Chapter 90

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Regarding leading troops, Liu Jun now had quite a bit of experience. As Qi Jiguang said, a new team first needs to have a clear structure and the selection of officers.

This new team now had over five hundred people. Even if the two hundred or so reserve troops were excluded, it was still a team of more than three hundred, with new recruits making up sixty percent.

Originally, the best way to train a mixed team of veterans and new recruits was to have the veterans lead the new recruits, using the old to train the new. However, Liu Jun did not plan to do this, or rather, he did not entirely plan to do this. He had his own ideas, and he had his own plans before recruiting the troops.

Lu Jinxi appointed Liu Jun as the commander of the county militia, but did not insert a single person into the team. In fact, the county militia was essentially just the Nine-Headed Bird Team under a new banner. Everything here was decided by Liu Jun, and everyone here was Liu Jun's people.

Li Chunjiang left, and the Li family servants he brought also left.

Liu Jun scanned the team and shouted loudly, "Standing here are the original Nine-Headed Bird Team members, former Taiping Township residents, and refugees from various places who have settled in Macheng. From today on, you all have only one identity, and that is a member of the Nine-Headed Bird Team. Look at your clothes, look at the Nine-Headed Bird emblem on your chest, and remember, that is the Nine-Headed Bird. From now on, you are all members of the Nine-Headed Bird. Those who wear the Nine-Headed Bird emblem on their chest are all our brothers."

"Nine-Headed Bird, brothers!" Liu Jun shouted.

Over five hundred young men echoed, "Nine-Headed Bird, brothers!"

Liu Jun raised his hands to signal for everyone to quiet down.

"Today, we will not only wear clothes with the Nine-Headed Bird embroidered on them, but we will also tattoo the Nine-Headed Bird on our bodies." Liu Jun waved his hand, and a few people brought over a box.

They were tattoo artists, and Liu Jun had called them to tattoo everyone.

Liu Jun sat down in front of one of them and was the first to get tattooed.

Liu Jun chose to get the tattoo on his right hand and left arm, both of which would be a Nine-Headed Bird with outstretched wings. The team members watched in surprise as the tattoo artist began to tattoo the Nine-Headed Bird on Liu Jun's hand and arm, which he had bared.

Tattoos in the military actually have a long history. Initially, they were used to mark criminals on their faces to prevent them from changing their identities and escaping. Even earlier, tattoos were used to mark slaves, with slave owners tattooing their own symbols on the slaves to declare ownership.

During the Tang and Five Dynasties periods, warlords often tattooed their soldiers' faces with their military numbers. This practice continued into the Song Dynasty, but later, due to resistance from the soldiers, the tattoos were moved to their hands and eventually abolished.

After the Song Dynasty, the military generally no longer tattooed, but civilians began to enjoy tattoos. Later, especially among the wandering knights, ruffians, and gangsters, tattoos became particularly popular.

Tattoos on the body at this time more often represented ferocity and bravery.

Liu Jun's sudden decision to tattoo the Nine-Headed Bird team was a surprise to everyone. However, when they saw Liu Jun getting tattooed first, they did not feel that the tattoo was insulting; instead, they felt excited.

"Nine-Headed Bird, brothers!"

Getting this tattoo meant becoming a member of the Nine-Headed Bird, and from then on, everyone would be brothers.

Liu Jun did not force the team members to get tattooed; they could choose to get it or not. However, no one chose not to.

All the team members lined up to get tattooed. However, Liu Jun stipulated that only formal members could get a Nine-Headed Bird tattoo on their right hand and left arm. Reserve members could only get one on their left arm, and were forbidden from getting one on their right hand or getting it done privately.

The Nine-Headed Bird tattoo, Liu Jun turned it into a symbol, a symbol of brotherhood. Those with two Nine-Headed Bird tattoos were true brothers, while those with only one were not yet true brothers, but only reserves.

The needle piercing the skin was painful, but everyone felt excited. "Brothers, we are brothers from now on!"

The new Nine-Headed Bird Team began with the tattoos.

After getting tattooed, the brothers were reluctant to put on their clothes, showing off their muscular arms, constantly raising their right hands and shaking their left arms. Two blue Nine-Headed Birds seemed to be about to take flight!

The new Nine-Headed Bird Team was officially established.

Liu Jun divided the team into two parts: formal members with two Nine-Headed Bird tattoos and reserve members with one.

The formal members were divided into three bureaus: a cavalry bureau, an infantry bureau, and an artillery bureau. The reserve members were divided into two infantry bureaus.

Each bureau had three flags, and each flag had three teams.

Twelve people per team, one team leader, ten combat soldiers, and one artillery soldier. Three teams per flag, thirty-six people plus one flag leader, making thirty-seven people per flag. Three flags per bureau, one hundred and eight soldiers plus one hundred leader and three flag leaders, totaling one hundred and twelve people.

The cavalry bureau and infantry bureau had the same structure, each with one hundred and twelve people, totaling two hundred and twenty-four people. The artillery bureau had one artillery flag, one musket flag, and one rocket flag.

In addition, the combat soldiers had a central flag, a night patrol team, a personal guard team, and a flag signal team, a medical team, totaling forty-nine people.

All formal members, including Liu Jun, totaled three hundred and eighty-six people.

There was one cavalry bureau, one infantry bureau, one artillery bureau, and one central flag.

The reserve members had a simpler structure, divided into two infantry bureaus, each with one hundred and twelve people, and each bureau had three infantry flags. In total, they had two bureaus, six flags, and eighteen infantry teams, totaling two hundred and twenty-four people.

The entire Nine-Headed Bird Team, including formal and reserve members, totaled six hundred and nine people, with two hundred and sixty-three horses. The night patrol team, personal guard team, and cavalry bureau all had double horses.

In terms of weapons, the basic configuration was similar to before.

However, the new infantry bureau had a slightly different configuration for each infantry team.

Liu Jun organized each flag in the infantry bureau to have one killer team and two musket teams. Each killer team was mainly equipped with cold weapons, consisting of young men with good martial arts skills and strong physiques.

Each killer team had one team leader, one artillery soldier, two shield bearers, two hook gunners, two spear bearers, and four long spear bearers. The team leader was equipped with a flag spear, a waist sword, and a bow and arrow. The artillery soldier was equipped with an iron-tipped pole and a waist sword. The two shield bearers were led by the squad leaders.

Each musket team was mainly for long-range combat, consisting of one team leader, one artillery soldier, and ten musket bearers. Each musket bearer was equipped with a musket and a waist sword. The team leader was equipped with a flag spear and a musket, and the artillery soldier was equipped with an iron-tipped pole and a waist sword.

The infantry team configuration was much simpler, with two musket teams and one killer team per flag. The entire infantry bureau had six musket teams and three killer teams.

In this setup, the killer teams were the bravest warriors, equipped with cold weapons, mainly for breaking through enemy formations and charging. The musket teams were for long-range combat, providing firepower support.

Of course, the most elite part of the Nine-Headed Bird Team was the cavalry bureau, a rapid mobile force equipped with a large number of firearms, capable of pursuing, flanking, encircling, and pincer attacks.

Liu Jun's troop structure was designed entirely based on the combat capabilities of the Nine-Headed Bird Team. He did not expect other units to assist in every battle. He wanted the Nine-Headed Bird Team to be able to fight and win.

After the troop structure was set, Liu Jun selected the officers.

In the formal three bureaus and one central flag, there were three hundred leaders, ten flag leaders, and thirty-one team leaders.

Liu Jun directly promoted his twelve sworn brothers to the positions of hundred leaders and flag leaders.

Unlike before, when Liu Jun's Nine-Headed Bird Team was a private militia, now the Nine-Headed Bird Team was officially part of the imperial army, although it was just a local militia.

Liu Jun, as the commander, was equivalent to a battalion commander, originally a seventh-rank official. However, his rank was reduced by two levels, making him an eighth-rank official.

Now, the hundred leaders under him were eighth-rank officials in the border army, but in the local militia, they were ninth-rank officials, and the flag leaders were tenth-rank officials.

In short, the thirteen bandits who once terrorized Xibay were now all officials.

Liu Jun, the commander of the Nine-Headed Bird Team, was an eighth-rank official. Zhang Shan, Wang Qian, and Cai Yuan, the three bureau hundred leaders, were ninth-rank officials. The other nine flag leaders were tenth-rank officials.

The next level of team leaders, like Zhang Donggou, were considered unranked and did not have an official rank.

Liu Jun personally selected the officers at the bureau and flag levels. The appointment of officers at the team and squad levels was left to the lower ranks. The team leaders were appointed by the hundred leaders, and the squad leaders were appointed by the flag leaders.

While reorganizing the team, although Liu Jun did not mix the new and old members, he did mix the members from Taiping Township and the shantytown.

Although people from the same place could get to know each other faster, he did not want his team to form a Taiping Township gang and a shantytown gang.

After completing the reorganization and the appointment of officers at all levels, Liu Jun ordered all soldiers to begin a one-month training program.

The old members were taken aback by the training, while the new members were still confused.

"Tonight is a holiday. After dinner, you can relax outside, but from tomorrow morning, we will begin a one-month closed training program." Liu Jun did not give the new members much time to relax.

He felt a sense of urgency, not just because of the Wuzuo Camp on the other side of the mountain, but because he knew he did not have much time left.

After dismissing the team, Liu Jun went directly to the newly established firearms workshop in the northeast corner of the city. This was a newly established workshop, and Zhao Shun was the chief craftsman. Liu Jun had high hopes for him, hoping to establish his own firearms workshop, not just a repair shop, but one that could produce advanced firearms.

He even hoped to quickly expand the workshop to meet the equipment and consumption needs of the Nine-Headed Bird Team.

Entering the workshop, which was just a newly cleaned storage room, there was not even a hint of a workshop yet.

"Salute the commander." The craftsmen saw Liu Jun enter and hurriedly bowed.

Liu Jun waved his hand, "No need for such formalities." He walked up to Zhao Shun, "How is it going?"

Zhao Shun was staring at some blueprints. Seeing Liu Jun ask, he quickly replied, "As soon as the materials arrive, we can start making the muskets. I just don't know which type the commander wants to make first."

Which type?

Liu Jun was particularly fond of the Lu Mi musket and the Chedian musket. One had a long range and high accuracy, while the other was not affected by weather and had six chambers, using a rear-loading system, providing a very high rate of fire. Liu Jun was truly torn and found it hard to decide.

...

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