Chapter 424: Flying Tiger Battalion

One who does not plan for the whole cannot plan for a single part.

This time, the Transmigrators came north for the King's Rescue with many long-term plans aimed at the north. These plans were numerous and varied, covering every aspect of what a power base needed to develop.

Among these, military construction was, without a doubt, the top priority.

A small, elite cavalry force adapted to the northern climate and terrain, ready to deploy at any moment, was the core resource for securing their position. This was not just a must-have — it had to be assembled early, because a military force takes time to take shape.

Given the special circumstances, the northern delegation lacked the resources and time to train troops from raw recruits, so they could only recruit a batch of temporary workers in the form of "mercenaries" to meet the emergency.

Thus came the conscription drama at Scout Field.

Judged by short-term cost-effectiveness, the "temp" unit was still quite impressive.

Because this unit was both cheap and "convenient."

Although the settling-in fees and monthly wages seemed substantial, compared to the resources the Military spent on the Guard Battalion and the Special Operations Team, this bit of money was nothing.

One had to understand that for a regular soldier, the army not only had to spend resources on long-term training and cultivation, but also had to bear all kinds of hidden expenditures: injury, disability, death.

Injuries and illnesses required free medical treatment; disability required job placement; death required survivor pensions and family care... all these hidden welfare costs far exceeded that seemingly high salary. Just like civil servants in later generations — their salary appeared low, but the total resources allocated to them surpassed those of external hires.

Precisely because of their temp-worker nature, this unit could be used without so many considerations. Cannon fodder — if they died, they died; no trouble afterward. The law of nature.

But this situation was only effective in the short term. For the Transmigrators, who aimed for long-term positioning and had a comprehensive plan, once they freed up their hands, the temp unit absolutely had to be reformed.

These men had to undergo regular training and indoctrination, just like the other units, and become qualified "Imperial Army" soldiers before they could shoulder the heavy responsibility of fighting the various forces in the north — including the Ming Army itself.

Of course, all of the above were just long-term plans. Whatever the northern delegation wanted to do in the future, getting through the immediate crisis of the King's Rescue was the real business. So from the moment recruitment ended, the newly enlisted 530 Knights began a series of pre-battle preparations.

First was forming the unit.

Since exactly five hundred soldiers remained after eliminating the weaker ones — just enough to form a battalion — Cao Zong immediately announced the establishment of the "Flying Tiger Battalion" and granted the battalion commander a hastily made banner bearing the winged-tiger emblem.

The Flying Tiger Battalion commander was Du Dewei, Vice Captain of the Special Operations Team, assuming command; the deputy battalion commander was Chen Ce, formerly a Company Commander of the Governor's Standard Battalion Battalion.

Below the battalion commander were five sub-units: A, B, C, D, and E. Each had a formal establishment of one hundred men, with temporarily selected Natives serving as captain and vice captain, and an unspecified number of Special Operations Team members serving as "Liaison Officers."

Below the sub-units were squads, ten men each.

Although the Flying Tiger Battalion was called an "Auxiliary Battalion," it was in fact a lavishly funded elite cavalry force. In the entire Ming Dynasty, this was probably the most extravagant "Auxiliary Battalion" ever.

Every formal soldier of the Flying Tiger Battalion was equipped with two horses — and this was only the minimum standard. In wartime, they would be temporarily assigned three or even four horses depending on the situation. In short, in the hands of a Local Tyrant, anything that could be solved with money was not a problem.

In fact, every Main Soldier of the Flying Tiger Battalion would have two actual Auxiliary Soldiers to provide a series of logistical services such as caring for the horses.

These Auxiliary Soldiers were all recruited from the previously eliminated Military Households and Refugees. Although the wages were lower, they were fed and housed, and they had the chance to be promoted to Main Soldier — so they counted as a reserve force.

Thus, overnight, Cao Zong, who originally had a meager number of subordinates, suddenly swelled to command nearly two thousand followers of every description.

The next step after forming the unit was regularization.

Specifically, standardizing weapons and standardizing uniforms.

Weapons were simple. Since they did not need bows and arrows, and by design were not meant to engage the enemy in close-quarters melee, the Flying Tiger Battalion's standard-issue weapon was, for the time being, only a single cavalry saber.

After a breaking-in period, Flying Tiger Battalion officers familiar with the Transmigrators' combat methods would be equipped with some Type 38 Rifles for skirmishes against small groups of enemies.

After this came the mass uniform change.

Following a certain power base's consistent practice, before enlistment, soldiers had to complete a series of medical examinations, "disinfection," and other sanitary and epidemic-prevention procedures.

However, the next step hit a snag: a portion of the recruits grumbled considerably about shaving their heads. But an order was an order. At this point, the Ming men who had already signed contracts and taken the money had no room for bargaining.

The Regional Commander might be a fool with too much money, but he could also enforce military law. If he casually chopped off eight or ten heads right now, who in Jinwei would come forward to seek justice for the unlucky wretches? So in the end, every one of these recruits obediently shaved his head.

In truth, regarding head-shaving itself, the Ming People were not as resistant as one might exaggerate.

The infamous later-generation policy of "keep your hair and lose your head" occurred against the backdrop of the Manchu Qing's massive invasion, when the Ming People faced national ruin and family destruction. The Scholar-Official class used the Manchu Qing's "Queue Order" as an opportunity to stir up a wave across the nation — nominally against the pigtail hairstyle, but in reality against the Qing.

And this wave soon vanished silently with the Ming state's military collapse... The words of Seventh Mistress in the grand mansion were bleak indeed: "Your ancestors never wore queues."

Yes, the ancestors did not wear queues — but the ancestors did not forbid crew cuts either...

Not just in the Ming Dynasty, but tracing back further to the Tang and Song, the monastic class had always been a class that the common people aspired to.

The Song Dynasty court often issued ordination certificates to Dayuan dispatched to the provinces to settle debts. Why? Because in that era, an ordination certificate was equivalent to a government permit — it could be easily sold for cash.

This was just like the Reform and Opening era in later generations: the Government was financially strapped, so officials heading to Hainan to take office could only receive some color-TV permits first to fund their posting...

The Ming Dynasty was the same. When Zhu Yuanzhang was on the throne, ordination certificates that were not issued recklessly were also very valuable: the urban commoner class would try every means to pay a high price for a certificate and become an officially recognized monk.

What was the benefit of becoming a monk? The most important point was tax exemption.

One had to realize that ancient monasteries like Shaolin Monastery had, in fact, been the great local Landlords through the ages. The monastery's property included not only vast fertile fields but also various workshops and taverns — ordinary country gentry simply could not compare.

So, the old ancestors actually had no fundamental aversion to shaving their heads bald or getting a crew cut. Whether it was the Scholar-Official class leaving home to cultivate themselves, or the majority urban commoner class leaving home to "generate income," this was all very natural, even something to aspire to.

Under these circumstances, the Transmigrators' demand that the people under their rule shave to a crew cut had, in fact, never met with widespread resistance. As for the kind of resistance elevated to the level of political morality that occurred when the Manchu Qing Entered the Pass — that had never appeared at all.

The Ming People were very realistic: if you ate the master's rice, you had to accept the master's rule. In this harsh society with clear class divisions and corpses lying by the roadside, the lower classes had no right to bargain.

So when the General-in-Chief grew angry and was about to drag out a couple of the more talkative ones to enforce military law, these Tianjin fellows who had previously grumbled a bit promptly backed down — wasn't shaving your head better than losing it? Besides, hadn't these Southern Soldiers all shaved their heads too?

After this, everything proceeded very smoothly.

After bathing and passing their physicals, the Ming men put on, without another word, their cotton underclothes, padded army jackets, green Army Greatcoats, and buffalo-hide boots that looked high-class at a glance.

This set of winter cotton uniforms was, in appearance, not much different from what the regular soldiers of the Guard Battalion wore — except for the buttons: the regular soldiers' coats had double rows of Copper buttons, while the Flying Tiger Battalion's were white Iron buttons.

Setting aside the strange style, judging purely by the military-grade quality of the outerwear, the Ming men who experienced it firsthand immediately felt its comfort and warmth. The standard-issue military uniforms of later generations were far superior to the chaotic assortment of padded jackets and leather robes of the seventeenth century.

There was another reason for the mandatory head-shaving: the issue of military caps.

One reason ancient Warriors' helmets were made in a bell shape was that ancient people mostly kept long hair, so the helmet needed to leave room for it. This was true both in China and abroad.

Later-generation military caps, however — whether the pot-lid-style steel helmet or the cotton Lei Feng hat and training cap — did not account for this, because soldiers of later generations all had short hair.

Therefore, only after shaving their heads could the Flying Tiger Battalion recruits change into their military caps.

Once all the preliminary preparations were complete, the Flying Tiger Battalion soldiers, with a brand-new appearance, immediately began the most important training: integration drills.

The task was heavy. To mold five hundred scattered individuals together to meet the basic requirements of a military unit, there was no other way but to intensify training.

So from that day on, the soldiers, divided into five groups, began intensive training.

The subjects were simple: no Military Stance or goose-stepping. Everyone mounted up and went out on long-distance marches and field exercises.

During the long, deliberately circuitous marches, this brand-new unit resolved the problems that were exposed along the way while simultaneously beginning to integrate and select personnel.

The squads sent out not only had to practice all kinds of marching and combat formations and familiarize themselves with various signal transmission methods, but also had to break away from the main force into teams at any time to practice concealment and field camping... In short, the recruits were very busy and very fulfilled.

Although this kind of training yielded quick results, it was without a doubt only achievable with the backing of enormous funds.

One must know that the expenditure of troops on the march far exceeds that of being garrisoned. Five hundred men, each with two horses, conducting long-distance training maneuvers — the resources consumed every day were a colossal figure. Ming dynasty commanders were absolutely incapable of this. The Transmigrators were now like pay-to-win players in a game, for that bit of experience points, to save time, for that One Blade 999, not hesitating to swipe their cards lavishly... maybe even Alipay.

And just as the intense integration was underway here, the Fleet of the North also began its return voyage.

This time the fleet sailed back, except for one of the smallest escort ships left in Tianjin, the remaining vessels were all fully loaded with cargo and headed south together, taking advantage of the tailwind to go to Shanghai Port for transshipment.

As for the fleet's return cargo — apart from loading a great deal of Menggu cowhide in the bottom holds, all the remaining space, with the help of local commercial firms, carried a large number of northern refugees, and no other goods were loaded.