Chapter 527 Student Soldier
As early as when the Victory Port military training base was first built, the military adopted a large number of orphans while recruiting militiamen, and established the Scout Camp, a paramilitary organization for school-age children.
What is different from the regular militia army is that the students in the Scout camp are more dependent on and more loyal to Haihan. For these children who have no foundation or family, they can only survive in this social system by identifying and protecting their Haihan origins from the bottom of their hearts. It is much easier to brainwash these half-grown children than adults. Although they don't understand what the goal of the executive committee is, it is still clear who feeds and clothes them, who they should fight for, and things like this.
The executive committee also attaches great importance to the Scout Camp. In Tao Donglai's words, these children will probably grow into the backbone of Haihan's army in ten or twenty years. Compared with the militia soldiers who were already adults when they enlisted in the army, the children who grew up little by little from the Scout camp will be more determined and their reliability is far beyond that of ordinary militia members. Therefore, the military also allocates the best training resources to the Scout camp as much as possible, aiming at training the military qualities required of officers. While ordinary militiamen are still receiving various basic tactical training, the older children in the Scout camp are already exposed to military skills such as marching, camping, setting up defenses, and carrying equipment, which only military commanders can master.
However, in order to stand out from the military environment that emphasizes qualifications, background and training level alone are not enough. The most important thing is actual combat experience and proven record. Most of the people with slightly longer seniority in the Haihan Militia have one or several military medals or seniority medals, and this is also the main basis for ordinary militia soldiers to be promoted in the army. No matter how good the background of the scout camp is, no matter how high the education level is, without front-line combat experience, it will be difficult to gain a foothold in the military. Therefore, in this military operation to unify the Qiongbei region, the military selected more than 30 older trainees from the Scout camp to follow the troops to the front line to experience the battlefield atmosphere.
Of course, these young trainees did not undertake actual combat missions. The purpose of their being sent to Qiongbei was to experience battlefield life and to observe how the regular army completed various combat plans during combat and how the military's command system operated.
Although the process of the militia's occupation of the Qiongbei area was considered a military operation, there was no actual fighting during the period. They played a double act with the Annan militia army, in which the enemy retreated and we advanced, and they easily captured the main cities in Qiongbei. However, although there was no combat, the thousands of people who participated in the battle, including the navy and army, were still completing combat tasks in strict accordance with wartime requirements. No matter whether they were senior officers who knew the inside story or grassroots soldiers who didn't know what was going on, no one took this seemingly easy task lightly, because the Executive Committee and the Military Commission had already repeatedly emphasized before the operation started that Haihan wanted to achieve the goal of defeating Qiong. Direct rule of the North and military occupation were just the beginning.
If the Executive Committee wants to promote the Haihan system on a large scale in the Qiongbei area, the resistance it will encounter is bound to be much greater than in the Qiongnan base area. After all, the population density here is greater, and the social wealth and resources are relatively greater. concentrated. If we want to promote the Haihan system in this area, especially the public ownership of land, it will inevitably affect a considerable number of vested interests, and among them there will definitely be some daring guys who will jump out to openly oppose Haihan, and even resort to armed confrontation. Resist the implementation of the New Deal.
What happened in Chengmai County is an example of this situation. Although Haihan's land system has not yet been officially promoted in Qiongbei, landowners who have heard about it are preparing to resist Haihan's "invasion". After the headquarters learned that Zhuangzi had started a violent confrontation in Chengmai County, it immediately dispatched three companies of troops to suppress it, and sent more than a dozen students from the Scout Camp to let Yu Tiezhu, the "veteran, "Teach them a battlefield command lesson.
"I believe you have all learned in the training camp the tactics of using the range advantage to suppress firepower on the enemy, so I will give you a test now!" Yu Tiezhu put his hands behind his back and looked at the group of teenagers in front of him. Bingdao: "According to the combat procedures you have learned, what should be the next step?"
Someone immediately responded: "Sir, after successfully suppressing the enemy, we should send infantry to climb the city wall, or send engineers to blow up the city gate to seize the passage into the city."
Yu Tiezhu nodded and said: "What you said is correct, but when fighting, you cannot completely copy what is written. When I first joined the militia, the instructor taught us that the battlefield situation is changing rapidly, and we must keep a clear head. , make timely judgments on the battle situation and make corresponding tactical adjustments. Does anyone else have anything to say? ”
"Sir, we only need to continue the artillery fire at the moment. After blasting a gap, the infantry will line up with guns and gradually advance. If there is resistance, artillery fire can be used to clear the way. It should be able to break its defense." Another student boldly said He raised his hand and said.
Yu Tiezhu cast an approving look: "Yes, although our combat method is to practice siege warfare, the actual situation here will still be quite different from that of siege warfare. Since we have strong firepower If we have advantages, we should use this advantage to the extreme in the battle! I once heard the commander read two poems: The cannon is fired and the motherland is destroyed. As long as our cannon is fired, everything will be over. Nothing can stop the advance of the militia army!”
While Yu Tiezhu was talking, the continuous bombardment of several cannons really destroyed a section of Zhuangzi's wall about three feet long. After a brief calm, about a hundred infantrymen, holding rifles, marched toward the gap on foot in a neat horizontal formation.
About twenty feet away from the gap, the military formation fired a round of fire with a volley of guns, knocking down several die-hards who appeared in the gap, and then continued to advance and occupied the passage that was forcibly created with artillery fire.
It wasn't until the large forces took control of the place and began to clear the site that they discovered that the artillery fire and volleys had killed and injured about forty resistance personnel. In addition, there seemed to be pressure under the wall that was destroyed by the artillery fire. Several people were caught, but after being buried for a long time, they were probably all dead.
After the militia army entered Zhuangzi, they quickly captured more than ten culprits. However, taking into account the image of the people, the Military Commission has ordered as few people to be directly executed locally after the war as possible, so these people probably still have a chance to live on and use their remaining energy in a mine somewhere. Considering the shadow that this kind of security war will leave on the hearts of local people, the residents of this Zhuangzi will inevitably be deported after the war and dispersed to other states, counties or even overseas to settle.
When the militia soldiers suppressed the defeated prisoners out of the village and headed for the county town, Yu Tiezhu specially brought the students from the child soldier battalion to watch on the roadside and pay attention to the expressions on their faces. For some students whose eyes and expressions showed obvious intolerance, Yu Tiezhu secretly noted that such soft-hearted people were not suitable for commanding operations on the front line, no matter how loyal they were.
These students who have just entered the battlefield have only just realized the cruelty of war. However, showing mercy to the enemy on the battlefield is cruelty to one's own side. What's more, in many cases, commanders must send their troops to the front to sacrifice themselves. , it will be difficult to complete the cruel combat mission without a heart of stone. This consideration is also included in the comprehensive evaluation of these students. Those students who are not suitable for combat command will probably change their training direction in the future and develop towards logistics or technical services. Public security wars like this have continued intermittently since Haihan occupied Qiongbei. Although the combat power of the militia is not afraid of the small-scale armed forces in these places, it is quite a headache to keep swatting these buzzing mosquitoes. Fortunately, the Li and Miao people in Qiongbei did not participate in the dispute between Haihan and Ming Dynasty, but remained a cold observer.
This is of course one of the results of the efforts of relevant departments before the war. Both the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Security sent many naturalized people of Limiao origin to work in the Limiao village in Qiongbei. Although this kind of visit cannot immediately bring all these copycats to Haihan's side, it can at least keep them neutral and not rush to get involved in this conflict of interest.
Of course, Haihan also gave these neutrals certain benefits, such as cheap salt, ironware, medicinal materials, long-term trade agreements, etc. Even if these mountain people are unwilling to take refuge in Haihan, they can at least obtain better external conditions than those under the Ming Dynasty.
These ethnic policies are mature models that have been tested in practice in Qiongnan and Qiongzhong areas, and they are equally effective when applied to the Li and Miao villages in Qiongbei. Although the degree of enlightenment of these mountain people is limited, the benefits of following someone are greater. The mountain people can still use their own simple values to measure and come to the correct conclusion.
After completing the two-hour and thirty-minute combat mission, Yu Tiezhu led the group of students back to Chengmai County. After settling this group of people, Yu Tiezhu had to spend the same amount of time writing today's action report and drawing his own conclusions on the students' performance.
Of course, due to the limited number of literate people, Yu Tiezhu's action report will not be lengthy. The standard format is roughly as follows.
On a certain day and at a certain time, a certain unit of the militia was ordered to attack a certain village in Chengmai County. It used artillery to open the way and infantry to advance. At a certain time on the same day, it captured the village, killing XX enemies and capturing XX people. Our army's casualties were X lightly wounded. X people were seriously injured, but no one was killed.
As for the performance of the students, it is even simpler. The superiors sent him a specially prepared form, which has already marked the name of each student and the matters that he needs to score, such as concentration, decisiveness, and action. Wait, just indicate the score on a ten-point scale below each item. If there is additional content that needs to be stated, please attach it separately.
After Yu Tiezhu filled out the form, he put it in an envelope and sealed it, signed his name on the outside of the envelope, then called the orderly and asked him to send the letter together with the combat report to the battalion headquarters. The scoring reports from junior officers will be summarized at the battalion headquarters and then sent to the Qiongbei Command Center in Fucheng, where Yan Chujie will personally review them.
At this time, Yan Chujie was in the lobby of the Qiongzhou government office. According to military customs, this place had been converted into a command center. In the middle of the lobby was the sand table in northern Qiongzhou that had just been completed. Standing next to it were several officers from the staff, who were preparing the sand table. Put small flags of different colors in it.
The small blue flags represent areas that have been completely controlled by Haihan, such as several major cities in Qiongbei. The areas with small yellow flags represent areas that have been occupied but not actually controlled. Such places actually account for the majority, because the vast areas beyond a few cities almost all meet this definition. The small red flag represents the area where the militia is currently performing combat missions. Although there are not too many such places, there are still four or five places on the entire sand table.
There are three radio stations placed against the wall next to it, which are the communication channels between the command center and the garrisons in other states and counties. It is through this method of contact that the staff department constantly makes adjustments to the small flags on the sand table based on actual conditions. For example, the results of the battle that Yu Tiezhu just participated in have been transmitted here through the radio. The officer who received the news immediately changed the local red flag to a blue flag representing safety.
The command center here does not command specific battles. It mainly serves to issue orders, summarize information, and maintain communication between superiors and subordinates. And Yan Chujie's focus is indeed not on the current sporadic security wars, but more on the information blockade in the Qiongbei coastal area.
Although the means of news dissemination in this era were still very primitive and the speed of dissemination was very slow, the fact that Haihan replaced the Ming Dynasty on Qiongzhou Island would sooner or later spread to the mainland through the mouths of merchants and ordinary people. Haihan made a lot of preparations for this, and even spent money to borrow troops from Annan to perform a show, and found a reasonable excuse to send troops to Qiongbei. As for replacing the rule of the Ming Dynasty, he could only temporarily use the name of assisting the government, but it was difficult to find one. A long-lasting excuse.
Although the Guangdong government has temporarily blocked the news, they can't hide it for a while. What the Haihan military can do now is to block the sea lanes and delay the exposure of the truth as late as possible so that it can be disclosed to other departments. More time to implement rule over the Qiongbei region.
The document placed in front of Yan Chujie was a report from the Navy requesting additional supplies. It stated that in order to complete the task of blocking the Qiongzhou Strait, the Navy needed to apply for another one thousand tons of clean coal for two hybrid warships and a force capable of completing the survey and mapping of the Haikou naval port. A team of engineering personnel designed the task so that the construction task of the military port terminal can be started as soon as possible.
"You're asking for money and people in different ways!" Yan Chujie could only smile bitterly while looking at the report.
(End of chapter)