Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 21 Troop Training
In the blink of an eye, it is already mid-April.

In Guangdong, rebel armies rose up, including the Three Loyalists of Lingnan and Zhu Tongjian, a member of the royal family, who all rose up to fight against the Qing Dynasty.

In Hunan, Zhao Yingxuan and Hu Yiqing of the Yunnan Army defeated the Qing Army at Hengshan.

The situation in Guangxi has eased slightly. God seems to be understanding, the rainy season has stopped and there have been several sunny days in a row.

Guilin was also stabilized. Jiao Lian's troops were expanded to 8,000 men and stationed in the city.

Liu Chengyong led 3,000 soldiers to come to the rescue and stationed at Baishitan in the north of the city. The two armies were at peace for the time being.

This morning, the sky was clear and the morning sun cast thousands of golden rays. Guilin's summer is very hot and humid, and the air is slightly cooler in the morning and evening, which is suitable for training.

The third team of the standard camp got up before dawn and had already left Wenchang Gate and headed towards the north bank of Yangjiang River. After recruiting soldiers, the third team had a total of 116 people.

The organization of the model team was drawn up by Cen Danchu and has been promoted in the model camp.

The whole team has three officers, who are in charge of three patrols, each with 31 people, all of whom are cavalry, a mixture of heavy cavalry and light cavalry. There are also 10 flag bearers, who are the officers' personal soldiers, holding flags and beating drums; and 10 firemen, who provide food.

The heavy cavalry were all veterans from northern Shaanxi, including Cen Danchu, a total of 45 people. The rest were light cavalry, all new recruits, mainly prisoners, executed prisoners, and mountain people.

The whole army should have 162 war horses, with one horse for each light cavalryman and fireman, and two horses for each of the others. There were actually 110 war horses, and 52 were missing.

Today is the day for small exercises. The first, third and fifth teams of the standard camp will go out of the city for exercises and let the war horses graze; the second, fourth and sixth teams will guard the city and take turns.

The sun was rising, and the flags were flying. The three standard-bearing teams, with a total of more than 300 people and nearly 400 war horses, were stationed on the north bank of Yangjiang River, which looked quite spectacular.

Team 3 came out the earliest, facing south and back to north, and had already lined up. The war horses were tied to the riverside and were leisurely grazing on the river grass.

Cen Dan gave a speech before the initial training, saying: "Everyone, today is a rare opportunity. Everyone has the opportunity to mount a war horse and practice formations. You must train seriously and not be distracted or slack off."

Deputy team leader Feng Lin presided over the training. Today we mainly practiced the formation, identifying the direction according to the flags, and marching together.

First, they will be divided into groups for assessment, with each group taking two flags.

The flag bearer squad trained first, and the rest watched.

The flag bearers were all heavily armored cavalrymen, equivalent to the captain's personal soldiers, each holding a flag, gongs, drums, trumpets, etc. In wartime, they followed the captain closely and delivered military orders, playing a vital role.

The ten flag bearers finished their formation, facing south and back to north.

The leader of the team, Chen Wu, fired his guns, which was a signal to change the troops and remind the officers and soldiers to pay attention to the flags, drums, and other signals. The flag bearers, each holding a weapon, lined up in a row.

Deputy team leader Chen Lin holds a black flag. Black represents water in the five elements and is in the north.

The ten flag bearers turned around and stood facing north, facing the troops. Chen Lin beat the drum. The flag bearers walked forward ten steps and then stopped.

At this moment, the standard bearers were within five steps of the troops. They were wearing heavy armor and had begun to sweat. They all looked solemn, as if they were facing a great enemy.

Some of the new recruits in the team had never been in battle and were inevitably a little awed.

A cymbal sounded, indicating the end of the team.

The flag bearers were all veterans and were very familiar with the flag signals, and none of them made any mistakes.

After the end, the flag bearer turned around and came to the team officer to assist him in command.

It was simple, boring, and hard. Wearing armor weighing 40 to 50 kilograms under the scorching sun, whether walking or standing for a long time, it was very tiring.

Next came the first squad of the first sentry. Feng Lin raised the green flag. Green, the five elements are wood, and the direction is east.

The first squad includes both heavy cavalry and light cavalry. The light cavalry wear cotton armor or rattan armor.

One of the new recruits got nervous and made a mistake in the direction, turning west. He was stopped by an old soldier standing nearby.

Feng Lin signaled to let go of the gong, which meant to sit down and rest. Another recruit made a mistake and did not sit down in time.

Cen Danchu announced the results of the assessment: "The first squad made two mistakes. The squad leader will be caned four times, and each soldier will be caned twice."

The first sentry leader, Wu Jie, came to the first squad with a military stick in his hand, and first beat the squad leader with the stick and cursed:

"How did you teach them? They practiced well but made mistakes during the test. When they were on the battlefield, they were still in chaos?"

After being beaten, the sergeant took the stick and beat the soldier again, cursing, "Practice, practice again, and memorize all the flags for me."

At the end of the first round of assessment, the flag-bearer squad, the second squad, the fifth squad, the sixth squad and the eighth squad all answered correctly, while the fireman squad made the most mistakes and received the heaviest punishment.

The second round of assessment began at 9:00 a.m.

This time, the test was still conducted without horses, which made it more difficult. The team was adjusted to face east and west, and each squad identified the direction based on the flags and made actions.

The key is to regard the back as north, the front as south, the left as east, and the right as west.

In short, no matter where you are, if you see a red flag you move forward, if you see a black flag you move backward, if you see a green flag you move left, if you see a white flag you move right, and if you see a yellow flag you shrink towards the center.

Combined with guns, drums, gongs, trumpets, and bolos, many signals can be created.

In ancient times, communication conditions were poor, and flags were the most important tool for wartime command. It seemed simple, but it was actually complex; it seemed insignificant, but it was actually crucial. Training new soldiers, disciplining troops, and commanding during wartime all depended on flags.

At the end of the second assessment, the number of errors increased, and only the flag bearer squad and the sixth squad got all the answers correct.

Danchu gathered the troops and said, "Just now, we have conducted two squad tests, and only the flag bearer squad and the sixth squad were completely correct. These two squads will each be rewarded with three taels of rice in the evening.

"It is extremely important to unify military orders with flags and discipline the troops. All squads must be trained strictly to ensure that everyone knows the signals by heart and does not make mistakes in battle. Rest for a quarter of an hour, drink water or urinate, and then join the sentry for training after a quarter of an hour."

The effect of joint sentry training seems to be better than that of squad training. Soldiers are mixed in the collective action, with people in front, behind, left and right. Even if they don't know how to do it, they can imitate the veterans beside them.

The three teams organized training, and there was always a comparison after each training session. The second sentry was better than the first sentry, and the first sentry was better than the third sentry.

The last step was team training, which ended around noon.

The stoker lit the fire and cooked, while the sentries took breaks and changed the pasture for the war horses.

In the afternoon, the soldiers finally mounted their horses and practiced formations, first dividing into squads, then forming sentries, and then forming teams again.

After the 3:00 pm, the horses were allowed to graze again. The three teams were divided into squads and trained in assassination and fighting.

The progress of new soldiers is slow, but they are still progressing. Over time, the water dripping through the stone will wear away the stone, and when they go to the battlefield and survive, they will become veterans.

No matter how strong a person's martial arts skills are, he can never be compared to a team of people. To unite a team of people, you need to rely on flags and military law.

Cen Danchu gained something new and realized some knowledge beyond the books.

In the evening, the horses had eaten their fill and the soldiers returned to the city. The setting sun cast a bronze hue over the soldiers and horses. The shadows of the soldiers and horses were elongated, as if they were much taller.

(End of this chapter)