1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 924 Belonging

Forming so many foreigners into an army, Yan Chujie couldn't help but think of the French Foreign Legion, a multinational army that was very famous in the world in the time and space before the time travel.This force was formed in 1831 by the then French King Louis-Philippe. The original intention was to supplement the French army soldiers who were killed and injured in the war, and at the same time solve the problem of foreign crimes in the country, allowing volunteers to conceal their nationality and name to sign up.

This legion has participated in countless large and small wars in the more than 100 years since its formation, and it is one of the troops that has performed the most transnational combat missions in the French army.In the Sino-French War at the end of the 19th century, it also fought against the Qing army twice in Xuanguang, Annan and Yuemeishan, Keelung, Taiwan.Before the implementation of the crossing operation, this multinational force already had more than 136 volunteers from 8000 countries, including three infantry regiments, two cavalry regiments, one paratrooper regiment and two engineering regiments.In contrast, the composition of Roger's multinational force seemed very ordinary.

The French Foreign Legion later became a shortcut for foreign youths to obtain French citizenship. As long as they are willing to work hard for France, they have the opportunity to apply for naturalization by serving in the Foreign Legion, and Roger’s troops can also be regarded as a lifeline for slaves to escape from the sea of ​​suffering. Straw, as long as you are selected into this army, you basically bid farewell to your slave status in advance. After the training period is over, you pass the inspection and formally enlist in the army. In fact, you have already obtained the native place of Haihan.For these people, it is tantamount to getting a new starting point in life.

Yan Chujie casually walked up to a tall black soldier and stopped. When Roger saw this, he understood and ordered: "Soldier, report your name!"

The black soldier could understand Roger's instructions, and he answered loudly with his chest up and his head up: "Report to the chief, I am Private Marcus of the Special Warfare Company!" level.Although this unit has not yet been officially established, the ranks of soldiers are still the same as those of the regular army.Of course, since they have not participated in any battles since they joined the army, they have no military exploits that can be used to upgrade, so the current military ranks of these soldiers are all the most basic private soldiers.

Yan Chujie asked, "How long have you been in the army?"

This question obviously stumped Marcus. I don’t know if he was not good at counting or was having trouble expressing it in Chinese. His throat was rumbling for a long time, but he couldn’t speak.Roger glanced at the platoon leader standing next to him, and the platoon leader quickly stepped forward and replied for Marcus: "Report to the chief, Marcus enlisted in February this year."

Yan Chujie wanted to enlist in the army in February, and it has been eight months since now, so it's no wonder that the big black man can hear and speak, and immediately asked: "Where is your hometown?"

Marcus got the answer this time, but the answer is the same as if he didn't say it: "Report to the chief, my hometown is... very far... very far!"

Just looking at Marcus's dark and shiny complexion, Yan Chujie could deduce that he should be from an area south of the Sahara Desert.Even though his hometown is the east coast of Africa, which is closer to Asia, the voyage from the local area to South Asia is terrifyingly far away, literally thousands of miles away.With the current level of sailing, he was brought here by slave traders from his hometown, and he had to wander at sea for at least several months.For African natives who lack ocean-going sailing experience and the concept of measurement, it is true that only "very far" can describe his feeling.

Yan Chujie had no choice but to give up his plan to get to the bottom of it, and instead asked about his current treatment in the army: "How do you feel after joining the army? Can you adapt to life in the army?"

Marcus nodded decisively and replied: "Report to the chief, Marcus can eat every meal, very good!"

Although this answer is simple and crude, it does partly reflect the understanding of these former slave soldiers on the status quo.After enlisting in the army, their living conditions are naturally hundreds of times better than when they were slaves. Although the training is hard, and they will be scolded bloody by their superiors and veterans from time to time, at least they have no worries about food and shelter, so there is no need to worry. own survival issues.In addition, after these soldiers were recruited, they were constantly indoctrinated with the idea of ​​loyalty to Haihan and the executive committee while learning Chinese. After several months, most of these simple and simple young people accepted the " He is honored and proud of his status as "Guardian of Haihan".

Compared with the soldiers Haihan recruited from Ming Dynasty in the past, although these soldiers from different countries and regions have many differences in language and culture, there is no doubt that they are more dependent on the Haihan regime than the Han soldiers.For them, joining the Haihan Militia as a soldier is almost their only way out. Otherwise, they can only be slaves. Therefore, they subconsciously integrate their own interests and missions. The sense of belonging is not weaker than that of Han soldiers.

"Very good!" Yan Chujie reached out and patted Marcus's thick shoulder lightly, then walked to the next soldier.

"Report to the chief, I am Private Dulu of the Special Warfare Company!" Seeing Yan Chujie stop in front of him, the soldier took the initiative to report his identity.

Yan Chujie heard that his accent was quite standard, and his appearance was somewhat similar to that of a Han, but his skin color was slightly darker, so he asked him, "Are you a Han?"

"Reporting chief, the villain is from Aceh, but my grandfather was indeed born in the Guangzhou Mansion of the Ming Dynasty, so he can be considered to be of Han blood." Du Lu replied in a deep voice.

As soon as Yan Chujie heard it, he understood that Du Lu was of mixed race. Since his grandfather was Han, he must have at least a quarter of Han blood. It was no wonder that his Chinese was more fluent than the big black Marcus just now. many.Yan Chujie asked with interest: "How did you get here?"

"The villain was originally a member of the Aceh army. He was defeated and captured by the Portuguese last year. Later, he was sold to Ambuna Island in many places. Fortunately, he was appreciated by the chief to join the militia army." Dulu's answer. It took Yan Chujie a little bit by surprise, but he didn't expect that he was a familiar hand.

The State of Aceh is a country located in the northern part of Sumatra, which was established a century ago.Because this country is located in the key area where the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet, it has many conflicts with Western colonists, especially the war with the Portuguese has been going on for years.The current ruler of Aceh is Iskandar Muda, who is in the heyday of Aceh and has repeatedly sent troops to attack the Malacca area occupied by Portuguese colonists.However, wars have winners and losers, and being captured by the opponent during the battle is unavoidable, and Dulu is one of the unlucky ones.

Originally, after the Portuguese captured the indigenous captives, most of them executed themselves, so as not to waste precious food.However, after Haihan started the slave trade on Ambuna Island, the Portuguese immediately sent the worthless prisoners of war here in exchange for income.This Du Lu was also lucky and fateful. He had no injuries when he was captured, so he was picked and trafficked by slave traders and sold to the Haihan people who had extremely high demands on the physical condition of slaves.

Dulu himself is a soldier, and he doesn't have too many barriers with Haihan in terms of language and culture, so he quickly adapted to the training environment here after being transferred into the army, and his performance can be regarded as the best among these newcomers. .It was precisely because Yan Chujie noticed that his firm demeanor was fixed and he looked like a professional soldier, that's why he stopped in front of him.The Haihan military has always been very willing to accept such "semi-finished products". Soldiers like this who have served in other countries or regions, after entering the Haihan militia, can naturally understand which one is stronger and weaker , and the survival instinct of following the strong will also help increase their sense of identity and belonging to Hai Han.

Yan Chujie asked: "If you were given a chance, would you like to go back to your hometown or stay here?"

Du Lu hesitated for a moment, and then responded loudly: "The villain wants to make military achievements in Haihan, get promoted and make a fortune, and then go back to his hometown in style!"

"Ambition!" Yan Chujie didn't think it was disobedient, but praised Du Lu's straightforwardness: "One day you feel that you have enough military achievements and high officials, come to me and apply, and I will give you a special six-month family leave! "

"Thank you, Chief!" Du Lu was so excited that he almost knelt down and kowtowed. Luckily, Roger stared at him desperately, and he remembered that there was no custom of kneeling and kowtowing in the Haihan Army.

Yan Chujie randomly selected a few people to inquire about their personal situation. As expected, almost all of them were slaves who had been trafficked from overseas. The only way for them to fuse together is the melting pot of the military camp.

"Mr. Yan, do you want them to practice a few exercises for you now?" Roger asked proactively.

Yan Chujie waved his hand and said, "Forget about today. The soldiers under you should be tired after practicing for a day. If you practice again now, it will affect the effect instead. Let's arrange it until tomorrow morning!"

In the morning of the next day, Roger once again assembled the troops he had placed high hopes on, and gave a brief mobilization speech to the soldiers: "...if your performance today satisfies the chief inspector, you will be officially awarded Reaching military status is the first step for you to get ahead, get promoted and get rich in the future! If you don’t perform well, you can only serve as militiamen on this island for a few years, and then go to the farm to farm until the day you die. Where do you want to go? One way, you should think about it now! I have given you a chance to be reborn, as for whether you can grasp this opportunity, it depends on your next performance!"

Roger's mobilization is simple and rude, but the advantage is that it is straightforward. If he wants to explain the truth to this group of soldiers who are proficient in Chinese, it will probably only turn into playing the piano against the cow. But this kind of superficial statement can make them understand better. The importance of this drill today.Roger will not go off to direct the drill in person, he will sit with him on the rostrum so that he can explain the items and content of the drill to Yan Chujie and Mu Xiabo nearby.

In fact, the exercises are no different from ordinary troops of the Haihan Militia, mainly divided into several stages: marching, reconnaissance, and combat.These combat environments have relatively clear requirements for queues and action steps, and the main test is the team's collaborative combat capabilities.In the past few years, Yan Chujie has audited [-] or [-] troop drills. Naturally, the level of training of a troop can be seen from these fixed items.

As for the quality of the individual soldiers emphasized by the special forces, it is not the part that Yan Chujie values ​​the most. After all, this army has no real combat experience after becoming an army. Still will vary widely.It is not the quality of the individual soldiers that can guarantee the lower limit of the ability of this army, but their overall training level. Even if some people are unable to perform at a normal level due to panic on the battlefield, as long as most people can stabilize, the team's combat effectiveness can still be maintained. on a relatively high level.

This inspection will be jointly reviewed by Yan Chujie and Mu Xiabo. If the opinions of the two differ greatly, Yan Chujie's opinion will still be the main one, but the procedures for approving the establishment may be more troublesome. Second inspection review.

The drill started at nine o'clock in the morning and lasted for more than three hours before it came to an end.After the exercise, Yan Chujie and Mu Xiabo had a brief discussion, and then informed Roger of the result: "We believe that the training level of this unit has reached the requirements of the Militia Army, but if measured by the standards of the Special Operations Unit , there are still many deficiencies, and there is also a lack of actual combat results as a reference. Therefore, we think that we can give a temporary establishment first, and whether we will make adjustments in the future depends on future actual combat performance!"

"Yes!" Roger clenched his fists to strengthen himself.Yan Chujie and Mu Xiabo's approval meant that the time and effort he had spent on this army this year was not in vain.

As for the temporary arrangement, it was actually within his expectation. After all, as Yan Chujie pointed out, although the training level of this army seems to be good, its shortcoming of lack of actual combat experience is also very obvious.I think that when Qian Tiandun formed the Annan Special War Company in Heitu Port, it was also a temporary establishment at first, and only enjoyed the treatment of ordinary militia troops. Later, because of his outstanding achievements on the Annan battlefield, he was able to upgrade to a real special warfare Troops, and its establishment scale has also been expanded to strengthen battalions little by little.Roger believes that as long as his army can get a chance to fight, it is also possible to look forward to relying on the accumulation of military exploits to gain a different opinion from the Military Commission.

"Pass my order, let the farm kill a few pigs and bring them over today, and give them extra meals!" Roger was excited, but he didn't forget to reward these subordinates who saved him face.Because the establishment has not been resolved before, this group of people does not currently have military pay, so they can only be rewarded in terms of food.

(End of this chapter)