Chapter 2833 Military Exercise (Part 2)

As if to confirm Xi Yazhou's assessment, a shrill bugle call pierced through the gunfire echoing across the beach. White side formed into three columns, unleashed a strange battle cry, and surged forward under the cover of smoke, pushing past their still-firing skirmish line with bayonets fixed. What followed left an indelible impression on the hilltop spectators: Red side's companies were separated by dense thickets of silver grass. Just as White side's columns closed the distance, two massive plumes of white smoke erupted from within the thickets, shot through with flickers of flame. The blast wasn't deafening, yet it drowned out Red side's volley fire entirely. "Could those be mines?" Mai Ruibao's eyes went wide. The explosions seemed to stagger White side's center column—their assault pace faltered momentarily. But the hesitation lasted only an instant. In the next breath, all three columns crashed into Red side's position, both forces entangling in chaotic close-quarters combat.

"Signal the end of the exercise," Lü Zeyang instructed the messenger beside him. "Have the referee team tally the results—though as I see it, the outcome is already obvious."

The weapons that had disrupted White side's column charge were now being hauled out of the grass—two wooden cannons, fashioned from local yellow camphor and reinforced with several bands of iron wire wrapped around their lengths. Mai Ruibao circled them slowly: no gun carriages; the wooden cannons simply rested on stone supports on the bare ground, their bodies still swathed in uncleared dry grass. Red side had concealed them masterfully within the silver grass thickets. One could easily imagine how, in actual combat, these cannons loaded with grapeshot might inflict horrific casualties on an advancing enemy.

"Single-use weapons." Xi Yazhou picked up his ever-present riding crop and tapped the cannon barrel, drawing everyone's attention to the cracks spreading from the base. "Even if it doesn't burst outright, there won't be a second loading. As long as the enemy's resolve holds firm enough to absorb one volley, the game is over." Having finished his critique, he turned and asked, "Whose idea was this?"

The words had barely left his mouth before a young National Army officer stood at attention before him. "Danzhou National Army Garrison Battalion Commander, Joint Defense Office Director Zhu Si, reporting to the Director."

"Zhu Si... I remember now. You fought at Wuzhou."

Mai Ruibao was occupied photographing Chairman Wang's conversation with White side's battalion commander, managing only a fleeting glance in their direction. Battalion Commander Zhu Si saluted with the rigidity of a ceremonial guard, his entire being—face and body alike—taut with tension. Large beads of sweat rolled from beneath his red-trimmed cap, trailing down his cheeks. Probably just the heat, Mai Ruibao thought. The pith helmets issued to National Army couldn't compare with the sola pith helmets worn by the Senators. These were cheap goods pressed from coconut fiber and coated with tung oil—waterproof, certainly, but hardly breathable.

Mai Ruibao didn't catch Zhu Si's response, only hearing Director Xi continue his questioning: "So you're saying you drew inspiration from the bandit suppression operations in Guangdong and replicated this type of wooden cannon?"

"Reporting to the Director: Director Lü often teaches us to be adept at learning. Cunning enemies will learn from us; we must likewise be skilled at identifying enemy strengths." Zhu Si's voice was initially difficult to make out, but it grew steadily louder, as if invoking the Director's name lent him courage. "This type of wooden cannon is extremely low-cost, convenient for common folk to construct from local materials, and simple to operate—ideally suited for equipping village militia to resist bandits and pirates. I therefore suggested to Mayor Liu that we promote its use across all villages."

Director Xi raised his riding crop—though Australia-Song's various publications constantly featured images of General Xi galloping on horseback with whip brandished, in reality, virtually no one had ever actually witnessed Director Xi ride a horse—and pointed toward the discarded wooden cannons and the stragglers of militia trickling back. "So you brought them to the exercise field, along with all the village militia?"

"Reporting to the Director: Mayor Liu instructed us that we must excel at joint training between National Army and village militia, must make do with existing conditions, must seize every opportunity to effectively improve military training standards, and must forge a force capable of fighting hard battles."

Director Xi seemed quite satisfied with Zhu Si's explanation. He stowed his riding crop and returned a crisp military salute, indicating the officer could be dismissed. Messengers darted back and forth, notifying the official carriages to come collect their passengers. Meanwhile, Chairman Wang sidled up to Director Lü. "I must say, Comrade Zeyang, you as National Army Commander are rather biased. Earlier I inspected White side—all Sword-Drawing Squad. Never mind Red side supplementing with a few spear-wielding militiamen—even if Battalion Commander Zhu's regular National Army faced them at two-to-one odds, they probably couldn't hold the line."

"...What would you have me do about it?" Lü Zeyang opened the carriage door for Chairman Wang, then climbed into the Red Flag carriage himself, settling onto the same row of sofa seats as the Chairman. "This National Army Commander position is essentially a figurehead. On the ground, how to deploy and utilize troops is entirely at the discretion of local administrators. So what else can I do besides serve as a training superintendent? Speaking of training—during new recruit training, Fubo Army skims off the cream first. Then the Navy and Marine Corps come for another haul. The dregs and defectives all end up with me. I've been to the Lantau training base. Well—it's exactly like the Song dynasty's Xiang Army. They're called soldiers, but it's really just a refugee shelter! How could they possibly compare with the Sword-Drawing Squad's professional samurai? Even those Nguyễn military household children sent our way—if you ask me..."

"Comrade Zeyang, I understand your thinking about establishing a dedicated foreign legion." Chairman Wang cut off Lü Zeyang's subsequent words. "But you should note that quite a few people in the Senate harbor pronounced nationalist tendencies. They'll have strong opinions about organizing independent, purely foreign mercenary units. At minimum for now, keeping foreign units within the National Army system is acceptable to everyone. Since we already have White Horse Squad and Sword-Drawing Squad, adding Annamese light infantry or other such units would be a natural progression. Of course, as National Army Commander, if you're simply requesting to select outstanding units from within the National Army for a quick reaction force and improve their equipment levels—like what you mentioned about adding unit-level artillery to some battalions, equipping them with mountain howitzers—opposition within the Senate would be considerably less, and I'll certainly support it..."

Wang Luobin glanced out the carriage window at the platform. Among those seeing them off stood Lü Zeyang, along with Liu Yixiao's administrative secretary Liu Bieke, but Mayor Liu himself was conspicuously absent—probably still nursing a hangover. At the previous night's farewell banquet, Liu Yixiao had been rather too enthusiastic, desperately pressing drinks upon every Senator until he'd drunk himself into unconsciousness. Who couldn't see through his intentions? The man simply refused to babysit a massive state enterprise like Danzhou Chemical, hoping instead to transfer back to the Center for better advancement prospects. Young people—really too simple, sometimes naive. He still needed tempering.

Wang Luobin recalled Qi Chuqin's request. To be honest, building oil tankers fell into the "distant water" category. But it could be included in a feasibility study. He vaguely remembered that crude oil transport was relatively safe—the main issue being that wooden-hulled ships definitely wouldn't suffice; iron hulls were essential. Plus there was a whole series of fire prevention complications to solve...

The whistle blew. The inspection team's special train "Americana" slowly pulled out of Danzhou Station. Unlike the outbound journey, the return trip had naturalized-citizen escorts, including those two interesting reporters, arranged in other carriages. Stewards delivered tea and snacks. Guards at both ends sealed the carriage doors. Wang Luobin lowered the curtain to block the late-spring sunlight, which had already grown quite intense, and addressed the carriage full of Senators: "Comrades, let's discuss your thoughts."

"After the Wuzhou incident, the Senate passed a resolution: no large-scale military operations for three to five years, with focus on deep cultivation and recuperation. But now it seems the tree may desire calm, yet the wind refuses to cease."

"If Zhu Youjian is determined to stir up this wind, we cannot stop him. But how far and how long he can sustain it—that's even less within his control. No matter what forces he wishes to mobilize for a southern expedition, army assembly must be accompanied by at least half a year of levy collection, troop and provision gathering, general selection, strategic deliberations, and all manner of delays and bureaucratic foot-dragging. Moreover, Zhu himself possesses a character both tyrannical and timid—any unexpected incident could cause his entire plan to restart from scratch, or even collapse entirely. Victory won't be difficult for us to achieve. The real challenge is how to maximize our military victory politically." Xi Yazhou spoke while opening his leather map case, extracting a large map and using a rack to suspend it at one end of the carriage. The luxuriously appointed Senator's special carriage now took on a distinct command post atmosphere.

"Of course, this is Zhu Youjian's moment of triumph. We know Zuo Liangyu's claim of killing Zhang Xianzhong in battle is mere bragging, but the fact remains: the Eight Great King's foster sons are either dead or captured, and the Western Camp's main force has been annihilated—that much is confirmed. As for Li Chuangwang—the latest intelligence indicates he was caught up by Zuo Guangxian at Mawu in Li County. His followers scattered; most were captured. Only his own whereabouts remain unknown—though we know he's still alive. Liu Guoneng, Li Wanqing, Luo Rucai, Ma Jinzhong, and other bandit units have successively surrendered. So never mind Chongzhen—right now Ming's military commanders are all grinning from ear to ear. Zuo Liangyu alone has swelled his forces to over 20,000 simply by absorbing bandit units. Whether they can actually fight is another matter—at minimum, it's enough to boost his confidence."

"Zuo Liangyu is currently garrisoned in northern Hubei." Xi Yazhou traced a circle around Yunxian and Xiangyang on the map with his riding crop. "His nominal opponents, the Five Revolutionary Left Camps, are presently weak and isolated—incapable of making any waves. If Chongzhen is determined to campaign against the Kun, Zuo's forces will certainly constitute one of the main armies marching south."

"Xiong Wencan, nominally the Two-Guangs Governor-General, is currently functioning as little more than half a Guangxi Provincial Governor." The riding crop tapped Liuzhou. "Though closest to us geographically, he poses the least threat."

"How so?" The one interrupting Xi Yazhou was Senator Jiang Ye, on loan from the machinery factory to work at Danzhou Chemical, now taking this special train back to Lingao for a vacation. "If I recall correctly, the Guangxi territory South China Army has occupied amounts to only Wuzhou, Pingle, and Guilin prefectures. Oh, and Nanning has been taken too, along with Xunzhou Prefecture. By my count, Old Xiong still controls at least half of Guangxi."

"Allow me to add one point—taking Nanning relied on a Marine Corps surprise attack." Old Di set down his teacup. "I commanded that battle."

(End of Chapter)