Chapter 121: Platoon Leader

(Third update)

"When a Se Fu is sent to serve under another official, he may not remove his former office assistants or clerks to take them to the new post..."

Qin law stipulated that when a senior official was transferred elsewhere, he must depart alone and could not bring his former subordinate clerks with him.

Lord Shang believed that by relying on this statute, he could eradicate faction-forming and mountain-stronghold mentality in Qin. And Xunzi, in his observations upon entering Qin, also praised the scholar-officials of Qin, saying they "did not form cliques, did not create factions."

However, from Hei Fu's perspective, Xunzi still understood too little about Qin. Even within the strictly ordered Qin army, personnel appointments and military deployments were not determined solely by military law and discipline. In this campaign to destroy Wei, the shadow of personal ties and old connections was everywhere.

When Hei Fu emerged from the tent of the Two-Five-Hundred Commander, he had already received the appointment he had hoped for. Looking out at the busy conscripts and convict laborers outside, he could not help feeling a surge of emotion.

"The commander-in-chief ordered to lead the great army against Daliang this time is Wang Jian's son, Wang Ben. Although this is his first time commanding a large army corps, his rank is already Junior Chief Architect. The deputy commander is the Inner Watchman Qiang Hui, who once cooperated with Wang Jian to crush Zhao. He is a Qiang man from Longxi. Wang Ben ordered Qiang Hui to lead over ten thousand men away from Daliang and strike eastward to attack the various counties of eastern Wei."

"And the Fangcheng County Commandant, Yang Xiong, is also a scion of the Yang clan of Sanchuan Commandery, whose friendship with the Wang family is deep and unbreakable — otherwise, such a fine assignment would never have fallen to him..."

"The main reason I was able to slip into this unit is that my old superior Du Xian has old ties with Yang Xiong, and he even wrote a letter of introduction for me, saying I excel at leading troops, performed outstandingly during my rotational service and as a Village Head, and so on."

There is a saying that the relationships between any two people never exceed six degrees of separation — at most, you can connect to anyone through just six people. Hei Fu counted on his fingers: his own connection to the King of Qin was only separated by five or six layers!

So even in Qin, human relationships still filled every corner that statutes and military law could not reach. No matter how tirelessly you toiled in your post, once you left a familiar environment and had to compete with others of equal rank, you still had to rely on personal ties and old connections to secure key appointments.

This is the crucial reason why, starting from the same point, some people are promoted and soar straight up, while others toil in obscurity at the grassroots their entire lives.

Fortunately, the outcome was favorable to Hei Fu. He obtained Yang Xiong's consent to march out with the eastern expeditionary detachment, even though his post was merely that of a minor Platoon Leader.

The Qin army's infantry organization was divided into six levels: five men formed a Squad, with one Squad Leader; two Squads formed a Section, with one Section Leader; five Sections formed a Platoon, with one Platoon Leader; two Platoons formed a Hundred, with one Hundred Commander; five hundred men had one Five-Hundred Commander; one thousand men had one Two-Five-Hundred Commander. Among these, Yang Xiong's post in the army, "Two-Five-Hundred Commander," also called "Thousand-Man Commander," already counted as a mid-ranking officer.

Because this army attacking Wei came from different commanderies and counties, and the eastern expeditionary detachment was also a mixed formation, the organization was not rigid. Hei Fu, as a Platoon Leader, astonishingly had no Hundred Commander above him, but instead took orders directly from the "Five-Hundred Commander." The Five-Hundred Commander was named Zhang Yi, a Commandant Clerk from Wan City in Nanyang Commandery.

The fifty soldiers subordinated to Platoon Leader Hei Fu included the men from Anlu County he had brought with him, along with the conscripts from Yan County who lived in the nearby shacks. Grassroots military units were basically allocated according to regional origin, because the differences in accent and dialect between different commanderies and counties were enormous. Counties within Nan Commandery could still barely understand each other, but if Hei Fu were assigned a few soldiers from Hanzhong Commandery, the orders he shouted would leave those men completely baffled...

Refined Speech? That was the common tongue only the nobility could study, and had nothing to do with Hei Fu and his men. Besides, ever since the Zhou royal house perished, Refined Speech had gradually declined.

So, during the next three days of squad and platoon formation, Hei Fu used the Anlu dialect to issue orders to his new subordinates.

He divided the fifty men into five Sections and appointed five Section Leaders and five Squad Leaders.

Having fully grasped the inner workings of "personal ties and old connections" within Qin, Hei Fu also applied the principle of appointing people based on closeness. Dongmen Bao and Xiao Tao, who held the rank of Gongshi, were appointed as Section Leaders; Ji Ying, Li Xian, and even Bu Cheng managed to snag the post of Squad Leader.

In addition, three other Section Leaders were men from Yan County, and Gong Ao was among them. When this fellow learned that he had actually become Hei Fu's subordinate, he could not help but grumble a great deal.

But one sentence from Hei Fu shut his mouth.

"I am a Zan Niao, you are a Gongshi."

The lower-ranked obeying the higher-ranked — this was the ironclad rule in the military camp.

Gong Ao fumed that this time he absolutely must earn merit and gain rank, to surpass Hei Fu.

The squad and platoon organization lasted only three days. Although the Yan County conscripts mixed into the unit were far inferior in discipline to the Anlu County conscripts whom Hei Fu had led all the way over these past months, it was fortunate that the conscripts had all at least served one term of rotational service and received basic military training.

So Hei Fu did not expend too much effort, and at least made them know which Section and Squad they belonged to, reviewed the skills of advancing, retreating, halting, rising, and crouching. As for left and right... he did not insist on proficient mastery; just following the bamboo pole and small flag in their Section Leader's hand would suffice.

After completing the organization of each Platoon, what followed was combined training at the "Thousand-Man" level. As mid-ranking officers, Two-Five-Hundred Commander Yang Xiong and Five-Hundred Commander Zhang Yi were nothing like the rustic methods of Hundred Commanders and Platoon Leaders — they had mastered the lofty and profound art of war.

The Qin army's current method of training troops was no longer the early Sunzi or Wuzi, but the newly compiled "Wei Liao's Art of War" by the State Commandant Wei Liao, far away in Xianyang. Come to think of it, Wei Liao was also a man of Daliang; who knows what he would think, learning that his art of war was being used to attack and destroy Wei?

According to Wei Liao's Art of War, the soldiers were issued weapons: the short in stature took spears and halberds, the tall and broad of vision used bows and crossbows, the strong hoisted the great banners, and the brave wielded the gongs and drums.

Next, over several days, the men were made to recognize flags, distinguish gongs and drums, know advance and retreat, and understand rewards and punishments. As a Platoon Leader, Hei Fu had to master the basic signals — "beat the drum and advance, lower the flag and quick-march, sound the gong and retreat, wave left and go left, wave right and go right, strike both gong and drum and sit" — and then teach them to the Section Leaders and Squad Leaders.

What gave people a headache was that the gong and drum signals were further divided into various drumbeats: walk, quick-march, gallop, general, marshal, chief, and so on. Similar to early modern marching, one drumbeat per step was slow march, one drumbeat every ten steps was quick march, and continuous drumming was running march...

This meant that in battle, Hei Fu had to prick up his ears and listen to every drumbeat rhythm issued by the order officer, and open his eyes wide to see clearly the direction and height of the flags. If he did it wrong or in reverse and disrupted the army's order, then he could just wait to lose his head!

Completing the thousand-man training was followed by ten-thousand-man combined drills. The great army, arrayed in square formations and holding their weapons, shouted orders in the cleared-out Liang Park, their marching steps sending dust flying — this was also a way to intimidate those within the city.

Soon it was mid-second month. On the eve of the night when the waters of the Great River and the Honggou Canal were diverted by convict laborers and conscripts to pour into and inundate Daliang, the Qin army conscripts' camp once again rang with wave after wave of orderly drumbeats...

After half a month of training, the Platoon Leaders had become extremely sensitive to the gongs and drums. Hei Fu flipped up with a start and loudly urged his men to rise and assemble outside the tents.

First drum: prepare equipment. Second drum: practice formations. Third drum: hasten to eat. Fourth drum: strict inspection. Fifth drum: march. Hear the drums unite, then raise the flags...

This was equivalent to reveille, assembly call, and mess call in a modern army, and in combat there were also charge calls, rally calls, and march calls. It was just that the drumbeats could not compare to brass bugles and lacked such obvious melodic differences; Hei Fu had to firmly memorize them in his heart.

Thus, after the third drum, Platoon Leader Hei Fu led his subordinates to finish their morning meal. After the fifth drum, they marched out of the camp together and assembled under the flag of "Two-Five-Hundred Commander" Yang Xiong, forming a small square formation, ready to set out...

Those conscripts who had risen early to dig channels and serve as trackers looked on with some envy at this force of over ten thousand men, separated out and fully equipped, ready to depart. Anyone with clear eyes could see that Wei was wealthy and its army was weak. Obtaining the chance to go attack the various counties of eastern Wei not only allowed one to see the dazzling world of the Central Plains, but also offered the opportunity to take heads and earn merit — far better than dealing with mud and water beneath the walls of Daliang.

The men under Hei Fu's command also had eyes full of longing. Only Gong Ao gazed at Daliang City under the morning sun with a touch of melancholy. He suddenly said to Hei Fu, "Does the Platoon Leader know, that although I do not like the Qin army, being able to leave Daliang with the army fills my heart with joy?"

Standing at the front of the square formation, sword in hand and clad in armor, Hei Fu glanced at Daliang's impregnable earthen walls and said flatly, "You do not wish to see the tragedy of Yan City repeated — the water attack, over a hundred thousand dead and wounded?"

In this war, the besieging Qin army could basically remain without a single casualty, but the Wei people inside the city would have bitter days to endure... Perhaps by the time Hei Fu and the others returned, inside the city they would already be hanging up pots to cook, exchanging children to eat...

The two men's conversation was interrupted by urgent drumbeats. Under the sunlight, the command flag of Inner Watchman Qiang Hui appeared. It was brightly colored and raised high toward the east, and the small flags of each "Thousand-Man" unit followed suit, turning eastward.

Guided by the "walk drum" that beat once per step, Hei Fu also held a pottery shard and bamboo clapper, beating out the same rhythm, directing his subordinates to move their feet. The men struck camp and marched east...

This army's first objective lay several dozen li southeast of Daliang, called Chenliu. It was a key stronghold and strategic pass of Wei, garrisoned with three thousand soldiers. This "army to rescue the king" had been hovering and watching the situation at Daliang, and it was an obstacle the detachment had to clear on its eastward advance!

One day later, Chenliu County, Wei.

The Prefect of Chenliu in Wei was a man of unyielding backbone. Upon hearing the news that the "Qin bandits" were about to arrive, he astonishingly chose neither surrender nor flight, but instead beat the drum in the county to summon the various clans and common people to resist the enemy together...

Amidst the sound of bells and drumbeats, in Gaoyang Hamlet east of the county seat, a young man in his twenties, dressed in the manner of a wandering swordsman, strode with urgent steps into his family's humble courtyard. He grabbed the two-foot sword hanging on the wall and was about to head out!

"Li Shang, stop right there!"

From within the house, a middle-aged man in Confucian robes holding a bamboo scroll walked out. He was already forty years old, eight chi tall, and as robust as the young man, yet he wore the seemingly frail Confucian robes, which were stained with quite a few wine spots, making him look even more incongruous. The man's features were also quite ordinary, only his eyes revealed a trace of cunning and reckless arrogance.

"My younger brother, sword in hand, where do you intend to go?"

Li Shang gripped his sword and said loudly, "Elder Brother, the Qin bandits are about to arrive. The County Lord is beating the drum to recruit everyone to resist the enemy. I and my companions from the hamlet are just on our way to go!"

"Resist the enemy?"

The middle-aged man in Confucian robes burst out laughing upon hearing this. "The Qin army's might is overwhelming. Even the King of Wei is trapped to death inside Daliang City, his fate hanging by a thread. And Chenliu is a mere petty town; as soon as the Qin army dispatches a detachment to attack, it too will be in imminent peril. The enfeoffed lords and great generals could not even resist the enemy beyond the Liang Gate — and you think a bunch of wandering swordsman youths like you can repel the Qin?"

Having said this, Li Yiji's face hardened, and he rebuked him: "Knowing the situation is hopeless yet throwing your life away in death, merely to contest a moment's bravery — this is the foolishness of a common brute! Li Shang, is your life so cheap and worthless?"

PS: The fourth update is at 4 PM.

(End of chapter)