Chapter Sixty-Four: Mobilization

The Senate approved He Ming’s proposal to establish a Militia General Command. With the militia composed of workers and commune farmers as the main force, it would uniformly command the militia of all villages and hamlets—responsible for local defense, protecting industry, agriculture, and infrastructure, undertaking logistical work, and assisting the Fubo Army in combat when necessary.

The villages and hamlets of Lingao had successively established militias during the anti-bandit campaign—some were the original village braves; they had built basic defensive facilities—the worst of which had a ditch and a wooden palisade.

“The militia of the native villages is not very useful,” said Dongmen Chuiyu, who was in charge of mobilization. “They are just village braves. It’s okay for them to defend their own villages and fight bandits, but it’s not certain that they can fight the Ming army if they are taken out.”

Moreover, it was a question whether these militias were politically reliable. Overall, the reliability of the various villages and hamlets varied. Apart from the villages directly under the jurisdiction of the communes, the most politically reliable were the Thirteen Villages area and the Maniao Peninsula area. The latter was the first to defect to the Transmigrationists, and the former, after repeated tempering and training by Du Wen and others, had a fully established grassroots organization of the Transmigration regime, with village chiefs appointed and resident police stationed. Unstable elements were either eliminated or forcibly relocated.

Apart from not having established a formal commune, there was no major difference in the degree of control compared to the four communes.

The reliability of the other villages and hamlets depended on their distance from the Wenlan River. The Wenlan River was the core area of the Transmigration Group’s rule, and generally, the farther away from the Wenlan River, the lower the reliability. But geographical factors were not the only part of the reliability assessment.

Villages that had cooperated deeply with the Transmigration Group, such as Liu Family Village, were much more reliable. Their interests were largely tied to the Transmigration Group. The reliability of those villages that had little cooperation and only passively accepted the instructions of the Transmigrationists through their liaison officers was much lower. The large villages with particularly strong clan forces and little interaction with the Lingao regime were the most dangerous part. The Transmigrationists not only did not bring much benefit to the ruling clans, but also curbed their power to do evil by relying on their large clans and surnames.

At present, no village or hamlet dared to defy the orders of the Transmigration Group, and any government order could be smoothly delivered. However, the Executive Committee believed that this situation was under stable internal and external conditions. Once any turmoil occurred, it was very likely that some villages would defy orders.

“Villages that are not clan-based and have a small population, although their reliability is not high, because of their poor cohesion and small numbers, they dare not act rashly. They should be the type to surrender to whoever comes. They will not pose a threat to us,” Dongmen Chuiyu said at the military mobilization meeting when talking about this issue. “The most dangerous are actually the clan settlements like Huang Family Village and Liu Family Village. They are all large villages with thousands of people. They can easily pull out two or three hundred armed men. Once our position is unstable, it is very likely that they will respond to the government army to gain political and economic benefits.”

“They will only rise up in rebellion when we are routed and fleeing for our lives. So I don’t think it’s very likely. These large households know the power of our artillery,” Zhang Bolin said.

Wei Aiwen said: “This is a good opportunity to test them… to see which villages are the wavering elements, and then eliminate them all and send them to the labor reform team.”

“That’s not good,” He Ming shook his head. “The rear still needs to be ‘stable.’ As for wavering and so on, it’s hard to say. People are naturally timid, not to mention that they are being asked to ‘rebel.’ As long as we win this battle, the hearts of the people will naturally turn to us. We must rely on the people, not treat them as thieves and guard against them every day.”

“I think it’s inappropriate to only mobilize workers and commune residents. This will give the local people the illusion that ‘the war has nothing to do with me,’ and will also increase their chances of being fence-sitters,” Dongmen Chuiyu said. “The whole county should be mobilized, and every village should contribute men and grain! They should be completely tied to our war chariot.”

“Now each village has already contributed some men. At least half of the soldiers in the army are from local levies,” Dongmen Chuiyu said, flipping through the military register. “This is not enough. Now is a state of emergency, and we should immediately start conscription throughout the county.”

“I agree.”

“There is one more thing we should do immediately,” Ma Qianzhu said at the military mobilization meeting. “The local garrison in Lingao.”

“You mean the garrison-and-post system…”

“Yes, the garrison-and-post system,” Ma Qianzhu nodded. “The local garrison troops are not a threat, but they still occupy a large area of fertile land and have a population of several thousand.”

In the past, the Transmigrationists did not touch the interests of the garrison-and-post system, and it had always been an independent existence in Lingao. This was firstly out of the basic principle of “peaceful coexistence” with the Ming government. If they suddenly destroyed the thousand-household post, the county would not be able to explain it. Secondly, it was to “suppress the Li people.”

Although the garrison troops were corrupt and their combat effectiveness was at most 10, they were still an important force to restrain the local Li people. Before the Transmigration Group established a good relationship with the Li people and before its own strength became strong, it was not necessarily a good thing to rashly destroy the garrison-and-post system.

Without the deterrence of the garrison-and-post system, the contradiction between the Li and Han here was very deep—the Li people’s rebellion was only a matter of the late Wanli reign. If the Li people were to rise up again, the Transmigration Group would have to go into battle to suppress them themselves, and they would immediately incur hatred.

Based on these considerations, the Transmigration Group had not touched the interests of the garrison-and-post system, and the garrison-and-post system had not shown the “defend the country” spirit that the official army should have. The two sides occasionally did some business and maintained a relatively harmonious state.

Now, the Transmigration Group no longer needed to worry about all this: the Fubo Army had become a force to be reckoned with, the villages and hamlets had established a militia system, and they maintained friendly relations with the Li areas. As for the friendly relations with the Ming, they would probably end soon. The garrison-and-post system had become the most dangerous fifth column in Lingao. Ma Qianzhu believed that in terms of the military capability of the garrison-and-post system, it was of course insignificant, but if they caused some small-scale destruction, it would still not be worth the loss for the Transmigrationists.

He proposed to immediately eliminate the garrison-and-post system and take over all its land, population, and property. As for the garrison-and-post system itself, an empty shell could be preserved, with a few officials kept as puppets—of course, under strict supervision.

Ma Qianzhu immediately ordered a meeting of all the villages and hamlets in the county. The liaison officers, village chiefs, and resident police of each village were summoned to Bairen City for a meeting. At the meeting, the mobilization order was announced.

Each village and hamlet, whether it belonged to a commune or a supporting village, was assigned a different number of able-bodied men according to its population. The liaison officers were clearly required:

“You must report within fourteen days!” Dongmen Chuiyu, who was in charge of mobilization work, emphasized at the meeting of the liaison officers, village chiefs, and resident police of each village.

At the same time, hundreds of women were also conscripted for a short period of time to serve as laborers for the light industry department. In addition, each village had to organize its militia well and be ready to be called upon at any time.

“The militia of each village and hamlet is divided into two teams. Once they receive the conscription order, they will send one team to the designated location to assemble. Depending on the distance, they will arrive in succession and await orders. Conscripting the village braves of the large clans can also reduce the possibility of them gathering to cause trouble.”

This part of the militia, Dongmen Chuiyu planned to use them for logistical work when necessary.

“Do we need to bring our own rations…” a liaison officer asked.

“No need, just come as you are. We will also provide clothes and weapons.”

Hearing that there was no need to contribute grain or money, the liaison officers of each village breathed a sigh of relief. The quota for conscription was not heavy either. Everyone expressed that they would definitely send the able-bodied men and women on time.

According to the rough population statistics in Wu De’s hands, this round of conscription could probably gather two thousand able-bodied men.

“Is there enough time to train so many people now? What if the enemy sends troops soon?”

“Most of them will be used in engineering construction and auxiliary troops, so they don’t need much training.”

The conscripted soldiers, the young and strong were assigned to the infantry and artillery, and the older ones were assigned to the auxiliary troops.

After this round of conscription, the Fubo Army’s army in Lingao had five infantry battalions, one field artillery battalion, one infantry training team, and one artillery training team that could be put into battle at any time. Including the auxiliary troops, the army alone had more than six thousand men. This did not include the large-scale navy.

The size of the army was already a super-large army for the population of Lingao itself—the total population of Lingao, including the local population and various immigrants, was only 120,000 to 130,000. The total number of the army and navy had already exceeded 10,000.

Fortunately, Lingao’s economic output and industrial scale were extremely large, and the army also spent most of its time as unpaid labor, so it was not a purely consuming unit for the time being, and it could still support such a large army.

“Don’t be stingy with ammunition. From now on, every soldier must complete 100 rounds of new soldier shooting and 20 rounds of old soldier shooting within a month,” He Ming instructed the officers. “Each company must step up its formation training, especially the deployment of two-rank lines at the company and battalion levels.”

He then issued an order that all infantry squads originally stationed in the various blockhouses were to be returned to their units and concentrated, and replaced by the newly trained core militia. Each blockhouse had to store 20 days of dry rations and clean water in advance. Other scattered strongholds also had to prepare enough food, ammunition, fuel, and drinking water as appropriate.

“There are many detachments on scattered duty now,” He Ming said. “Scattered duty is a great hindrance to the development of the troops’ quality. In the future, the field troops and the garrison troops must be separated.”

“Why store food and drinking water everywhere? Are we preparing to be besieged?” Dongmen Chuiyu asked in confusion.

“We have to prepare for the worst. What do you think is the worst-case scenario?”

Dongmen Chuiyu couldn’t imagine it. He hesitated for a moment before saying, “Although it’s right to prepare for the worst, I don’t think we will be defeated in this battle.”

“Of course not. If we are defeated, there’s no need to defend. We might as well just jump into the sea,” He Ming lit a cigarette. “The worst-case scenario is that the enemy has a large number of scattered soldiers and stragglers infiltrating our territory to cause destruction. That’s the worst thing.”

The number of scattered soldiers and stragglers was not large, but they would be extremely dispersed, making them difficult to be quickly eliminated. Their destructiveness would also be the greatest.

“Although I was a company commander in the PLA, I’m clueless about how the Ming army fights,” He Ming flicked his cigarette ash. “To be honest, I don’t necessarily understand the fighting style of the Fubo Army either…” He probably felt that it was inappropriate to say such things, so he didn’t continue and returned to the previous topic:

The enemy was very likely to organize small units to carry out sneak landing operations, and after landing, they would carry out indiscriminate killing, robbery, and arson. It was also possible to incite the local gentry on the spot—in a place like Qiongzhou Prefecture, almost every slightly larger village had village braves, and clan settlements were very common. Once the government army incited them with promises of official positions, there would be fires everywhere in an instant.

“…I’m worried about this, that’s why I requested that each stronghold store a certain amount of food and water. This way, we don’t have to risk being attacked by the enemy halfway to supply and rescue each stronghold. We can then concentrate our forces to carry out clearing operations against the scattered soldiers and stragglers.”

First ensure your own safety, then talk about how to fight out. He Ming handed over the expansion and training of the army to his officers, and he himself devoted himself to the defense of Lingao.

The firing fields around Bairen City, Dongmen Market, Xuetian Village, the county town, and the various commune headquarters were cleared. For locations without walls or moats, moats were urgently dug and barbed wire was laid, and temporary firing towers were built.

These measures were mainly aimed at the situation of enemy scattered soldiers and stragglers and local tyrants rebelling in Lingao County. At the same time, Shan Daoqian began to inspect the various highways in the county and carry out emergency maintenance on problematic roads to ensure the smooth passage of troops and vehicles moving along the highways. If necessary, they would use the various fortified strongpoints as support and the highways as links to carry out internal mobile defense operations, ensuring that the entire county could be suppressed with a smaller mobile force.

In order to ensure the transportation of military supplies, the Planning Institute formed a strategic transport team with the remaining 6 four-wheel-drive agricultural vehicles assigned to the artillery company, ready to be dispatched at any time to quickly transport troops and supplies.

The jeeps, all motorcycles, and electric bicycles were formed into a mobile team, serving as a strategic reserve. They were assembled near Bairen City to deal with emergencies at any time. If necessary, they could directly reinforce the front line.

The mechanical department installed temporary armor on the jeeps. The front and body of the cars were also fitted with several rows of sharp spikes, making them look like the bandit cars from a B-grade sci-fi movie in a post-apocalyptic world. A gun mount was installed on the roof to mount an M240 machine gun.

“Electric bicycles are fine on the repaired roads in the county, but once you pass Maniao, the post road there is unusable. You can only ride a mountain bike on that road,” Shan Daoqian proposed a plan. “We can build roads beyond our borders.”

The so-called “building roads beyond our borders” was to start from Maniao and build a road to Qiongshan County.

Strictly speaking, this was a renovation, because it was basically a road reconstruction along the original post road route, building a highway according to the standard of a simple highway.

“The war is about to start, and we’re starting such a large project…” Wu De was a little hesitant.

“It is precisely because the war is about to start that it is appropriate to start this project,” Shan Daoqian said. “The army needs roads, and our army especially needs roads. With the condition of the post road, how many people would it take to pull a cannon?”

The Elders were all well aware of the poor condition of the post roads in Hainan—they were not roads, but ditches, and bumpy ditches at that.

Since the plan was for the Fubo Army to take all of Hainan, repairing the road to the capital was a top priority.

“Are we going to build a highway all the way to the foot of Qiongshan County town?” Wu De was a little surprised—even a simple highway would be a considerable amount of work. And it was in enemy territory! To get to the foot of Qiongshan County town, they had to cross Chengmai. Even in a straight line, it was more than a hundred kilometers.

“Yes, that’s my plan. Of course, it’s very likely that we will encounter the Ming army before we finish building it. But with a simple highway, logistical transport will be much more convenient, the troops’ supplies can be quickly transported to the front line, and the troops’ mobility will be much faster. Besides, the road will be useful in the end. After this battle, we will expand to all of Hainan, and the round-the-island road was originally going to be built, right?” Shan Daoqian said. “Qiongshan County town is the capital of Hainan. Without a direct highway, how can we effectively control it?”

“If there are roads, it will be much more convenient for us to move,” He Ming expressed his support. “The army can also undertake a certain amount of labor. It doesn’t matter if we advance a little slower. The enemy won’t run away anyway.”

He Ming had not expressed his opinion originally. In his original plan, the army’s movement would adopt a land-sea combined mode. Heavy weapons and ammunition would be transported by sea, and the infantry would march on foot by land. Now, Shan Daoqian’s idea of building roads beyond the borders made his eyes light up.

“You want to fight relying on the communication lines!” Wu De understood.

“Most wars in this world are fought around communication lines, and we are no exception,” He Ming said.

The logistical workload of the Fubo Army was much greater than that of traditional armies. Not counting ammunition, the daily food supply for the soldiers was much more than that of the Ming army. A phrase Lin Shenhe often said was that the Fubo Army was a 19th-century army, but it could only be supplied by a 17th-century logistical system. It was even worse than the armies of the same era—the serious lack of horses and livestock forced the Fubo Army to rely more on manpower and handcarts to transport supplies.

He Ming roughly estimated that if he led the main force to attack Qiongshan County without relying on the supply line, he could maintain continuous combat for about 4-6 days with the dry rations and ammunition carried by the soldiers themselves. However, on the sixth day, he would face the problem of running out of food without subsequent supplies. Even if the infantry was issued double the ammunition, it could only guarantee the consumption of one decisive battle. And he could hardly carry any artillery units. With the poor condition of the post roads in Hainan, the only light artillery that could pass quickly was probably the 12-pounder mountain howitzer.

“Of course, I can rely on the support of the navy. The navy can send ships to sail along the coastline to provide logistical supplies to the army at any time, and can even directly transport troops for maneuver. But to be honest: I’m not very confident in this Fubo Army…”

“No way. This army was trained in a modern way!” Wu De was shocked that the supreme military commander of the army would say such a thing.