Chapter 117: Volume Three: Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander – Chapter 117: New Organization

Volume Three: Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander – Chapter 117: New Organization

After receiving confirmation from the Shunxiang Fort night scout, Garrison Commander Xu Zucheng and his trusted general Yang Dongmin exchanged a glance, each seeing the uncontrollable wild joy in the other's eyes.

In Xu Zucheng's mind, Wang Dou was honest and reliable; if he said he had taken two hundred and forty-three heads, then it must be two hundred and forty-three. However, the matter was of great importance and should be verified clearly before anything else. He happily rewarded that Shunxiang Fort night scout with two taels of silver and ordered his personal guards to take him away and entertain him well with good food and drink.

Then the Garrison Commander resumed his official dignity and sat down in a pleasant mood to drink tea.

His trusted general Yang Dongmin offered congratulations: "Congratulations, my lord. If Brother Wang's battle achievements are genuine, then next year the post of Garrison Commander of Baoan Guard City will surely be within your grasp!"

The Guard City's Garrison Commander, Lord Li Yian, was soon to retire with honors, and the contest to succeed him was extremely fierce. After last year's bandit-suppression campaign, Xu Zucheng had already been promoted to Vice Guard Commander of Baoan Guard, which gave him much more confidence in competing for the Garrison Commander post, though it was still not absolutely certain, as many were qualified to take the position.

But if Wang Dou's heaven-shaking battle achievement were added on top, when the rewards came down from above, Xu Zucheng would certainly be promoted to Guard Commander of Baoan Guard. Then, after Li Yian retired with honors, succeeding to the Garrison Commander post would be absolutely certain and perfectly logical.

Of course, Xu Zucheng was also very puzzled. He knew Wang Dou commanded over three hundred troops at Shunxiang Fort and had also trained some militia, but how he had managed to achieve so many kills with just these soldiers was truly unimaginable. Still, as long as the battle achievements were real, it was fine. As his subordinate, the more Wang Dou killed, the greater his own merit.

At this moment he smiled faintly and said, "Jiande, wherever I go, I will bring you with me."

Yang Dongmin was overjoyed and hurriedly knelt on the ground, saying, "Many thanks for your cultivation, my lord. This humble officer will serve you with all his heart and strength, through fire and water, without refusal."

Xu Zucheng laughed heartily. He was extremely satisfied and in a very pleasant mood. He mused, "Wang Dou has taken so many heads; he must have gone through several bitter battles. Go down on my behalf and comfort him. ... By the way, are those slave bandits who were harassing the vicinity of our prefectural city still there?"

Yang Dongmin said, "Strangely enough, since today, those slave bandit roving riders harassing the vicinity of the prefectural city have all disappeared. However, it is said that the main slave bandit army is massing near the Guard City, especially around Huailai Guard and Yanqing Prefecture. In the short term, they probably will not withdraw."

Xu Zucheng sighed, then decided not to dwell on the matter. He simply said to Yang Dongmin, "Go down to Shunxiang Fort today and see whether Wang Dou's battle achievements there are genuine."

Two hundred and forty-three Qing soldier heads — Xu Zucheng estimated there would likely be some padding, perhaps Wang Dou had killed some civilians to pass off as merit. But as long as there were several dozen or a hundred genuine Tartar heads, it would be enormous merit, and his own promotion would be certain.

Then he carefully instructed further: "If the battle achievements are genuine, you must further befriend Wang Dou. From now on, you two shall be my left and right arms."

Yang Dongmin said, "Rest assured, my lord. This humble officer understands."

Wubao, the garrison city of the Baoan Guard Rear Battalion, was built on flat ground. Looking around its surroundings, the terrain was open and level everywhere, with no hills nearby. In addition, the land there was fertile and irrigation convenient, making it an important military farming location for Baoan Prefecture Guard.

Wubao's city wall was over two li in circumference. To strengthen the fort's defensive capability, the surrounding walls were exceptionally tall and thick, reaching over ten meters in height, with the entire city faced in brick. In particular, on the city walls were mounted over a dozen large and small Frankish-style bronze and iron cannons, plus more than twenty various smaller cannon.

Both being Battalion garrison cities, Wubao far surpassed Shunxiang Fort in terms of sturdiness and firepower defense.

At this moment, inside the Garrison Commander's hall, Wubao's Garrison Commander Yang Zhichang sat in his seat. His retainer squad leader Zeng Daoxiang said to him, "My lord, according to intelligence brought back by the fort's night scouts, that Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander Wang Dou engaged the slave bandits and achieved very heavy kills."

Yang Zhichang's heart was full of sour jealousy. He snorted coldly: "He's just lucky he wasn't killed by the Tartars."

When that Jalangga Colonel led his great army past beneath his fort, seeing over a thousand Qing soldiers outside the fort, Yang Zhichang's face had turned white. Fortunately, those Qing soldiers did not stop beneath Wubao but headed directly southwest. Yang Zhichang offered a heavy reward before a few night scouts risked their lives to leave the fort and scout, learning the news that the main Qing army was besieging Shunxiang Fort.

At the time, Yang Zhichang had gloated. What rotten luck Wang Dou had run into, that a remote Battalion garrison city would draw an attack from the main Qing army. Yang Zhichang attributed it to Wang Dou being too arrogant and domineering, a petty man drunk on success, so Heaven could not bear it and sent those Tartar soldiers to deal with him.

Unexpectedly, what followed was news of the Qing army's retreat and a great victory for the Shunxiang army. According to the Wubao night scouts who returned, the Garrison Commander's trusted favorite general, Yang Dongmin, under the tight protection of retainers, had cautiously and carefully left the prefectural city and was heading to Shunxiang Fort to comfort Wang Dou and reward this great victory.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhichang felt even more bitter. He said hatefully, "I'd like to see how long that Wang Dou can stay so pleased with himself!"

On the morning of the twelfth day of the seventh month in the ninth year of Chongzhen, when Wang Dou led his army back to Shunxiang Fort, the entire fort erupted in jubilation.

Soldiers and civilians lined the streets to welcome the triumphant heroes. Firecrackers and gongs and drums sounded continuously along the streets. Seeing their men return, the women and children of the fort, along with their aged parents, all shed tears of joy and excitement.

Amid the jubilant crowd, a young woman with her small son was simply gazing out among the people, her expression anxious, until she spotted that familiar figure.

She cried out joyfully, "Wuge."

The child beside her also jumped and shouted joyfully, "Daddy."

That young soldier squeezed through. He tightly embraced the mother and son, tears streaming freely down his face. In that moment, they were happy.

Of course, amid the joy there was also sorrow. Some parents and wives, who had anxiously awaited their family's return, instead received cold corpses. Unable to accept this reality, they simply wailed loudly.

Joy, sorrow, and weeping — this was the scene before Shunxiang Fort.

When the Shunxiang army returned, the captives and supplies they had seized also drew crowds of onlookers. Many people marveled at the captured mules and horses, carts, and tents. The twenty-one captured Qing soldiers and camp followers also drew a wave of angry curses as they entered the fort.

In just these few days, Shunxiang Fort had suffered over a hundred casualties, with nearly a hundred more killed in battle. Many military households in the fort had lost their men — their husbands, fathers, or brothers. Combined with past experiences, their hatred for the Qing soldiers was as deep as the sea.

As those Qing captives came in, they were constantly struck by bricks and clubs from the fort's military households. Some women even shrieked and threw themselves at them, using their sharp fingernails to scratch their faces until they were dripping with blood.

When had these Qing captives ever suffered such treatment? They shouted angrily in Manchu to threaten and intimidate, but now the fort's military households no longer had any fear of Qing soldiers. The more they shouted, the denser the bricks and clubs came. Those who stayed quiet and obedient got hit a few times less.

Wang Dou had the Shunxiang army maintain some order, to prevent the Qing captives from being beaten to death. He had uses for these men.

After returning to the fort, Wang Dou gave the Shunxiang troops who had fought a day's leave, and had Lin Daofu manage the many post-battle affairs. He also returned home to see his wife and mother. Seeing Wang Dou return safely, Xie Xiuniang and Lady Zhong both shed tears of joy.

After seeing his wife and mother, at noon, Wang Dou hosted a banquet for the officers in the Battalion Commander's hall. Afterwards, he had the clerk Feng Dachang write a victory dispatch to report the triumph to Garrison Commander Xu Zucheng.

After these matters were done, it was time for the summary and review of this field battle.

The group discussed and summarized in the great hall, with clerk Feng Dachang recording beside them. Wang Dou believed that the current organization of the Shunxiang army was somewhat unreasonable. In each squad, the pike section and the arquebus section were mixed together, which made forming battle lines hasty and chaotic.

Wang Dou planned to implement pure pike squads and arquebus squads within each platoon. From now on, pikemen and arquebusiers within each squad would no longer be mixed. Each platoon would have two squads of pikemen and two squads of arquebusiers. Since their current combat opponent was the Qing army, whose bows and arrows were deadly, they could not do without cover.

Therefore, within each pike squad and arquebus squad, some sword-and-shield men were incorporated. In field battles or when forming lines, the sword-and-shield men would be in front, shielding against the arrows shot by the Qing soldiers, allowing the pikemen or arquebusiers behind to fight more easily.

Including officer guards, a pike squad was still sixty men, divided into five sections. In one section of eleven men, two squad leaders held large shields in front. They carried a broadsword, plus two javelins, able to defend at close range and attack at long range. Then each five-man unit added three pikemen, holding long pikes, who followed the squad leader in the attack. Thus one five-man unit had three pikemen, and one section had six pikemen.

Finally, each five-man unit also had one spear-and-shield man, holding a round shield plus a short spear. The short spear was under two meters long, with a rather long blade sharp on both edges, capable of long-range attack and close-range defense, combining the advantages of both long and short. Wang Dou had once seen a movie in later times called Painted Skin, starring Chen Kun. In the opening battle scene, Chen Kun and the others wielded round shields and short spears with such deadly effectiveness that it left a deep impression on Wang Dou.

Wang Dou's spear-and-shield men were to be exactly like that.

One spear-and-shield man per five-man unit, two per section. They mainly guarded the two flanks of the section, while also being able to attack.

Finally, the section leader himself also carried a round shield and short spear, directing the entire section's combat.

With this organization, Wang Dou's pike squads could attack and defend when retreating, combining the advantages of both long and short. Moreover, when attacking, the pikemen could attack as one section, or split into two five-man units to attack, or even the entire large squad could attack — very flexible.

Wang Dou also eliminated the section leaders' flag-spears, having them stick a small flag on their backs instead, making them more agile in combat. Not only that, Wang Dou even eliminated the flag-bearers and drummers of the squad officers, turning both into guards for the squad officers. From now on, each squad officer would have four guards: two sword-and-shield men and two spear-and-shield men.

As for the original squad flags, the squad officers would simply stick a flagpole slightly larger than the section leaders' into their backs.

The officer of each platoon's pike squad likewise carried a round shield, with a sword or short spear in hand.

So it was for each platoon's pike squad. As for the arquebus squad, including officer guards, each squad was also sixty men, divided into five sections, with eleven men per section.

Among them, four sections were arquebusiers and one section was sword-and-shield men. When forming lines in the field, the sword-and-shield men formed a horizontal rank holding shields in front, while the remaining four sections of arquebusiers formed horizontal ranks behind. In battle, the sword-and-shield men crouched down, and the several ranks of arquebusiers fired in sequence.

Similarly, each section leader in the arquebus squad also stuck a small flag on his back, and they too fired arquebuses. The flag-bearers and drummers in the arquebus squad were also eliminated, all turned into guards for the squad officers. The officer of each platoon's arquebus squad likewise stuck a small flag on his back. He and his several guards all carried round shields, with either swords or short spears.

The organization of Wang Dou's arquebus squads was actually somewhat similar to the organizational structure of the Great Ming's Divine Machine Battalion. In future battles, Wang Dou would also draw on the Divine Machine Battalion's combat methods. The first rank of arquebus sections behind the sword-and-shield men would be the best marksmen in the squad. If enemy infantry charged the line, that first rank of arquebusiers would fire. After firing, they would pass their arquebuses with their left hands to the arquebusiers in the second rank, then receive the second rank's arquebuses with their right hands, thus being able to continue firing calmly and steadily.

The second rank of arquebusiers would take the discharged arquebuses passed from the front rank, then pass the empty pieces to the rear rank, and receive the reloaded arquebuses from the rear rank, ready to hand them again to the arquebusiers in the very front rank — thus enabling sustained, uninterrupted fire.

Of course, if cavalry were charging the formation, they would still use the original three-layer firing tactic.

Apart from this, Wang Dou would also equip every arquebusier with a bayonet, to be fixed onto the muzzle in battle, turning their arquebuses into long spears.

Regarding Wang Dou’s ideas, after discussion Han Chao and the others also deemed them feasible, as they would make the Shunxiang Army’s organization simpler and clearer; since the adjustments were only within the pickets, they would not cause much disorder. Once everyone had agreed, Wang Dou decided to implement this new organization within the fort starting the next day.

After these few days of fighting, among the four pickets of Shunxiang Fort, apart from Wen Fangliang’s vanguard picket troops, the combat soldiers of the remaining pickets had all suffered heavy losses — especially the arquebusiers, for whom replacements were even harder to find. After reorganizing into pure pike units and arquebus units, some depleted squad leaders could also transfer veteran soldiers into the arquebus units, while the pike units could take in some auxiliary soldiers, give them a pike to wield, and for the time being they would not need much skill.

Finally, when marching in the field, Wang Dou would also emulate the Taiping Army’s linked-file formation, advancing file after file, so that during a march, if a meeting engagement occurred, the head and tail could coil and hook together, instantly forming a circular formation — far easier and more effective than maintaining a square formation while advancing over open ground.

Toward evening, Wang Dou also welcomed a party led by Yang Dongmin from the department city.