Chapter 182: Armaments

Pang Yu thought for a moment, then said, "You worked as a boatman for a year — you are indeed the right man for the job. This official takes note."

"Your subordinate has one more matter. I wish to pay my respects to Hou Shuban and learn to read. I do not know whether Your Excellency will grant permission."

"Oh? Why does Zenglu wish to learn to read?"

"The military orders, documents, and reports Your Excellency issues grow more and more numerous, all written in characters. Men like us who lead troops cannot read, and must constantly seek out the various shuban to read them aloud. Sometimes we forget after hearing it once, which causes much inconvenience and occasionally delays matters. Your subordinate thought that if I could read myself, it would spare a great deal of trouble."

Pang Yu smiled. "Thinking that way is exactly right. However, Hou Shuban is busy with Central Army affairs. This official will assign a different shuban. You may come tomorrow and begin studying with him."

"I thank Your Excellency."

"Is there anything else? You may raise all matters together."

Wang Zenglu hesitated a moment, then said, "Your subordinate has some thoughts on drilling the troops. I have long wished to report them for Your Excellency's consideration, but did not know whether they would be of any use."

Pang Yu glanced left and right, then said, "Anything you have put thought into may naturally be spoken. Only after everyone considers it together will we know whether it is truly useful. If you do not speak, and something useful goes unused, more men will die on the battlefield. From now on, speak boldly. Since we have time today, let us go to the Rear Office and sit down to talk."

"Would that not delay Your Excellency's rest?"

"We who lead soldiers are in the business of losing our heads on the battlefield. What matter is more urgent than rest? If rest is delayed, so be it — it is no great thing. Even if you woke me in the middle of the night to speak, this official would not blame you."

"Your subordinate understands."

Pang Yu nodded and watched Wang Zenglu for a moment before saying, "That you could realize a general officer ought to be literate — you have taken the first step toward becoming a true general officer."

……

"The day after tomorrow, my Garrison Battalion will conduct a march drill. All personnel except the First Bureau will participate. After reaching Wangjiang, the Two Hundredth Bureau will embark at Leigang; the remaining four bureaus will return by land. Mule carts will be hired to transport provisions this time. The march plan has already been distributed to everyone. Those who cannot read, find a teacher to read it aloud, or find someone in the camp who can read, and commit it to memory."

Pang Yu finished and looked up. Before him sat a crowd of rough, unlettered officers. Every time he distributed official documents, there was an odd feeling, because he knew before issuing them that no one could understand them. In the end, these officers would still have to find the very shuban who had written the document to read it aloud.

These officers trained hard every day; most likely none would make a special effort to learn to read. But Pang Yu still intended to keep issuing documents, because through this method, three soldiers in the camp who knew some characters had been discovered. They had already become treasures to their unit officers, their status in the camp rising rapidly — and this would spur other soldiers with ambition to begin learning to read.

"Before we begin today's meeting, I offer special commendation to Second Bureau Centurion Wang Zenglu. After each day's drill, he continues to study reading with the Central Army's Yang Shuban. This official will add an article to the Military Law: for any officer of Banner Captain rank or above whose character count reaches three hundred, a one-time reward of ten taels, with monthly pay increased by one tael; for soldiers and squad leaders, a one-time reward of five taels, with monthly pay increased by five mace."

The officers opposite drew in their breath at the same time — whether in astonishment that Wang Zenglu still had the energy to study at night, or in astonishment at Pang Yu's lavish reward.

Constrained by the overall level of education in this era, compounded by the low social status of soldiers, Pang Yu found it extremely difficult to recruit suitable talent. Those who were literate almost all held some identity as scholars. Even a down-and-out Tongsheng would rather become a yamen runner than a grunts. At least, in all the time they had been recruiting in Anqing, not a single proper scholar had come to enlist. Of the three literate soldiers, two were of household slave origin, and one was the son of an impoverished small landlord in a rural village who had studied for a year.

At the same time, Pang Yu deeply doubted whether those Tongsheng could meet the physical demands of a War Soldiers. For now, aside from offering rewards for literacy, he could think of no other way. Wang Zenglu's actions had reminded him: encouraging officers and soldiers to become literate was the only viable path at present. Soldiers could still be of use without reading, but if officers could not read, Pang Yu could not imagine how they would manage an army in the future. The army's scale would be impossible to expand.

"I have called this meeting today specifically to set aside discussion of the drill schedule. The main topics are a situation briefing and various improvements in the battalion. First, I will brief everyone on the situation around Anqing."

Pang Yu nodded toward Guo Fengyou. His personal soldier came forward and spread two maps across the long table. One was a map of the entire country drawn from his own memory; the other was a regional map found in the Archive Repository of the Anqing Prefectural Office, which looked somewhat difficult to decipher.

The Central Army had specially sought out a painter to enlarge them. What surprised Pang Yu slightly was that he had assumed painters were a rather rare profession, yet one had been found with ease, and his skill was quite good — but the moment it came to military and weapons matters, he was utterly at a loss.

"The Roving Bandits who invaded our Anqing at the start of the year — the Eight Great Kings of the Western Camp, the Sweeping King, Grid Eye, One Scallion, and the rest — returned to Shaanxi in the third month. There they joined forces with the strongest faction, Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang, along with the Dashing General, Lighting the Lamp, Passing Sky Star, Shooting Down the Sky, and other bands. According to the Dibao and reports from traveling yamen runners and Hangshang, as of the sixth month the Roving Bandit main force remains within Shaanxi's borders."

Pang Yu used a bamboo pole to point at Shaanxi's location. The officers opposite all stared wide-eyed — Wang Zenglu included. They had never seen a map in their lives; they remembered roads purely by impression. Suddenly confronted with something so abstract, they likely found it very hard to grasp.

"There is no large-scale Roving Bandit activity within Henan. To the west, Huguang lies upstream from Anqing; intelligence sources are ample. No Roving Bandits have been detected in the direction of Huangmei or Ezhou. To the north, in the Yingshan and Huoshan region, in the mountain areas near Anqing, small numbers of Local Bandits have appeared. The roads into the mountains see few travelers, and intelligence on conditions within the mountains is insufficient. We only know that the County Seats of both counties are in ruins. To the south, on the river, River Bandits have increased their seizures of passing passenger boats. This month, among the boats arriving from upstream, two that docked at Anqing had been attacked. This official has already ordered Water Camp's Chen Bazong to strengthen patrols."

When he mentioned the Water Camp, Pang Yu himself felt no confidence. Most of the Water Camp's boats had left with the Tribute Grain; the remainder were off doing business in Jiangnan. Recently, only five small boats were in Anqing, putting on a show of presence near Wharf.

Pang Yu blinked, banished the image of Chen Bazong from his mind, and returned to the table. "Overall, the Roving Bandits are primarily active in Shaanxi. The situation around Anqing is relatively stable. This gives us time to drill the troops. Each of you should continue to press your units to train rigorously. Do not relax simply because there is no threat — for at the speed the Roving Bandits move, by the time they are upon us, there will be little time to prepare."

"Next, I will address improvements to the army's armaments. Each of you has tried on the several types of armor kept in the Garrison Command. Fish-scale armor offers the strongest defense, but the scale armor currently producible in Anqing weighs around fifty jin. Because the edges of the scales chafe, a thick cotton undergarment must be worn beneath. The overall equipment has extremely poor breathability and comfort. According to tests by the Personal Guard Unit, in the weather of the sixth and seventh months, no soldier could endure it for even half a quarter-hour before being completely exhausted, which would severely impact combat. If we equip this type of armor, it will be unusable in summer. Therefore, fish-scale armor will only be used for specific Military Camp. Taking into account the climate of the Anqing region, the troops will be equipped with chain mail, with cotton armor added underneath in autumn and winter for increased defense and warmth."

What differed considerably from Pang Yu's preconceptions was the defensive power of properly made cotton armor — it was highly effective against slashing attacks. Treated leather armor also offered considerable defense; even an axe blade could not always penetrate it. Apart from scale armor, the other types of armor all struggled against thrusting attacks, and even scale armor could not effectively defend against heavy blunt-impact weapons.

Pang Yu swept his gaze around. None of the officers raised any objection. After waiting a moment, he continued, "The Personal Guard Unit assembled archers, Long Spearmen, and Sword-and-Shield Soldiers and conducted tests using Roving Bandit weapons captured at Tongcheng against four types of chain mail of different weights. Considering the four factors of weight, cost, defensive capability, and production time, this official has selected the twenty-three-jin single-layer chain mail."

Pang Yu spoke without pause, deliberately using a very definitive tone to forestall any questions. Among the four types of chain mail, the best defense came from the partially double-layered thirty-five-jin mail, but its cost and production time were both greater. In terms of equipment cost-effectiveness, the twenty-three-jin mail was the best — but facing these men who would be the actual users, that was not a convenient thing to say.

"This type of chain mail can effectively defend against slashing weapons. Among the Roving Bandits' weapons, the greatest threat to chain mail comes from thrusting weapons such as long spears and line spears, followed by blunt-impact weapons such as wolf tooth clubs, heavy axes, and large hammers. Finally, there is one more: heavy arrows fired directly from within twenty paces. The arrowhead may force open a lock ring, or may directly shear through a lock ring — but only a minority of archers can achieve this. Within ten paces, most well-trained archers can do so."

As Pang Yu spoke, he beckoned. Pang Ding, on the right, brought out two sets of chain mail and one set of cotton armor from under the table and laid them on the tabletop for the officers to examine. Yao Dongshan grabbed one set of chain mail and immediately began pulling it over himself. The others had no choice but to crowd around and study the remaining two sets. The cotton armor had been procured relatively smoothly, because the Anqing Guard was required to submit cotton armor to the Ministry of War every year, and this task had long since become a matter of socialized procurement — all made by civilian workshops in Anqing. Pang Yu had ordered them essentially to Ministry of War specifications: seven jin of cotton, repeatedly beaten into shape, which with the fabric added came to under ten jin.

Thus, a soldier's armor load would be about thirty jin. Adding weapons, helmet, canteen, dry rations carried on the person, and the like, the total winter load would not exceed fifty jin, allowing the troops to retain sufficient mobility.

Once everyone had returned to their seats, Pang Yu continued, "Having armor does not make one invulnerable to blades and spears, nor is there anything so good in this world. Providing soldiers with armor is not solely to preserve their lives, but to enable them to kill the enemy more effectively. Next, I will address weapon improvements. When this official was at Tongcheng, I observed the Roving Bandit troops below the walls. They excel at mobile mounted warfare, and their weapons are mostly of light and easily portable forms. The most common are the waist saber and the long saber. The cavalry line spears captured below the east wall were only nine chi long. Interrogation of captives revealed that the line spears used by the Border Army are one zhang two chi to one zhang four chi. The Mounted Bandits mostly cut them short for ease of carrying. Similarly, the long spears used by Roving Bandit infantry — the official regulation pattern is one zhang five chi to one zhang seven chi — the Roving Bandits keep only about one zhang in length, the shortest being six chi, the longest no more than one zhang two chi. Overall, their weapons do little harm to armored targets. The Roving Bandits themselves place extreme value on speed; even their Post Commander do not equip themselves with armor, and their defensive capability is equally low. However, the Mounted Bandits possess large numbers of riding bows. Therefore, the equipment of my Anqing Garrison Battalion, tailored to the Roving Bandits' characteristics, shall be: long spears of one zhang; the rattan shields used by Sword-and-Shield Soldiers enlarged to three chi five cun; the waist saber pattern unchanged. The Discipline Effectiveness Eight Forms drilled daily will require slight modifications."

Pang Yu finished reading and looked at the officers opposite. "Each of you lives with weapons daily in the camp. On this matter of improvements, you should understand it better than this official. Those with ideas, speak them. Those who have not yet formed an idea may now discuss it individually."

The officers murmured among themselves in low voices. Wang Zenglu cleared his throat and was just about to speak when Yao Dongshan beside him stood up and said, "Request permission to speak!"

"Centurion Yao may speak."

"Your subordinate feels that the camp has too few archers. Every one of those Mounted Bandits carries a bow. Relying on rattan shields alone cannot stop them — we must shoot back at them."

"Well raised." Pang Yu gestured for Yao Dongshan to sit. "Regarding ranged weapons, the current thirty archers are indeed insufficient — they are merely a stopgap. The alternatives under consideration are fire lances and cannons. Most of the firearms kept in the Garrison Command are too deteriorated to use, but manufacturing new ones is extremely difficult. Anqing City lacks craftsmen of this kind. If by the eighth month we still cannot find suitable equipment, this official will increase the number of archers."

Around the time of the Roving Bandit incursion, Zhang Guowei had transferred a batch of cannons from Jiangnan — short, stout-barreled Grand General cannons or Hundred-Subcannons, all now emplaced on the City Wall. Judging by appearance alone, they differed considerably from the black-powder cannons Pang Yu remembered from before.

"Does anyone else wish to speak?"

Wang Zenglu raised his hand. Pang Yu was just about to nod when he saw a personal soldier appear at the doorway.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, men from the Canal Gang came just now with word: someone at the docks has delivered a cannon, said to be for the Anqing Garrison Battalion."

……

Outside the Anqing Garrison Command, a hubbub arose. Many people hurried over from every direction to crowd around and watch a cannon cart making its way down Zongyang Gate Street.

Pang Yu received it before the command gate. He had deliberately had the cannon cart enter the city through Sheng-Tang Gate and make a circuit through the city, so that more people would see it, which might somewhat enhance his credibility.

The cannon cart finally arrived before the command gate. The guards parted the crowd, revealing a much thinner Bao Yu. He had not been pulling the cart himself, yet he was drenched in sweat.

The moment he saw Bao Yu, Pang Yu cupped his hands first and said, "Bao Xiansheng, you have toiled all the way here."

Bao Yu was wiping away sweat. Seeing Pang Yu, he hurriedly returned the greeting. "General, you are too kind."

He turned and pointed behind him. "I have, as the General instructed, modified a carriage."

"Such a great cannon, transported by you yourself — was the journey smooth?"

"Much thanks to the help of the porters at the docks. It went far better than when we boarded the boat in Suzhou. I am fortunate not to have failed in my mission; the bronze cannon has been delivered at last." Beneath his exhaustion, Bao Yu carried a trace of excitement.

Pang Yu descended the steps. The bronze cannon before him had indeed been considerably improved since the last time. Two larger wheels had been added, along with a tail wheel at the rear. The barrel was fixed onto the carriage — compared to those Grand General cannons, this was much closer to the image of a cannon in Pang Yu's mind.

"Your Excellency, look. The barrel is still the one you saw before, but the carriage has been replaced. Your subordinate made a special trip across the river to Liuhe to measure the track gauge of the Jiangbei Official Road. It should be the same width as here in Anqing."

Pang Yu smiled and nodded. He had traveled the official road from Jiangpu to Luzhou; the wheel ruts on the official road were roughly uniform. As long as the carriage was built for Jiangbei, it should be more or less the same.

"This official intends to order several more cannons from you, Xiansheng — on the condition that this cannon meets this official's requirements. If there are any shortcomings, they can then be improved."

Hearing that Pang Yu intended to buy more cannons — a large business deal, after all — Bao Yu's eyes immediately lit up. "Then I shall go at once to the docks and ask someone to send word, so the craftsmen in Suzhou can make some preparations."

Pang Yu quickly stopped him. "There is no need to rush, sir. Our first priority is to inspect and accept this old-style cannon. If any shortcomings are found, then you may improve the new cannon."

Bao Yu stared blankly. "What do you mean by inspect and accept?"

"Do not take offense, Mr. Bao. Military equipment is not like clothing, shoes, or hats. Any shortcoming must be paid for with human lives. Therefore, this official must be certain it meets the requirements. As it happens, my ying is about to begin a field march exercise. Please bring this bronze cannon and follow the exercise, traveling overland to Wangjiang County and then by boat. Along the way, we will conduct test firing on different terrain. If both firing and transport go smoothly, this official will accept it."

"This... does the General mean that I must go along as well?"

Pang Yu looked at Bao Yu with a smile. "Of course. Only by participating personally can you truly understand how the cannon will be employed in my ying."

Bao Yu was stunned for a moment. His original intention had been to come to Anqing to settle accounts — find Pang Yu, hand over the cannon, and leave. Now it seemed he would be delayed for several more days. After all, he had already sunk a great deal of cost into this cannon.

"Then I shall make the journey with the army." Bao Yu finished speaking and drew a letter from his bosom. "Before departing, I paid a visit to Mr. Ma. He entrusted me to deliver this to General Pang."

Pang Yu quickly took it, then ordered his Personal Soldiers to first transport the cannon into the barracks together with Bao Yu. He himself entered the Garrison Command, and standing just inside the gate, opened the envelope and began reading it carefully.

Pang Ding was in attendance beside him. After waiting for quite a while, Pang Yu put the letter away.

"For the Wangjiang exercise, have Jiang Guoyong lead the team."

Pang Ding looked at Pang Yu in surprise. Because this exercise involved water transport, Pang Yu had been preparing for a long time, yet now he suddenly wanted Wang Zenglu to lead the team instead.

"What did Mr. Ma say?"

Pang Yu picked up the letter and glanced at it again. "Wang Gongbi has been transferred out. The new Anchi Military Defense Circuit intendant is about to take office. I must make a trip to Chizhou."

"Who is the new Military Defense Circuit intendant? Do you know him, young master?"

"Right Assistant Administration Commissioner of the Jiangxi Provincial Administration Commission, Shi Kefa." Pang Yu let out a long breath. "I do not know him, but I have actually heard of him."