Chapter 1238: The Camp Commanders

Ge Tianfeng stood in formation in the standard drill-manual posture, watching Zhao Jin confer office and see off these newly appointed camp commanders and deputy camp commanders. Ge Tianfeng was now a squad commander in the Cadet Company. He stood at attention in a full suit of iron armor, a long halberd in hand. Before coming to Xuzhou, Ge Tianfeng could never have stood for so long in full kit — twenty-some jin of iron armor was no light weight. But now, Ge Tianfeng had grown more than three inches taller, and his frame had filled out and grown sturdy.

"... Liu Yuping, the year before last, when we put down the Incense Sect rebels, your company was besieged by two thousand of those roving bandits. Not only did you hold out, you routed them and captured the Incense Head leading them..."

The camp commanders receiving their posts atop the earthen platform each reined in their excitement, their faces solemn as they listened to Zhao Jin's address. The scene before them was glorious enough to bring luster to any man. From the founding of Zhao's Camp — now called the Zhao Family Army — to the present, the establishment of units and the conferring of office had never been conducted on such a grand scale.

The camp commanders and deputies about to depart for their various posts all stood in armor before the platform in solemn silence. All around them, soldiers and troops in full kit were arrayed in formation. Banners of every color streamed in the wind. Every unit in Xuzhou had drawn its best men to take part in this ceremony. Every core figure in Xuzhou, from Zhao Jin on down, was present. The honor of it was truly soul-stirring. Even Zhao Jin, ordinarily so plain and unadorned, had this time donned a suit of armor the Ironworks had crafted for him with exquisite workmanship.

As the Zhao Camp's strength swelled, more and more people urged Zhao Jin not to focus solely on practical matters, but to put some effort into form and ceremony. Zhao Jin had always paid little heed to this. His thinking was simple: surpassing others in real strength was the highest priority. Otherwise, no matter how fine your rites and protocols, they were of little real use.

Yet Zhao Jin understood one thing: solemn and dignified ceremonies, crisp military bearing and formation order, awe-inspiring armor and weapons in their proper forms, and the streaming of every colored banner — these truly could strengthen the soldiers' and troops' sense of belonging and honor. They could also instill a sense of mission in the officers at every level and reinforce the loyalty in every man's heart. And so this time, Zhao Jin did not hold to plainness. He wore the armor forged especially for him, and he had instructed everyone to arrange the grounds with particular care. The ceremony itself was also specially choreographed.

This suit of armor was not particularly practical; what it pursued was martial grandeur and splendor. Every part of it was inlaid and chased with gold and silver patterns by exquisite craftsmanship. Dragon and tiger designs caught the light in the morning hours, making Zhao Jin appear preternaturally divine and martial, and compelling men to feel awe unbidden.

Zhao Jin, atop the platform, called out name after name in a ringing voice. At each name, a man answered with a great shout and stepped forward from the ranks. To the cadence of the drums, he ascended the high platform. Zhao Jin would hand him his seal of office, his waist-tally, and his saber. What stirred and moved each man even more was that Zhao Jin spoke aloud every man's name and his deeds of merit. This brought each man a surge of emotion from the very bottom of his heart. These warriors, who faced life and death without a trace of fear, now shed hot tears upon this high platform.

"... Guan Tao, at the battle against the Shandong troops at Dongping, when men broke into the pike formation, you had your comrades and subordinates hold the line while you crawled forward under the pikes yourself to kill the enemy..."

"... He Guangye, when you were besieged by bandits at Yishui, you alone killed five of the outlaws, then led more than ten manor hands to safety and got word out..."

"... Guo Qi, in the artillery duel at Guide Prefecture, the gap in the gun carriage crushed and severed three of your fingers, yet you bore the pain and kept serving the gun and firing..."

The scene was utterly silent. Zhao Jin's voice rang out loudly. The meritorious deeds of every camp commander and deputy were proclaimed by him in a great voice. The soldiers and troops who heard this each straightened their backs, thinking to themselves whether such a future might one day be theirs.

The men from the various units who had come to this conferment ceremony were not here merely for the pomp and display. Many would follow the camp commanders and their deputies to their various posts after the ceremony. Their meritorious deeds in battle, their diligence in training — none of their shining and outstanding performance had gone to waste. It had been recorded, subjected to constant evaluation, and in this expansion and new establishment, they had been selected. From ordinary household retainers and militia, they became new soldiers and troops, company commanders and squad commanders.

Every man promoted was a seed. They would spread the fine traditions of the Zhao Family Army and Zhao's Camp far and wide, letting more young men who possessed only ignorant courage and hot blood become qualified soldiers and troops, and letting Xuzhou's strength grow bit by bit.

"... When will it be our turn..." someone in the ranks murmured quietly. Ge Tianfeng immediately shot a glare in that direction, and the ranks at once fell silent again.

By now, Ge Tianfeng no longer felt the slightest inferiority or stage fright before his classmates from the martial academy. There were four cadet companies. The company commanders and deputies were all filled by regular soldiers. The forty squad commanders were cadets of outstanding performance — and he was one of them. Through hard work and excellence, his self-confidence had gradually been built up.

Though he had just rebuked the cadets to observe discipline, Ge Tianfeng's own mind was wandering a little at this moment. In the honor guard of the cadet companies, he spotted Lian Bao'en, Qi Biao, Yan Xiang, You Guangzu, Zheng Bin, and the sons of various families he had noticed when he first entered the martial academy. It was a bit helpless to say, but although the academy did not look at one's background and treated everyone equally, those who could truly succeed in their studies were mostly these young men of background and family standing. It was because they had built up good physiques from childhood training, and had practiced and understood drill and martial skills. So long as they did not slack off themselves, they would progress far more than others.

As for those students of commoner origin, first, their foundations were poor; second, their effort was no greater than those students of good background, and they certainly would not burn their lives away in effort the way Ge Tianfeng, who had witnessed scenes of hell, did. Thus, among the forty squad commanders, those with family background and origin made up the greater half. As for the rest, the so-called commoner students, upon closer examination their families were not so very ordinary either. Ge Tianfeng was the sole exception.

After a moment of private reflection, Ge Tianfeng looked again toward the front ranks. In the formation of camp commanders and deputies, there were also faces he knew. Ma Tongji was the newly appointed deputy commander of the garrison troop camp at Dongping. Li Huanghe was the deputy commander of the troop camp at Ju Prefecture. These two were the exceptions in their third-level class.

Outsiders talked, saying that even the Xuzhou forces, always so fair, now relied on connections — that just as the Great Ming allowed no one but hereditary military households to become officers, your Xuzhou forces also required a father's backing to become an official. But those who truly knew the reason for Ma Tongji's and Li Huanghe's exceptional promotions were all convinced from the heart.

When the several great armies converged to strike at Xuzhou, the Internal Guard needed a few men with youthful faces to step forward and go with the various lines of scouts into Shandong to gather intelligence. Though everyone had the utmost confidence in the Zhao Camp's battle strength and thought the chance to win merit on campaign was great, going ahead as a scout to reconnoiter was exceptionally perilous. The Zhao Family Army's strength lay in fighting in formation, not in any individual's martial prowess. At such a time, when every rustle of wind sounded like an enemy and foes were on every side, infiltrating territory controlled by government troops to reconnoiter the enemy's situation — the chance of death or injury was immense.

Ge Tianfeng still remembered when the instructors first mentioned this assignment. A few of the commoner-born students in the class discussed it in private, saying that since they had no one to rely on, they would likely be the ones chosen, and they feared they would not be able to give their families a good life. Hearing this, Ge Tianfeng's expression did not change, but he was very worried for himself. Those others at least had parents. He himself was truly rootless and without foundation — an orphan. Thinking of his experiences among the refugee army, Ge Tianfeng felt he was certain to be sent.

Unexpectedly, the Internal Guard men who came told everyone to volunteer. At first there was silence. Then Ma Tongji and the Li brothers — two of them — stood up first. After that, the Chen, Shi, and Ji family sons also rose. The students of good background actually began vying to be first. Ge Tianfeng, his blood surging to his head at the sight, also stood and volunteered.

The Internal Guard people likely had not expected so many. They made no decision at the time, but first recorded the names and said they would return the next day. When they came the next day, they took Ma Tongji and Li Huanghe away. This choice stirred much more discussion within the class. The few who had been worried and afraid at the start were now full of regret — perhaps this had been a fine chance to earn merit, and they had missed it.

Only later did Ge Tianfeng learn that Patrol Leader Ma Chonghao and Li Dajin had long ago spoken with the martial academy people. If there was any assignment that meant going through fire and water, and the boys themselves were willing to go, then they were not to be stopped. The time to enjoy wealth and rank had not yet come. Merit and position had to be won by their own struggle.

And then Ge Tianfeng also learned that this mission had truly been a brush with death. Disguised as wealthy families and traveling merchants fleeing disaster, they had followed the Shandong and government armies at a distance, only to be spotted by a small government squad out foraging for grain. The soldiers had stumbled onto the right target by sheer chance — they had set out to loot and amuse themselves, but ended up killing Xuzhou's scouts. Ma Tongji's and Li Huanghe's skill with spear and staff, and their quick reactions, saved their lives at that moment. The soldiers could not be bothered to press the matter with half-grown boys. One escaped into a cellar, the other leaped into a deep gully. Only thus did they escape with their lives.

By the time they emerged, the village they had been in was already sacked. Not one in ten of the villagers survived; only a few alert, able-bodied young men had escaped with their lives. Ma Tongji and Li Huanghe used their spear and staff skills to overawe these young men. Then the two took turns going out to deliver messages, allowing the other Internal Guard scouts shadowing the army to escape with their lives. They even turned the village into a relay station. Those able-bodied young men were pressed into service, assigned to lookout and sentry duty. The situation was more or less maintained.

Later still, the cavalry unit under Ji Xiang, coming over from Qufu, made contact with this place. They did everything possible to stockpile some grain and fodder here, and left a few dozen crack household retainers to guard it. Ji Xiang led his troops in a strike against the government army's flank, and it was here that they made their final rest and reorganization. Otherwise, on such a heedless long-distance raid, men and horses would have been drained of all strength and spirit, and their efficiency in killing the enemy would have been far too diminished.

Once the brief rest was over and all the fodder and provisions had been given to the animals, Ma Tongji and Li Huanghe moved together with Ji Xiang's unit. At that moment, Ji Xiang could afford to care about nothing else. He had no attention to spare for looking after the sons of colleagues. Every extra measure of strength now meant an extra chance of victory — to say nothing of the fact that these two half-grown lads had also brought along more than ten men, their eyes red with the thirst for vengeance. That strength was truly no small thing.

Ma Tongji and Li Huanghe fought fiercely for half a day, blood-soaked and wounded, but returned in triumph. They had preserved the Internal Guard team, rendered support to Ji Xiang's unit, taken to the field to kill the enemy, and brought back ten utterly loyal subordinates. Their performance was indeed outstanding, their merits many. Such young men naturally had to be promoted.

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