Chapter 159: Section 16: Inspection

Over a hundred Dongjiang soldiers and their officers on the dock wore their finest armor, arrayed in orderly ranks to await Sun Chengzong's grand arrival.

The clothes of the island's military households were all tattered and old, but every piece had been washed spotlessly clean; the women's wooden hairpins and small ornaments had all been removed, yet Huang Shi ordered every one of them to wear flowers, so the wildflowers of Changsheng Island suffered misfortune this time; even the oldest livestock were groomed until their coats gleamed — Changsheng Island might be poor, but it could not appear dispirited, and no matter the hardship, the military households must remain optimistic and upbeat.

Huang Shi's wound had not yet fully healed; with one arm in a sling, he stood at the very front of the formation. Wu Mu stood nervously to one side. After Sun Chengzong, clad in full battle dress, disembarked, the two men led the entire army in saluting: "Lord Sun," "Mr. Sun."

"Eunuch Wu, Assistant Regional Commander Huang, dispense with formalities." Sun Chengzong beamed with smiles, striding at the very front while motioning Huang Shi to follow behind him.

The officials accompanying Sun Chengzong also yielded a space for one person. Huang Shi said "Excuse me" and followed up. Wu Mu could only respectfully take his place at the very rear of the procession.

Just as Huang Shi attentively took hold of the horse's reins, Sun Chengzong swung himself up onto the horse. His personal guards showed no intention of coming over to assist — clearly they had long been accustomed to this. It was Huang Shi, with his injured arm, who expended considerable effort to clamber onto his own horse.

Sun Chengzong waited quietly until Huang Shi was seated steadily, then said flatly, "No need to rest. Proceed directly to the drill ground."

Fifteen hundred soldiers had already assembled on the training ground. Huang Shi had the eight hundred veterans array their formation, then reported to Sun Chengzong: "Lord Sun, these are your subordinate's battle-worthy troops. The remaining several hundred are still new recruits and have not yet been trained."

"Then let us review these first." Sun Chengzong nodded magnanimously and began issuing a stream of various commands. Huang Shi translated these commands into the Firefighting Battalion's verbal orders and flag signals, passing them down layer by layer for the soldiers to execute.

Several formation changes were completed with ease, followed by repeated advances, retreats, dispersals, and assemblies. Sun Chengzong's face remained expressionless, but inwardly he found it increasingly remarkable, and he deliberately prolonged the review. After scores of repetitions, the Ming army on the drill ground still had its banners fluttering, and the forest of long pikes showed not a single sign of disorder.

"...Whole army, charge forward and slay the enemy... Enemy cavalry emerging from the left flank... Enemy infantry emerging from the right flank... Both flanks being enveloped simultaneously..." Sun Chengzong finally shifted to simulating battle conditions. Huang Shi issued corresponding commands with effortless ease; under the direction of their officers, the squads and companies of the Firefighting Battalion responded as smoothly as an arm directing a finger...

This simulated drill continued for a while longer. Huang Shi sensed that Sun Chengzong was gradually introducing a note of deliberate difficulty. Rallying his spirit, he completed three formation changes that were very simple for a modern army but absolutely dazzling and unmatched for a feudal army: a continuous whole-army turn to front, rear, left, and right; company officers raising their arms to guide their entire four-hundred-man units in a neat fan-shaped rotation pivoting on themselves; and finally, two infantry companies rapidly alternating leapfrog advances, the soldiers with leveled pikes advancing at a jogging pace, their left and right steps perfectly synchronized to the waist-drum beat, maintaining a dense square formation throughout.

After completing this, Huang Shi turned with a calm expression, bowed, and performed a salute. He was confident that Sun Chengzong understood what such formation changes meant on the battlefield. Sun Chengzong pondered in silence for a long while before telling Huang Shi to rise: "Assistant Regional Commander Huang has trained his troops well! Very good. Let the soldiers rest."

"Kill!" The eight hundred soldiers roared in unison toward Sun Chengzong and Huang Shi, then were led away by their commanding officers.

The other accompanying officials were all startled by that final thunderous shout. Sun Chengzong's face was already full of approval. After a brief pause, he casually pointed at a soldier and summoned him: "Have him come over."

That soldier stood ramrod straight before Sun Chengzong and, following orders, turned in several circles.

"Most of Assistant Regional Commander Huang's troops have helmets now?"

"In reply to Lord Sun, your subordinate has captured considerable spoils in several battles, and thus has acquired over a thousand iron helmets, as well as over a thousand sets of armor."

"Mm. Present his pike."

Sun Chengzong examined the soldier's nine-chi long pike again and again: "This pike is exceedingly sharp. Was it forged by Assistant Regional Commander Huang?"

"In reply to Lord Sun, it was forged by your subordinate, for the purpose of countering the Jianzhou slaves' charges."

"How many have been forged?"

"Currently there are fifteen hundred pikes, and two hundred more can be forged each month going forward."

Sun Chengzong nodded, returned the pike to that common soldier, and after the soldier rejoined his unit, said in a deep voice, "Then, let us go observe the arquebus unit."

During the firing, Sun Chengzong immediately recognized that these were not standard-issue arquebuses either, but firearms forged by Changsheng Island itself. After watching the soldiers fire a volley, Sun Chengzong wanted to go down and fire a shot personally. Huang Shi had a soldier load the powder and shot, and was about to help steady the support stick for him, but Sun Chengzong waved him away. He fired quite a few rounds before adjusting to the firearm's recoil, and finally, after hitting the target, began inspecting the power of this arquebus.

After examining the shattered target board for a long time, Sun Chengzong voiced his question: "If this hits, it would kill not just a man, but a horse as well, wouldn't it?"

"Lord Sun sees clearly. Even an ox would be killed." The rate of fire and penetrating power of a muzzle-loading gun could not compare to a breech-loader. If it struck the torso, it generally would not pass through, so the full energy of the projectile would be transferred to the body, smashing the internal organs like a great hammer.

Sun Chengzong gently set the arquebus on the ground, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Exactly how many blacksmiths does Changsheng Island have? How can it produce so many arquebuses and long pikes so quickly?"

"In reply to Lord Sun, the Ministry of Works allocated ten households of blacksmiths to your subordinate. Each craftsman can produce one gun barrel or two pike blades per day."

This efficiency made Sun Chengzong draw a sharp breath: "That would be six hundred long pikes or three hundred arquebuses in a month?" The slave craftsmen of the Ministry of Works always worked without putting in any effort, producing only a few arquebuses a month, nine-tenths of which were rejects.

Huang Shi replied with an apologetic smile, "Of course not, because we must also repair armor and forge helmets." As he spoke, a personal guard handed over a new type of helmet from Changsheng Island. This helmet had holes opened at the ears, and with two iron bolts added, a face mask could be attached. This mask was a curved iron band that could protect the cheeks and nose.

While Sun Chengzong toyed with the new-style helmet, Huang Shi briefly described the Heavy Armor Soldiers encountered in the previous campaign: "The Jianzhou slaves are vicious and ruthless. When they shoot, they always aim directly at our soldiers' faces. Those hit invariably die. Therefore, your subordinate designed this iron band to protect the soldiers' faces."

"Assistant Regional Commander Huang truly loves his soldiers like his own sons." Sun Chengzong sighed.

"Your subordinate's troops bear a blood feud with the Jianzhou slaves as deep as the sea. They would seek blood vengeance upon the Jianzhou slaves even if armed only with wooden clubs. But your subordinate hopes these sons and brothers can return alive to their native soil in Liaodong, and therefore always strives to ensure his troops are well-armored and sharp-weaponed."

Sun Chengzong nodded slightly: "General Huang probably does not know that Emperor Taizong of Tang once said: 'I can match one against ten for no other reason than that my armor is sturdy and my weapons are sharp.' General Huang's words coincide with ancient principles and deeply resonate with me." Unconsciously, his form of address for Huang Shi had changed.

"Lord Sun overpraises me. Your subordinate has already cast two cannons. Would Lord Sun care to see them?"

"There are cannons as well?" Sun Chengzong was even more astonished: "How much military pay has General Huang received?"

"In reply to Lord Sun, your subordinate has received fifteen thousand taels, plus ten thousand taels of imperial reward."

"Twenty-five thousand taels... You haven't distributed it, have you?"

"No, your subordinate has merely ensured the soldiers are well fed. Your subordinate's troops are all sons of Liaodong. They joined the army to reclaim their homeland, not merely for military pay. Besides, on this island, what use is silver?"

"Sons of Liaodong, reclaiming their homeland — not bad at all..." The other units of the Dongjiang Army were also sons of Liaodong. As Sun Chengzong traveled along, the other units looked like beggars by comparison. "...Then where has all the military pay and imperial reward — tens of thousands of taels — for Lushun and Guanglu gone?" Sun Chengzong seemed to be speaking to himself.

Standing solemnly to one side, Huang Shi secretly gloated in his heart. Zhao Manxiong's stratagem was to do the exact opposite. The imperial court had given Huang Shi just over twenty thousand taels, and in return had gotten such a strong army. Wasn't the efficiency of giving silver to Changsheng Island ten times that of giving it to others?

Sun Chengzong abruptly raised his head and barked: "Let's go. Take this Grand Coordinator to see the cannons."

After viewing the cannons, Huang Shi also led Sun Chengzong to inspect the craftsmen and the naval camp, and finally took him to see the seagoing vessel at Black Island.

"Your subordinate's men also collect deerskin, sea cucumbers, and medicinal herbs, all of which are shipped to Japan for sale on this seagoing vessel. Every two months, it can bring back over a thousand taels of silver."

Sun Chengzong toured the seagoing vessel with keen interest, casually asking as he did so: "Oh? Why not sell them to Dengzhou? This Grand Coordinator has heard that your sea salt is all sold to Dengzhou."

"Lord Sun sees clearly. One deerskin can only be sold for five taels of silver in Dengzhou, but shipped to Japan, it can be sold for fifteen taels."

Sun Chengzong nodded: "It's just a bit more arduous."

"Lord Sun is wise." Huang Shi seized the opportunity to describe some of the sailors' hardships. He casually picked up a fish lying in a barrel: "Lord Sun, please look. These fish are deliberately placed in this barrel to wait for them to rot."

Sun Chengzong smiled faintly, signaling Huang Shi to continue.

"When a seagoing vessel sets sail, the stored meat quickly rots. Once maggots appear, the fish in this barrel must be used to remove them." By the time Huang Shi reached this point, the expressions of Sun Chengzong's accompanying officials had already changed drastically, but Sun Chengzong's faint smile remained unchanged. Encouraged, Huang Shi continued: "Place one rotten fish in the meat barrel, and soon it will be crawling with maggots. Repeat this several times. When no more maggots appear on the fish, it means that barrel of meat has been completely de-maggoted and can be eaten."

This was one of the minor navigational tricks of the Age of Sail. Sun Chengzong's accompanying officials listened with faces turning deathly pale, and one official could not help but lean over the ship's gunwale and vomit. Sun Chengzong's smile also gradually faded. He walked to the barrel, looked inside, and shook his head: "General Huang, you say this can bring back a thousand taels of silver every two months?"

"Yes, Lord Sun sees clearly."

Sun Chengzong chuckled twice, then suddenly barked: "Where are General Huang's sailors? This Grand Coordinator wishes to reward them personally."