nucmednet Chapter 196 Exercise Begins
Chapter 196 Exercise Begins
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"My goodness, this army is so well-organized it's frightening. No wonder the imperial army of tens of thousands was defeated..." someone whispered.
"The adjutant is truly skilled at training troops; he has managed to cultivate such a strong army in this godforsaken place of Lingao..."
“This army doesn’t wear the mandarin duck jackets of government soldiers, and doesn’t use the name given by the government, so it can’t be that they’re trying to rebel…” A bold person blurted out, but the person next to him reacted quickly and covered his mouth, forcibly silencing the word “rebellion.”
Several people nearby, their faces flushed with anger, whispered a reprimand: "Are you looking for trouble? Don't drag us down with you. You know, loose lips sink ships."
The man who almost caused trouble turned pale and shut his mouth tightly, not daring to say another word.
For this military parade, apart from the necessary guards at the Bofu Wharf and various factories, and the artillery company, which lacked horses, not participating in the march, the infantry companies of the First and Second Battalions almost all came out, totaling 1,500 men. Under the watchful eyes of the people on both sides, the long procession slowly passed through the western part of the city, through General Street, and headed straight for the military camp in the east.
After the entire team had passed through, many people felt that it wasn't enough, and someone shouted, "Let's go to the military camp to see a real-life drill!"
The crowd responded immediately and followed the army to the camp.
A temporary viewing platform was erected on the south side of the military training ground. Liu Ye and others sat on it with Zhao Yue and three county magistrates.
Zhao Yue knew perfectly well that the so-called military parade was nothing more than a show of strength to them. Liu Ye's words at the banquet last night were no mere whim, and today's military parade was the best proof of those words. It was meant to convey a message to them: we are not those military generals who kowtow to civil officials; we have the strength, and we will seize control of the discourse in Qiongzhou Prefecture.
Although Zhao Yue didn't believe Liu Ye could fundamentally change the law of civil officials being valued more than military officials, nor could he truly interfere in all the affairs of the prefecture, at least for now, no one could control this arrogant military commander. He sighed inwardly, turned to look at the three county magistrates, and saw Liu Zezhong looking like he was still hungover, sitting in a chair, half asleep.
That's for the best, to prevent this hothead from repeatedly offending Liu Ye with his words. If he really provokes Liu Ye's anger, who knows what he might do.
Although the winter sun wasn't particularly harsh, Qiongzhou was historically hot, and prolonged exposure to it could cause dizziness and lightheadedness. Wei Bocheng was growing impatient. He glanced at Zhao Yue, who sat in the middle, seemingly lost in thought, yet showing no sign of impatience. Then he looked at the county magistrate of Lingao beside him, sitting upright and more solemn than when awaiting an audience with a superior. Wei Bocheng shook his head slightly. This county magistrate, having such an arrogant and unruly military commander in his jurisdiction, was truly unlucky.
The county magistrate of Lingao was unaware of Wei Bocheng's thoughts, and even if he did, he wouldn't care. He was the one among them closest to understanding the strength of the Qiongzhou Camp, and knew the consequences of offending them. Today, he only wanted to witness firsthand how powerful Liu Ye's troops had become in the three years since they were first recruited as "local militia" and accepted pacification. With this in mind, his observations were far more meticulous than Wei Bocheng's. From the moment he entered the training ground, he noticed a large number of scarecrows erected on the east side, secured with wooden sticks, their purpose unknown.
After waiting for an unknown amount of time, a rumbling sound of footsteps came from the west. Zhao Yue and the others craned their necks and looked westward, where a red-clad flow of people appeared in the distance.
Zhao Yue braced himself. Regardless of Liu Ye's motives, today was the best opportunity to observe the opponent's strength up close. The Qiongzhou Camp had first defeated the garrison troops organized by the Qiongzhou Prefecture, and then the elite troops of Guangdong, earning a formidable reputation. Although he knew how powerful the opponent was, he had not yet had direct contact with them, except for the attack on the fleet at the Qiongshan County dock.
Before long, the troops marched into the training ground in neat steps, and in an orderly manner, they formed large square formations composed of several hundred-person columns, organized by company.
Quartz, at the very front, shouted in a booming voice, "Attention, everyone! Right turn!"
The 1,500 people turned right in unison, changing from a column to a line, facing the reviewing stand.
The synchronized movements of these thousand men as one as a single person secretly astonished Zhao Yue and his men—this alone was enough to surpass most of the Ming Dynasty's army.
Shi Ying ran out of the ranks, stood at attention, saluted Liu Ye on the reviewing stand, and said in a firm and powerful voice, "Reporting to the General, the first and second battalions of the Qiongzhou Camp have arrived. Please give the order!"
Liu Ye returned the salute: "The exercise begins!"
"Yes, sir!" Quartz turned around and shouted to the troops, "The exercise begins!"
The square formation quickly broke into columns, leaving the reviewing stand in batches and regrouping on both sides of the training ground. After the soldiers dispersed like a tide, only the two companies in the very center remained, leaving a large open space in between.
The two companies, each with two hundred men, were divided into four ranks, each with two rows. The company commander, Tan Li, was a veteran who had come from the saltworks guard unit. He was in charge of directing the exercises for the two companies. He drew his saber, a weapon issued only to officers of the rank of company commander or higher, raised it high above his head, and then brought it down with force, the tip pointing directly at the straw-covered group to the east.
"Target, 100 paces ahead, load!"
Everyone took out paper-packaged bullets from the cloth bags on the side, bit them open, sprinkled a little gunpowder into the powder bath, poured the rest into the barrel, and then stuffed the bullets, along with their cardboard packaging, into the barrel, tamping them down with a cleaning rod. They practiced these actions dozens or even hundreds of times every day, and they were as proficient as eating.
"Raise your guns and fire!"
The soldiers held their rifles level, the first rank crouching and the second rank standing, aiming at the swarms of scarecrows ahead, and pulled the triggers. From loading to firing, the entire process took less than twenty seconds.
Gunfire erupted, smoke billowed, and one could vaguely see the scarecrows in the front row being torn to pieces by lead bullets.
"Load!"
Quartz issued another order.
"shooting!"
The crackling of gunfire rang out again, and by this time the smoke had obscured visibility, making it impossible to see what was happening on the other side.
"Load!"
"shooting!"
After three volleys, Zhao Yue and his men were ashen-faced. Although they were civil officials, they knew that such a rate of fire, regardless of accuracy, had already left the other Ming arquebusiers far behind.
Wei Bocheng stood there dumbfounded, only coming to his senses after a long while, muttering, "No wonder tens of thousands of soldiers were defeated and killed in Bofu..."
After the smoke cleared, people saw that a third of the hundreds of scarecrows had fallen over, and straw was scattered all over the ground, blowing away in all directions with the wind.
Quartz gave the order: "Attention, all men! Forward fifty paces!"
The soldiers who were half-squatting stood up and moved forward fifty paces in two rows, halving the distance to the target. The four rows of soldiers maintained their formation.
"Load!"
"shooting!"
Another salvo was fired, and the closer distance brought greater accuracy and power, causing many scarecrows to fly into the air and shatter into pieces.