Chapter 20: The Old Man Loves to Sing
Chapter 20: The Old Man Loves to Sing
"My lord, there isn't much to do in the logistics of the regiment training. I just learned it from you. I'll help with the training, too."
Looking at Le Xiucai's eager eyes, Shao Quanzhong shook his head and said, "I know you want to go to the battlefield. If you really want to finish the logistics, you can follow me."
At Shao's residence, Le Sen was stunned when he saw the pile of papers in Shao Quanzhong's hand.
Why does the logistics of a militia require so many things? I thought everything would be fine as long as the money and food were managed well.
Shao Quanzhong explained to Le Xiucai one paper at a time with a smile. This was something he had been working on for several days.
"This is a Western-style leather short boot that I drew. It is made of hard cowhide with thick thread around the edges. Our leatherworkers can definitely make it. The key is to install anti-slip spikes on the soles and iron soles on the heels.
This is a cowhide gaiter, fastened with buttons. It is stronger and more convenient than leggings.
This is an ammunition box, made of cowhide. Every soldier should be equipped with two, one for training and standing guard, and two for battle.
This is a canteen and lunch box for marching. Tinplate is fine. The canteen should be covered with a leather felt cover to keep it warm and prevent it from making noise during marching. The lunch box lid should have a handle so that it can be used as a ladle during field marches.
This is an engineer shovel. It must be made of good steel. Don’t be afraid of the price. Everyone should have one.
In the future our troops will have to dig trenches and use them for close combat. I will teach you how to do it then.
This is a marching backpack. I have marked the size and materials. You can find a tailor to make it together with the military uniforms at the back."
The militia also has military uniforms? Damn, they are Western-style with big hats. Even the gentleman Le Sen started to curse in his heart.
"Don't stare so wide-eyed. If you want to marry Qing Feng home soon, we can't take the usual path. We have to kick loudly with these three kicks.
This time I went to Shanghai to buy the latest rifle, but unfortunately we have too little money to buy a cannon. "
Le Xiucai was really impressed. "My Lord, you actually know so much about Western warfare and equipment, and your paintings are so similar. My knowledge is really too shallow."
"Hey, as for painting, I have learned carpentry.
This is nothing to me. Just wait and see. In the future, you will know that those who study carpentry and want to draw are really good, and you talented people will be far behind them."
Shao Quanzhong did not mention that he was familiar with foreign equipment.
For a warlord, it doesn't matter how many concubines he has, but he must know all the equipment of his troops. Otherwise, the commander-in-chief might be replaced tomorrow and he would lose his head.
Now Le Sen stopped clamoring to participate in the military training.
The things that Shao Quanzhong asked to be made were not available in the Qing Dynasty. All 200 sets of equipment had to be custom-made. I contacted the leatherworkers and blacksmiths and supervised the quality according to Shao Quanzhong's requirements.
Clothes can be made in large, medium and small sizes, but leather shoes cannot be worn if they don’t fit. The sizes have to be measured one by one, which involves a lot of work.
However, Le Xiucai was full of energy and his eyes began to light up.
My lord is more powerful than I expected. Does this mean that my chances of making great achievements on the battlefield, returning home in glory, and marrying the beauty have greatly increased?
Logistics has no military merit? Nonsense. Anyone who has read books will know why Xiao He is ranked first among the three heroes of the early Han Dynasty.
What? You don't know? You only know that there are four ways to write the word hui? Go away, I don't know you.
…………
There are two flat areas in the dike, one is a training ground, and the other is also a training ground.
It wasn't here before, but it is now.
Tian Xing transformed the drying field in the dike into a training ground, and led six hundred ruffians from the left battalion to train enthusiastically.
In the afternoon, Shao Quanzhong went to the training ground to supervise the training. He only saw Haiqing and Song Laosan. Tian Xing was nowhere to be found.
Upon searching, we found out that he did not take a rest at noon and quickly turned the threshing ground into a playground.
Tian Xing ran over happily and said, "Second brother, I am the deputy commander of the left battalion appointed by you.
These guys get one tael of silver as military pay every month, they can’t just take it for nothing, I have to see if I can pick out any capable fighters among them.”
The soldiers in the left camp had low pay and were not full-time soldiers, so they were only rotated once every ten days.
Now that there are 200 professional soldiers, they are no longer needed to stand guard, so Tian Xing called them all over and trained them intensively for seven days, hoping to pick out the best seedlings.
Shao Quanzhong had absolutely no confidence in the 600 men in Zuoying and planned to lay them off in the future.
Seeing that the eldest brother was so excited, I couldn't bear to discourage him, "If you want to practice, then practice. Just treat it as a practice for nothing."
Shao Quanzhong led his men in training for an entire afternoon, and their progress was obvious, but it was still too early to form an army.
The only result was that he picked out nine strong and sturdy soldiers to be his personal guards and let Zhang Siwen lead them.
The nine personal soldiers were all equipped with goose-feather swords, but Zhang Siwen, the leader of the personal soldiers, still held his iron rod.
After dinner, he gathered several key members together.
Tian Xing, Hai Qing, Zhang Siwen, Song Laosan, and Le Sen, these are Mr. Shao’s current team.
"Brothers, I'm leaving for Shanghai tomorrow. When I'm not around, Brother Tian Xing has the final say.
Haiqing, as the deputy regiment commander, you will temporarily lead my right battalion's first team and supervise the training.
Now, I will teach you a song. "
Well, Shao Quanzhong’s action was really unexpected. He sang at the top of his voice in front of everyone’s wide-eyed eyes.
"Soldiers, listen carefully!
As a son, you should be filial to your parents; as a minister, you should be loyal to your parents.
……
First, you must study and practice diligently, so that you can achieve merit after learning the skills;
Military uniform is your personal protection, please keep it clean regularly.
Second, you must fight bravely, and if you are destined not to die, you will survive;
If you retreat and obey military orders, you will be infamous.
Third, we must treat the people well, for we depend on their farming for food and wages;
As long as the soldiers and civilians become one family, the people will help each other and success will be achieved.
......"
Shao Quanzhong's voice is just average. An old man singing at the top of his lungs, there is basically nothing to appreciate.
But the melody of this song is so awesome, it’s perfect for gentlemen to sing at the top of their lungs.
This tune is the military song of the six Beiyang towns, but most people may not know it.
But later, new lyrics were added to the lyrics and the song has been sung until the 21st century. It is called the Three Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention.
Shao Quanzhong certainly didn't know what happened later, he was singing the original Beiyang lyrics.
After he finished singing, the brothers all understood it and took the lyrics written by Shao Quanzhong to learn.
"Don't worry, the song we just sang is called "Song to Encourage Soldiers".
I have three more songs: "March Song", "Detective Song" and "Song against Soldiers". You must learn them all today.
During the breaks in training every day, I have to teach the soldiers to sing, and I will come back to inspect them."
Each song has hundreds of words, which are difficult to remember all at once. Fortunately, once you learn a simple tune, you can just slowly sing along with the lyrics.
These four songs basically cover all the discipline requirements and training programs of the new army.
It is extremely difficult to let the soldiers learn these things in class, but it is much easier if they can sing.
This kind of innovation was unprecedented in everyone's life. That night, the five grown men in Shao's house sang for half the night.
The next morning, Shao Quanzhong took Zhang Siwen and nine personal soldiers on board a ship and headed straight for Songjiang Prefecture. The ship was carrying 15,000 taels of silver.
The ship sailed along the Tongyang Canal to Tongzhou and entered the Yangtze River. Three days later, it docked at the Huangpu River.
On the morning of the fourth day, Shao Quanzhong asked his personal soldiers to stay on the boat to watch the silver, and only took Zhang Siwen ashore.
I wanted to ask around to find out where I could buy a foreign gun. But before I could find anyone to ask, I saw a big sign that said "Walter & Co."
Shao Quanzhong walked in confidently. When a Filipino employee saw the sixth-rank hat on his head, his eyes lit up and he ran into the inner room as if he had seen meat.
A blond, blue-eyed foreigner came out with a smile, speaking fluent Qing Dynasty Mandarin, "I am Henry Wall, the boss of Wall & Co.
Sir, do you want to buy arms? You have come to the right place. I sell everything here, including guns, bullets, cannons, and foreign ships.
The famous leader of the foreign rifle team is my brother, and the Qing Dynasty bought all its advanced weapons from me. "
Shao Quanzhong put his hands behind his back and smiled, "Do you have a rifle?"
“When you ask this question, I know you are an expert.
Of course there were rifles, the latest model Springfield M1855 rifles, each costing two hundred taels of silver, plus one thousand rounds of ammunition, a total of three hundred taels.
One hundred guns and bullets only cost thirty thousand taels, how many do you want to buy?"
Shao Quanzhong bowed and said, "See you later!"
Turn around and leave.
(End of this chapter)