse. Old Zhu (Zhu Xijin) has also witnessed the continuous improvements and increasing power of hand grenades and landmines.
"Grandpa Emperor, our Ministry of Works Academy has made a great contribution this time," Zhu Yunying said proudly. "Our gunpowder used to be powder, but now it's granules. It's easier to transport, we don't need to prepare it on the spot, and it's less likely to get wet from fog. Our firearms now should be less afraid of rain, and they'll be easier to use in skirmishes."
Old Zhu's eyes lit up. He was an expert in using firearms, and he naturally knew the importance of firearms units.
Zhu Yunying had been working on the Ministry of Works Academy for ten years, and even earlier, he had conscripted many skilled craftsmen to build ships and the imperial city. However, this figure is somewhat exaggerated, as Zhu Yunying took a considerable amount of gunpowder-making equipment from the palace when he supervised the construction of the naval warships.
When Zhu Yunying was in charge of Beiping Prefecture, he took away a large number of skilled craftsmen from all over the country. Many of them had nothing to do with building the imperial city. But Zhu turned a blind eye. He knew his grandson liked the Ministry of Works, and he also knew that the haphazard Ministry of Works Academy was the culmination of his beloved grandson's efforts.
As for the fact that the Crown Prince was in charge of the army at the time, or even involved in such important strategic weapons as gunpowder, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't think it was taboo at all. If it were, he wouldn't have sent Zhu Yunying to the Longjiang Shipyard when he was less than ten years old, and he wouldn't have handed over almost half of the empire's navy to Zhu Yunying so early on.
There was no way around it; Zhu Yunying's position was basically set from the moment he was born. If he was willing to work, Old Zhu was naturally happy. If he didn't want to work but only wanted to study, Old Zhu would still be delighted. His precious grandson was destined to be emperor, and Old Zhu wasn't really bothered by the prospect of his grandson getting early access to the power that only emperors could touch. His eldest son, Zhu, would only grumble but wouldn't stop him.
Old Zhu listened attentively to Zhu Yunying's report. If the granulation of gunpowder was true, a military genius like Old Zhu would naturally see the benefits. At that time, the fighting power of the Ming Dynasty's Divine Machine Battalion would definitely increase significantly!
Neither Zhu Yuanzhang nor Zhu Yuanzhang were ever truly satisfied with improving their military strength. They wanted it to be 'endless,' even though the Ming Dynasty's current fighting power was explosive; to the surrounding vassal states, the Ming was an incredibly terrifying and powerful monster.
But that wasn't enough, because Zhu Yunying had many more plans. In a time when truly 'strategic' weapons were scarce, and many wars were fought primarily with cold weapons, Zhu Yunying naturally had even greater ambitions.
Old Zhu and Little Zhu were seriously discussing gunpowder and firearms, as well as the Shenji Battalion.
Wang Chengen received instructions, and Xu Huizu and others immediately rushed towards the Wuying Hall. The civil officials should not meddle; this is a matter of military merit, a matter of the army, and it is not their place to interfere.
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