Chapter 4: The Qin Army
In the following days, Fu Su went to the Central Army Arsenal every day to gain a more systematic understanding of the production process and usage characteristics of various Qin army weapons. He gradually gained a detailed and systematic understanding of the Qin army's weapon production. On this point, Fu Su did not dare to be careless, after all, he wanted to truly command the powerful Qin army with ease in the future, and his understanding of them could not be shallow!
In about a week's time, Fu Su greatly broadened his horizons and also formed some of his own views on the military industry of Qin State. After all, he came from modern times and had many advanced management methods and ideas that were far beyond those of ancient times.
One week later, Fu Su decided to go to the military camp to take a look. After all, there were many secrets hidden in the history of the Qin army for a long time, and it was difficult to command this powerful army with just some superficial understanding from his previous life. However, Fu Su had some difficulty choosing which army to select.
The Qin army was divided into three parts: the capital garrison, the county and prefecture troops, and the border defense troops.
The capital garrison, due to different tasks, is divided into three systems: the attendants under the jurisdiction of the Langzhongling, including Be (financial) selection, Yinren, and military merit special appointment of Chuanzhong, Zhonglang, etc., with salaries, mainly responsible for palace duty and following the emperor; The imperial palace guards under the jurisdiction of the Duwei, served by elite soldiers from counties and prefectures, known as Hu Bao Wei Shi, mainly responsible for guarding the palace gates; The capital garrison under the jurisdiction of the Weiwei, members are rotating service of Neishi area regular soldiers, mainly responsible for safeguarding the safety of the capital. In special circumstances, the capital sets up a separate garrison. The capital garrison is very elite because it controls the security of the capital and the safety of the Qin king!
County soldiers, referring to the regular soldiers who served for one year in rotation locally. Governed by the county lieutenant and county lieutenant. Trained during peacetime, also responsible for local security, wartime mobilization, due to different geographical environments, divided into three categories: infantry (infantry), cavalry (cavalry) and naval soldiers (navy). Generally, plains have more cavalry, mountainous areas have more infantry, and lakeside areas have more naval soldiers. Some counties have both infantry and cavalry. Since county soldiers generally do not participate in wars, only responsible for local security and law enforcement, their combat effectiveness is generally poor.
The border defense soldiers refer to the border county knights, material officials, border county garrison troops and border pass five troops. The border county knights or material officials are local regular soldiers who serve in the army. The garrison troops are concentrated mobile combat units led by generals dispatched by the imperial court, such as Meng Tian who had long been leading troops to garrison in Shangjun County. The five troops include regular soldiers from various counties who take turns serving, as well as officials, merchants and peasants who have been sent out, who not only disperse to perform sentinel and lookout tasks but also construct and repair military projects. As the border defense soldiers are responsible for directly fighting against external enemies, they have the largest number of troops among the three major parts of Qin State and their combat effectiveness is extremely strong!
But obviously Fu Su can't run to the border area to inspect those elite border defense soldiers, so he can only choose from the army system inside. The county soldiers generally have poor combat effectiveness and not much learning value; while the imperial guards in the capital can only be considered as an elite bodyguard team, after excluding them, there are only Wei Du and Hu Baojun to choose from in the imperial guards. Fu Su thought for a moment and decided to go to Hu Baojun after all, this is the most elite troops of Qin Dynasty, and his old father-in-law Wang Jian still holds the position of commander of Hu Baojun!
So, Fu Su set out early in the morning with Wu Xin and other guards to rush to Wang Jian's residence. As for why Fu Su always let Wu Xin and others participate in the core secrets of Qin, Fu Su had his own ideas, which were nothing more than "mutual trust": after all, such open and honest trust without reservation could greatly alleviate Mo Men's suspicions about him, which was very important for Fu Su to fully control Mo Men!
Because of this, for the past two years, Wang Jian had not gone to war and was basically staying in the country doing some preparations for a big battle. Therefore, when Fu Su came looking for him, Wang Jian was at home! When he heard that Fu Su had arrived, Wang Jian hastily went out with Wang Ben to greet him. Fu Su saw Wang Jian and laughed loudly: "General, it's been a long time since we last met, how is your body?" Wang Jian smiled slightly: "Thanks to you, my body is still very strong. I heard that you went to the Central Army a few days ago, why do you have time to come to my humble abode today?"
Fu Su was about to speak when he suddenly saw Wang Ya hiding behind Wang Pi, secretly sticking out her little head to look at him. He then winked at Wang Ya, who blushed and shyly retreated back behind Wang Pi. Fu Su straightened his expression and smiled: "I've already reviewed the troops, now I'd like to take a closer look at the specific situation of our Great Qin Iron Army! The Tiger Guards led by General Wang are undoubtedly the elite of our Great Qin army, so today I've come especially to invite General Wang to accompany me on an inspection tour of the army, to broaden my horizons!"
Wang Jian saw Fusu's sincere desire to learn and couldn't help but narrow his eyes with a smile, saying: "Young master has such a good intention to learn, how can I not follow? Young master wait for a moment, I will put on my armor and go with you!" Fusu nodded: Wang Jian is indeed a model of a military man, paying great attention to the image of his own army!
King Jian was about to take King Ben back to the inner house to put on armor when, suddenly, Wang Hua said in a soft voice: "Father, can I go too?" Upon hearing this, King Jian furrowed his brow and looked at Fu Su. Fu Su hadn't seen Wang Hua for several days either, so he smiled and said: "Anyway, it's just to take a look around, let Hua'er come along!" Seeing that Fu Su agreed, King Jian could only nod his head. Instantly, Wang Hua was overjoyed and pulled Fu Su to get on the carriage. Fu Su had no choice but to get on first.
Before long, Wang Jian and Wang Ben finished putting on their armor, each mounted his horse, led his personal guards, and rushed straight to the Hu Bao military camp beside the Xianyang Palace.
When entering the military camp, suddenly a row of 16 tiger-like guards stood in front of the gate, blocking the way and shouting: "There is an order in the army, no galloping horses are allowed in the camp!" Zhu Qiong was shocked, hastily shouted loudly, and abruptly pulled the reins, causing the horse to neigh loudly and stop suddenly. Fu Su, who was inside the carriage, didn't notice and rushed forward, almost falling onto the carriage.
Fu Su was furious: "What a big dog's gall, daring to block both me and their superior! Don't want to live anymore?!" He angrily stuck his head out of the car window to see what was going on.
King Jian dismounted and came to the front of Fu Su's chariot, somewhat apologetically saying: "Young Master, military orders are like this, please forgive me!" Fu Su's expression eased upon hearing this, and he smiled slightly: "No need for apologies, General Wang is strict and impartial in his governance of the army, I admire him greatly, how could I blame you? Everyone, dismount and proceed on foot into the camp!" And so, Wu Sun and Huo Feng reluctantly glared at King Jian, then dismounted and walked.
Upon entering, he saw a row of 16 Tiger Guards standing at attention with spears in hand, their solemn and stern demeanor not daring to glance sideways. Fu Su couldn't help but secretly praise: "Wang Jian indeed has the talent of a famous general and is skilled at governing his army; such an iron army with strict discipline truly doesn't let Zhou Yafu monopolize the beauty of the Han Dynasty!"
As soon as they entered the military camp, the atmosphere changed: unlike the quiet and solemn atmosphere outside the camp. Only in the empty space inside the camp, it was a scene of intense activity, with countless Qin army tiger elite soldiers practicing martial arts on the training ground. Some were practicing free combat, some were practicing crossbow shooting techniques, and others were practicing flying horse riding and chariot racing... In short, the atmosphere inside the training ground was like a raging river, with a sense of majesty and power!
As they walked, Fu Su and the others arrived at a group of Qin soldiers who were intently practicing archery with crossbows. Wang Jian introduced them, saying: "These are my country's crossbowmen. When they go into battle, there are two situations: when attacking, they wear no armor and uniform casual attire to facilitate lightness and agility; when defending, they wear light armor to protect themselves. Their shooting postures also fall into two categories: standing posture, mainly used when the enemy threat is small; kneeling posture used when the enemy threat is greater. Please look, these crossbowmen's hair is uniformly styled in a topknot that points upwards, this is the symbol of their identity as crossbowmen. Since crossbowmen are only long-range soldiers and generally do not engage in close combat with the enemy, their ranks are lower, only first-grade rank - Gong Shi! (Qin military ranks see appendix 1)"
Fu Su nodded, indicating that he understood: "It seems that these Qin army crossbowmen have undergone a rigorous training program and have a set of countermeasures for various forms of danger! How formidable!"
As the crowd moved forward, they soon saw a group of Qin soldiers with solemn faces and huge long spears under the command of an officer, marching in neat steps while constantly changing formations, but always keeping the spearheads pointing at the supposed enemy's position.
"This is my Qin state's long spear soldier, they generally wear light armor, with their hair tied back in a queue, stuck to the back of their head, so as to facilitate holding the long spear for attack! Due to their higher danger, they need to fight directly with the enemy army, so their rank is upper creation! Young master, have you noticed that these long spear soldiers are strictly practicing formation and transformation, because their combat method requires them to cooperate extremely closely! When the long spear soldier attacks, it's like now, lined up in a tight array, one goes forward, no retreat! It can be said that the square array is like a mountain, the gun tip is like a forest, the power is unstoppable! But to form such power, the most important thing is to maintain a tight formation, which requires strict training in peacetime!"
Fu Su saw the dense and massive spear forest, like a thorny hedge, and couldn't help but nod his head repeatedly in agreement with Wang Ji's words. Such a tightly coordinated long spear corps on the battlefield would be a huge nightmare for both enemy cavalry and infantry!
Right after that, several teams of soldiers were training in short-range combat with spears and halberds. During the training, a row of Qin army roared loudly, jumping left and right, either stabbing straight or slashing diagonally, or hooking and chopping, fighting until dust flew everywhere and sweat rained down, truly a group of brave warriors. Wang Jian smiled and said: "They are spear soldiers and halberd soldiers, who guard the square formation behind the long spear soldiers during battles. You see that they also wear light armor, but their hair is coiled on top of their heads, and they all wear conical round hats made of hemp cloth. This is to prevent their long hair from flying around and blocking their eyes during intense close combat! They are also second-class nobles: Upper Craftsmen!"
"Oh, I see!" Fu Su couldn't help but feel secretly shocked. The Qin army had even considered the style of their hair for the sake of convenience in battle. Such a meticulous and detailed army would naturally be well-coordinated in combat.
As the crowd was walking, suddenly a chariot with bronze wheels came rolling over from the right side, pulled by four war horses, and emitted a loud thunderous sound. The crowd was shocked and quickly made way for it, as being hit by such a speeding chariot would be fatal or crippling!
Wang Jian smiled and said, "These young men have quite a fiery spirit. Young master, please take a look at this - it's the most powerful type of soldier in our great Qin state right now: charioteers! Each chariot is equipped with a single-yoke, double-wheel, four-horse wooden cart, with three people on board, all wearing helmets and armor. The driver sits in the middle, while two armored soldiers stand on either side, holding long weapons like spears or halberds. Among them, the driver's hand is the most important, because the speed, direction, stability, and safety of a chariot are all controlled by his hands. Therefore, they are all skilled drivers, and their ranks are also relatively high - they are all third-grade officials! You can tell their identity just by looking at their hairstyles and armor: these officials all wear flat cowhide hats to prevent their hair from getting disheveled during fierce battles, and their armor is much more exquisite than that of ordinary soldiers. As for the two armored soldiers on the chariot, they are just like the spearmen and halberdiers - they belong to the upper ranks!"
"Oh! It's actually like this!? Fusu didn't expect that these seemingly insignificant royal guards were actually the most basic officers of the Qin army. Fusu had thought that these royal guards were just low-ranking soldiers. It seems that without deeply entering the military, it's indeed difficult to understand the true face of the Qin army!"
They gradually arrived at the southeast corner of the martial arts arena, where a group of cavalrymen were galloping wildly in the arena, shouting and shooting arrows at the targets in front of them with various postures on their horses. They used the light cavalry crossbow that made Fu Su feel astonished!
