Chapter 797

On the third day of the fifth month, at the Jia-5 defense line.

Under the planning of the Jingbian Army's staff officers, the three areas outside Tongguan — Yuanwanggou, Jingou, and Xiyuan — were respectively designated as the Jia, Yi, and Bing defense lines.

Yuanwanggou stretches over twenty li. Besides its narrow defile terrain, there are about eighteen various roads and gentle slopes that need defending. These road sections, from north to south, are marked as Jia-1, Jia-2, Jia-3, and so on. Each section is assigned troops for defense, with responsibility falling on specific individuals.

Sun Chuanting placed high hopes on the Yuanwanggou defense line, committing a total of ten thousand New Army soldiers. Most of the three garrison battalions were also deployed here. In his plan, holding this place and preventing the bandits from entering Nanyuan would be ideal. Even if Yuanwanggou could not be held, they could retreat to Jingou in the field; if Jingou could not be held, there was still Xiyuan.

Of course, Xiyuan was the final bottom line. The bandits must absolutely not be allowed to circle around to the west gate. Tongguan had to have a defense in depth; it could not be a solitary city.

The Shaanxi New Army had six battalions: vanguard, rear, left, right, center, and supply. The force defending the Jia-5 line at this moment was a Company Commander from the New Army's Left Battalion, because this road was slightly wider and might be a key point of attack for the bandits. There was also a Mobile Corps Commander under Shaanxi Regional Commander Gao Jie assisting in the defense.

The phenomenon of eating empty salaries was even more severe among hinterland troops. Although that Mobile Corps Commander supposedly had a mobile battalion, its actual strength was no more than a thousand men, and the battalion's firearms squads and assault squads were not fully organized.

In the Great Ming's military organization, firearms troops initially made up ten percent, and archers thirty percent. In the twenty-sixth year of the Hongwu era, a regulation stipulated that for every hundred-man company, there would be ten gunners, twenty sword-and-shield men, thirty archers, and forty pikemen.

But because archery is a technical skill demanding high physical requirements and bows are not easy to manufacture, coupled with the rise of firearms, the proportion of firearms troops in the Ming army grew higher and higher. In some wagon battalions and supply battalions, firearms troops even made up over half the roster.

The Qi Army's organization method of dividing into firearms squads and assault squads was also widely implemented across the Ming army's various garrisons. In the Shaanxi region's organization, each firearms squad had twelve men, including ten arquebusiers. But due to the poor quality of the arquebuses, these arquebusiers mostly became three-eyed gun users.

The proportion of archers in the army also declined, due to lack of drill and shorted pay. Fewer and fewer men could use strong bows. Also due to lack of maintenance, the bows in each battalion were generally weak and feeble. The arrows they shot posed little threat to armored soldiers, so more and more archers liked to use fire arrows.

This battalion was no exception. Originally, an assault squad, including the Squad Commander, should have had five archers and two fire-arrow men. Now it was reversed. The only ones in the battalion who could use strong bows were probably the Mobile Corps Commander's hundred-plus retainers.

Within the battalion, pikemen generally doubled as archers, and clubmen doubled as archers. Now more and more people liked to use the tangpa, because the tangpa could launch fire arrows from a distance and also be used to kill enemies up close.

This naturally made the organization a complete mess. Although the New Army's individual combat ability was currently inferior to the garrison troops, given time, their role would slowly supplant the garrison troops.

The sky gradually brightened. A clamor arose. Amid the loud and clear reveille drums, the night-watch soldiers extinguished their torches, yawning as they changed shifts with their comrades. Some men were also dragging several mangled corpses up onto the plateau.

Last night, those damned bandits had launched a sneak attack on the Jia-5 defense line, but some unlucky ones stepped on caltrops, and even unluckier ones stepped on buried landmines. The night-watch soldiers had listened to them wail for half the night before they died, feeling some fear but also considerable vengeful satisfaction.

In the long struggle between the Shaanxi Three Frontiers and the Mongols, landmines were widely used, and now contact-detonated mines were mostly employed. Using flint as the ignition device, when a person stepped on it, a pulley drove the flint to spin and rub, creating sparks that then ignited the fuse, finally causing an explosion.

At this time, the power of landmines was not very great; they often did not kill a person outright. But blowing a person into paralysis was certain. These were the handiwork of the assisting garrison troops. Burying mines and launching fire arrows were their specialty. One could see those night-watch garrison soldiers gleefully dragging the corpses up onto the plateau.

To encourage officers and soldiers to fight bravely, Viceroy Sun had established generous rewards. These several corpses could earn them quite a bit of reward silver.

Besides, those capable of night raids were the elite of the bandit camp, at least of cavalryman rank. If they weren't elite, how could they see at night?

This kind of military merit was what the garrison troops liked most. See here: after that bandit raiding party triggered the mines last night, the rest were immediately scared off and fled back. The defense line was safe and sound, and some heads were left behind. Truly easy and safe.

It was just a pity that landmines were expensive, complex to manufacture, and could only be used on a small scale.

Amid the clamor, streams of red flowed out from the tents of each encampment. Field kitchen carts gathered on the plateau, and the aroma of food wafted about. The New Army soldiers at the Jia-5 defense line were busy eating: flatbread with meat soup, large pots of vegetables, and even meat-filled ceramic jars procured from Xuanfu Garrison.

These meat-filled ceramic jars were excellent things. The meat inside had long been cut into pieces and mixed with salt and various seasonings. With just a little pan-frying, a rich fragrance would spread.

For the soldiers, such a breakfast was extremely sumptuous, yet many found the food tasteless.

Since yesterday, the bandit soldiers on the opposite side had been gathering in greater and greater numbers. It looked like there would be a battle today. Although the New Army battalions had been drilling for several months, now that they were about to face a great and vicious battle, many hearts were still unsettled, like fifteen buckets being drawn from a well — seven up, eight down.

Would this morning's meal be their last?

Seeing their state, the garrison soldiers eating alongside them could not help but feel a sense of superiority in their hearts.

The New Army's good treatment and favored status somewhat aroused the jealousy of the various garrison troops. In the past, when they marched and fought outside, they ate sun-dried rice and mixed grain cakes, at most accompanied by a little hard salt block and dried vinegar, and often they didn't even get that. When had they ever eaten meals like those of these past days?

The sumptuous food satisfied everyone, but it was thanks to the New Army's reflected glory. Inevitably feeling psychologically unbalanced, now that they had an opportunity, they were all whispering and mocking.

But even as they spoke this way, seeing so many bandits on the opposite side — more than they had ever seen before — made them somewhat uneasy.

However, compared to the New Army soldiers, they had at least all seen blood and fought many battles, giving them some qualification to look down on others.

"Never seen blood. No matter how well they drill, they're still raw recruits."

Watching those terrified and uneasy New Army soldiers, Han Kaizheng, riding over from the plateau, thought thoughtfully.

Although satisfied with the defense line, the New Army was, after all, fighting for the first time, and there were also many garrison troops accustomed to fleeing assisting in the defense. Therefore, Sun Chuanting was somewhat uneasy and ordered the mercenary troops to take charge of battle supervision.

Of the Jingbian Army's one battalion, besides Mobile Corps Commander Huang Wei leading the Second First-Class Army to assist Provincial Governor Feng Shikong in defending Shangzhou, the two Second-Class Armies were each responsible for supervising a portion of the defense line. The remaining Second First-Class Army stayed by Sun Chuanting's side.

There was also a company of mounted lancers and a company of mounted rangers serving as mobile troops, ready to appear and fight anywhere at any time.

However, at Wu Zhengchun's suggestion, the battalion's mounted rangers were dispersed into various defense lines to wait for opportunities, specifically to shoot and kill bandit army leaders.

The mounted rangers in the Jingbian Army were formerly the sharpshooters of various units. Although they were now all equipped with horses and possessed carbines, and each man had at least two pistols on horseback, their original foot-combat long muskets were actually still kept.

Therefore, they could disperse into the various defense lines and specialize in shooting important figures in the bandit army.

However, they had freedom of movement and did not need to stay fixed in one place.

The two Second-Class Armies had to supervise over twenty li of defense line, and each unit's task was very heavy. Han Kaizheng's Jingbian Army unit was responsible for supervising the Jia-4 and Jia-5 sectors. However, Han Kaizheng was mainly responsible for Jia-5, while the Vice Squad Commander led two squads of soldiers to handle Jia-4.

Their station was also a small fortified village on the nearby plateau, with living conditions better than staying out in the open.

They had also eaten early. At this moment, the unit's staff officer, morale officer, and provost marshal, along with others, accompanied Han Kaizheng, with a squad of guards and two provost soldiers following. Wherever they went, the eating New Army soldiers cast awed and respectful glances. Many even stood up to greet him, their expressions showing relief.

Although there were many bandits on the opposite side, with the instructors present, no one was afraid.

Arriving before the Jia-5 line, Han Kaizheng dismounted. The New Army Company Commander and the garrison Mobile Corps Commander responsible for defense hurriedly came up to greet him. Although this Squad Commander before them was heroic and handsome, like a fair-faced boy, and young — only twenty-three or twenty-four — and his official rank was not high, he was a Squad Commander of the Jingbian Army.

Both the New Army Company Commander and the garrison Mobile Corps Commander knew that anyone who could hold a high position in the Jingbian Army was no simple figure. Even a random Squad Commander could not be underestimated.

They had also inquired privately. This Squad Commander Han before them was a man who had fought in the bloody battle of Songshan and campaigned beyond the frontier. Whether Eastern slaves or Northern caitiffs, they were all utterly ferocious. To have won, survived, and been promoted showed that Squad Commander Han was no simple man.

Moreover, they also knew that Squad Commander Han had backing. Not only had he married the niece of Capital Training Corps Regional Commander Fu, but he was also the sworn younger brother of White Tiger Army Commander Zhong. A figure of this level had transcended the realm of mere jealousy; the two sides were simply not on the same level.

The Left Battalion New Army Company Commander, surnamed Yang, greatly admired Han Kaizheng. Most of his questions were about Han Kaizheng's past battles, and he was particularly interested in the great battle of Songshan.

The Mobile Corps Commander, surnamed Gao, was interested in matters concerning Xuanfu Garrison. He also had his own little scheme, hoping to curry favor with Squad Commander Han and immigrate to Xuanfu Garrison in the future, especially to send his family away first.

Although Shaanxi was good, it seemed better to send one's family into Xuanfu Garrison or the Protectorate.

When he was a common soldier, Han Kaizheng's life was very simple. Once promoted, especially to Squad Commander, and after aiding Shaanxi, he felt life had become complicated. Too many people tried to draw him in and curry favor. Many, seeing he was handsome, constantly introduced their daughters and nieces, much to Han Kaizheng's annoyance.

He had already married the young lady of the Fu family. How could he take a fancy to anyone else? Especially since the young lady Fu had also sent two personal maidservants to serve as chamber attendants. With three women as fierce as wolves and tigers, he already had more than he could handle.

This Mobile Corps Commander Gao was the same, overtly and covertly promoting his three daughters and five nieces. Han Kaizheng was already somewhat afraid of seeing him.

Seeing that Mobile Corps Commander Gao seemed about to say something again, Han Kaizheng took out a box of cigarettes, casually offered one to Company Commander Yang and Mobile Corps Commander Gao, and said, "Let's go take a look at the plateau slope."

Although Han Kaizheng did not smoke, he had found that carrying a box of cigarettes on him was not a bad idea. Sure enough, whatever Mobile Corps Commander Gao wanted to say was forgotten. He took the cigarette and said with delighted surprise, "It's the Grand Squad Commander brand small cigarette. Master Han is generous."

The trend of smoking was now very common in the northern regions of the Great Ming. The Xuanfu Garrison cigarette factory, in particular, was famous far and wide, producing large cigarettes and small cigarettes respectively. The large cigarettes were the Yunyan personally named by Marquis Yongning, objects enjoyed by figures at the level of Provincial Governors, Viceroys, Ministry Directors, Counts, and Marquises.

The small cigarettes were suitable for a broader range of people, with brand tiers such as Soldier, Old Squad Commander, Grand Squad Commander, High Company Commander, and Mighty General. But even so, Mobile Corps Commander Gao dared not say he could afford the most ordinary Soldier brand small cigarettes every day.