Chapter 28: Formation Drill

The eighth day of the eleventh month in the seventh year of the Chongzhen reign.

The winter solstice had passed a few days earlier, and the north wind blew even more bitterly. From this day on, Wang Dou also began selecting able-bodied young men to send out for training.

In the Great Ming, garrison-fort soldiers generally did not need to go out to fight, so it was rare to see garrison troops training. But how could Wang Dou let the matter rest because of that? As the days passed one by one, the sense of crisis in Wang Dou's heart grew more and more urgent. An extra measure of military strength meant an extra measure of hope for protecting himself and his family in the future.

Wang Dou resolved to begin drilling troops. What he relied on now were the martial skills of this body and the rich knowledge of later ages. However, for training soldiers, Wang Dou decided to strictly follow the two military manuals, Grandfather Qi's *New Treatise on Military Efficiency* and *Practical Record of Troop Training*. What is practical is best, and Wang Dou believed these were currently the most suitable training handbooks for his own army.

At present, there were seventy-five adult males in the fort, but after removing the old and weak among them, only thirty-four were able-bodied young men fit for training. And these thirty-four men, ever since joining the military households of Jingbian Fort, had eaten their fill every day. After this period of fort-building and land-clearing exercise, their physical condition was already completely suited for the military training to follow.

Today, Wang Dou brought them outside the fort. Taking advantage of the current farming off-season, it was the perfect time to conduct some military training. Otherwise, when spring plowing began next year and the busy farming season arrived, they would have to work again. Wang Dou's current assets were still insufficient, and he could not yet afford full-time professional soldiers. As for the remaining old, weak, and women, they continued working inside and outside the fort, repairing fortifications and building houses. However, watching Wang Dou and the others outside, they still glanced over curiously from time to time.

Over thirty young men gathered together, every one of them excited and curious. Although the cold wind was biting and the weather was freezing, they still chatted and laughed incessantly. Some of these men were originally the sons of military households, and some were originally refugees. Of course, they were now all military households of Jingbian Fort. They certainly did not share Wang Dou's sense of crisis, but they were Wang Dou's subordinates. Whatever Wang Dou instructed them to do, they would do.

Wang Dou looked them over one by one. These young men all stood twisted and askew, slouching this way and that, even the sons of the original military households were the same.

Wang Dou sighed inwardly. Soldiers who had not undergone rigorous training were nothing but a disorderly mob. It seemed he would have to start training them from the most basic formations. Moreover, in ancient warfare, strict formations and strict discipline had always been extremely important. Those who could maintain a strict battle formation were like tigers and wolves; without formation, they were a rabble.

Grandfather Qi had also said: "When deploying a great formation against a great enemy, a grand array of a thousand men advances in ranks. The brave may not rush ahead, the cowardly may not fall behind. Spears thrust forth in clusters, spears thrust back in clusters. Amid ten thousand troops, they move as one man. Thus can one be invincible under heaven." This emphasized the importance of formation and discipline.

Wang Dou began at once, first dividing these thirty-four men into four squads, each with several men. Han Chao, Han Zhong, Qi Tianliang, and Yang Tong each led one squad. This made the four men very happy. Qi Tianliang and Yang Tong grinned broadly, never imagining that they too would lead troops. Only Han Chao wore a deeply emotional expression, as if recalling some past events.

Once everyone was divided into squads and standing in place, Han Chao and the other three also stood to the left and right beside Wang Dou.

Wang Dou said loudly: "I have summoned you today to train you in battle formation skills. Right now, soldiers are in chaos and horses are stampeding; the realm is not yet at peace. A few months ago, the Tatars raided the frontier, as you all know. Although we are a garrison fort here, we must likewise practice martial skills. Only thus can you protect your wives, children, and families in the future."

Wang Dou's expression was stern, and everyone below unconsciously stood a bit straighter. Han Chao and the other few men were equally stern.

After finishing his speech, Wang Dou first had them learn standing in formation, lining up, turning left and right, marching in step, running, and so on. The men were initially fascinated, but later they became a chaotic mess.

The formations were a truly pitiful sight. Not to mention the crooked ranks, the men could not even tell left from right. This situation applied not only to the young military household men below, but also to the two squad leaders, Qi Tianliang and Yang Tong. By the end of the day, everyone was more exhausted than after a full day of labor. Only the Han Chao brothers handled it with ease, as if it were nothing at all, and they constantly barked orders at the young men in their squads to stand straight and stand properly. This made Wang Dou even more curious about the background of these two brothers.

For several days in a row, everyone still could not tell left from right, and even Wang Dou's loud scolding was useless. It was Han Chao who came up with a solution: have each young military household man tie a rope around his right arm to mark left and right. Only then did the situation slowly improve.

Wang Dou also recognized the Han brothers' ability to train troops. From that day on, Wang Dou instructed the Han brothers to participate alongside him in training formations. The two men did not decline what they saw as their duty.

From the training, one could also see the two men's styles. Han Chao had a somewhat better temperament and would always patiently correct the military household men's formation errors. Han Zhong, however, had a fiery temper. When it was his turn to train the men, if anyone stood in the wrong formation, he would, without any explanation, grab a stick and step forward to give them a good beating.

Strangely enough, his method worked better. Those who had been beaten stood firmer in formation the next time. Regarding being beaten themselves, those young military household men all seemed to take it in stride, as if it were commonplace. Even some military households and women watching the excitement nearby roared with laughter, while those who were beaten sheepishly rubbed their own heads.

Generally, when there was nothing else to do, the military households and women of Jingbian Fort would come outside the fort to watch the men train. As they watched, they pointed and commented, discussing how each family's child was doing, who stood better, and so on. And with bystanders watching, the spirits of the young military household men were also higher. Each one of them, full of effort, stood even straighter, full of martial vigor and high morale.

Thus, after ten days, everyone's formation standing finally began to look somewhat presentable. When Han Chao beat the starting drum to make them jog, they already showed a somewhat orderly appearance.

During a break in training, Wang Dou went to check on the progress of Li Maosen and the others in crafting matchlock arquebuses.

Arriving at the workshop, the place was bustling with intense activity. The icy cold outside seemed completely absent, as waves of hot air billowed out.

Li Maosen and a few others were strenuously forging some matchlock arquebuses, which by the look of it were still very far from completion. Wang Dou glanced around casually and immediately discovered that the crafting of these matchlock arquebuses was truly complex. According to Li Maosen's explanation, the making of a matchlock arquebus began first with the barrel. After the wrought iron for the barrel was heated red-hot, it was hammered around a steel mandrel, thus rolled into an iron tube. After cooling, several more layers were wrapped around it and hammered finely and densely. Once it reached a certain thickness, the steel mandrel was drawn out, and only then was one section of the barrel complete.

After making several sections of the barrel in succession, they were welded together section by section. This was the critical point; if the welding was poor, the barrel would easily burst. After the preliminary barrel was made, a steel drill was used to bore out the bore, and the sight was filed out. This stage took the longest time, sometimes up to a full month.

Afterward, a steel rod was used to scrape the inside of the bore smooth and clean, followed by various fittings and assembly. Wang Dou had never imagined that a single matchlock arquebus involved so much knowledge and was so complicated. It seemed making one matchlock arquebus could not be done in less than a month. He would come back to check after some time had passed.

……

After fifteen days of formation training for the four squads of military households, Wang Dou had them continue formation training in the morning and begin supplementing it with some other things in the afternoon.

For example, he had everyone run long distances in formation. The standard for passing was that each man could run one li in one breath without panting and without the formation seriously scattering. Afterward, he had everyone run carrying weights, with the weight slowly increasing over time. These were all the most basic requirements from Grandfather Qi's *Practical Record of Troop Training* for training hand strength, foot strength, and body strength.

Another five days later, Wang Dou began adding weapons practice for everyone in the afternoon.

Among the four squads, Wang Dou for the time being only had them train with the long spear and the waist saber. From the nine men in each squad, two who were bold, brave, and nimble were first assigned to use the saber, while the remaining men each used the spear. These saber users would in the future be either rattan-shield bearers or matchlock arquebusiers, and both these troop types likewise needed to train with the saber.

Weapons were distributed to each man's hands one by one, and everyone was exultant and elated.

Wang Dou first taught the men spear technique. He said loudly: "Watch carefully, all of you."

He assumed a side-stance, hand-raising posture, and suddenly let out a great shout: "Kill!"

He charged forward, and in an instant, his spear stabbed and struck five points on a human-shaped wooden target twenty paces ahead: the eye, the throat, the heart, the waist, and the foot. All the movements seemed to be completed in the blink of an eye.

The crowd cheered in unison, with Han Zhong's shout being the loudest. Han Chao also praised from the heart: "Truly excellent spear technique!"

The military household men all asked in succession how they could achieve what Wang Dou had just done.

Wang Dou said: "Nothing special, just practice until skilled. If you thrust like I did ten thousand times, a hundred thousand times, you will be able to do the same as me."