Chapter 326: Army, Division, Brigade, Regiment, Battalion

Lin Qian thought for a moment. Since the military reform required bold, decisive action, it couldn't be a one-man show, so he said, "Chief of Staff Xu, you come too."

The strategy against Pu Mingsheng had already been drafted; what remained was execution, so the chief of staff had some free time on his hands.

Lin Qian led Xu Fengjie to the gates of the General Staff Headquarters, where they happened to meet Song Danchu rushing over. The Government Affairs Hall and the General Staff Headquarters — formerly the Three Offices of Guangzhou — were separated by just one street, so the moment Lin Qian sent word, Song Danchu arrived.

Lin Qian said, "Come on, I'll take you two to see something good!"

With that, he swung onto his horse and headed for his residence, with Xu and Song following on horseback behind him.

Lin Qian's residence was located northwest of Guangzhou, at the foot of Yuexiu Mountain, only a li or two from the Government Affairs Hall, so the three arrived quickly on horseback.

However, Lin Qian did not enter the residence. Instead, he led his horse around to the southwest side of the estate, where the stables were. The stables had ten stalls and housed five or six horses, all kept for personal guards to carry messages or for general travel.

The group dismounted and walked into the stables.

The stable floor was raised high — the ground had been built up about two chi with rammed earth — to prevent dampness from seeping up and causing hoof rot and eczema. The outer walls were of blue brick, and numerous louvered windows were set all around to create cross-ventilation and drive out heat and moisture.

Besides the horse stalls, the stable compound also had a fodder storage area, a horse-washing area, and living quarters for the grooms — clearly zoned, with careful attention to materials.

There was no help for it: war horses, especially those of Lingnan, were an extremely precious and fragile asset that demanded meticulous care.

Moreover, unlike Liaodong, where everyone had horses, before Lin Qian introduced the Dian and Jeju breeds, you couldn't scrape together fifty horses in all of Guangzhou. During the Hongzhi reign, the Guangdong-born high official Zhan Ruoshui kept horses in Guangzhou as a refined pastime, and the story spread far and wide — even the street where his stables stood was renamed Mazhuang Lane. That shows just how rare and prized horses were in Guangzhou.

Seeing Lin Qian enter, a groom came forward to greet him. The man's skin was dark with a ruddy undertone, his build extremely sturdy, his joints large, his hands covered in calluses. He wore plain hemp clothing, neat and clean, and from his belt hung a host of items: horse brushes, wooden combs, brass whistles, towels, medicine pouches, and more. Laden with all that at his waist, he moved with ease rather than burden — clearly a man who truly worked for a living.

"Your Majesty."

The man clasped his hands in salute. His accent was strange, because he was not Han at all. His surname was Piao, and everyone called him Old Piao. Though the surname was from the Joseon dynasty, he was of Mongol descent.

Old Piao was the son of an old Jeju Island horse keeper, and he had inherited the full craft of tending and judging horses, with riding skill to match. Back when the Jeju horse keepers used lasso poles to catch Yang Liu, it was Old Piao who had proposed tearing Yang Liu apart alive.

Lin Qian had shipped large numbers of Jeju horses to Fujian and Guangdong, and he needed men who understood horses to tend them, so the old horse keeper had sent his son along. Though Old Piao was now merely Lin Qian's private groom, in the future he might become the chief veterinarian of the new army's cavalry battalion.

Lin Qian made the introductions, then said, "Take us to see the horses."

"Yes." Old Piao acknowledged, walking ahead as he said, "Your Majesty has twenty-three horses in total, most of them at the pasture outside the city. Here in the city stables there are six: three Jeju horses, two Dian horses... come over here!"

By the time he finished speaking, Old Piao had reached a stall. He raised a hand, and the horse inside affectionately rubbed its head against him.

Old Piao opened the stall, took the wooden comb from his belt, and began grooming the horse's mane as he said, "This is a Dian horse. Her name is Tangtang. She arrived at the residence two months ago."

The Dian horse stood a little over a meter at the shoulder — even shorter than the Jeju horses — but it was muscular, with a compact, well-proportioned build, and looked quite alert.

Old Piao said, "Dian horses excel on mountain trails, have superb endurance, are excellent pack animals, and are skilled at climbing steep slopes and fording streams."

Song Danchu nodded. "Dian horses were recorded as far back as the Han dynasty, and by the Song dynasty they were considered fine horses. The Tea-Horse Road also used Dian horses. It's a pity this breed is too short at the shoulder to charge, and carrying an armored rider into battle is even more difficult. They're only suited for scouting and hauling supplies. To build a cavalry force, you'd need another breed, wouldn't you?"

Since Lin Qian had brought the two of them to the stables, Song Danchu had already guessed his intent.

Song Danchu said eagerly, "The army brothers are already quite familiar with Jeju horses, so no need to look at those. What's the other breed? Has the Jeju horse crossbreeding finally produced results?"

"Yes and no." Old Piao patted Tangtang as he spoke, then closed the stall door. "This new batch of horses was foaled last spring. They're only a year old now, and their temperaments aren't settled yet.

Whether they can truly serve as war horses once they've matured in three years — even my father isn't certain... Fengfeng, come here!"

As Old Piao reached out a hand, a sudden commotion came from an empty stall, and then a tall horse poked its head out, bobbing its head up and down as if greeting them.

It turned out the horse had been lying down before, which was why it couldn't be seen.

This horse was noticeably taller at the shoulder than the Jeju horses. It lacked the squat, sturdy, honest look of the local breeds — its frame was clean and elongated, with an air of noble bearing, and its eyes held intelligence. But its flesh was thin, and it looked rather scrawny.

Old Piao said, "His sire is Zhuangzhuang, a Spanish Andalusian horse. His dam is a cross between a Mongol horse and a Jeju horse. Fengfeng is a new breed that hasn't been named yet — on the island we just call it the New Horse, though you could also call it the Andalusian-Mongol-Jeju horse.

Fengfeng is one of the plainer-looking ones in this batch, so he can't be a stud. My father sent him to Guangzhou for Your Majesty to see."

The words sounded odd, but they made sense — every one of the new horses was precious, and the good ones had to be kept for breeding, not shipped back and forth. Song Danchu was deeply disappointed. "This horse looks magnificent, but his foundation is too thin. An armored man with his weapons weighs at least two hundred jin. Wouldn't sitting on this horse's back just wear him out?"

Old Piao laughed. "That won't happen. Fengfeng is only a year old, just weaned not long ago. His skeleton has grown in, but the muscle hasn't filled out yet, and his temperament isn't mature either. He's still a colt — he won't be ready for the battlefield until he's three or four. And breeding is the same; he'll need to be three or four before he can cover mares."

As if to echo Old Piao's words, Fengfeng snorted, shook his head up and down, sent his mane flying, and suddenly thrust his neck toward Song Danchu, startling him into stepping back half a pace.

Then Fengfeng tossed his head and let out a whinny, as if mocking them with a triumphant prank.

Song Danchu said, "Four years before he can fight, four years before he can breed. At that rate, won't our Great Xia's cavalry be forever out of reach? Master Piao, how many of these new horses are there on Jeju Island right now?"

Old Piao said, "Thirty. But half of them have defects and can't be used."

Song Danchu muttered, "Thirty... Your Majesty, it seems breeding our own war horses is a dead end."

Lin Qian said, "Why a dead end? It just takes time."

Song Danchu said, "I fear that by the time the new horses mature, Liaodong will already be recovered. Then there will be Liaodong horses, Mongol horses, and Hexi horses in whatever number we want — what would we need new horses for?"

Lin Qian reached out tentatively and patted Fengfeng's neck, replying, "Aren't there still the Yarkent Khanate and the Oirat Mongols?

If war breaks out, their war horses are tall and large, fast and powerful in the charge. Fighting them with short-legged horses would be too great a disadvantage.

If we wait until we're on the battlefield to build a horse administration from scratch, who knows how long that would take. The work has to be done in peacetime."

The Yarkent Khanate was the regime that occupied the southern frontier, while the Oirat Mongols — descendants of the Oirats — held the northern frontier; together they controlled the Western Regions. And the Western Regions had been an inseparable part of Chinese territory since ancient times — how could they not be recovered? The Mongols too — they also had to be reclaimed.

Even if Great Xia's horse administration proved unnecessary in the wars to destroy the Ming and the Jin, it would be needed in the campaigns to recover the Western Regions and Mongolia, and even in a future war against the Mughal Empire.

Moreover, the cotton textile industry was the one best suited for mechanized mass production, and the key that opened the door to the Industrial Revolution. And the Western Regions happened to be the finest cotton-growing region in the entire world. To secure the supply of raw materials, war was unavoidable.

And while India's natural conditions for growing cotton were inferior to the Western Regions', it was close to the sea, making transport convenient — the pick of the British Empire.

The Mughal Empire occupied India and had always regarded Central Asia and the Western Regions as its sphere of influence. For Great Xia to recover the Western Regions and Tibet, it would inevitably have to deal with the Mughal Empire — war was only a matter of time.

Even if Lin Qian's generation didn't fight, future sovereigns would have to. And when later descendants mobilized their armies and found their war horses vastly superior to those of the Western Regions and India, they would surely thank the Old Ancestor.

Both Song and Xu knew Lin Qian's ambitions ran deep, but hearing him speak personally of his plans for future wars stirred them both.

Though one was a civil official and the other a military man, they both belonged to the army faction. They couldn't care less about endless wars or whether it counted as militarism — in the army's view, the more wars the better, and the larger the territory the better.

But back to reality: the army's shortage of horses remained unsolved.

Lin Qian said, "The Liaodong iron cavalry is strong because they train in archery and horsemanship from childhood — it's their livelihood, just as we southerners grow up around boats and are naturally better sailors than the north.

The Guanning Army and the Jianzhou barbarians can form cavalry as long as they have horses.

For us, the horses are actually the easiest problem to solve. Without a corps of cavalrymen trained over many years, even with tall, fine horses, we still won't be a match for the northerners."

Xu Fengjie nodded. In the previous two campaigns against Liaodong, Kong Youde, the foremost warrior of the Dongjiang Army, had been a miner by origin with no professional military training — yet on the battlefield he was ferociously brave and slew countless enemies. In the south, such a thing was unthinkable.

For Great Xia's soldiers, even just staying on a horse without falling off required lengthy training.

Lin Qian continued, "But don't be discouraged. Jeju horses can't serve as charging war horses, but they're perfectly fine for transport and mobility. Using that trait, we can establish a new branch of troops — able to mount up for rapid movement and dismount to form ranks. We'll call them dragoons!"

Song Danchu said, "Your Majesty, there is one thing I do not understand."

"Please, speak."

"Why is this troop type called dragoons?"

Lin Qian had proposed the concept of dragoons long ago, but had only mentioned it in passing without much explanation, and since the Ming dynasty already had the tactic of cavalrymen fighting on foot, everyone could fully accept the concept.

But the name itself was too strange. In the Great Ming, anything associated with dragons was reserved exclusively for the imperial family. To bestow the title of dragon upon a type of mounted infantry — there must be some particular significance to it.

Xu Fengjie gave an awkward laugh and said, "To be honest, Your Majesty, your humble servant shares this doubt."

In history, dragoons got their name because the muzzle flash of a carbine fired from horseback resembled dragon's breath.

But history had already proven that firing muskets from horseback was a failed tactic. Setting aside the Western battlefields, Qi Jiguang's *Record of Military Training* openly criticized this tactic: "Firing a musket from horseback — the posture cannot be held steady, the horse is galloping, and the loading cannot be done properly, so shots are inevitably fired wildly. Before a few shots are fired, the enemy is already upon you, the gunpowder is spent, and the muskets are all empty vessels — how can one continue the fight?"

Even after firearms technology advanced, the modern cavalry of every nation still focused on the charge.

And Napoleon proved through his own practice that dragoons must choose between cavalry and infantry — training for both resulted in being mediocre at everything: mounted they could not defeat cavalry, dismounted they could not defeat infantry.

Therefore, Lin Qian did not plan to develop carbines, nor to practice mounted archery. He would focus solely on mounted mobility and fighting dismounted. That being the case, the name "dragoons" became even more meaningless.

Lin Qian said, "It was just a casual name. In any case, these are a type of mounted infantry, equipped with sabers and flintlock muskets, capable of scouting enemy intelligence, maneuvering rapidly on the battlefield, and pursuing and killing the enemy when they flee — that is enough.

However, I am not an expert in land warfare. As for what tactics to employ and how to organize and train them, the General Staff and the Army Ministry should decide." Song Danchu readily agreed: "If that is so, I believe the mounted infantry should be recruited mainly from among the Liaodong people, and General Kong Youde of the Dongjiang garrison should be invited to serve as drill instructor." During the Battle of Fenghuang City, Kong Youde's performance had been too outstanding — Song Danchu had long since planned to invite him as instructor.

Lin Qian thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, and said, "The training focus should be on foot combat. Just do not get the order of priorities reversed."

Song Danchu acknowledged this, then asked, "Your Majesty, for this mounted infantry, how many should we recruit?"

Lin Qian said, "Four thousand four hundred."

Song Danchu's eyes widened: "Your Majesty, it seems we do not have that many horses!"

The wind howled bleakly, as if mocking them again.

"No matter — mounted infantry are still infantry. Train them in foot combat first and establish the organizational structure." Lin Qian said. "How many war horses does the entire army have now?" "Three hundred Yunnan horses and six hundred Jeju horses — those are the ones in active service. Unassigned war horses number fewer than two hundred." Song Danchu recited the figures like counting family treasures.

Old Piao added, "In recent years, the island has produced quite a few new foals. The breeding stock has expanded considerably — we can still scrape together three hundred more."

"Two hundred plus three hundred — just enough for one cavalry battalion." Lin Qian muttered.

Song Danchu did not understand and corrected him: "Your Majesty, one of our battalions has at least five thousand men at minimum. This is only five hundred — short by a zero." Xu Fengjie said, "That is not entirely so. On the Ming side, regardless of numbers, as long as troops are stationed together, they can all be called a battalion — sizes range from tens of thousands down to a few hundred. Establishing a five-hundred-man cavalry battalion is also reasonable."

Lin Qian said, "Right. This is the second matter I invited you both to discuss — the organizational structure!"

The Daxia New Army's organizational structure was inherited from the Ming army, with units of zhen, battalion, si, ju, banner, and squad as the basis. It did not distinguish artillery battalions or cavalry companies — all branches were mixed together, and every level was simultaneously a tactical unit and an administrative unit, making management extremely chaotic.

During the Battle of Huangtianxia earlier, there had been a situation where the melee became chaotic and the organization fell apart — banner companies could not find their ju, ju could not find their si, Battalion Commanders and Company Commanders were in complete disarray, the overall commander directly commanded banner companies, and there was even the absurd incident of the overall commander personally killing the enemy's chief general.

Lei Sanxiang was brave, to be sure, but this matter still made Lin Qian gnash his teeth in anger.

If Lei Sanxiang had been wounded or killed by the Ming army's household retainers at that moment, who could say how the battle might have turned out?

Therefore, even though the battle was won, the army's organizational structure still needed to be reformed as soon as possible.

Lin Qian said, "The organizational problem is a long story. Both of you, follow me to the study."

With that, Lin Qian led the way, and the three left the stable, entered the residence, and made their way to the study.

The layout and decor of Lin Qian's study continued the style of his residence on Nan'ao Island. Xu and Song admired it briefly, then each took a seat. A maidservant served tea, and the fragrance of Lapsang Souchong wafted through the study.

Lin Qian took a sip of tea and said, "Regarding the Battle of Huangtianxia, how did the Army General Staff handle it?"

Xu Fengjie said, "Apart from rewarding the meritorious officers and men, admonishments were also given to the commanders who became separated from their units and those who charged blindly." Hearing this, Song Danchu nearly choked on his tea and coughed for a long while before saying, "Wasn't the Battle of Huangtianxia a great victory for our army? How could there be commanders separated from their units?"

Xu Fengjie explained, "Our army uses the battalion as the smallest independent combat unit. One battalion has nearly five thousand men. Deployed on the battlefield, they stretch at least two li from east to west. Commanding them in daylight is already difficult — and when we raided the camp at night, through rugged mountain forests, it was only natural that units became separated."

The so-called smallest independent combat unit refers to the smallest force that has complete organizational structure, can operate without support from higher command or allied forces, can command itself, and can go out and fight independently.

For example, the army's line infantry banner company is not an independent combat unit, because a banner company has no artillery, no wolf-cage troops to coordinate with, and no independent logistics, reconnaissance, or decision-making capabilities — it can only execute orders from above.

And the Daxia Army's smallest independent combat unit is the five-thousand-man battalion, commanded by a Mobile Corps Commander. Relying on bugles, war drums, and fast-mounted messengers — how could it be commanded effectively?

That night, many units that had lost contact with their superiors received no orders. Seeing allied forces charging, they naturally charged along as well, and the battle degenerated into a messy brawl. Because the Daxia Army's military system was inherited from the Ming army, this problem of command breaking down after dark was even worse in the Ming army. This was also a major reason the Ming army was not adept at night fighting or large-formation operations.

Song Danchu said upon hearing this, "How strange. Then why, when the Great Ming was first founded, did it command night battles and large-formation operations as easily as moving an arm or a finger?"

Xu Fengjie said, "Because when the Great Ming was founded, it used the guard station system. At that time, the guard station system had not yet decayed, and every unit had a fixed establishment.

But after the camp soldier system was implemented, there were no fixed quotas. Combined with the severe problem of phantom soldiers drawing rations, unit sizes varied greatly, making them difficult to command." Xu Fengjie was one of the first Fujian commoners to follow Lin Qian. He later joined the navy, and after the army was established, he was transferred to the army due to a shortage of officers. Because he was literate, he later attended the military academy for further study, and afterward served as Army Chief of Staff.

He had always been interested in military affairs, so when he spoke of these matters, he naturally expounded them with great authority.

Lin Qian added, "Then there are the Jianzhou barbarians beyond the passes. Under their Eight Banners system, a banner is also called a gushan. Each gushan has five jalan, each jalan has five niru, and each niru has three hundred men. The organizational structure is simple and clear.

Under one jalan, there are dedicated messengers, standard-bearers, guards, auxiliary troops, laborers, and craftsmen, allowing it to operate independently of the banner."

In other words, the Jianzhou barbarians' smallest independent combat unit is approximately fifteen hundred men.

The next higher independent combat unit is the gushan, approximately seventy-five hundred men.

And the sizes of these two combat units are basically equivalent to the modern combined battalion and combined regiment, and also equivalent to the battalion and regiment of modern European powers — close to the most reasonable combat organizational sizes summarized by history.

Moreover, one officer commanding five subordinates falls precisely within the optimal command span of three to six people. Their command hierarchy is also very short — only three levels: gushan, jalan, and niru — which happens to conform to the modern military concept of the regiment level serving as an administrative unit that dissolves during wartime.

This is the reason, organizationally speaking, that the Ming army's large formations could not defeat the Jianzhou barbarians.

If no reforms were made, then the Daxia Army would likewise be no match for the Jianzhou barbarians in terms of organizational structure.

Lin Qian paused, then said, "The greatest difference between firearm units and cold-steel units is that they do not array in deep, dense lines. Reserves are dispersed and held to the rear, and the battle line is very wide.

So if we are to reform, we must reduce the size of the smallest independent combat unit, compress it to a range the commander can control even in night fighting — within line of sight, within walking distance.

Each level may have only three to five subordinates — do not exceed the command limit. Additionally, independent combat units must have a fixed battle-line width that does not change with fluctuations in numbers, so that higher command can arrange formations easily."

Lin Qian took out a notebook, flipped to one page, and handed it to Xu Fengjie.

"This is my organizational proposal. I have never led an army and do not understand the specific conditions — this is merely a rough brick thrown to attract jade."

Xu Fengjie took it and examined it, and Song Danchu also leaned over to look.

On the notebook page were three neatly drawn tables — for infantry, artillery, and cavalry organization respectively.

The levels started with the squad, with the next level being the platoon, then company, battalion, regiment, brigade, division, and army corps. Each level was annotated with its full-strength numbers, personnel composition, commander's rank, and primary responsibilities.

For example, the four thousand four hundred mounted infantry Lin Qian had mentioned in the stable would exactly form one cavalry brigade.

One cavalry brigade commands two cavalry regiments, one brigade-level horse artillery battalion, one brigade-level guard company, and one brigade-level military police platoon. The brigade headquarters consists of the Mobile Corps Commander, chief of staff, and staff officers.

Song Danchu said, "Your Majesty, didn't you say the Jianzhou barbarians' short-chain command structure was better? On this chart, from squad to army, there are eight levels." Lin Qian pointed to the notes on the chart.

Song Danchu read aloud: "Tactical units, administrative units—what does this mean?"

Lin Qian said, "Tactical units are used for fighting, such as battalions and brigades. Administrative units mainly handle logistics, troop registers, and personnel, such as regiments and divisions.

When actual fighting breaks out, the regimental headquarters pulls back to manage the wounded and logistics, while its subordinate battalions come under brigade command."

Song Danchu checked against the chart and calculated: one infantry brigade commanded two infantry regiments and one brigade artillery battalion, and each regiment in turn commanded four infantry battalions. "Your Majesty, calculated this way, wouldn't a brigade have to command nine battalions in wartime? Doesn't that violate the principle of the optimal command span?" Xu Fengjie said, "Four of those infantry battalions can be held as reserves."

The Great Xia Army's line infantry generally deployed in two shallow ranks, easily broken by cannon fire or routed by cavalry charges.

Without reserves, the moment the enemy poured into the gap, the whole army would collapse at once.

Song Danchu suddenly understood—calculated this way, in wartime a brigade only needed to command five battalions, which fell within the optimal command span.

Moreover, the battalion level also exercised its own command, so the brigade's command burden was not heavy—it only needed to handle tactical issues of the overall direction, while how to fight specifically was left to the battalion level.

In addition, with battalions managing combat and regiments managing logistics, this also solved the problem of a single commander holding multiple posts, avoiding the inability to manage both fighting and finances at once, and also preventing soldiers from becoming a general's private property, preventing factionalism and warlordism.

Song Danchu still had many questions about the military reform, but after thinking it over, he asked the one he cared about most: "Your Majesty, for this expansion, how many men will be recruited?" Lin Qian said, "One division."

Song Danchu checked against the chart and felt his heart bloom with joy—a division's full establishment was eighteen thousand five hundred men!

Yahei

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