Chapter 48: Training Troops by Driving Them to Desperate Straits III

Yang Fan quickly called together steward Zhao Fu, master craftsman Fu Lao Liu, Chang Zhu, Li Hui, inner courtyard stewards Xiang Yi and Xiang Ying, as well as the divination master Song and his brother Song Yingxing, to hold a meeting.

"Li Hui, the No. 3 blast furnace you are in charge of, along with the twenty apprentices under you, will henceforth be under the command of Mr. Song Yingxing. You are to assist Mr. Song in developing the new-style Red Barbarian cannons. You must obey Mr. Song in all things."

"Yes, Master. This humble servant pays his respects to Mr. Song," Li Hui saluted and said.

"Chang Zhu, take twenty apprentices to buy bricks and tiles. First, build ten rooms to serve as school buildings. One room will be an office, three will be combined to form a primary school, three will be combined for a kindergarten, and three will be combined for a workers' technical school. Also, find a few carpenters to make desks, chairs, doors, and windows. Furthermore, tidy up the east warehouse to be used as a schoolhouse for girls' education."

"Chief Steward Zhao, go recruit laborers. First, recruit three hundred men. There are two thousand strong magnetic rods in the warehouse, which can be used to magnetically separate iron ore. Find carpenters to make some racks that can be assembled into ore-beneficiation equipment; I will give you the blueprints shortly. Then, transport the ore back. Purchase some charcoal so we can start work."

"Go to Xiang Yi to draw whatever funds and provisions you need."

The others acknowledged their orders and went off to attend to their duties.

Yang Fan, the Song brothers, and Zhang Gada remained behind to continue the meeting.

Yang Fan briefly introduced the situation regarding the horse bandits that had appeared in the Stone Scatter Shoal Thousand-Household Office, and also mentioned that he had obtained authorization to form a local militia.

"Mr. Song, you are a master of weaponry. I would like to ask, are there any weapons that can be mastered quickly without requiring long-term training?"

"As for traditional weapons—the staff takes a month, the saber a year, and the spear a lifetime—using the horse-club is the fastest," Song Yingxing said. "You can train people in it within a month, but it is only good for guarding homes and protecting courtyards. They cannot go to the battlefield."

Yang Fan continued to ask, "What about bows and crossbows?"

"As for bows and crossbows, archery won't do; it requires years of practice to be effective. Otherwise, when you release an arrow, you have no idea where it will fly. Crossbows can be mastered quickly. As long as they are adults, or even children, anyone who can draw the string can use one, and they have the sights for aiming. However, the manufacturing is very troublesome, and the production cycle is too long; they must be purchased from outside. The government strictly controls crossbow mechanisms and armor, making it difficult to acquire them on a large scale."

"The long spear is the most useful. No armor can stop a spearhead reinforced for penetration—whether it is mountain-pattern armor, scale armor, chainmail, or brigandine," Song Yingxing said.

"Can the Jianzhou Jurchen's *Baili Yala* elite troops, wearing triple armor—outer riveted cloth-surfaced armor, inner chainmail, and innermost cotton armor—also not stop a spear thrust?" Yang Fan asked.

"They cannot stop it. As long as there is enough force, it will go straight through the chest and pierce right through," Song Yingxing said.

Yang Fan recalled a television program he had watched before called *Approaching Science*, which had an episode titled *Unveiling Ancient Weapons*. One segment involved wrapping half a pig carcass in cold-forged armor and then stabbing it through in a single motion, with the spearhead protruding a foot out the other side.

Yang Fan asked, "What about firearms? Are they quick to pick up?"

"Firearms are also fast. As long as you train for a few days, anyone can fire one. But the government strictly controls bird-guns (matchlock arquebuses). It's hard to say whether a militia can use them."

"What kind of firearms can a militia use?" Yang Fan asked.

"Divine guns can," Song Yingxing said affirmatively.

Yang Fan immediately thought of that weapon where the spearhead of a long spear could be detached, leaving an iron tube capable of launching projectiles.

"This thing can only fire once, and the recruits I want to recruit are all green hands. On the battlefield, they will be nervous and might not hit anything. Relying on just that single chance makes me a bit uneasy. Besides, long spears also require long-term practice, and there's simply no time for that." Yang Fan looked somewhat troubled.

Song Yingxing was silent for a moment, then said, "I have thought of a method. There is a kind of firearm called the 'Nine-Section Consecutive-Firing Divine Gun' that can fire continuously."

As he spoke, he drew a blueprint.

An iron tube about one meter long.

Cast from metal, its exterior was sectioned piece by piece, somewhat resembling bamboo.

On the side was a row of nine small holes.

The front was the muzzle, and the rear was sealed. A long spear shaft could also be attached to it.

"How is this thing used?" Yang Fan looked completely baffled.

"Each section can be loaded with ammunition—a total of nine rounds loaded. The small holes on the side are fitted with fuses, allowing nine bullets to be fired sequentially from front to back," Song Yingxing explained.

"When the gunpowder is ignited, won't it detonate the ammunition behind it? What happens if the barrel bursts?" Yang Fan asked anxiously, worrying that the gunpowder would burn backward.

"It won't. After the propellant charge for each round of ammunition is loaded, the projectile is wrapped in a small piece of cowhide and then jammed into the gun barrel. With the cowhide acting as a spacer, they won't ignite together from front to back. The cowhide also seals the gap between the projectile and the barrel, preventing gas leakage and increasing the firing range."

"This thing is cast, right? Is it easy to produce?"

"There is no difficulty at all; the workshop can produce it."

"I have an idea. If the spearhead in front can be detached, can the gun barrel in the back also be detached?"

"That can be done, but what is the use of detaching the spear shaft?"

"This one-meter-long gun barrel is already quite heavy. If the rear is connected to the spear shaft with an iron chain, it can be made into a flail. These refugees are all farmers, and they are extremely familiar with the flail as a farm tool; they can use it immediately without training. A heavy flail like this, swung against armored personnel, is enough to break a man's bones," Yang Fan said.

"Good idea! This idea is brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? This is much more practical than a long spear—it can be used right out of the box, and the bamboo-joint-shaped barrel can increase impact damage. Modifying it is not troublesome either: just cap the top of a wooden pole with an iron tube, connect the iron tube to the lower part of the gun barrel with a fine iron chain, and let the iron-capped end of the wooden pole fit right in. When inserted, it is a long spear; when pulled out and still connected by the iron chain, it becomes a flail. In this way, the divine gun can be upgraded into a weapon with three uses in one," Song Yingxing said excitedly.

"Mr. Song, I think besides being used as a long spear, a firelock, and a flail, in confined spaces—such as indoors or narrow streets and alleys—the wooden pole can be pulled out to be used as a short gun and nunchucks, transforming a long weapon into a short one," Zhang Gada said.

"Good! As expected, you have the experience. Weapon design must indeed cater to the needs of the battlefield!" Song Yingxing was overjoyed.

"This is wonderful! We will forge weapons according to this design, recruit three thousand refugees, organize a militia, and issue each man a nine-shot consecutive-firing divine gun," Yang Fan said excitedly.

Yang Fan suddenly thought that the new-concept metal storm weapon invented by Australia in later generations seemed to employ a similar concept.

"Master, back in the day, I served as a gunner in Liaoning, fired Red Barbarian cannons, and served as a pikeman. I can train these refugees for you," Zhang Gada volunteered.

"Very well. You will lead the retainer squad and take charge of training. Divide these three thousand men into six grand squads, with five hundred men in each grand squad. Externally, they will be called battalions, designated by the characters for Front, Rear, Left, Right, Up, and Down. Six retainers will serve as grand squad leaders, namely battalion commanders, and you will serve as the militia officer, while Zhao Fu serves as the quartermaster. The internal organization of the battalion will be divided by file, squad, platoon, and company. A file consists of five men, a squad consists of ten men including two files, a platoon consists of thirty men including three squads, and a company consists of one hundred men including three platoons."

"Master, the retainers all come from a working background and have never been military officers; I'm afraid they won't know how to lead troops and can only serve in a supervisory role. Moreover, a battalion of five hundred men requires a great many junior officers. How should this be resolved?" Zhang Gada asked.

"There is no way around this; we have nowhere to magic up a hundred officers, and even the衛所 (guard garrisons) are thoroughly rotten, with hardly anyone knowing how to fight. Let's do this: desperate times call for desperate measures. Let them elect their own officers, starting from the file level. Five men will elect a file leader, each person casting a single vote to choose him themselves. This way, at least the selection will command obedience. Then, based on performance and capability, you will appoint squad leaders from among the six hundred file leaders, and subsequently appoint platoon and company leaders."

"The first step is to appoint squad leaders. You will select these. Starting from platoon leaders, you will be responsible for nominating candidates on a three-to-one basis, and I will make the appointments."