Chapter Seventy-One: The Flag Bearer (I)

The grass under his feet was a little slippery, the flagpole in his hand became wet and sticky, and what was even more uncomfortable was the feather arrows hanging on the armor, which kept swaying up and down with the movement of his footsteps. The clusters of arrows that had been worn through the armor and could not continue to move forward kept cutting people's skin and meridians with the shaking of the arrow shafts, one after another, endlessly.

Several times, Zhang Dingbian wanted to stop first, pull out the arrows on his armor, tidy up his combat boots, and then continue to charge. There is more than one flag bearer in each battalion, and there is one more of him and one less of him, but in fact, the difference is not too big. However, there was a familiar voice that kept hovering in his ears, "Battalion Commander Zhang, don't get distracted, keep up with the team!" "Battalion Commander Zhang, don't get distracted, keep up with the team!" "Battalion Commander Zhang, don't get distracted!"

The battalion commander, under his command, is only in charge of three hundred-person teams, and the position is between the deputy thousand households and the positive hundred households of the original Tianwan red scarf, and the word apprentice is added in front. For Zhang Dingbian, who used to be a captain, he is not an ordinary talent. However, he is neither an old qualification of the Xuzhou Left Army, nor does he have any excellent backers and connections, as an outsider who lost all his subordinates and was forced to join the Huai'an Army, this treatment can not be considered low.

Moreover, according to the current rules of the Huai'an Army, all company commanders and above generals must go through the training of the martial arts hall. He went out to lead the troops without passing this quenching, which was already an exceptional promotion. If you don't know what to do, I'm afraid you can only be driven to the new training camp of the Privy Council, responsible for directing the auxiliaries.

So after Zhang Dingbian was stuffed into the 3024th regiment, he didn't show much dissatisfaction. I get along well with my superiors and colleagues. It's just that for the Huai'an Army's almost rigid combat methods, he still can't adapt to it for a while. But this did not stump Liu Shisan, the deputy battalion commander and executive instructor who had just returned from the short training in the martial arts hall, who solved this biggest problem for him with only one sentence, "If you don't know what to do, just look at the red helmets around you." ”

The person with the red tassel on the helmet is a veteran soldier. In the Huai'an Army, there is also a very lame term for this, called non-commissioned officer. It is also divided into several grades, and they are paid at different times higher than that of ordinary soldiers. However, there is no equal command with an officer, and only when the latter dies in battle, he can temporarily take over.

In addition to this, there are many other benefits to being a non-commissioned officer. If priority is given to promotion, it must not be arbitrarily disposed of without being tried by a military judge at or above the regimental level. After retiring due to injury, he will be given priority to be assigned to important positions in urban management yamen at all levels. According to the latest regulations, each non-commissioned officer will also be assigned to Xuntian corresponding to his rank to reward his merits.

With so much special treatment, of course, it's eye-catching. But it's not easy to be a Red Helmet. This position is awarded only to veterans who have distinguished themselves and are loyal and reliable, but have not learned to read and write, or are not yet capable of becoming officers. They have been in the army for the longest time, have the most combat experience, and are also the most familiar with the various tactics and orders of the Huai'an army. As long as there are three to five such non-commissioned officers in a company, it will make the whole company stand out. If there are ten to fifteen senior non-commissioned officers in a battalion, the entire battalion will be looked at from above. In wartime, they will be regarded as vanguards, and they will also enjoy various preferential treatment for the supply of ordinary food, ordnance, and soldiers.

In the second battalion of the 3024th Regiment, where Zhang Dingbian belongs, there are 17 non-commissioned officers of all levels. Including his deputy Liu Shisan, who had just died in battle, he had also been a special non-commissioned officer for a long time. Unlike several other special-grade non-commissioned officers, Liu Shisan is more self-motivated and works harder. It took almost a full year and a half of hard work to learn to read and write, and passed the assessment in the brigade and the short training in the martial arts hall, so he was given priority promotion and was promoted from a special non-commissioned officer to a deputy battalion and a permanent teacher.

In the eyes of many people, the latter official title is more dazzling than the previous one. Because above the standing teaching, it is the regimental level to join the army. And to join the army and then rise to the top, it is the brigade-level Ming Law Long History, the military-level administrative supervision and the corps-level administrative supervision of the army. The last person in charge can bypass the military bureau and the Privy Council in peacetime and go directly to the Grand Steward. He can even intervene in or decide on the appointment and dismissal of generals, and impeach generals who are at the same level as himself. During the war, after retreating from the account, he completely returned the ownership authority to the commander of the legion.

Therefore, most of the low-level generals are relatively distant from their own standing teachings or joining the army. lest he be caught by the other party if he has any mistakes, and report them layer by layer through the channels of the prison army, which will affect his future. The officers who are in charge of joining the army and standing instructors often deliberately keep an appropriate distance from the generals at the same level, so as not to have too deep contacts between the two sides and affect their ability to perform their duties when necessary.

However, Liu 13, the executive teacher of the second battalion, is an exception. He also worked as a boat gang disciple for a period of time before joining the army, and under the influence of this experience, he had a very strong temperament. After discovering that Zhang Dingbian was extraordinary, he deliberately strengthened the communication between them. It just so happens that Zhang Dingbian himself is not a scheming person. Therefore, the two battalion commanders came and went, and soon got along like brothers.

"Battalion Commander Zhang, don't get distracted, keep up with the team!" Liu Shisan's voice sounded in his heart again, with a bit of anxiety and expectation.

"Don't get distracted, keep up with the group!" Zhang Dingbian opened his throat and repeated loudly, while adjusting his steps according to the movements of the red helmets on the left and right.

To his left were two brothers, Zhang Wu, the deputy head of the regiment, with a scarlet helmet and a flag gun in his hand. Whenever an enemy in front of him was defeated, the man would raise the flagpole and wave it from side to side so that the brothers behind could see the latest direction of attack.

On his right side were three other brothers, a special non-commissioned officer surnamed Zheng from the camp, who was illiterate and had a headache at the mention of reading, but he was very clever. With just the corner of his eye, he can keep pace with the deputy head of the regiment. At the same time, it can also free up enough energy to deal with the desperate mountain people who are outflanked from both wings. I saw this person shake the flag violently, and he shook the body of the mountain people who blocked the way. Immediately after that, he sent his opponent to the side of his own team, which was exactly the best position for a sword and shield player.

"Ahh Several other mountain people who rushed over at the risk of death were sent to the western sky with bayonets by the other brothers on the right side of Zhang Dingbian.

The splash of hot blood soaked Zhang Dingbian's helmet. He felt his helmet begin to redden, gritted his teeth hard, and raised half of the flagpole higher.

This action inspired the morale of his own army, and at the same time attracted the attention of many enemy troops. Soon, dozens of feather arrows flew head-on, trying to overturn Zhang Dingbian and the battalion flag in his hand. However, most of the hastily fired feathered arrows were swept away by the flag, and then disappeared. Only a cunning fish slipped through the net and hit Zhang Dingbian's helmet. "Ding" splashed a few sparks, and fell to the ground softly.

One of his brothers was not so lucky. He was shot in the eye by a stray arrow, and fell to the ground screaming. Without hesitation, a soldier in the second row jumped out of the top of the wounded man's head to fill in the gap. The three-edged bayonet in his hand went straight forward, and the tip of the knife, which had been treated with green alum oil, reflected the faint blue starlight.

"Free fire! Free fire on the go! Zhang Wu, the deputy commander of the regiment, was enraged by the sudden rain of arrows, waved the battle flag, and shouted a military order.

"Woohoo, Woo, Woo, Woo!" The sound of messy muskets rang out, and white smoke billowed out, blocking Zhang Dingbian's vision. He didn't have to look, his eyes were closed, and he knew that the effect of this round of shooting would not be too good. The rate of fire of the pistol was much higher than that of the arquebus, but the accuracy was just as lackluster. Unless it is a volley of formation, the effect on the target is usually limited to startling.

Sure enough, before the white smoke in front of him cleared, another feathered arrow broke through the air. Most of them were blocked by helmets and armor as always, and failed to cause much damage to the Huai'an brothers. But there were still two or three teams that got their wish and shot the brothers next to Zhang Dingbian in a pool of blood.

The brothers in the back row silently stepped over the wounded to fill the gap. The regimental headquarters command flag and the battalion-level flag on the right continue to flutter in the wind. Sandwiched between two battle flags, Zhang Dingbian didn't dare to behave too badly. Continue to grit your teeth, hold the flagpole high, and move forward. Neither too fast nor too slow.

There were still other brothers behind him who fired back at the enemy with muskets, but the white smoke could no longer affect Zhang Dingbian's vision. He saw a large wave of enemy troops, estimated at five hundred to seven hundred, coming around the side of the hill, trying to block his advance. In the ranks of the enemy army, there were at least two to three hundred archers. In addition, there are hundreds of mountain people armed with various Qimen blades, each with fear and hatred written in their eyes.

"You should stop, protect the whole army with swords and shields, and let the grenadiers blow them apart!" With intuition, Zhang Dingbian had an optimal coping strategy in his mind.

However, what reached his ears was another command that had no wisdom at all, "All of them, follow me, and charge with the white blade!" ”

"Whiteblade Charge!"

"Whiteblade Charge!"

On both sides and behind them, countless people responded frantically. The regimental command flag and the battalion-level recognition flag quickly pressed forward, and the two red helmets took the lead and galloped wildly.

"If you don't know what to do, look at the red helmets around you!" In Zhang Dingbian's heart, Liu Shisan's words quickly sounded. Suddenly bowing his head, he used his steel helmet to meet the feather arrow, and the flag of the middle camp pointed forward at the same time, "The second battalion follows me, and the white blade charges!" ”

"Whiteblade Charge!"

"Whiteblade Charge!"

Countless robes roared in response, and the entire team suddenly accelerated, stepping over the corpses on the ground, and the wind swept over the hill in the face of the oncoming rain of arrows.

The feather arrows fell, and more than a dozen soldiers fell to the ground with arrows. The others turned a blind eye to the wounded, and according to the habits they had developed in their usual training, they followed the flags at the front of the team, and their footsteps kept accelerating and accelerating.

The sword mountain and the sea of fire do not spin.