Chapter 118: Granting the Flags

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The assembled officers craned their necks, waiting for Zhou Shixiang to announce the company commanders, but Zhou Shixiang did not speak at once.

Instead, he suddenly raised a hand and signaled the personal guards below the platform to bring up the several battle flags that had been made in haste the night before.

There were five battle flags in all, each of red cloth with black characters, divided into five banners: "Terror of the Tartars," "Mighty Valor," "Tiger Swiftness," "Breaking the Line," and "Personal Guard." The flags were square, with wavy streamers along all four edges.

The poles were made of heavy timber, exceptionally sturdy. Each pole was fitted with a sharp spearhead, adorned with red tassels — a truly imposing sight.

Once the five great flags were unfurled, however, few of the men below the platform could read. Most stared in bewilderment, not knowing what was written on the banners the battalion commander had ordered brought out.

Amid the crowd's astonished speculation, Zhou Shixiang turned and took the battle flag embroidered with "Terror of the Tartars." His gaze fell sharply on Ge Zheng, whose face was full of confusion, and he called out in a ringing voice: "Ge Zheng!"

Ge Zheng started, and answered reflexively: "Your subordinate is here!"

"This battalion commander appoints you company commander of the Terror of the Tartars Battalion of my Taiping Army. Come up and receive the flag!"

"Company commander of the Terror of the Tartars Battalion?... Ah? Your subordinate accepts the order!"

Ge Zheng had not expected to be the first company commander Zhou Shixiang appointed. His heart surged with excitement, and he gladly stepped out from the crowd.

Under the envious gazes of the others, he strode quickly up onto the high platform and received the Terror of the Tartars battle flag from Zhou Shixiang's hands.

Looking at the visibly stirred Ge Zheng, Zhou Shixiang spoke eight more characters: "Where the flag is, the man is; where the flag falls, the man falls."

"Where the flag is, the man is; where the flag falls, the man falls!"

Those brief eight characters made Ge Zheng utterly solemn. He shook the Terror of the Tartars battle flag in his hand toward the sky, and the flag snapped — *whap, whap* — a truly gallant sound.

"Shao Jiugong!"

"Your subordinate... your subordinate is here!"

"This battalion commander appoints you company commander of the Mighty Valor Battalion. Come up and receive the flag!"

"Your subordinate accepts the order, and thanks the battalion commander!"

The second man Zhou Shixiang called was not an old brother from Mount Daqiao, but the surrendered Luoding officer Shao Jiugong. Hearing Zhou Shixiang call his name, Shao Jiugong's heart relaxed.

He glanced toward Jiang He, Ge Yi, and the others, then mounted the high platform with a trace of nervousness and unease.

After receiving the Mighty Valor battle flag, Shao Jiugong also instinctively uttered the eight characters, "Where the flag is, the man is; where the flag falls, the man falls," then imitated Ge Zheng, shaking the battle flag in the air several times before gathering it in his hands and standing quietly to one side.

"Qin Zhisheng!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"This battalion commander appoints you company commander of the Tiger Swiftness Battalion. Come up and receive the flag!"

"Your subordinate accepts the order, and thanks the battalion commander!"

As the oldest of the old brothers from Mount Daqiao, Qin Zhisheng cared little whether he held office or not. Back in Luoding he had declined an appointment as platoon commander, yet now, upon hearing Zhou Shixiang call his name, he mounted the high platform with a certain pride.

"Tie Yi!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"This battalion commander appoints you company commander of the Breaking the Line Battalion. Come up and receive the flag!"

"Your subordinate accepts the order, and thanks the battalion commander!"

Tie Yi was the fourth company commander candidate called to the platform. Zhou Shixiang had just said that from this day the Taiping Army would be divided into five battalions — four combat battalions and one personal guard battalion.

The first three were named Terror of the Tartars, Mighty Valor, and Tiger Swiftness, while the fourth was called "Breaking the Line."

The name "Breaking the Line" meant, as the words implied, charging bravely at the forefront on the battlefield to break through enemy positions. Tie Yi's men were all miners, skilled with gunpowder and expert at demolition, so the name "Breaking the Line" suited them best of all.

The company commanders of the Terror of the Tartars, Mighty Valor, Tiger Swiftness, and Breaking the Line Battalions had all been announced. The four choices did not exceed the expectations of the officers and veterans below the platform, nor did they cause any discontent.

But what everyone now cared about was the last battalion — the choice of company commander for the Personal Guard Battalion.

There were many men presently qualified to serve as company commander of the Personal Guard Battalion. Among the old brothers from Mount Daqiao, at least three or four were suitable — for instance, Ge Zheng's brother Ge Yi, and the bald man Jiang He.

Among the new recruits from Luoding, several had also distinguished themselves and could take the post, such as the former flag-bearer Song Erniu.

The Personal Guard Battalion, by its very name, was the commander's own guard. Whether in Ming or Qing times, a general's personal troops were always the best fighters in the whole army and the most imposing soldiers.

The commander of the personal guard was, moreover, the most trusted of the general's trusted men. So everyone privately guessed who would become company commander of the Personal Guard Battalion.

Zhou Shixiang did not keep them waiting long before naming the man he considered the best choice for company commander of the Personal Guard Battalion.

"Jiang He!"

"Hah!"

The bald Jiang He let out a long breath and answered almost in a roar: "Your subordinate is here!"

"This battalion commander appoints you company commander of the Personal Guard Battalion. Are you willing to guard this battalion commander's side?"

"Your subordinate is willing to go through fire and water for the battalion commander!"

"Good. Come up and receive the flag!"

"Your subordinate accepts the order, and thanks the battalion commander!"

As he mounted the platform, Jiang He's back was straighter than anyone else's, and the look he gave the crowd was prouder than proud — so much so that Ge Zheng on the platform shot him a glare.

"Where the flag is, the man is; where the flag falls, the man falls!"

After receiving the Personal Guard battle flag, Jiang He shook it even harder than Ge Zheng and Shao Jiugong had, for fear that the soldiers far below the platform might not see that it was he, Jiang He, who had become company commander of the Personal Guard Battalion.

"The appointments of the five battalion company commanders are made.

I now announce the organization of each battalion.

From this day, twenty soldiers form a squad, with the squad leader serving as its corporal; five squads form a platoon, with the platoon leader serving as its sergeant; five platoons form a battalion, with the company commander serving as its captain."

"In addition to the squad leader, each squad shall have a deputy squad leader, filled by a private first class.

In addition to the platoon leader, each platoon shall have a deputy platoon leader, filled by a corporal. In addition to the company commander, each battalion shall have two deputy company commanders, filled by probationary company commanders."

"All soldiers in a battalion are battalion soldiers. One who takes three heads may become a private first class; one who takes six heads may become a corporal. Above that, each promotion in rank requires a multiple of the number of heads."

"Each battalion shall also select twenty soldiers as cooks, responsible solely for the battalion's meals. The cook squad leader's post is a corporal's billet."

"All archers shall be concentrated in the Personal Guard Battalion, formed into one or two squads according to their numbers, to be expanded later."

"All who can ride shall also be concentrated in the Personal Guard Battalion. This battalion commander has separate appointments for them."

"All swords, spears, swords, and axes now in the camp shall be fully inventoried, as shall the firearms, arrows, and padded armor."

"The five battalion company commanders shall now immediately adjust the manpower of their units. New recruits and captives are to be distributed as reinforcements, and no battalion may contend over them."

Under Zhou Shixiang's direction, the newly appointed five battalion company commanders immediately set about adjusting their units' manpower.

Although Zhou Shixiang had stressed that no battalion was to contend over men, Ge Zheng, Shao Jiugong, and the others still scrambled for soldiers, openly and covertly, as soon as they descended — especially for the veterans who had fought in several battles, who were the most contested.

The Mighty Valor Battalion had just promised a corporal's rank, and the Tiger Swiftness Battalion immediately promised a sergeant's rank. Ge Zheng and Jiang He nearly came to blows over the most skilled men.

The matter was brought to Zhou Shixiang, and after a thorough scolding, Zhou Shixiang personally oversaw the distribution of the veterans. In the main, they were spread evenly among the battalions, so that no one gained an advantage and no one suffered a loss.

There were ten probationary company commanders in the five battalions. Zhou Shixiang went over the list of these ten again and again before finally settling on the ten candidates.

They were Peng Dazhu, Ge Yi, Song Erniu, Zheng Tiezhu, Zheng Daniu, Lin Zaisheng, Wang Youxi, Zhang Erjiang, Wu Mazi, and Li Fuguo.

Apart from Li Fuguo, four of the remaining nine were old brothers from Mount Daqiao who had previously served as sergeants and corporals. Another four had joined the Taiping Camp after Luoding, among whom Song Erniu, Zheng Tiezhu, and Zheng Daniu had all become sergeants.

Lin Zaisheng had not even been a corporal before.

His performance in the battle of Deqing had been ordinary, but in the battle of Xinxing he had cut down four Green Standard soldiers, and in the subsequent battle of Sihui he had fought bravely at the front, cutting down several battalion soldiers in succession.

During the assault on Gaoyao he had been the first to charge into the city. When merits were assessed after the battle, Zhou Shixiang thought especially highly of him, and when considering the ten probationary company commander candidates, he had set him down as one of them.

Wang Youxi had an auspicious name, and he looked auspicious too. He was not from Mount Daqiao, nor was he a new recruit who had joined at Luoding. He was from the Green Standard — a soldier under Shao Jiugong.

The Jiangxi soldiers, whose backs had been branded and whose retreat was thus cut off, had all performed outstandingly in the series of battles after joining the Taiping Camp, and Wang Youxi was a representative figure among them.

By head count alone, he had probably taken a dozen or more by now.

If promotion were based solely on heads, the post of probationary company commander would never have fallen to him, but in order to reassure and commend the Jiangxi soldiers, Zhou Shixiang made an exception and appointed Wang Youxi a probationary company commander, serving right in Shao Jiugong's Mighty Valor Battalion.

The appointment of Li Fuguo as probationary company commander was made entirely out of the need to win men over.

This was not out of fear that Li Fuguo would turn traitor — Zhou Shixiang believed Li Fuguo could not possibly have the nerve to turn traitor, because, like Shao Jiugong and his lot, he simply had no road left on the Qing side.

This winning-over was, rather than winning over, more a matter of using his former title of battalion commander to overawe the Green Standard captives from Gaoyao, to set their minds at ease and keep them from fearing that the Taiping Army would take their lives.

With Shao Jiugong's precedent, the Taiping Army would inevitably accept more surrendered Green Standard officers and soldiers in the future. Settling them properly and fully converting them into members of the Taiping Army was of the utmost importance.

Every additional Han soldier converted away from serving the Qing court was one more measure of strength for the Han revival. The Han under heaven cannot all be killed, but the Manchus can be.

Without the Han aiding the tyrant, Zhou Shixiang had reason to believe that one day the Manchus would be exterminated as a race.

The rosters of sergeants and corporals for each battalion were quickly reported by the five company commanders. More than half were former corporals and veterans who had been promoted, while the remaining smaller portion were outstanding new recruits.

After serving as Zhou Shixiang's aide for a few days, the old prisoner Liao Ruixiang from the Deqing jail was sent by Zhou Shixiang to the rear camp. Old Liao was getting on in years, after all.

The vanguard's thrust into Zhaoqing this time depended on two legs, on rapid marching, on daring to fight and kill.

Thus, although Zhou Shixiang urgently needed educated men at his side to assist him, he could not keep Old Liao from going to the rear camp, because the old man simply could not keep up with the vanguard's movements. Keeping him at his side would only have harmed him.

Without Secretary Liao's help, Zhou Shixiang alone had to handle all the army's official documents, which made his head ache and gave him headaches.

When he heard from Ge Zheng and the others that among the new recruits in Gaoyao there were several young men who knew some characters, Zhou Shixiang immediately had Ge Zheng bring them over, and set these young men to work in the personal guard camp handling official documents every day.

After all the battalions' troops were adjusted, each battalion had 500 combat soldiers and 20 cooks, 520 men in all, with 35 officers of squad leader rank and above. (A great event where pies fall from the sky — cool phones await you!

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