In the Ming Dynasty, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas were one of the richest places in the country since the Southern Song Dynasty. Business was highly developed and the living conditions of the people have always been very superior. It is precisely because of this that people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were willing to join the army. It's not high, and the combat power is relatively weak. There are more farmers than soldiers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and it's not like they don't have food to eat, so why bother to be a soldier and live a life of licking blood from the knife's edge. However, the good times did not last long. Although Japan had accepted the culture of the Tang Dynasty for nearly a thousand years, the land in Japan was barren and the people were in dire straits. So during the Ming Dynasty, they resumed their old trade of thousands of years ago, as pirates, and this time on a much larger scale. It was larger than that of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, when the Japanese pirates invaded the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas in the Ming Dynasty, due to the generally weak quality of the soldiers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Japanese pirates could often plunder in dozens or hundreds of people, and thousands of Japanese pirates dared to occupy mountains and become kings. The court also There was nothing they could do, but they encountered a difficult opponent-Qi Jiguang.

Since Qi Jiguang's military training, only a few thousand troops can contain hundreds of thousands of Japanese pirates. The Qi Army from Zhejiang was actually able to quell the Japanese pirates in the south and defend the Mongols in the north. This is inseparable from the Qi Army's usual training. This Zhejiang Army became an out-and-out main force in the late Ming Dynasty, and its combat effectiveness could only be Use the word horror to describe it.

Qi Jiguang had his own uniqueness in selecting recruits. When Qi Jiguang was selecting soldiers for the Zhejiang Army, he put forward very strict requirements. First of all, he required that those who joined the army were not among the seven disciplines or were not doctors, witches, or The children of merchants and workers are those who want to come from innocent civilian families; secondly, they don’t want those who have fair faces, are smart in action, and have no fear of officials when they see them, because these people are easy to be cunning on the battlefield; finally, they don’t want them. It also requires honest men from the countryside who are dark, stout, and have solid skin. These people will obey orders and fight bravely. And because since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how old the official position was, the salary was generally lower than the average level of other dynasties. The same goes for the army, which is why people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang would rather be farmers than soldiers. What people lacked most at that time was money. Therefore, Qi Jiguang announced to imitate the military merit system of the Qin Dynasty, and how much money was given to the Japanese pirates, which greatly improved the army's enthusiasm for combat

And in terms of discipline, Qi Jiguang was strict in discipline. If you are afraid of death, don't come to be the Qi family army. It is the Qi family army. famous quotes. The discipline of the Qi family's army was so strict that it almost reached the point of perversion. Those who pretend to be ill before the battle are beheaded; those who abandon their weapons before the battle are also beheaded; those who retreat before the battle are beheaded; if one person retreats, one person will be beheaded; if the entire team retreats, the captain will be beheaded; if the captain dies in the line of duty and the entire team retreats, the entire team will be beheaded; as for killing Civilians who take advantage of their merits and commit adultery with women will undoubtedly die. As a result, the soldiers could only fight desperately on the battlefield, and because of their good military discipline, they were warmly welcomed by the people

And in terms of weapons, the Qi army was generally equipped with advanced bird guns from the Ming Dynasty. There is also the powerful "Tiger Crouching Cannon". This is a heavy artillery piece so named because it looks like a crouching tiger when it fires. In addition, the Qi army is also equipped with specially made sabers and armor. There are also self-made wolf traps with various tricks, which make it difficult for Japanese pirates to guard against them

In terms of formation, Qi Jiguang invented a unique mandarin duck formation. The mandarin duck formation consists of 11 people in a team, with the captain at the front. One of the two holds a long card and the other holds a shield card. Then there are two people holding wolf swords for the wolf sword, followed by four spearmen holding spears, two on the left and right, respectively taking care of the shield bearers and wolf sword bearers on the left and right in front. Following up are two soldiers holding "boring palladium" to serve as security, support and other tasks. If the enemy attacks in a roundabout way, the short-handed soldier rushes forward with a short sword to kill the enemy. There is a clear division of labor among various weapons. As long as everyone is proficient in the operation of their own kind, the key to effectively killing the enemy lies in overall cooperation and the execution of orders and prohibitions. The Japanese pirates have strong personal abilities, but they are helpless when facing the Yuanyang formation. This formation created a new tactic for infantry warfare. Even in the face of the Mongolian cavalry, they can still fight, which has cross-epochal significance