On Tuesday, May 12, 1642, March 25, the sixteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Empire.

The Qianhu Institute of Weihaikou, Hainan has become the garrison of the Qiongzhou Battalion of the Guangdong New Army, and for a week, the Qiongzhou Battalion has been busy preparing for the formal formation and training from top to bottom. At present, the clothing and baggage of the 3,000 recruits have not yet been fully put in place, except for the officers and a few Ming troops in shabby mandarin duck jackets, the dilapidated inside and outside the city are full of men dressed as civilians repairing the camps, and it is impossible to distinguish whether they are soldiers or people.

In the early morning, the school field of the Qiongzhou camp is particularly lively, and the expanded school field is still leveling the ground, but all kinds of bells and whistles have been planted in the surrounding fences. Oxen and horses carrying heavy loads of grain and grass slowly entered the camp, and puffs of cooking smoke rose from the rows of camp tents on the east and west sides of the school grounds.

More than a dozen Ming army officers appeared outside the gate of the camp, and there were a few strangely dressed men among them, and as soon as the soldiers saw this posture, they all retreated to one knee and squatted down, bowing their heads and carefully looking at the pair of feet of these big men walking in front of them.

In front of a certain soldier, a pair of oily black and shiny leather boots appeared, and such luxurious and high-end cowhide military boots made the soldier couldn't help but take a few more looks. But to the soldier's surprise, the owner of the military boots seemed to feel something, and actually stopped and stood directly in front of the soldier. Xiao Bing was frightened for a while, and quietly raised his head, only to see a strangely dressed middle-aged man in front of him.

A crisp U.S. Army dark gray officer's uniform, with two staggered collar badges, and a lieutenant colonel rank on both shoulders; A tassel band hangs from the chest on the left shoulder, a ring of tassels encircles the black wall of the large-brimmed hat, a silver cockade is shiny, and the short hair at the back of the head is exposed; He wears a black belt around his waist, puts long military boots on his feet, and holds his hands behind his waist. The posture is straight and well-proportioned. This dress, collar, sleeve corners, pockets, and trouser seams are all made of exquisite materials and exquisite workmanship.

It doesn't matter at first glance, there are many foreign strangers in this kind of dress in the team, and the only ones who are familiar are probably a few Fanyi soldiers who are said to be from Nanyang who yelled at him in the camp a few days ago. However, compared with the master in front of him, the uniforms of those Fanyi soldiers are much simpler.

Good guy, he was actually accompanied by the garrison, he should be a bigger official than those Nanyang Fanyi soldiers, right? The little soldier swept the officer team in front of him again, and finally saw that Zhang Jianye, the chief instructor of the new army, was also present. Immediately frightened, he quickly lowered his head again.

……

Accompanied by Zhang Jianye, Qiao Yan took several members of the Huamei Military Advisory Group and walked slowly in the barracks. On the side of the road, there was a cauldron in every few tents, and a number of fireheads were pouring vegetable leaves into the pot.

Thin rice porridge is boiled in a large pot, mixed with fresh vegetable leaves, exuding a fresh fragrance. In the corners of the camp, there were all squatting recruits eating breakfast, all holding thick bowls and drinking vegetable leaf gruel, gnawing on their nests, and almost no one looked up at the officers. Occasionally, one looked at each other, and quickly turned his head.

His pace became slower and slower, and when he passed by a soldier who was licking an empty bowl, Qiao Yan finally stopped. Quietly watching the other party's enthusiastic and focused bowl licking action, and in a camp tent not far from him, in the crack of the half-open door, you can see several small officers eating and drinking.

"Huh. Don't hide from Qiao Consultant, Qiongzhou Camp was founded, and many miscellaneous matters have not been cleared. The military medium uniform is not yet available this time. There is no surplus clothing allocation in the health centers in various places, so it can only be postponed for one month. Zhang Jianye saw that the expression of the Huamei military chief adviser changed, and thought that the other party was a little down on the various disheveled clothes in the Qiongzhou camp now, so he hurriedly explained.

The entire Qiongzhou battalion was nominally subordinate to the Qiongzhou Military Garrison, and the whole battalion knew that the grain, grass and baggage depended on the local government supply. But Zhang Jianye knows some of the inside story better than others, and the real supporters of this new army are the Qiongzhou squires led by the Nanhai merchants, and behind these people are the Oriental Union Group and Huamei officials who are far away on the Pearl Island in the South Seas.

In order to prepare more than 3,000 quilts and uniforms for the new army of the Qiongzhou battalion, it cost tens of thousands of taels of silver, and it is said that Shen Tingyang, the Qiongzhou military preparation road, did not hand over the funds to the local government to handle them, but handed them over to the Nanhai firm. At present, the uniforms of the soldiers of the Qiongzhou battalion are being made by two Ming garment manufacturers in Qiongzhou and Hong Kong, and the garment-making machinery used was purchased from the Oriental Union Group a few years ago.

"Sergeant Major Makarov, are the people here still eating two meals a day?" Regarding Zhang Jianye's statement, Qiao Yan was noncommittal, but turned his head to a sturdy Chinese military sergeant major.

"I haven't seen such a tough and thrifty soldier in a long time, except for officers." Makarov shrugged his shoulders and looked like he was used to it, "Dinner will be a little richer, at least after my observation, the soldiers here will eat an extra steamed bun or a bowl of rice." I'm worried about the training that's about to start, unless they're going to do just three hours of walking a day. ”

Zhang Jianye on the side listened to this, and his face flushed slightly. He once had the privilege of observing the Chinese and American Navy, and even had a meal on a Chinese warship. I knew that the life of these Chinese and American army and navy soldiers was extremely extravagant, not to mention the supply of all kinds of meat and meat three times a day, and the sailors had an extra supply of vegetables and fruits every day when they went to sea, which was called to keep them healthy on the voyage.

In this way, the food expenses of a gorgeous soldier can almost feed seven or eight Ming battalion soldiers. Even if the Qiongzhou battalion has the help of big families such as the Qiongzhou squire and the Nanhai merchant behind it, it can only maintain the current rations. If it is a half-dead military household in various health centers, the days will be even more miserable, and it is difficult to say whether you can eat a mouthful of oil and meat all year round.

Qiao Xian seemed to think of the days when he and Yu Shan were military households of Lu Chela more than 20 years ago, and the unbearable images emerged from the depths of his mind. If you turn back time, maybe you will be deeply envious of the eating and drinking of the Ming Army of the Qiongzhou Battalion here.

"We're just helping them train, and there's no order that we're going to train them into an army like us." Yu Shan whispered behind him, listening to the tone, it seemed that he also had some resonance with Qiao Yan.

"Yo, have you seen it, it's the general of the South Seas!"

"This dress is in high spirits, which is quite different from the maritime merchants of the Oriental Union Group!"

"I heard my father say that it seems to be a descendant of the former Song Dynasty deserted generals."

A burst of chirping sounded, and a bunch of small officers with hair at the corners of their mouths that had not yet grown appeared at the side of the camp not far away, pointing at Qiao Yan and the others. Most of these people are low-level officers stuffed into the Qiongzhou battalion by local squires, and most of them are flag commanders and team leaders. The biggest official is only one hundred generals.

"Unorthodox! Strict orders have been issued in the army that they must be ordered to perform their duties when they enter the camp. is so unruly in the camp, noisy and frolicking, like a market tile...... Garrison lords, the subordinate officer implores military law, and severely punishes him! An elderly general who was transferred from the Fubiao Battalion in Guangzhou, when he saw the appearance of these junior officers of the Qiongzhou Battalion, his eyebrows and beard trembled with anger.

As soon as the words came out, several Bai Zong or the general manager who had been watching the excitement also responded one after another, and there was a great sense of cleaning up the losers who stuffed these local squires in.

It's been more than half a month since they entered the camp, and almost no one has ever compared them with them. Now that it seems to be coming for real, a group of petty officers are so frightened that they kneel down and beg for mercy, their whole bodies are trembling, and they are even blaming each other.

"It's nonsense to bump into a distinguished guest! Come on, each of you will go down and get ten military sticks! No matter how much Zhang Jianye wanted to give face to the local squire, but at this time, he had to show his authority in front of Qiao Yan and others, so he issued a military order with a cold face on the spot.

"The formal training only started after a few days, and the young man had just joined the army. Understandable, forget it. ”

Seeing a group of small hairy officers trembling in fright not far away, Qiao smiled and waved his hand, then turned around with a thoughtful expression and continued to walk towards the camp.

Someone pleaded. It can be regarded as giving the stairs down, not only Zhang Jianye secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but also a group of petty hairy officers also hugged their heads as if they had been amnesty.

……

The next day.

On a lookout tower in the corner of the camp, Qiao Xi and several non-commissioned officers of the Wehrmacht Corps were leaning in front of the railing to watch. I saw that on the huge school ground, more than a dozen military advisers of the Blackwater Security Company in black uniforms were roaring exhaustedly, and thousands of recruits of the Qiongzhou battalion in various costumes were at a loss like ants in a chaotic manner.

What's even more uncomfortable is. There were few officers present, and most of them sat in the pergola on the edge of the school yard drinking tea and chatting, as if this first day's drill had nothing to do with them.

"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, this is not an army at all!" Seeing that there was no one around, Makarov couldn't help but start vomiting, "From the beginning of recruitment, it was a bad farce. Whether it is an officer or a soldier, they are either 'bought' or 'sold'. Maybe the enemy only needs to fire one shot, and the people here will run clean! ”

"Can you handle it? The Ming official army was not raised by us. Qiao Xi and we are only military advisers, not their commanders, and they don't take a penny from them. Yu Shan sarcastically on the side, seemingly reluctant to waste his precious business trip time here.

"Sergeant Major Makarov, Yu Shan, what do you think is the difference between the Ming officers and us?" Qiao Yan did not participate in the debate between Makarov and Yu Shan, but suddenly asked a question.

"The officers don't know what the soldiers are thinking, and the soldiers don't understand the officers, they're people of two worlds." Makarov thought for a moment and was the first to express his opinion.

"The officials eat and drink spicy, the little soldiers are cheap, and they are not a fart." Yu Shan rolled his eyes, and there was a lot of "knowingly asking".

"They lack a sense of teamwork and a sense of honor!" Makarov hastened to add.

"It's not enough to eat so much every day, and it's not enough to work in the fields, and when you go to the battlefield, you have the strength to flee for your life." Yu Shan continued to muttered impatiently.

"Well, military discipline can be achieved with sticks and whips, but what they lack is not weapons and ammunition, but trust, cooperation and courage, and even more so in relation to their future tactics." Qiao Yan published a summary quite esotericly, and Yu Shan was stunned when he heard it.

"Qiao Yan, don't forget, they are the Ming officials, and we are just consultants." Yu Shan still can't forget this.

"A little change is fine, it's better than a little bit of the same." Joe smiled and nodded his head with his hand, then pointed to a corner of the school field, "Sergeant Major Makarov, tell them to build something there, and they will use it the day after tomorrow." ”

"Outward bound training at West Point? Haha, they're going to love it! Makarov was the first to react and grinned.

……

Two days later.

It was still extremely hot weather, Zhang Jianye and a group of generals and Bai generals continued to sit in the pergola of the school field, watching the six new armies separate their teams, and more than a dozen gorgeous Heishui mercenaries all had a leather drum in front of them, and many ropes were tied to the edge of the leather drum in a radial shape.

In addition to this, in the corner not far from the pergola, a whole bunch of things were covered with a canvas.

"Why is that?" Zhang Jianye turned his head a little strangely. only to find that the general counsel of Huamei was not present.

"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel's great idea, a little game, to make the lads sweat well." Makarov held a large teapot and drank a cow, which made the Ming army officers around him secretly frown.

When the Ming army officers who were observing the training were puzzled, Yu Shan appeared with an iron horn on his back.

"Damn, why did I just run out to bask in the sun...... Yu Shan muttered a commotion that only he could hear, strode to the center of the school field, looked around at the six large squares, and brewed for a while before raising the horn. Today, we will play a few mini-games with you, and the winning team will receive a special gift sponsored by the advisory group. ”

After speaking, the two Blackwater mercenaries standing by the pergola lifted the canvas behind them vigorously, revealing a pile of neatly stacked boxes, which were all gorgeous goods that Qiao Yan had temporarily borrowed from the Nanhai merchant in Qiongzhou City.

"There are 6,000 cans of Nanyang cans and 1,000 bottles of fine wine, which will then be awarded to the best team of the best people. Interested? Yu Shan took a can and a bottle of rum from a corporal, and held them up in front of him with a grin.

There was some commotion on the school grounds, not to mention ordinary people who lived very frugally in the days before joining the army. Even the petty officers from big families showed a hint of greed.

"That's not all, your Lord Zhang Shoubei said that the winning team, he will pay out of his own pocket. A reward of one or two pieces of silver was given to each person! Yu Shan continued to strike while the iron was hot, and even turned around and smiled in the direction of the pergola.

"This ......" Seeing that the head of Huamei actually made the decision for himself without authorization, Zhang Jianye almost jumped up from his seat, and the Ming army officers around him were even more discussed.

Think about it. I have also eaten a lot of benefits from Huamei over the years, although it is a little painful, if I really give a silver or two to each of the general team. It's not a big deal. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Zhang Jianye could only stand up and nod with a smile.

This is terrible, the recruits of the Qiongzhou battalion in the audience cheered, although they didn't know what it was like, but they all showed eager expressions.

Seeing that the atmosphere was almost over, Yu Shan walked to a leather drum, lifted the rope, and at the same time picked up a small ball sewn from cowhide on the side of the leather drum: "The first game is very simple, each team selects twenty people. One person can only pull one rope, lift the leather drum up, and then juggle the ball. In the time of a pillar of incense, the one who has the most turbulence is counted as winning, and if the ball is less than ten times on the ground at a time, it is not counted. Among these twenty people, there must be at least five officers. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Jianye and the others on the pergola viewing table showed surprised expressions again. Let the officers and soldiers play on the same stage, although the army is rough and harmless, but there is a taste of disregard for dignity and humility.

"I'll explain how to play first, and the artillery team will come first! Hurry up and choose someone. Yu Shan pointed to a general team diagonally opposite.

After some noisy noise, a few Qiongzhou squires walked out of the team first, and then in the commotion, more than a dozen small soldiers also came out reluctantly.

Under the guidance of the Blackwater mercenaries, twenty Ming officers and soldiers held ropes and lifted the leather drum and formed a circle, with the leather drum in the center of the circle. Both the officers and the soldiers sensed a feeling that the leather drum was not within the control of their will, and even because of their nervousness, several small soldiers deliberately kept a distance from the officers around them.

The Blackwater mercenary's body cut into the human circle and held the ball in his hand above the leather drum.

"How many times do you think you can do it?" Yu Shan, who had already played with the company countless times, walked over and patted a certain soldier on the shoulder proudly.

"If you are a Muslim head, ten strokes is always okay, right?" The creep replied cautiously.

"Little tricks, there are hundreds of them!" The biggest flag in the human circle always hummed a number contemptuously with his nose, and several team officers who also participated in the game also echoed it.

"Alright, let's go!" Yu Shan didn't talk nonsense, and directly gave the order to release the ball.

Seeing the ball fall, twenty people all pulled the rope hard and lifted it up. The result was brutal, the ball only bounced on the drum surface and fell to the ground.

"Come again!" Mr. Qi seemed to be very unconvinced, rolled up his sleeves, and tightened the rope again.

The second time there was an improvement, and the ball bounced three times on the drum surface, and then it still fell to the ground in the scramble. 3rd, 4th ...... By the end of the 10th time, the best result of the artillery demonstration team was only four.

Frustration is inevitable. Insults and accusations from the officers also occurred one after another, and it seemed that the blame was all on the minions, who were innocently holding the ropes and at a loss.

"Everyone has different ways and no orders, how can they lift the drum and hit the ball. It's so laborious, ten strokes is a strange talk. In the audience, one of the generals frowned, and didn't seem to think of any good way.

The officers and men of the artillery unit in charge of the demonstration were so wolf-like, and the officers and men of the other general corps who were watching were even more whispering, and most of them came to the conclusion that this kind of crowd was holding the rope and carrying the drum to hit the ball. It is simply impossible to complete.

"Summarize the reasons for yourselves, why can't there be more than ten." Yu Shan bit the wine bottle stopper in his hand and took a few sips comfortably, and the mellow aroma of the wine suddenly spread out, causing the officers and soldiers in the circle to have dry mouths.

"The standing is uneven, the arm height is uneven, the strength is uneven, and the drum surface is uneven." One of the team officers glanced at the circle of people standing in a strange shape, and was the first to express his opinion.

"The words of the head of Islam. The small ones found that each person had to be the same length of the rope in order to move synchronously. A soldier also said carefully.

"Well, when one person lifts the drum and touches the ball, the rest of the people only need to tighten the leather drum. Move forward and backward with the ball. ”

General Qi spoke, and the officers and soldiers present all nodded one after another. Slowly, gossiping, a lot of aftermath summarizations came out one by one. The crowd regained the confidence to continue trying.

Seeing the summary scene of the exchange of the artillery demonstration team, Makarov pointed with a smile: "I bet they will try next time." will be at least ten times. ”

Before the words fell, a look of disbelief came, and even Zhang Jianye showed an unoptimistic expression.

"Let's go!" Yu Shan gave the order again.

As before, the ball popped up in a small arc on the drum surface, but the officers and men of the artillery demonstration team, which had been neatly circled, shifted a little, and then the leather drum fell to the drum again, and the flag general who was responsible for juggling the ball raised the drum and touched the ball just right.

Four, five, six...... When the melodious sound of the ball hitting the drum surface came one by one, not only the eyes of the high-ranking officials who were watching around widened, but all the officers and soldiers on the school field held their breath, for fear that the ball would fall to the ground.

In the end, the ball fell to the ground after more than 30 hits. But this time, there was no complaint in the circle, but everyone was happy, as if they had just completed something that could never succeed, and the young flag in charge of juggling the ball even roared like a vent. Not only did the demonstration team show their skills, but the others who pinched a handful of sweat also made the general team full of confidence.

After a few pillars of incense's acclimatization, the official competition began. The officers and men of the artillery corps, who had done the first demonstration, took the lead in controlling the rise and fall of the ball like a delicate machine, while the other generals were not to be outdone, and also methodically increased the juggling ball count.

In the end, the artillery team still won the final victory with a total of more than 500 shots, and all the officers and men of the artillery team poured into the field and lifted up the 20 people who participated on their behalf.

Outside the field, in the pergola, Makarov took out a cigar and smoked it in a fog, and all the senior officers of the Ming Dynasty were silent.

Immediately after that, the second game began again, this time, all the officers and soldiers came to the other end of the school field, and a hundred-meter-long "wall" appeared in front of them, the wooden wall was nearly four meters high, and the top was a platform on which people could stand.

The game is very simple, all officers and soldiers have to climb over this wooden wall, and then go down from the platform above, there is no ladder and no rope.

Nearly four meters high, in this era, it is directly a height that everyone can only look up to but cannot reach. When they heard Yu Shan say such a game, the officers in the pergola all stood up. In their eyes, it's more than that drummer.

"Suppose there is an enemy army chasing you behind, but you have a cliff in front of you, and you must climb over this obstacle in an hour to survive. First of all, you have to believe that you can do it. Second, there needs to be a huge sacrifice to do so......"

Yu Shan walked under the wooden wall, patted the wall, and said the essentials of climbing one by one, and the unbelievable expressions of the officers and soldiers watching around at first gradually became hot.

"I'll make the stake!"

"I'll do it too!"

The tall banner commander of the artillery team stood up, and then another sturdy soldier also walked out. The two walked to the wooden wall, squatted down, supported the wall with both hands, and exerted strength on their waists and abdomen, looking steady, and then dozens of people immediately surrounded them, stretching out their arms. Served as a protector wall.

Another sturdy young officer walked out, and without saying a word, he stepped on the body of two companions who played the stake and went up to the wall. The two ground stakes lifted the first officer on the wall with their shoulders, and then gritted their teeth and lifted each other's feet with their hands.

I saw that the officer on the wall stretched out his arm, and his hands slowly touched the top of the wall, and then with the strength of his arm, a carp turned over and went to the platform, and there was a thunderous cry of joy under the wooden wall.

With the first success, the courage of the officers and men behind them was fully aroused. One by one, the officers and men stepped on the ground and piled up the wall, while the officers and soldiers who had already reached the platform at the top of the wall were responsible for leaning over and pulling people. Even if someone accidentally falls in the process of climbing over the wall. There was also a large group of people responsible for protecting them below.

One by one, more and more officers and men climbed over the wall, and each of the commanders was full of energy to compete in speed, and the officers and men responsible for playing the role of the ground pile also changed one after another.

As the sky grew dark, most of the officers and soldiers had crossed the wall, leaving only the last group of men who played the role of ground stakes, exhausted and fell to the ground to gasp.

"Very good, you have saved the lives of most of your companions with your own sacrifices, and they will always remember you!" Yu Shan walked out. Lifting the shoulder shirt of a ground pile, he saw that the man's shoulder was already red and swollen and bleeding, so he clapped his palm on the spot.

One by one, the shoulders and clothes of the ground piles faded, whether they were officers or soldiers. Without exception, they all left shocking scars. But the expressions of the stakes were very proud.

The applause grew more and more, gradually. The whole school field remembered the applause and cheers, and the officers or soldiers who played the last group of ground stakes were held high by their companions, at this time. There is no longer a difference in the status of officers and soldiers. As for the final reward, probably no one cares anymore.

"It's more impressive than the battle formation of real swords and guns, and it's really well-trained, so cooperating with such a sincere and arm-like army, how can there be a defeat! From today onwards, my Daming Qiongzhou camp should be reborn. ”

Zhang Jianye secretly glanced at the Blackwater mercenaries who had withdrawn from the school field and the Makarov beside him, and finally smiled convincingly.

……

Just when Makarov and Yu Shan led the team to organize the Qiongzhou battalion for a unique outward bound training, Qiao Yan took his adjutant to visit Shen Tingyang, the Qiongzhou Military Reserve.

A training syllabus was put in front of Shen Tingyang, but the Ming official who was in charge of the Qiongzhou battalion did not say a word.

“…… According to the experience of our army, the officers and men of the Daming Qiongzhou battalion must be fully familiar with the Type 34A rear-loading flintlock pistol, and each person should conduct at least 10 live firing per month, and the artillery team field artillery must have at least three live firing per month. In addition, in order to ensure the physical fitness of officers and men, during the training period, they must eat three meals a day, and at least one meal must have meat...... In addition, I hope that during the training period, all officers will be allowed to stay in the camp and will not be allowed to return home, let alone bring their dependents or courtesans into the camp. ”

Qiao Yan continued to explain the content of the training syllabus, but Shen Tingyang's face opposite him was getting darker and darker.

The sample of the 34A flintlock pistol had been sent to Shen Tingyang early, and just by touching the body of the gun, Shen Tingyang knew that this was the best ordnance that was difficult for the Ming Dynasty to build. In particular, the original granular gunpowder that is convenient for long-term storage in moisture-proof paper bags is known to be refined products at a glance, and it is difficult to imitate and supply those inferior nitrate and gunpowder storage levels in the Ming Dynasty.

Ten live ammunition shots per person per month must also be original ammunition, and the 3,000 people in the Qiongzhou battalion alone are 360,000 rounds a year, and the silver consumption is at least 10,000 taels of silver. It is necessary to add meat to three meals a day, and the cost of military food is doubled.

In addition, it also includes detailed needs such as camp construction, going out to practice, changing quilts, etc., and Shen Tingyang is old face is straight to hear.

With such a large amount of money to raise the army, if such an elite of the new army is really trained, it feels like a thousand miles when you think about it. However, now the Qiongzhou battalion has barely made up the food and salary for a year, and the money paid to the Chinese military armament has not yet been fully implemented.

"The old man will tell the governor your good words, and Advisor Lao Qiao will bother a lot about the Qiongzhou camp drills." Not to mention refusing on the spot, Shen Tingyang could only politely surrender his hand.

Looking at the bitter expression on the other party's old face, Qiao Yan didn't say much, so he could only smile and nod slightly. (To be continued......)