Chapter 109: Recruiting Soldiers and Buying Horses

“After the formal establishment of the Army and Navy, not only will the demand for weapons surge, but it will also involve issues of training and reserve ammunition,” Ma Qianzhu said. “I have two points on this matter.”

The industrial sector must establish an ammunition supply system as soon as possible to supply the training needs of the New Army and the coastal fortresses.

The supply of black powder could be considered ample, with a stock of 2.5 tons. After granulation, its power was greatly increased, sufficient for training and combat. However, there was zero stock of cannonballs and Minie balls, which needed to be produced urgently.

For weapon manufacturing, it was best to focus on one or two types, not to be greedy for variety and completeness. If there was not enough steel due to a lack of coke, then for the time being, efforts should be concentrated on manufacturing cast-iron cannons. The trade department would do its utmost to solve the coal supply problem.

It was necessary to find ways to manufacture prime movers as soon as possible, including steam engines and small diesel engines, to provide sufficient power for the Navy to build and modify its own ships.

“The Navy’s ships,” Chen Haiyang reminded, “we only have two sailboats right now, but the tasks they have to undertake are really a bit too much. The Navy needs to expand its fleet.”

To meet the current tasks of fishing, patrolling, and transportation, the Navy needed at least 8-10 sailboats with a displacement of no less than 50 tons, preferably over 100 tons. The industrial sector’s demand for sea transport was growing, and ships with too small a tonnage were not suitable.

The transmigrators had already discovered fairly large shipbuilding workshops in Lingao. The largest local fishing boats, commonly known as “Lingao draggers,” had a displacement of over 70 tons. They were fine for fishing and cargo transport, but the transmigrators still found the boats a bit small and not fast enough.

If they were to build ships themselves, the industrial department and the Navy could come up with a plethora of designs. There were even experts who could draw the blueprints and structural diagrams of the ironclad warship HMS Glorious. However, no one had any practical shipbuilding experience. The most experienced were arguably Wen Zong and Wang Luobin, both of whom were veteran model ship enthusiasts who had built countless model ships and were considered the most knowledgeable about wooden ship construction.

Chen Haiyang proposed using Lingao’s local shipbuilding resources. According to the long-range reconnaissance team’s report, there were several shipbuilding workshops in the Baitu Port area of Lingao, capable of building not only ordinary fishing boats but also large ships of four hundred liao—the largest size of ship that the Ming government legally allowed private citizens to build.

Baitu Port not only had shipwrights but also a large stock of shipbuilding timber, some of which had been stored for three or four years and was suitably dry, which the transmigrators could easily utilize.

“I suggest we occupy Baitu Port and move all the shipwrights and shipbuilding materials there to Bopu,” he said. With the transmigrators responsible for design and teaching modern shipbuilding techniques, he believed they could quickly transform these shipwrights into modern shipbuilding workers.

“Agreed!” Zhang Bolin immediately concurred, being particularly enthusiastic about matters of war.

“I also support taking Baitu Port. This will put Lingao’s shipbuilding industry completely in our hands, and the fishermen and coastal cargo boatmen of Lingao will have to obey us completely,” Ma Qianzhu also expressed his support.

The motion to occupy Baitu was thus passed. The operation was planned to be launched immediately after the Army’s training battalion was formed.

“Finally, there’s the matter of naval personnel recruitment and training,” said Li Haiping of the Navy. “Just now, Commissioner Ma said that the Army would temporarily be responsible for naval recruitment and training. I can’t agree with this point. We are the Navy, not the Army’s marine corps. The naval service has its own special characteristics, and it’s difficult for the Army to truly understand the Navy’s needs—”

The faces of the young guard of the Army, represented by Wei Aiwen and Zhang Bolin, immediately soured. The implication was clearly that the Army were a bunch of country bumpkins.

“Let me explain,” Ma Qianzhu said quickly. “The so-called responsibility of the Army is actually for the new recruit phase—the Army has a training battalion. After they are assigned to their units, the Navy will be responsible for their own training. As for soldier recruitment, it will be directly managed by the Military Committee in the future, and will have nothing to do with either the Army or the Navy.”

“Chief,” another commune member timidly walked into Wu De’s Bairen Commune office.

“What is it?” Wu De was taken aback. Don’t tell me it’s another one wanting a certificate to enlist?

“Sir, sir, I want to get a document.” The man seemed very afraid of speaking to such a high-ranking chief.

“Are you planning to enlist?”

“Yes, yes—”

Wu De sighed. In a single day, no fewer than twenty people had come to the commune for a note to enlist. Adding the people recently recruited by the machinery factory and various other systems, he had already lost fifty male laborers. If this continued, the commune would become a village of women.

The benefits for enlisting are just too good, Wu De thought. The settlement allowance alone was 200 kilograms of rice, with a monthly salary of one tael of silver, and all food and clothing provided. No wonder this group of commune members all wanted to become soldiers.

“Chu Yu, issue him the certificate,” Wu De said listlessly. No matter what, he had to obey the bigger picture. Expanding the army and preparing for war was the main theme at the moment.

“Yes, Master.” Chu Yu had now unofficially become the commune secretary. After passing a political background check and a probationary period, she was assigned to Wu De’s side at her own firm request. Upon arriving at the commune, she took it upon herself to look after Wu De’s daily life, complaining that the canteen food was not good and even starting her own fire to cook and do laundry for him every day. She also repeatedly hinted that she could do more for him. Wu De hadn’t expected that, as an over-the-hill middle-aged man in the 21st century, he would be admired by a young girl in this time-space. No wonder so many otaku had snuck into the ranks.

In reality, Chu Yu was illiterate. After defecting to the transmigrators, she had attended the literacy night school, but she was still only semi-literate. The so-called “issuing of documents” was merely stamping pre-printed and filled-out papers from Wu De, which is why she was also known as the “stamping secretary.”

His phone suddenly rang. It was Li Haiping:

“Old Wu, our Navy’s recruitment situation isn’t great recently. The Army has intercepted all the men with the best physical fitness. See if you can think of something for us. You’re an old Navy man yourself—”

“Alright, if anyone comes to apply, I’ll do some promoting.”

“Thanks for your help! When you issue the letter of introduction, make sure to specify that they are to report to the Navy.”

Recruiting entirely from the commune would severely weaken the labor force, so Xi Yazhou, who was in charge of recruitment affairs, set up a recruitment point in the bustling Dongmen Market.

The recruitment was naturally not under a name like the “Transmigrator Army,” but the much more palatable “Bairen Militia.” The county government was completely playing deaf and dumb. A tenet of traditional Chinese officialdom was that when it was time to be an ostrich, one must bury one’s head deep—not knowing was better than knowing and not acting. The transmigrators were not at all worried that the nearly naked Lingao county yamen would make any move against them.

“Damn it, are these benefits too high?” Dongmen Chuiyu was at the Dongmen Market site, responsible for maintaining order during recruitment. He looked at the large notice for recruiting local braves that had just been hung on the screen wall: a settlement grain of two gongshi (200 kg) for each soldier, food and lodging included (20 kg monthly grain ration), and one tael of white silver per month.

However, Xi Yazhou said this treatment was not high. During the Tianqi era, the military pay in the Liaodong garrisons was already two taels per month. By the mid-Chongzhen period, the monthly pay for newly recruited soldiers had risen to three taels and two qian. If it weren’t for the rampant corruption and deductions in the Ming army, where soldiers basically never received their full pay, the transmigrators wouldn’t be able to recruit anyone for less than two taels a month.

Zhang Bolin was below the screen wall, trying to persuade locals to enlist. He now understood a little of the Lingao dialect.

“Brother, come be a local brave with us. One tael a month, even the official army doesn’t pay that much. We also provide food and clothing.”

“I won’t be a soldier, it’s a life-threatening job.”

“Don’t go, brother. We have plenty of food every day and you get paid. Think about it?”

“I have a wife and children at home, Chief, please let me go.”

“Bring your wife and children over. We’ll provide the settlement grain.”

…

According to the recruitment plan formulated by the Military Committee, the Army was to recruit 400 soldiers and 100 cadets; the Navy was to recruit 100 soldiers and 100 cadets. Soldiers were to be aged 17-25, while cadets were 13-16. Cadets were to be trained as the future technical backbone of the army. In addition to military training, they would receive a series of specialized skills training.

However, during recruitment, it was found that most applicants had no idea of their own age and could only give a rough year. Some individuals were not even aware that the Tianqi era had passed and still thought it was the reign of the “Wanli Emperor.” From their appearance, they were all dark and thin, making it difficult to judge their age correctly. Although the health group later implemented a process of checking teeth, it could only provide a rough estimate. The planned teenage cadets ended up with only a dozen recruits.

The local people of Lingao were not very enthusiastic. They were either small self-cultivating farmers or tenant farmers with some property. Although life was hard, they could still manage to fill their stomachs, so they naturally had no interest in being soldiers. On the other hand, poor people from other places who came to Hainan to reclaim land and work as long-term laborers, like the “Fulao,” were more numerous among the applicants. These men were mostly bachelors with no ties.

There were also some who were clearly overage and destitute who came to enlist. In the end, they were all accepted. The older ones could serve in logistics. The transmigrators were in a phase of rapidly increasing their population, and having people made everything easier.

However, these recruits were generally small and thin. Long-term malnutrition and labor had damaged their health. Although they were hardworking and even surpassed their physical condition in weightlifting tests.

“They’re a bit short, and not sturdy enough,” Wei Aiwen was a little disappointed. These short natives clearly did not fit his aesthetic taste for a soldier’s bearing. The applicants from the commune, due to better food, had good physical conditions and looked top-notch in spirit. Wei Aiwen unceremoniously filled out their enlistment forms for the Army.

“Short is short, they’re strong and hardworking,” Xi Yazhou was not so picky, but lowering the height standard to 155cm was really quite low, and most of them looked skinny. He wondered if the 20kg monthly ration would be enough for them… Xi Yazhou muttered to himself.

After the Navy discovered that the Army was intercepting personnel among the enlistees, they demanded that another recruitment point be opened in Bopu to promote the benefits of joining the Navy to the fishermen who came to fish. Fishermen were clearly more adventurous than farmers. Coupled with the fame of the Navy’s large iron ship and “fast boats,” the Navy easily recruited over 100 fishermen. Some had even come from neighboring counties to join. Chen Haiyang was initially overjoyed, but later discovered that this was not because the Navy was more appealing, but because for the well-traveled fishermen, joining a maritime group to be a pirate for a few months was already part of their livelihood. If they did well, they would stay on—joining the “Australian Kun Bandits” was no different from joining the Zheng family. Chen Haiyang looked at this group of newly recruited half-fishermen, half-bandits—he would really have to put some thought into their political work in the future.