1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 112 Expanding the Army in a Separate Camp [Fourth Update! Please Add to Favorites! Please Subscribe!]

Including the 1,300 people that Wu Xuan brought into Pingzai Mountain, there are also scattered Hakka tribes of various surnames who have recently come to Penggang for refuge due to the increasingly fierce disputes over the homeland in the vicinity.

The boat corps of Luo Dagang, Su Sanniang, and Qiu Ersao.

Peng Gang now oversees a population of over 7,000, including villagers from nearby villages who are willing to follow him.

To facilitate the resettlement of the troops, Peng Gang had Peng Yi lead his students in conducting a census, compiling a roster of basic information for each person.

This is the advantage of having a group of students with basic cultural knowledge; if he were to do this statistical work alone, he definitely wouldn't be able to handle it.

As of the census date, Peng Gang had 7,356 people under his control.

Of these, 4,860 were male.

There are 2,496 women.

The number of young and middle-aged people aged 15 to 45 is 3,420.

Peng Gang selected 1,900 men from his former submarine corps and younger, able-bodied men for intensive military training.

In preparation for the even more intense battles to come: the encirclement and suppression by the Qing army in Guangxi.

The military system formulated by Feng Yunshan has been implemented.

The military system during the period of the God Society's group camp was quite different from the later Zhou Dynasty military system.

The military system during the regimental and battalion periods was relatively crude.

The military system initially formulated by Feng Yunshan, from low to high, is as follows:

Battalion Commander (25 men), Centurion (100 men), Vanguard Commander (500 men), Army Commander (2,500 men).

After listening to the suggestions of Peng Gang, Xiao Chaogui, Yang Xiuqing, Xie Bin and others, Feng Yunshan made changes to the initially drafted military system, and the officially promulgated military system was as follows.

Group leader (12 people), platoon leader (36 people), company commander (144 people), battalion commander (432 people), army commander (2,592 people).

The God Society has formed six armies this time, totaling 15,500 men.

If God could train these 15,500 men into an army with the most basic military skills before the Qing army's advance in Guangxi.

Dealing with the Qing army's encirclement and suppression in Guangxi Province would certainly not be a problem; they might even be able to launch a counterattack and capture a few cities.

The army commander of Peng Gang's army was Peng Gang, and the deputy army commander was Luo Dagang.

The training standards of Peng Gang's Honglian Village Battalion differ from those of the Jintian Battalion, and the requirements are much stricter.

The fact that 1,520 young men were not selected does not mean they are exempt from military training.

They should also be organized into battalions and companies for moderate-intensity military training as reserve personnel to be replenished in wartime.

The remaining non-military personnel.

Males aged eight to fifteen were organized into the Children's Camp, while males over forty-five were organized into the Elderly Camp. (The living and working conditions for ordinary people in ancient times were far worse than those of modern people, so those over forty-five could indeed be considered "elderly.")
The children's camp was managed by Peng Gang's younger brother Peng Yi, Chen Yucheng, and Zhang Handai.

Wengsou Camp was managed by his uncles Xiao Guoying and Xiao Guoda.

Women and children under the age of seven were incorporated into the women's camp.

The women's camp was managed by Peng Gang's younger sister, Peng Min, as well as Su San Niang, Qiu Er Sao, Zhao Han Wei, and Peng Gang's three maternal aunts.

Food rations were distributed through a rationing system, and all of them were distributed by the Honglian Village Treasury.

Each of the 2,592 regular troops was given two and a half jin of rations per day.

Each reserve soldier was issued 1.3 jin of rations per day (1.8 Qing jin, approximately 2.14 jin in modern terms, or 1072.8 grams).

Women and the elderly are each given a daily ration of 1.3 jin of grain.

Children aged 1 to 3 years are all provided with a daily ration of five liang (approximately 250 grams) of food.

Children aged four to seven were given a daily ration of nine ounces of grain.

Children aged eight to eleven were given a daily ration of fourteen taels of grain.

Children aged eleven to fourteen were given a daily ration of one jin and two liang of grain.

Peng Gang currently has 22,105 shi of grain, which, according to the current rationing system, can sustain him for about eight months.

Of course, how long the grain can actually be consumed is definitely dynamic.

The increase in population and the subsequent purchase and storage of grain will affect the time it takes for grain to be consumed.

Peng Gang couldn't possibly just sit around eating 22,105 shi of grain for eight months without doing anything. If he really did that, he'd be a real talent.

Although the boatmen of Luo Dagang, Su Sanniang, and Qiu Ersao chose to join the God Society and were brought under Peng Gang's command.

However, not all boatmen and boat households could tolerate the separate camps for men and women and the restrictive lifestyle.

In particular, many of Luo Dagang's former subordinates are seasoned veterans who are used to a free and easy lifestyle.

Peng Gang did not force these people.

They gave Luo Dagang and the others some rice and meat, and asked Luo Dagang to cook a farewell meal.

Before parting, Peng Gang gave each person three taels of silver and five dou of rice as travel expenses, so that they could part amicably and meet again in the future.

After the farewell dinner, the veteran boatmen who were unwilling to stay bid farewell to Luo Dagang one by one.

With tears in his eyes, Luo Dagang bid farewell to his old comrades in the submarine force one by one.

Having known Luo Dagang for over two years, this was the first time Peng Gang had ever seen Luo Dagang cry so uncontrollably.

"These are all my good brothers who have gone through thick and thin with me, Luo Dagang. How can they not even tolerate this little bit of restraint?" After seeing off the last old comrade from the submarine force, Luo Dagang wiped away his tears and murmured to himself.

“Everyone has their own way of living. People in the martial arts world are used to being free. Making them be bound by rules and regulations is more painful than killing them,” Peng Gang comforted Luo Dagang, patting him on the shoulder.

"Fine, let them be." Luo Dagang sighed, then asked.

"What are your plans next? To go to the Jintian Regiment?"

Luo Dagang knew that Peng Gang intended to keep his distance from the God Society headquarters, but he felt that apart from the God Society branch troops under Ling Shiba's command.

The remaining troops from the other branches all left their homes and families and gradually arrived in Jintian. Peng Gang hadn't gone there yet, and it would be difficult to explain.

“We can also conduct group training in Honglian Village,” Peng Gang said.

“My training methods are somewhat different from theirs. I can play a greater role in Honglian Village than in Jintian. Besides, it is not convenient for me to go there now.”

"It's inconvenient to go there now? Why?" Luo Dagang asked, puzzled.

Peng Gang has a good relationship with the top leaders of the God Worshippers Society, so why is it inconvenient for him to go to Jintian Village now?
“The branch office’s personnel are not as good as the headquarters’. The headquarters previously had the weapons-making and forging techniques of the Mengchong headquarters, while many of the branch office’s personnel only brought sticks with them,” Peng Gang said with a smile.

“Two days ago, Chen Chengrong, Wei Jun, and Shi Zhenlun came to my place to exchange weapons. They said that Xiao Chaogui, Yang Xiuqing, and Wei Changhui were working hard to open the furnace and forge iron to make weapons.”

"This is a good thing, it should be this way. War is not a brawl. We can't expect the brothers in the branch to carry wooden sticks and fight against the Qing army and Qing demons, can we?" Luo Dagang was even more confused.

"However, there were too many new brothers coming to the branch, and we didn't have time to rush to make weapons. We could only collect the weapons of the old brothers and secretly throw them into the Rhinoceros Pool in Rhinoceros Ridge at night," Peng Gang said.

"Why would you throw perfectly good weapons into a pond?" Luo Dagang scratched his head, completely baffled as to why he would do such a thing.

Since weapons couldn't be made in time, those brothers in the guild who had weapons were allowed to practice with them first, and those who didn't have weapons could make do with wooden sticks and bamboo spears.

"Because in a few days, the leader will be together with the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother to show the believers of the new branch the miracle of the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother bestowing heavenly weapons upon the Rhinoceros Pool!" Peng Gang said, unable to suppress a laugh.

This matter involved Chen Chengrong and his team representing headquarters coming to his arsenal to exchange weapons. They specifically requested that the serial numbers and inscriptions on the weapons be erased before giving them to them.

Peng just learned about this from them.

Peng Gang had strict requirements for the quality of weapons at the Honglian Village arsenal.

Even cold weapons are marked with serial numbers to facilitate traceability.

At the time, Wei Jun said in a serious tone, "Since it was a divine weapon bestowed by the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother, how could it have mortal writing?"

In fact, Peng Gang knew that what Wei Jun and the others cared about was not the mundane writing on the weapons.

Instead, these earthly characters clearly state that the weapons were manufactured at the Red Lotus Village Armory.

If the inscription number is related to the weapon workshop of the Wei family in Jintian Village, they would prefer the inscription to be as clear as possible.

So that the new believers at the branch would know that the heavenly weapons bestowed by the Father and the Brother are related to their Wei family.

Peng Gang didn't bother arguing over these empty titles; as long as they exchanged food and supplies for weapons, they were the client.

Provide enough food and supplies. Don't even mention removing the inscription number; you can even customize a unique inscription number.

Many of the weapons used by Peng Gang's troops were produced by the Honglian Village arsenal and all bore inscriptions.

If they take it, it would be awkward if the inscription was thrown into the Rhino Pool before it could be destroyed.

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(End of this chapter)