Chapter 1011 Security Army
"Anyway, uniform consumption during training is very high. Using a simplified version first fits the principle of economical army-building." Planning Bureau representative Dai Xie responded to Fu Sansi's question at the Military Affairs General Office meeting.
Fu Sansi had no special feelings for the Japanese, but now they were soldiers under his command. To send soldiers out to risk their lives, basic pride and provisions had to be provided—at least they couldn't dress like beggars as under the Nationalist government.
The stingy Planning Bureau, reincarnated as Yan Xishan, was more concerned with how to save fabric. Uniforms sent to training camps simply reduced shorts pockets to just one. Security Army leggings were also simplified to natural-colored canvas strips, unlike the Fubo Army's integrated type that could be quickly tightened with draw cords. In the future, Jeju Island settlers would mainly be identified by legging color—white leggings for Security Army, gray for Fubo Army.
The Japanese soldiers naturally had no objections to having pants to wear, except for frequently getting slapped for forgetting to fasten the fly button.
The Security Army jacket was a new style: what the Australian employers colloquially called "Soviet-style pullover." Shikawa naturally couldn't know what this "Soviet" was all about, vaguely recalling some literate overseas Chinese mentioning a similar name during a Mid-Autumn Festival. Fubo Army officers and soldiers held similar views. Later, many cheap military literature magazines spread the erroneous claim that this uniform style originated from Suzhou.
Actually, Joint Logistics Command had introduced this uniform simply because the clothing factory had been too busy that year. The machinery factory hadn't developed button-attaching and buttonhole machines; sewing buttons and making buttonholes consumed too much time. Changing uniforms to pullover style reduced the original five buttons to two.
Though cost-cutting motivated the change, the trial version was widely welcomed. Even the Fubo Army embraced it: After the Second Counter-Encirclement, the Fubo Army had increased training intensity. Emergency assemblies plus long-distance route marches became routine. Before sleeping at night, soldiers usually only undid two or three buttons before taking off clothes, so they could dress and go immediately upon hearing the middle-of-night whistle.
But this pullover ultimately wasn't widely issued. Among army Senator officers, resistance to pullovers was extreme—to the point that Joint Logistics Command Deputy Director Sopu, who had overseen this uniform improvement work, was cursed as an "unrepentant Yellow Russian." Sopu was completely baffled, crying innocence—actually his greatest admiration was for the US military. Due to the strong backlash, plus other drawbacks of pullover-style uniforms, Joint Logistics Command ultimately decided to give it only the "1631 National Army Service Dress" designation, issuing it to National Army and Security Army. Winter dress simply replaced shorts with long pants.
National Army uniform pockets were also reduced to just one lower right pocket. Since the left shoulder carried the weapon belt, keeping a left pocket was unnecessary. Officer uniforms had no upper pockets either, only adding one left arm pocket for pens.
Fubo Army first-generation clothing was indigo blue. After the Senators themselves shouldered guns and did several route marches, everyone complained dark clothes were too hot. So the Army quickly switched to gray; the Navy, besides keeping blue old-style uniforms for winter dress, also changed summer dress to white-based—actually just cotton's natural color.
Since gray uniforms still used vegetable dyes with poor color adhesion, troops training under scorching sun quickly showed fading. When the Special Chemical Complex began manufacturing small amounts of picric acid, Joint Logistics Command experimentally dyed a batch of khaki yellow cotton with it: dyes mainly came from traditional turmeric, plus small amounts of self-made picric acid.
However, picric acid was far too scarce, and turmeric supply also insufficient—not enough for dyeing sufficient fabric. As a result, this batch of fabric went to the Security Army for making uniforms. Khaki yellow pullover uniforms, white canvas leggings, and wicker helmets pasted with oiled paper—this was the Security Army's standard image. Needless to say, it was rather shabby, especially when soldier heights basically all fell below 1.55 meters.
Every day when the Security Army Japanese Education Unit trained in camp, it always attracted observing Senators and naturalized citizens passing by—not only because of their appearance, but also because Japanese soldiers shouted "Banzai!" three times before starting daily training. So everyone gave their camp the nickname "Banzai Camp."
Shikawa Hideji and over three hundred Japanese mercenaries had been confined in the Education Directorate's training camp since arriving in Lingao. To prevent these mercenaries—who knew nothing of integrity—from causing trouble, the Education Directorate also enhanced security, especially bringing in riot-trained security companies. However, these mercenaries' discipline exceeded expectations.
The Japanese weren't naturally disciplined. Rather, these Japanese drifters valued three meals of rice and fish more dearly than anything. Japan had long suffered from overpopulation pressure: By the seventeenth century, Japan already had nearly one hundred million people and had long tasted the difficulties of scarce survival resources. The mountainous island nation had many people and little land. Combined with the shogunate and daimyos' extremely harsh exploitation—six parts tax to four parts kept was normal; a five-five split was considered benevolent rule. This made Japanese farmers' lives extremely difficult. Year-round they couldn't eat the rice they grew, barely surviving on mixed grains without enough to eat. Even in Meiji-Taisho era near-modern rural Japan, extreme poverty still tortured ordinary people. As depicted in Oshin, hiring a maid to work a year for just one bag of rice wasn't even the most tragic case. In some remote, barren mountain villages, the custom of abandoning old people was even preserved. In some regions, besides the firstborn son with inheritance rights who could marry and reproduce, second and third sons without inheritance had to either leave to find work or, if staying home, work like slaves for their elder brother in exchange for a bowl of rice—forbidden to marry and form families.
Large numbers of seventeenth-century Japanese flowed to Southeast Asia not only because Catholics faced religious persecution, but because solving the food problem was also an important reason.
Now they had sufficient food—rice and dried fish without limit. The first time the training camp's large tinplate barrels of food were opened, revealing full rice, dried fish, bean paste and seaweed soup, every Japanese person was moved to tears. Shikawa gripped his crucifix tightly, gazed at the sky, and thanked the Holy Mother for sending him to a good place.
Since Ping Qiusheng brought these people to Hainan Island, "One person violates, everyone punished" was the slogan they had to shout before every meal.
Besides the caught being punished, according to Senator Ping's orders, before meals everyone had to self-criticize and mutually report whether there had been any disciplinary violations or improper thoughts that day. Only then could they shout "Itadakimasu" and similar phrases. Those reported and verified had to go hungry; fish and rice went to the reporter, plus depending on severity, toilet, dormitory, or drill ground cleaning.
"Is there any physical weakness?"
"Are there any disloyal thoughts?"
"Have you remembered to be grateful at all times?"
"Have you given your all in training?"
...
So every evening before dinner, the scene of all Banzai Camp personnel lined up at parade rest facing the sun and shouting in unison became a camp spectacle—to the point that Fu Sansi had to issue orders forbidding others from pointing and watching nearby.
Banzai Camp's military training was crude and brutal. Corporals, striving to prove their competence, always used body language for thorough education.
Slap! Slap!
"Baka! SanjirĹŤ, you idiot! Remember to step with the left foot first! I've slapped your hands swollen and you still don't learn! Fifty push-ups, now! You hear? If not, I'll make you clean toilets for a week!"
Shikawa Hideji almost constantly roared commands at his subordinates like this, using various hardships he had eaten and seen to make subordinates fear him more than death. Then he would immediately glance at the education sergeant the employer had assigned him—monitoring each squad's training not far away—hoping to receive even a nod of expressionless approval. Other corporals behaved similarly. However, as a former samurai plus professional mercenary, it had to be said that the Japanese soldiers Shikawa trained had the best training results in the entire Security Army. He was most likely to become the Security Army's first Japanese platoon leader.
Basic Security Army training camp content was drill, combat, and shooting training. Japanese mercenaries performed much better than Li and Miao soldiers. After all, most were originally mercenaries—though not necessarily drill-trained, they had experience in troop formations and already had certain combat experience, making training content easier to understand and adapt to.
Banzai Camp's combat training retained much Japanese swordsmanship familiar to the mercenaries. Shikawa, as a former samurai, was the best among all mercenaries at swordsmanship, so he also served as swordsmanship instructor—teaching mercenaries the Japanese blade work he knew best.
As for the swords they used, the Senate didn't need to worry—when these mercenaries came from Siam, each had one, some even two or three, mostly quality blades. To them, these were their livelihood. They could be so poor they had no pants, but couldn't lose their swords.
Because of Shikawa's outstanding performance, Fu Sansi had already put Shikawa Hideji on the first-batch promotion list for sergeant acting platoon leader.
Shooting training used firearms. Japanese mercenaries could all proficiently use matchlock muskets. Whether to equip the Security Army with firearms was debated in the Senate. Some Senators believed the Security Army was "not reliable enough" and should only be equipped with cold weapons. For example, give Japanese mercenaries katanas and spears and let them "pig-charge." As for Li and Miao mercenaries, machetes and crossbows were sufficient.
But most Senators—especially military Senators—believed this was wasteful. Without firearms, the Security Army's advantage over natives would be greatly reduced. Combat casualties would also greatly increase. Although the Security Army was positioned as expendables, everyone also hoped they could be used longer—not the one-time-use type.
(End of Chapter)