Chapter 221: Medals

"Gao Yangyi, gun captain of the four-pounder gun crew, First Division, First Thousand Headquarters, Wendeng Battalion combat troops. In his first battle, when his gun crew members joined hand-to-hand combat, he independently operated the cannon to bombard the enemy line, killing dozens of enemy soldiers and one Niru Ejen. He displayed a spirit of bravery and calmness, along with skilled weapon-handling ability, and shall serve as a model for the entire army. He is specially awarded the Third-Class Valor Medal. The gun crew is awarded the Collective Valor Medal. One Niru-kill mark shall be painted on the four-pounder barrel, and the crew members shall receive a Second-Class Special Combat Reward..."

At the Weihai Mazidun military camp, the parade ground was a sea of red. On the high platform stood a neat row of soldiers in red uniforms. As Liu Pojun's voice fell, a young officer with a small mustache stepped forward, head high and chest out, standing before Chen Xin. He was that iron-nerved gun captain from Shenmi Island, who had loaded the cannon as casually as strolling in a garden before the enemy line. His gun crew had lost one loader and one gunner killed in action, the bore-cleaner lightly wounded, and the other gunner severely wounded — yet not a single hair on him was even grazed. This gun crew received special commendation from Chen Xin, each awarded different medals and rewards.

Chen Xin personally pinned a bronze Third-Class Valor Medal onto his chest. Gao Yangyi, still as thick-nerved as ever, showed no particular expression, saluted, and returned to the ranks.

Chen Xin picked up the next medal. Liu Pojun again announced loudly: "Chen Ying, commander of the Second Squad, Second Killer Banner, First Division, First Thousand Headquarters. Fought bravely in cold-steel combat. His unit was the first to pierce through the enemy line facing them, causing the enemy's right wing to collapse first. Chen Ying is awarded the Second-Class Cold-Steel Assault Medal. The Second Squad is awarded the Collective Assault Medal, along with a Second-Class Special Combat Reward."

Chen Xin pinned the medal on Chen Ying and offered a few words of encouragement. Medals were a kind of honor — worn on the chest and walked out in public, they often drew admiring glances from passersby. Especially in Wendeng Battalion, soldiers with medals who retired could enjoy certain priority rights, which held a special appeal for the troops.

Of course, from Chen Xin's perspective, that was not the point. The greatest function of medals was that, without spending money, they could make soldiers feel fulfilled — even willing to give their lives without complaint or regret. In substance, they were no different from the little red paper flowers made in kindergarten; the only difference lay in the skill of the persuasion. So he was still decent enough to add a White Rabbit milk candy alongside the little red flower — pairing it with the Special Combat Reward, which was simply some silver.

Not many people received this milk candy, so the candy exceeded the value of the candy itself. Little friend Chen Ying, deeply grateful, saluted and then also returned to the ranks.

"Special Service Second Squad, for excellently completing the reconnaissance mission assigned by Central Command, being the first to detect Later Jin troop movements, and after the enemy retreated, fully exercising initiative by launching a surprise night raid on the Jianzhou Bandit main camp at Tieshan, burning a portion of enemy fodder and causing the enemy to stampede in the night, and capturing one enemy officer alive. Special Service Third Squad, for excellently completing the Shenmi Island battlefield reconnaissance mission and capturing Kakduli, Gūsa Ejen of the Jianzhou Bandits' Plain White Banner. Awarded the Third-Class Distinguished Service Medal, along with a First-Class Special Reward. The Third Squad is permitted to wear the Enemy Officer Captured insignia on their uniforms."

"Farmer-Soldier Flintlock Detachment, awarded the Collective Second-Class Cold-Steel Assault Medal. Detachment commander, step forward."

After Chen Xin finished awarding medals to the farmer-soldier detachment, all the observing representatives of combat troops and farmer-soldiers below applauded in unison. This time, the recipients were all from the First Thousand Headquarters and the Weihai First Company of farmer-soldiers. The other two Thousand Headquarters, though envious, could only watch dryly, and then kept pestering their superior officers to request battle assignments.

The remaining less important Loyalty-Bravery and Purple Star medals, which had many recipients, were awarded by Huang Side, Lu Chuanzong, and others. In Chen Xin's medal system, cold-steel assault held higher status than ranged attack, with greater rewards. This time, the four-pounder gun crew was an exception, because they had practically been using their cannon to fight at bayonet-point — the crew members had also joined in hand-to-hand combat — so their reward was equal to that of a cold-steel assault...

In this era, firepower had not yet reached the point of fully deciding victory or defeat. Chen Xin had to ensure the army maintained an offensive spirit of seeing red on the bayonet. These recent engagements showed that the Later Jin soldiers were not savage wild beasts. Their repeated victories over Ming troops owed only a small part to superior individual combat skills; it relied more on their organizational model built solely for warfare, their more effective military merit system, and their harsh military discipline. As long as Chen Xin could build a true professional army, the Jianzhou Bandits' organizational model would become utterly obsolete. The current Wendeng Battalion already possessed the caliber of a professional army — it was only that its scale could not yet form an advantage over the Jianzhou Bandits.

Liu Minyou, as the chief officer of the civil administration system, had also come to attend the medal-awarding ceremony. While applauding, he leaned in and said, "My lord Chen, this time the bereavement compensation is several thousand taels, the combat rewards exceed ten thousand taels, and there are over a hundred wounded soldiers to resettle. That three thousand taels of silver you snatched back won't be nearly enough."

Chen Xin laughed in spite of himself. "The maritime trade ships have returned, bringing over two hundred thousand taels of silver and one hundred fifty thousand jin of copper. Sold through the money shops in Linqing and Tianjin, the profit is more than double what it was before. The tobacco profits are also decent. We should be able to breathe a little easier. Why has Minyou turned into a miser like Grandet?"

"Yesterday I saw the inventory report Dong Yu submitted. This month, ninety thousand live-fire arquebus rounds, thirty times per firearms soldier. Given your style from the year before last, is there some big battle coming? Once the fighting starts, won't the silver flow out just as fast? If I don't keep a tight watch for you, what will we use then?"

"You read the last intelligence summary. Construction on Dalinghe is about to begin. The Later Jin side will certainly react. You know that traitor Kong Youde — Dengzhou is likely to see trouble too. I need to train more troops in preparation."

Liu Minyou sighed. Since the beginning of this year, the number of beggars and refugees seeking refuge had increased by another ten thousand. If Dengzhou fell into chaos as well, there would be even more people to feed in the future.

Chen Xin smiled and consoled him: "Don't worry about not being able to feed more people. We won't need that much silver — the main expenses are military pay and armor replenishment. This time we captured several hundred sets of armor on Shenmi Island, so we've made a profit there."

Liu Minyou said helplessly, "That's the only way to look at it. Lately, many more people have drifted here from various places. We don't have that much land to settle them, and the factories and army can't expand any further either."

"Farmland — there will be plenty."

"The musketeers on both flanks can be arranged in three ranks, firing one volley before engaging the enemy — no need to maintain that so-called continuity." Zhong Laosi's booming voice rang out across the parade ground. He had gone to Shenmi Island to observe the Weihai First Company in action, returned to Weihai for three days of closed-door review, and had just come back to the Wendeng Battalion farmer-soldier encampment to begin drilling the farmer-soldiers. Now he was arguing with Zhu Daichun of the training unit.

Zhu Daichun and several Central Command staff officers conferred in low voices, discussing Zhong Laosi's proposal. Zhong Laosi continued loudly: "Judging by how the First Company fought this time, dealing with ordinary armored troops is no trouble — provided they're supported by artillery. This time, the combat troops firing their crouching-tiger cannons in two volleys at eighty paces — Old Zhong here thinks that's a mess. Crouching-tiger cannons should fire at forty paces."

Zhu Daichun cut him off impatiently: "I came to look at the farmer-soldiers — why are you dragging the combat troops into this? Do the two of us have any authority over those combat troops? Have you forgotten why Huang Yuan kicked you out?"

Zhong Laosi, utterly unbothered, used stones to lay out a formation on the ground. "Lord Chen doesn't want to add sword-and-shield men. I think that's right — sword-and-shield are hard to train, and if you add them they can only crouch in front. The shields can't be too large either. The Jianzhou Bandits who dare use strong bows within ten paces are a minority after all, and throwing short-handled axes isn't that terrifying either. After this battle, examining the farmer-soldier corpses showed that short axes and iron maces, unless they hit the head, aren't lethal."

A staff officer said hesitantly, "They don't need to kill — just incapacitating the pikemen is enough. Then close-combat troops charge in, and once the line is broken, they can be cut down at leisure."

Zhong Laosi pointed at the stones on the ground. "This time the Weihai First Company was broken through — it was also bad luck, running right into the Tatar elite troops in the enemy center. It wasn't that the farmer-soldier tactics were wrong. Let's not just look at one company. According to the farmer-soldier organization, the reserve battalion has twelve companies total, each equipped with one four-pounder cannon. Two companies form a division, two divisions form a headquarters. Each division can be deployed front and rear, with fifty paces between front and rear, and each flank forming its own system. If the front formation is broken, the rear formation supports it — this way they won't be routed in one charge by the Jianzhou Bandits. If combat troops are coordinating, killer squads or cavalry can be placed between the front and rear formations, ready at any moment to rescue any point that's been broken through. The great formation will be as steady as Mount Tai..."

Zhu Daichun stared at the stones on the ground, nodding repeatedly. His purpose in coming to Wendeng this time was precisely to use the Shenmi Island experience to improve the basic tactics of the farmer-soldiers and to test large-unit combat tactics for the farmer-soldier system. He asked Zhong Laosi, "Then what about routed soldiers crashing into the rear formation?"

Zhong Laosi did not hesitate. "Kill them all the same. Let them dare to run, I say. A pike formation isn't so easily broken. The Weihai First Company just had some improper application. Against cavalry, pikemen should stand firm and not move. But against Jianzhou infantry in foot combat, they should advance proactively to meet the enemy, like the Mandarin Duck Formation — shorten the approach time, disrupt the enemy skirmishers' plans, and prevent them from throwing continuously."

Zhu Daichun called over the Blue Team captain and said to him, "We'll start by reforming company-level tactics. Bring the Blue Team over to simulate the Jianzhou Bandits and test them against Zhong Laosi's company. Remember the sequence, especially the short-handled axes and javelins. Let's first test: if the pikemen charge to meet them, at what speed can they maintain formation integrity."

Zhong Laosi, hearing this, added, "Your long spears need to be one zhang four chi long. The Jianzhou Bandits aren't stupid enough to still use one-zhang-two."

Guan Dadi stood in the first row, listening to Zhong Laosi arguing incessantly with Zhu Daichun. He did not understand a word of what Zhong Laosi was saying.

The combat situation of the Weihai farmer-soldier company had already been separately relayed by the commanding officer and the indoctrination officer. Zhong Laosi had simply launched into a torrent of curses — of course he dared not curse Chen Xin, so he cursed the Central Command Staff Department, saying they had arranged the formations recklessly and gotten many soldiers of the Weihai First Company killed.

But the indoctrination officer told a different story. He believed that the Weihai First Company, in their first time on the battlefield, had performed excellently, holding off the fiercest Bayara of the Later Jin. Although their losses were somewhat heavy, the Jianzhou Bandits' losses were heavier. Overall, they had been brave. At the same time, he criticized the few soldiers who had fled in the face of battle. On the day of the Shenmi Island operation, seven farmer-soldiers had deserted. After returning to Weihai, the seven were publicly tried, then beheaded and their heads displayed. All the farmland already allocated to them was confiscated. Any family members working in the workshops or studying in the schools were all expelled. The squad leader of the platoon the seven belonged to was dismissed, and the tun chief was demoted in rank. The punishment was extremely severe. Their heads, as usual, were hung on the tree stumps by the roadsides near each tun-bao, with notices of their crimes posted below — a clear demonstration of a deserter's fate.

This time, besides the harsh punishments, there were also generous rewards. Soldiers who fought bravely received rewards and medals. Guan Dadi kept repeating to himself in his heart: do not become a deserter. Otherwise, the future prospects of everyone in his family would be gone. He would rather die in battle than have his mother blame him for it later.

At that moment, a sky-blue Blue Team banner rose on the opposite side. A group of men dressed as Jianzhou Bandits appeared across the field. This was the Blue Team, directly subordinate to the training unit. The Jianzhou Bandits were the Wendeng Battalion's primary combat target, so the Blue Team essentially played the role of the Jianzhou Bandits. By now, even their clothing and armor were captured Jianzhou equipment, and they had some replica Niru banners, so the troops could familiarize themselves and reduce their psychological fear of the Jianzhou Bandits. As a result, this unit looked more and more like the Jianzhou Bandits, and their simulated tactics were also growing more and more accurate.

Zhong Laosi swaggered back. Zhu Daichun and the staff officers withdrew to the sides. They would act as referees, simulating casualties based on the statistics gathered from Shenmi Island.

Guan Dadi looked at the Cold-Steel Assault Medal on Zhong Laosi's chest, his heart filled with envy. He knew Zhong Laosi had earned it at Luanzhou. Zhong Laosi often took it out to show off to them. If he himself had one like that, the neighbors would look at him differently.

A conch horn sounded. The Blue Team advanced to thirty paces away. Zhong Laosi shouted from the rear to charge. Guan Dadi let out a great yell and rushed toward the opposite side together with his comrades.