Chapter 199: Unified Organization

Duolu Hou reminds you: after reading, please bookmark (),

Night.

Inside the camp-raiding army tent, the flame of a large candle seized from a temple flickered and swayed.

Liu Chengzong and Gao Yingxiang sat facing each other across a small kang table with one rotting corner. A few books lay on the table, and a pot of tea warmed on a small clay stove beside it.

The teapot was exquisite — blue with sea-wave patterns, a fahua-glazed floral pottery piece from a kiln in southern Shanxi.

Gao Yingxiang had torn off his white headscarf; hair loose and disheveled, he leaned close to the candlelight, carefully leafing through a book.

Liu Chengzong, meanwhile, held a porcelain cup and slowly sipped his tea.

After a moment, Gao Yingxiang asked, "Shizi, this Shiziwan — can it really be opened up for farming? I've never farmed, but I know breaking new land is no easy task."

"Right. It's very hard."

Liu Chengzong set down his tea bowl and nodded. "Especially since Shiziwan has been untended for years — covered in weeds and sour-thorn bushes, the land bumpy and uneven. Of the Chuang Camp's people, maybe five thousand can work. By winter, if we can open up the two small loess knolls north of my camp headquarters, that would be good."

Gao Yingxiang frowned. "How much land are those knolls — two thousand mu?"

"Where would that much come from? The west knoll is nine hundred mu, five hundred seventy usable; the east knoll is twelve hundred mu, nine hundred ninety usable."

Liu Chengzong finished speaking, then drew a line on the kang table with his hand. "Opening fifteen hundred mu would be good."

Gao Yingxiang glared. "With all these people of mine, you think we can't handle this little bit of work?"

"Those knolls connect to the big mountains to the north. If you set a fire, you'll burn the mountain too. There's no irrigation up there — the soil is hard as stone. All the wild grass has to be pulled out and kept to burn into plant ash. Every inch of soil has to be broken up with a pickaxe."

"The trees on the knolls have to be dug out, roots and all. After that, you still have to carry soil on your shoulders, basket by basket, to level the land."

Liu Chengzong spread his hands as he spoke. "That's why no one wants to open wasteland. It's colossal, endless work — and most importantly, you need grain on hand."

"That's exactly why, in northern Shaanxi right now, don't count on starving commoners to open the wasteland. Impossible. Only someone like you, Master Gao — with grain and with men, and a few years to spend — can get the land opened."

Forget it. After hearing all that, Gao Yingxiang didn't even want to open wasteland anymore.

He stretched out a hand. "So, this place gives fifteen hundred mu next year, three thousand mu the year after, then a thousand mu opened each year after that — after ten years, ten thousand mu, a harvest of six thousand dan of grain, feeding two thousand people?"

The return was clearly nowhere near proportional to the investment!

"No, no, no. That's not how you calculate it."

Liu Chengzong waved his hand. "Master Gao, there are two problems with your calculation. First, once the irrigation channels are built, the reclamation speed will be much faster. Second, not all this land can grow grain — some places are badly saline-alkaline, but they can grow cotton."

As he spoke, he searched through the books on the table, flipped through pages, then pointed and said to Gao Yingxiang, "Master Gao, look. This is what my brother Chengyun found after going into the mountains many times — the mountain products are extremely abundant."

"These mountains have all kinds of wild vegetables and wild fruits, especially pine, birch, wild apricot, and sour-thorn. There are also quite a few medicinal herbs. In the mountains there are pheasants and wild boars; in the rivers there are fish."

"The land that can be opened in the river valley, by rough estimate, is around a hundred seventy or eighty thousand mu. As long as the waterworks are done, the soil there is soft — starting next year, opening it will be much easier."

"Though not all the fields can grow grain, they can grow cotton, fruit trees, vegetables, pasture grass, cotton and hemp — convenient for raising cattle, pigs, sheep, and chickens. This is a place where people can settle down and make a home."

Liu Chengzong flipped through the book again and pointed. "Paper mill, oil press, pasture, soldier uniforms, military equipment — given time, all can be built."

"And besides!"

Liu Chengzong tapped the table lightly. "Didn't Master Gao harvest that cornfield at Huojia Fort in Yonghe County? How much did you get?"

At the mention of that cornfield, Gao Yingxiang perked up. "From what my men tell me, the harvest on that stuff really wasn't small — over a hundred sixty jin per mu."

"Right. And it's drought-resistant. Once this place is opened up — say you have ten thousand mu, five thousand planted in grain — then you can pick five hundred mu from that and plant corn."

"Same with sweet potatoes and potatoes. I don't know where to find them either, but if we come across them, we'll ask someone who knows how to grow them, see what kind of soil they need, and take one-tenth from the grain fields for each to plant."

At this point, Liu Chengzong added a warning: "Absolutely, absolutely do not make these things your staple just because their yield per mu is a bit higher."

"If you plant nothing but these, and disease strikes, you'll have nothing left."

Gao Yingxiang nodded, signaling he understood, and smiled. "The way you put it, I really do feel this place might be a lot better than it looks!"

Liu Chengzong shook his head. "Truth is, it's not that great. It's just that outside, it's hard to stay anywhere long. This is the best place among those we can stay in."

"Anyway, once it's opened, good fields we farm intensively, poor fields we sow wide and reap thin. Self-sufficiency in two or three years probably won't happen, but a little is still a little."

Gao Yingxiang let out a long breath and slapped the table. "Fine, then I'll listen to you — stay here and open up the land!"

After saying this, he leaned forward again and asked, "But Shizi, about what comes after — I really do need to talk it through with you."

"My men need rest and recovery. There are too many Shanxi men in the ranks, and I was just planning to reorganize and drill them here. I can't join forces with you to go to Guyuan. You have to help me come up with a plan."

Seeing that Gao Yingxiang had agreed to the Shiziwan reclamation, Liu Chengzong was very pleased and nodded readily. "Master Gao, speak."

As long as Gao Yingxiang was willing to open land here, this place would count as a fallback.

Even if the western campaign went badly in the future, retreating here wouldn't mean coming back to barren ground.

"First, I want you to help me reorganize Chuang Camp according to the Lion Camp's methods. Second, where to go from here — Liu Camp goes to Guyuan, Wang Camp, I figure, will try to slip away and re-enter Shanxi. Do I stay in Shaanxi?"

The idea of reorganizing Chuang Camp according to Lion Camp's methods was something Gao Yingxiang had conceived back in Shanxi.

But as for the latter matter — how to put it, for Gao Yingxiang, it was very complicated. He couldn't discuss it with his own men.

When Gao Yingxiang gathered his subordinates to discuss matters, what they discussed was never really the matter at hand. He always already had a decision in mind; he only used the discussion to observe his officers' thoughts.

The educational level of his bunch — Gao Yingxiang knew it well.

When no major issue arose, on small matters everyone spoke reasonably.

But the moment a major issue arose, if his brain trust got together, they might not solve the problem, but they could certainly and accurately avoid the right choice.

"Reorganize according to Lion Camp?"

Liu Chengzong leaned back slightly and asked, "Why does Master Gao have this idea?"

Gao Yingxiang's expression was calm. He raised a hand and said, "I feel that all of us who have risen in revolt under heaven are one family. It's just that right now we don't belong to each other. Even when we join forces, we all have different organizations."

"Like Wang Jiayin's troops — each general leads his own soldiers. Bu Zhan Ni — his subordinate units have no fixed numbers, the big ones over a thousand, the small ones barely a hundred. If he says he's sending three units to support you, you have no idea whether the reinforcements are three or five thousand, or three or five hundred."

Gao Yingxiang finished and raised his hand again. "But I think the Lion Camp's organization is excellent. It resembles the Ming army, yet differs from it — it has baggage troops, craftsmen, combat soldiers. It's easy to deploy on expeditions and also adept at formation battles against government troops."

Finally, he concluded, "All of us should use the same organization. We should even establish stronger command relationships between the various leaders. The court has people in the middle dispatching troops and horses — we too should twist ourselves into a single rope from top to bottom!"

Seeing Liu Chengzong's odd expression, Gao Yingxiang hurriedly waved his hand. "Don't overthink it. This is just my wishful thinking. I'm not planning to absorb you — and right now, probably no one could absorb you anyway."

Liu Chengzong smiled. "No, I wasn't thinking that."

He simply felt that, at a time like this, being able to put forward such an idea was rather remarkable.

Gao Yingxiang said, "I know it's difficult too, but if this goes on, we'll be at too great a disadvantage."

All this praise made Liu Chengzong rather embarrassed.

He said, "To be honest, Master Gao, ever since this batch of Ningxia troops surrendered to me, I've been considering further reorganizing the Lion Battalion's structure. A single battalion with this many men has already become far too bloated."

"Over five thousand men — wherever they go, they eat the place empty. Even with three men and four mules managing one cart for supplies, there's no way to carry a month's rations."

Gao Yingxiang could empathize with this all too well; he had just led men back from escorting grain in the east.

Transport capacity was severely lacking. Too many grain carts and you could only fight foolish battles; too few and there wasn't enough to feed the men. Just the grain he had plundered from Shanxi alone had been split into who knows how many batches before it could be transported over from the east bank of the Yellow River.

His head bobbed like a pestle pounding garlic as he nodded incessantly. "Absolutely right! When my eight thousand men are out there, I'm constantly on edge. If I split the force into several routes, I worry the government troops will defeat them one by one. If I don't split them, we get blocked on the road. It's a real dilemma."

Liu Chengzong said, "So I believe a battalion of twenty-five hundred to thirty-five hundred is the most suitable, especially for a Grand Commander."

Gao Yingxiang asked, "Grand Commander — what do you mean by Grand Commander?"

"Someone with three thousand or even six thousand battle troops. I'm not talking about combat effectiveness counting as battle troops — people vary in strength. I mean men who are specifically dedicated to fighting."

Liu Chengzong said, "Master Gao has also noticed that our cannons are small. When firing fitted iron balls, their power is insufficient and range is short. Even when concentrated, the effect is actually mediocre."

"In the past, my Lion Battalion had eight posts: five combat posts, one artillery post, one artisan post, and one supply post."

"Each post had five hundred men. Because when I established the Lion Battalion I had five hundred troops under me — essentially just one post's worth — every squad, post, and battalion had its own reconnaissance soldiers and supply troops."

"Now the situation is different. Our troop strength has grown, so this framework is no longer suitable."

Hearing Liu Chengzong begin to analyze the Lion Battalion's structure, Gao Yingxiang rubbed his hands together in excitement. This meant they could discuss organizational matters together.

"I've also been thinking quite a bit about these matters lately. Outside the headquarters battalion, a directly subordinate artillery post doesn't mean much. There's no need to allocate it to every battalion, tying up manpower. Likewise, each post having its own supply troops and scout cavalry doesn't mean much either — not as comfortable as having five hundred pure combat troops."

"Supply can be managed by auxiliary troops. What really matters is the battalion-level supply post. Similarly, artisan posts don't need to exist in every post."

Growing animated, Liu Chengzong simply went outside the tent, found a charcoal stick, took paper, and began sketching it out for Gao Yingxiang.

"The five combat posts remain unchanged. Right now, the strongest fighters under every commander are all border troops, and border troops are most familiar with the tactic of dividing forces into five posts. Add one more supply post..."

"Hold on."

Gao Yingxiang raised a hand. "Lion, what is this 'dividing forces into five posts' you're talking about?"

Liu Chengzong blinked and asked, "Master Gao, you have border troops under you — don't they use it?"

Gao Yingxiang drew a deep breath and let out a long "Hmm."

His border troops were actually very rarely deployed. As his most elite unit, they were always used to keep his famine refugees and bandit gangs in check, and generally weren't used under normal circumstances.

They were few in number and he was loath to risk them. He kept them fed with generous rations in peacetime, and only committed them when he needed to deploy cavalry to deliver the decisive blow.

Seeing his expression, Liu Chengzong could more or less guess the situation, so he said, "What's called dividing forces into five posts means the five divisions of vanguard, rear, left, right, and center. Whether it's five squads or five posts, it's the same. This tactic — pick any soldier who's seen battle, and they'll all know it."

"It's effective when fighting with superior numbers, and equally useful against enemies of equal strength or slightly weaker combat power."

"When encountering the enemy, first engage with the vanguard post, then use the left and right posts to envelop and screen the enemy's field of vision. The rear post's cavalry takes an easily passable route between the left and right posts to circle around to the enemy's rear flank, while the center post is held in reserve."

"If the enemy is numerous, after encircling them, strike from all four sides at once. Once their formation wavers, drive straight in. If the enemy is few, to deal with the three posts' strength, they'll stretch their line thin. A wide horizontal formation struck in the rear by cavalry — that's death too."

After speaking, Liu Chengzong gestured forward with his hand and smiled. "Very simple. In battle, that's roughly the idea. However, since my opponents are always border troops, I've never been able to use it. Only once, when fighting garrison troops in Shanxi, did I get to use it."

Simple as it was, it gave Gao Yingxiang the feeling as if a door to a whole new world had swung open.

"Oh, so it means the rear post has to use cavalry."

Liu Chengzong quickly smiled and waved his hand. "Don't get stuck on that. Our troops are something you encounter by chance, not something you can seek out. Take Yang Yao — Master Gao knows him too, a cavalry centurion from Guyuan."

"He's my vanguard post commander, leading cavalry. On the battlefield, he can carry out the rear post's mission. No conflict."

Gao Yingxiang understood for the time being and nodded. "I'll give it a try later."

"Still, this is better for fighting bandits. When fighting border troops, you can guard against them using it."

Having said that, Liu Chengzong picked up his pen again and continued, "Let me go on. One battalion, six posts — the whole battalion twenty-five hundred to thirty-five hundred men. These are the left and right battalions. The central army headquarters battalion adds an artisan post and an artillery post, reaching four thousand men. Three battalions form a brigade — ten thousand troops."

"So you're not dividing into five posts anymore?"

"No more." Liu Chengzong smiled. "These three battalions won't be garrisoned in one place. Roughly one battalion per two or three counties. That way, at least they're troops I can afford to maintain."

"Of course, if Lion Bay gets reclaimed, maybe this one river valley alone could support the troops."

Gao Yingxiang nodded. "I understand. In this force of yours, the commander controls the artisans and cannons. The two battalions have no cannons — then they'll be at a huge disadvantage fighting government troops!"

"No, it's just that the left and right battalions have no artillery post. They can assign light cannons under each post or even each squad, using grapeshot. Once the enemy breaks through the range of bows and firearms, then suppress them with cannon fire."

"Assigned to each post... and after that?"

"After what?"

"After that, what are your plans?" Gao Yingxiang asked, then went on answering himself. "I'm still planning to go to Shanxi. I think Shanxi is the place where you can maintain troops and hide men. And you can advance to threaten the capital region, or retreat down into Henan."

Gao Yingxiang asked, "Here's what I'm thinking: you in the west, me in the east, Wang Jiayin in the north — we tie down the government troops from each other. After you go raid Guyuan, can you hold off the western armies?"

Liu Chengzong clapped and laughed. "We're thinking the same thing. I was already planning to go west. But whether I can hold them off... I honestly don't know."

Liu Chengzong thought to himself: Guyuan, Ningxia, Lintao, Gansu — four of Shaanxi's five garrisons. Me alone against the troops of four garrisons — do I even have that kind of ability?

Note:

According to Nationalist Government statistics from 1938, corn yield per mu in Shanxi Province was 87 kilograms.