Chapter 130: Section 14: Military Merit

After returning to Changsheng Island, the troops immediately erupted into a chaotic uproar. Officers and soldiers alike, from top to bottom, could not wait to boast to their families or neighbors about today's victory.

Huang Shi, however, promptly convened an impromptu military council. His trusted officers were all beaming with delight as they awaited the final battle report. Wu Mu also stood to one side, brimming with arrogance, his brows and eyes dancing incessantly. He would suddenly burst into loud laughter, then rein it in with slight embarrassment, only to let out another peal a moment later.

At last, Yang Zhiyuan finished his duties and hurried over to report. He saluted Wu Mu and Huang Shi in turn: "Reporting to the Army Supervisor, reporting to my lord: our force suffered one dead and four wounded. We have taken four hundred and sixty-seven heads, captured three hundred and fifty-two warhorses, five hundred and seventy waist sabers, and five hundred and twenty round shields... All of the above have been entered into the armory."

Before Huang Shi could speak, Wu Mu leaped forward a step: "Four hundred and sixty-seven heads — is that absolutely certain?"

"Army Supervisor, your keen judgment sees clearly — it is absolutely certain."

"Good, good, good." Wu Mu roared with laughter three times, then turned and cupped his hands toward Huang Shi: "This servant here first congratulates General Huang. This servant will go write the memorial now. General Huang, do as you please."

"Eunuch Wu, take care."

The other officers also bowed their heads and clasped their fists in unison: "We respectfully see off Eunuch Wu."

After the thoroughly satisfied Wu Mu had left, Huang Shi smiled at the assembled officers: "Gentlemen, you have all performed very well."

Instantly, a clamor of boasting and credit-claiming erupted from below. Everyone loudly exaggerated the vital significance of their own duties in this battle. Even Li Yunrui, who normally kept to the rear, desperately reminded everyone to note how accurate and timely his intelligence had been.

"No need to argue. The merit from this battle is more than enough," Huang Shi let them carry on for a while before cutting off the uproar. "My Firefighting Battalion reports four thousand troops. According to our Great Ming military regulations, taking forty heads in a single battle is a great victory and merits one rank of promotion." Under Ming regulations, taking heads equal to one percent of the commander's troop strength counted as major merit — such was the feudal army. "Every officer on Changsheng Island, of every rank, has earned merit this time. Even Bao Jiusun and his men, who are in charge of farming, will be counted among the commanding officers for this battle."

"The combat soldiers and auxiliaries who went on the expedition are granted three days' leave, after which they return to their units." Huang Shi believed that maintaining a high number of veterans in the frontline forces was extremely important, so he had not been expanding the army quickly. "Garrison Commander He, go and select another five hundred soldiers to bring the number of combat troops up to a full thousand."

"As ordered, my lord."

"Garrison Commander Yang, prepare a batch of medals. I intend to confer honors on some soldiers who performed with particular distinction."

"As ordered."

"Finally, Garrison Commander Zhao's task: record this battle example in the files for future officers of all levels to study."

"As ordered. Is there anything in particular my lord wishes to emphasize?"

"There is one point: regarding the application of cavalry, it must be stressed especially to the officers of the training corps." Huang Shi had always felt that the Ming military system closely resembled the contemporary Western military system. Ming generals and their retainers, as well as the Later Jin's niru and Heavy Armor Soldiers, were all analogous to Western knights and their servants. These elite, daring warriors, who made up less than one-tenth of the entire army, possessed robust horses and fine armor.

As for the infantry — although Ming infantry were not peasants temporarily conscripted from the land like in the West, they were generally low-ranking soldiers from military households. On the battlefield, if they won, they would rush to take heads or loot corpses; if they lost, they would scramble over each other to flee. Thus, in both East and West during this era, the outcome of war was fundamentally decided by cavalry.

After such a major battle concluded, the victor's cavalry would also be very exhausted, so pursuit could generally only focus on the enemy's infantry. The Later Jin army, because even its second-rate troops had relatively many horses, gained a considerable advantage in this regard. As long as infantry daring enough to fight could be formed up, it would free the cavalry from frontal engagement, thereby making the pursuit more powerful and merciless.

"My lord, this subordinate's admiration and reverence for you are beyond words," Yang Zhiyuan said, his face alight with excitement as he bowed to the ground. "But this subordinate presumes to ask my lord to resolve a doubt: was this method of infantry drill created by my lord?"

"We beg my lord to resolve this doubt for us." The other three officers also voiced a chorus of praise and support, all switching to the address used by direct-line trusted confidants. Only Li Yunrui stood awkwardly to one side, seeming to want to slip out the door.

"Yunrui, stay where you are. Brother Manxiong, Brother Yang, Brother Jin — all of you, rise." Huang Shi waved a hand for his trusted men to rise and listen. "This method of training troops has some connection to Brother He's homeland."

He Baodao looked at Huang Shi and asked tentatively: "The tyrannical Qin?"

Huang Shi gave a long sigh: "Correct."

In world military history, strict infantry tactics developed in China and ancient Greece. They declined along with the brutal and inhuman classical militarism. The status of soldiers fell continuously, gradually surpassed by civil officials, until they finally sank into the ranks of the despised — without honor, without standing, without discipline. During the Renaissance, the West retraced the classical path of the Greek era, then further evolved into the embryonic form of the modern army, while China long delayed making up this lesson.

The power of a modern army is immense, but the rights of soldiers would also swell dramatically, potentially reviving a militaristic system where "political power is held by officers, and the state serves the interests of the army" — such as the current military-governance model on Changsheng Island, which lacks civil-official oversight.

Huang Shi's Ming subordinates did not understand these things, but they did know that Qin was utterly incompatible with the Confucian ideals of "benevolence and love for the people" — extermination of clans, collective punishment. Qin officers and soldiers — never mind fleeing in battle; just try disobeying an order and see what happens. For a thousand years, the Qin laws, which treated human life as straw, had been cited as the archetype of evil law in Huaxia. The Confucians did not agree with such killing; the military laws of the Song and Ming were less severe than Qin's civil laws.

The mighty Qin, the tyrannical Qin — an army of tigers and wolves, nothing could withstand it; it left the slain covering the wilderness and the land barren for a thousand li.

The officers' impression of Qin plunged the room into silence. Zhao Manxiong was indifferent either way; Jin Qiude's brows showed a hint of delight; Li Yunrui seemed somewhat yearning; He Baodao was lost in thought; Yang Zhiyuan's expression was solemn... After completing his observation, Huang Shi said nothing, but went out to see Wu Mu.

"How is this military merit to be calculated?" Wu Mu was once again exercising his duties as Army Supervisor. Before coming, he had memorized the Ming army's military regulations, so seeing Huang Shi send auxiliaries to take heads struck him as likely to cause considerable calculation trouble.

"The military merit in my Firefighting Battalion is distributed based on adherence to orders and assigned combat tasks." Huang Shi explained with a genial smile, then laid out his plan: "We have taken quite a few heads this time. I, your subordinate, propose that each man in the first rank of the infantry be credited with one head of merit; the rear two ranks and the cavalry be credited with one shared head of merit for every two men; the archers be credited with one shared head of merit for every three men; and the auxiliaries be credited with one shared head of merit for every ten men. What does Eunuch Wu think?"

"General Huang's insight is excellent. Let it be so."

"As for the surplus heads, let them be distributed among the various officers."

"Good, good. According to our Great Ming military system, for every five hundred troops commanded, five heads merit one rank of promotion. General Huang commands four thousand troops on Changsheng Island. In this battle, he led eight hundred troops on the offensive and took five hundred heads. This servant here first congratulates General Huang on this great merit." As Wu Mu spoke, he grinned so broadly his teeth were fully visible. He increasingly felt that coming to Changsheng Island as Army Supervisor was the most correct decision of his life.

"And these two brothers of the Embroidered Uniform Guard," Huang Shi smiled and looked toward Chen Ruike and Zhang Gaosheng. "Both brothers naturally have their share of the spoils as well. In this battle, each is credited with five heads."

"How can we accept such kindness... truly, we are too embarrassed." The two Embroidered Uniform Guards also broke into blooming smiles. Following a renowned general like Huang Shi was simply too promising. Elsewhere, it was only the bitter toil of urging soldiers into battle; here on Changsheng Island, it was solid, tangible merit.

"And regarding the matter of reporting upward, this servant's private secretary has already drafted the memorial. Let me read it for General Huang to hear." Wu Mu summoned his private secretary, and the old scholar began to recite with a swaying head.

"Stop. Wait a moment." Huang Shi halted the secretary after just hearing the opening. He looked at Wu Mu and the two Embroidered Uniform Guards with a face full of suspicion: "With eight hundred troops in field battle, routed six thousand Jianzhou slaves, took four hundred and sixty-seven heads?"