Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 58 Training
On the north bank of the Yangtze River, at the "Tianwu Zuoying" drill ground built not long ago at the Xinpukou Camp, thunderous slogans were heard one wave higher than the other, and the new recruits were doing running drills in flag formations around the drill ground.

Zhao Zhengdong has now been elected as the deputy captain. He is running and shouting slogans at the top of his voice. This is not the first time for them to do collective drills, but it is the first time for more than 2,000 people in the battalion to do drills together on the brand new training ground.

All this was because His Majesty the Emperor inspected the military camp two days earlier than originally planned.

Zhao Zhengdong's rank in the military was not high, so he didn't know what exactly happened, but he just heard that it was related to the navy.

However, at this moment, he had no time to think about these things. The key right now was to lead the team well.

After more than two months of training, and after almost everyone had been beaten with dozens of military sticks, the soldiers of the Tianwu Left Camp had become very orderly in their steps. The square formation of twelve people in a team and three teams in a flag team was even more tight and square, moving without dispersing. The excellent organization of the track trackers was once again demonstrated.

Today, the various structures of the Tianwu Left Camp have been basically completed, and all the swords and guns in the major arsenals in Nanzhili have been distributed. Even armor and muskets have been obtained by many new recruits, but due to limited quantities, two or three people basically have to take turns using them during training.

Zhu Cilang estimated that the entire army would be fully equipped by December, which was the time when the Shun and Qing dynasties fought decisive battles in Tongguan, Yulin and Yan'an Prefecture in Shaanxi Province in history.

Zhao Zhengdong was chosen as the deputy captain, which was completely within his expectations. In fact, even if it was not chosen by his boatmen, he felt that it would definitely be him if the superiors chose him.

However, he still felt that the so-called election, where soldiers had the right of preliminary selection and superiors had the final decision-making power, was redundant.

Why would anyone bother to make a fuss about something everyone knows? Ultimately, the boss has the final say!

The final results were pretty much the same. He heard that only two leaders in the entire camp were not selected because they were mean and dishonest.

There are even some soldiers who, after discovering that they can also participate in the decision-making of officer selection, often privately clamor for replacements in the next election.

As for the distribution of those arms, who will be the spearman, who will be the sword and shield man, and who will be the musketeer, it is determined based on the height and physical fitness of each soldier.

Spearmen must be the strongest and most powerful, forming the core of the military formation, and must be fearless and powerful. Sword and shieldmen are required to be flexible and agile, and have certain physical and strength requirements.

The use of muskets in this era was still relatively rigid. According to the organization, Zhu Cilang needed to retain 30% to 40% of the army as musketeers. So the remaining soldiers, who were not strong enough, nor very agile, all became musketeers.

In order to quickly form an army, Zhu Cilang made certain innovations to the compilation of the military book written by Qi Jiguang. He reduced the types of weapons in the infantry army to reduce the complexity of training.

From a historical perspective, this is in line with the development trend, because the combination of firearms and military formations has made personal martial arts almost useless on the battlefield.

As for the so-called "recommendation", it was established by Zhu Cilang in order to discover grassroots officers and soldiers. He also sent people to the army to strictly supervise the entire recommendation process to ensure that the soldiers' wishes were implemented.

On the one hand, he wanted to use this to screen out those leaders who were unpopular in the original small group. On the other hand, he also wanted to let these soldiers know that if their superiors had problems with their work style, they could report them.

Of course, Zhu Cilang also understood that the soldiers of this era had not been baptized by more advanced ideas, and it would take them more time to accept these things.

But he believes that a reasonable system will eventually enable talents to be discovered, and the continuous emergence of military talents is one of the most important reasons for an army to maintain strong combat effectiveness.

But nomination is just that. The army must maintain the absolute authority of superior officers and the absolute obedience of soldiers. This is the place where hierarchy and order are most important. Any behavior that violates military orders will be severely punished, or even sentenced to death.

Therefore, the degree and scale of this matter depend on Zhu Cilang's grasp. If it is too tight, it will become rigid; if it is too loose, it will be impossible to build a strong army.

After the drill, each flag team immediately began their own training. First, each flag team lined up at the designated position, and then the most important military formation training began, which lasted the entire morning.

In the afternoon, soldiers would practice their individual martial arts and weapons, which were crucial for improving their skills. If there were no training at night, soldiers who had made mistakes during the day would be collectively punished, while the others would rest in the barracks but not leave the camp. They would also frequently conduct surprise drills.

At this point, it was no longer possible to sneak back and hoe the fields.

Chen Tao was neither a spearman, nor a sword and shield man, nor a musketeer. Being a little timid, he chose to be a fire soldier.

His good brother Gudefu served as a spearman, and another fellow villager in his team, Sun Da, who had a family with him, served as a sword and shield man. He felt that this was a good choice, as it should be safer with a shield in hand.

Chen Tao originally thought that fire soldiers were pretty good. Although their monthly salary was only one or two taels, which was five cents less than that of combat soldiers, their food and clothing were provided by the military camp, and they did not have to fight directly in the battlefield. They only had to be responsible for preparing in the back. This position was definitely the safest.

Moreover, since they don't have to fight in the battlefield, their training should be less. At the very least, they have to cook every day. They definitely won't train all day long like those soldiers.

But after he actually became one, he found that fire soldiers had to practice with various weapons. In addition to the iron-tipped shoulder pole for carrying things, they also had to practice with spears, swords and shields, so that they could be prepared to fill in the military formation when necessary.

This made Chen Tao regret it. As a fire soldier, he was terrified even if he stole a little meat. The training was also very intense, and he had to cook and serve others. In particular, the monthly salary was low, six taels of silver less per year than the combat soldiers.

He had inquired around and found out that building a large tiled house near Jiangpu and settling down there and getting married would cost no more than forty taels. If he became a soldier and received a monthly salary of one tael and five cents, he would be able to get married in three years. This was something he had never dared to imagine before.

As for fighting back to Shandong and returning to his hometown, he didn't know if it would be possible. Anyway, he was already in Nanzhili, so it was not impossible to settle down there.

"Everyone stand at attention!"

Zhao Zhengdong suddenly shouted, which scared Chen Tao. He had been beaten with military sticks more than 30 times in the past two months. Now he could react immediately when he heard the command.

But his good brother Sun Da was rather stupid, often half a beat slower than others, and couldn't even distinguish the five most basic drum and bugle calls. For this, he received at least fifty beatings.

Chen Tao held his head high and chest out, holding the iron-tipped carrying pole in his hand, and quickly glanced around with his peripheral vision. Then, while Zhao Zhengdong and that damn military law soldier hadn't checked him, he quickly stood up, not daring to relax at all.

Zhao Zhengdong and the military judge inspected the area together and found nothing wrong. The former nodded in satisfaction, while the latter seemed a little unhappy, which meant that he couldn't beat anyone as usual today.

He has been keeping the habit of swinging a stick and beating people every day for more than a month. Now he feels suffocated if he doesn't beat them for a day. Every time he sees someone make a mistake, he gets extremely excited.

"Tie the leg wraps, put on the backpacks, and start running with the weights, running eight laps around the military camp." Zhao Zhengdong immediately shouted the order.

When the soldiers of the flag team heard the order, they all looked embarrassed, but they did not dare to complain, otherwise they would be beaten with sticks again.

Nowadays, these recruits are not afraid of anything except military sticks. The pain is not a big deal. The important thing is that they will not be seriously injured after being beaten. They cannot rest and have to endure the pain and continue training.

However, this is exactly what Zhu Cilang wanted to achieve. He wanted this kind of military discipline and this kind of army.

Only in this way will these soldiers not dare to be afraid or retreat on the battlefield.

　Thanks to the book friend "Ah, little lady, don't run" for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)