Chapter 886 - Logistics Training Team

Both Army and Navy People's Commissars provided assessments that were far from optimistic. He Ming was especially frank, telling Wu De that the Army's current condition was poor. Troops continuously executing security war combat missions had become severely exhausted. Though casualties in security warfare remained minimal—a death report only every several days—the endless cycle of combat and duty had eroded troop morale. Currently, security operations in Northern Qiongzhou had concluded entirely; Southern Qiongzhou's sparse population meant security warfare there was smaller in scale. The Army intended to withdraw some units for rest and reorganization. Under these circumstances, immediately committing them to another long-range combat operation was probably inadvisable. Nevertheless, He Ming still promised to deploy two infantry battalions and some support troops to participate in "Operation Engine."

The Navy promised to provide one marine battalion and furnish all necessary ships for the operation. Chen Haiyang expressed no certainty about exactly how many vessels could be committed—old ships were undergoing comprehensive refits, and the number of ships the Navy could deploy depended heavily on the construction pace at Lingao and Hong Kong shipyards.

While Yang Zeng busied himself receiving Schneider and others, Xie Shu was leading NCOs of the Ma'niao Fort Logistics Training Team to queue up and proceed toward the logistics warehouse. Their assignment was to count and organize newly arrived materials while learning new management procedures in real-time.

In the promotion wave following the Chengmai Campaign, Xie Shu had the word "probationary" removed from his Probationary Staff Officer title. However, his rank remained Second Lieutenant. He had also joined the training course and, owing to excellent grades, transferred from Battalion Logistics Staff Officer to Logistics Command. The transfer displeased him: Logistics Command sounded prestigious, but in reality consisted of merely one office, one elder Chief Staff Officer, and several staff personnel—possessing little presence within the army.

But recently he had received news: Logistics Command was "about to undergo major adjustments." A dedicated Logistics Teaching Unit had opened at Ma'niao Fort to train professional logistics officers, while a Logistics Training Team was established to train all army logistics NCOs. Xie Shu served as a squad leader in this training team.

Though Xie Shu hadn't served in logistics long, he was literate, understood arithmetic, and was young and eager to learn. He had experienced the Second Counter-Encirclement Battle, so he possessed both knowledge and experience. During his studies, he earned deep appreciation from Hong Huangnan and Thorpe—Thorpe having recently transferred from the Planning Commission to the Army to supervise logistics work.

Thorpe was young, but in the old time-space he had authored a work titled Theoretical Logistics. He possessed a background in operations research and had been a key capable member of the Planning Commission—typical of "academic" logistics cadres. If not for his desire to wear a uniform, combined with the Planning Commission's intent to cultivate a professional, capable logistics organization, Wu De wouldn't have been willing to release him.

Because his theoretical foundation was solid, Thorpe was responsible for teaching most logistics officer and NCO training courses. He maintained a subtle relationship with the "pragmatic" Hong Huangnan. The two observed a polite reserve. But whenever Hong Huangnan expounded upon his increasingly remote plan for a "Carriage 4S Shop," Thorpe invariably listened silently with an accommodating smile.

Though young, Xie Shu came from a landlord family and had received formal education—he found the peculiar relationship between these two "Chiefs" not difficult to comprehend. Thus he maintained equal respect for both teachers.

Xie Shu's sleeve now displayed a new service arm patch. This was affixed personally by his military academy instructor, Elder Major Thorpe. His former superior Dongmen Chuiyu joked upon meeting him: "Little Xie, transferred to the Four General Headquarters, eh."

Xie Shu was thoroughly confused by this. Australian chiefs liked to address people as "Little X," even calling each other that. Xie Shu felt it sounded like the way great households addressed domestic servants or unmarried young men. He preferred others to call him Staff Officer Xie. As for "Four General Headquarters," it was even more baffling. He could recite regulations backward but had never heard of this organ. Returning home and flipping through organization regulations, he discovered no unit called "Four General Headquarters."

In the loading and unloading work area fronting the warehouse zone, various new vehicles and tools were neatly arranged: screw-type manual forklifts, trailers, standard military animal-drawn carts, Purple Lightning Improved handcarts, towed field kitchens, water purification carts—even moveable wooden ramps. The animal carts and Purple Lightning Improved handcarts had been redesigned; the load-bearing concave iron chassis could fit exactly a one-ton or 200-kilogram transport crate, with fasteners for easy securing. These materials had required considerable effort from Thorpe to pry out of the Executive Committee and Planning Commission. Had the blast furnace not commenced operation, the "Second Standardization of Cart Axles" proclaimed by Thorpe couldn't have begun implementation so early.

Xie Shu first explained the general purpose, usage methods, and vehicle structure of these logistics vehicles. Depending on the logistics units NCOs served in, the vehicle types they encountered differed, but training regulations required every logistics commander to "be familiar with usage methods and understand vehicle structure" of common vehicles.

Adjacent to the warehouse stood the animal shed, containing donkeys, oxen, and hinnies; the only animals missing were horses and mules. To address the long-term shortage of horses and livestock in the troops and insufficient related training for artillery, logistics, and engineer soldiers, the Planning Commission and Agricultural Committee organized a joint investigation team. Disregarding Nick's strong opposition, they screened horses, donkeys, and mules at Mopanling Horse Farm. Aside from retaining breeding studs and sufficient dams for population expansion, all other horses, donkeys, and mules unsuitable for breeding were transferred from the farm for allocation—part to the Agricultural Committee, part to the Fubo Army.

According to the latest Fubo Army planning directive: most draft horses and mules were prioritized for artillery units, with a small number reserved for cavalry units currently being formed.

Though horses remained scarce, at least troops now had horses. Transport troops especially. Because the Fubo Army lacked horses and mules, long-term land transport had relied on "oxen hauling bulk, humans carrying small loads." Ox carts were too slow; for urgently needed cargo, militia and migrant workers had to be requisitioned to use handcarts or simply carry loads on their shoulders. Labor consumption was extraordinarily high.

The warehouse guard meticulously examined Xie Shu's identification and authorization documents, counted the number of Logistics Training Team members entering, and registered each one with a dip pen. Xie Shu signed his name on the entry and exit registration card with a brush—pitifully few naturalized citizens could write with a brush, and even fewer in the army.

Though the warehouse garrison was deployed by Xie Shu personally, and sentries were familiar with most people in the various teaching units and training teams studying at Ma'niao, since a certain soldier had been made an example of during a surprise inspection, no one dared to be careless anymore.

The warehouse at Ma'niao Fort was a new standard facility constructed according to the new Military Material Storage Regulations. The warehouse employed an iron-clad wood truss structure, with glass windows opened near the ceiling. The entire structure was high, with excellent air circulation. It had sufficient natural lighting while avoiding direct sunlight. Warehouse walls were built with hollow bricks for heat insulation; insulation materials were also laid beneath the roof to reduce heat from solar radiation.

Hundreds and thousands of crates were neatly stacked on racks and pallets. Crates were painted different colors with numbers written on them. Different colored crates were stacked in different areas according to regulations. Xie Shu knew stacked crates came in 1,000-kilogram, 200-kilogram, and 20-liter types. The 1,000-kilogram crates were used on animal carts; the 200-kilogram and 20-liter crates were primarily used on Purple Lightning Improved handcarts.

Each crate model featured identical dimensions. Crates had pull rings on four sides and fasteners at the bottom for connecting and securing to chassis. Crate frames used riveted angle steel; crate panels were wood coated with coal tar; crate lining was a layer of oilcloth. Stamped on top in red paint were the mark colloquially known as "Iron Fist Violating Chrysanthemum" and a serial number. Finally, a row of small characters: "Property of the Senate."

In Lingao, packaging crates were not consumables; every crate was registered and required recycling for reuse after use.

With standard packaging crate dimensions established, future design dimensions for shipbuilding and vehicle manufacturing would have certain reference values.

The purpose of Xie Shu bringing the training team NCOs here was to teach cargo classification management and distribution procedures. Though the National Stock Code was advanced, in an era relying entirely on manual operation with data transmission via telegraph or courier, mastering and proficiently utilizing this system required substantial effort. Especially since this system currently ran on forms. The workload and calculation volume were immense.

To facilitate management by NCOs with limited education, besides the code system, Thorpe and Hong Huangnan invented a color and pattern recognition system, using various colors and patterns for simple category marking.

While Xie Shu was busy explaining the color and pattern recognition system to the training team, his current direct superior Thorpe was sitting straight in the Joint Operations Command conference room, where several senior officers of the Fubo Army were also gathered.

"If there are no further questions, it's decided. We'll report to the Executive Committee and Organization Department immediately," Chen Haiyang declared.

"What about Staff Officer Hong?" Thorpe inquired.

"He's going to Guangzhou to establish the Carriage 4S Shop." Chen Haiyang waved his hand. "Someone in the Ministry of Colonization and Trade has expressed interest in that Carriage 4S Shop. We consulted with the Planning Commission and decided to let Staff Officer Hong travel to Guangzhou first to establish a pilot Carriage 4S Shop together with Ministry of Colonization and Trade personnel. This pilot station belongs to the Ministry of Colonization and Trade. Naturally, Staff Officer Hong's personnel establishment remains in Logistics Command; doing this is his specialty. Besides, his proposal to purchase horses from the Southwest via Guangzhou also passed. Let him acquire some horses while in Guangzhou first. Yunnan horses are small, but securing a few hundred to pull carts is still worthwhile."