Chapter 959: The Assemblage of New Soldiers for the Divine Strategy Guards

The conscription work in Weishan County went very smoothly. It took only four days to recruit the quota of 200 people. The six counties under Weishan County, except for Midao County on the island in the middle of the lake, each of the other five counties contributed 40 quotas.

The eight counties in the north of the Han tribe were almost the same. Hanyang County, Ruyang County, Liuyang County, Muye County, Xingang County, Weishan County, and Nanzhang County and Dongxin County in the south all recruited soldiers according to the quota of 200 people per county. The only difference was that the number of county towns under each county was different, and the quotas allocated to each county were also different.

Compared with the eight counties in the north, the conscription of the three counties of Honghu in the grassland was relatively simple, because Kaiyuan County, Zhangwu County, and Binhai County had no county towns at all. They all had only one county town, which was actually the stationing point of the Han tribe, a place for the herdsmen on the grassland to trade with the Han tribe, and the people living in the city were basically herdsmen.

More herders under the jurisdiction of the Han tribe live even further out, but they all have fixed pastures. With the help of the Han tribe, these herders have learned to manage pastures scientifically, changing from nomadic to fixed-point rotational grazing.

That is, they divide their pastures into several areas, let the cattle and sheep eat one piece of land first, and replant the pasture in other areas. After the land is eaten, the cattle and sheep are driven to the grassland in another area. In this way, they change their nomadic lifestyle to a settled one, which is more suitable for the management of the Han tribe. It can also expand the scale of breeding, increase the number of livestock in a unit pasture, and bring more income to the herders, so that they are no longer poor.

The living standards of the herders who have taken refuge with the Han tribe are improving at a visible speed. Therefore, when the Han tribe issued a conscription order, these herders were also very active. The grassland herders are born with warlike blood. This is because the environment they live in is more severe. Although the Han tribe has created better living conditions for them in recent years, it still cannot erase their warlike character.

According to the requirement of recruiting 200 new soldiers in each county, the 600 soldiers in the three counties of Honghu were recruited in less than three days. These people first took a boat to Kaiyuan County to assemble, and then boarded a small flying fish from Kaiyuan County to Hanyang County of the Han tribe.

Being able to go to Hanyang County for a "pilgrimage" is also a great attraction for the herdsmen. Although Luo Chong has been to the three counties of Honghu before, and some herdsmen have seen Luo Chong, they have not seen other counties of the Han tribe, especially what the hometown of the chief looks like and what kind of life the people there live.

Just to be able to go to the eight northern counties of the Han tribe to broaden their horizons and gain more experience, they also want to be soldiers. As for whether there will be deaths in the war, they don't care much, because they are used to such days and it is engraved in their bones.

The recruitment of soldiers in Takuhai County, also located in the south, was a bit more troublesome. This was not because no one signed up, but because there were too many

people who signed up. Takuhai County also had a large population, but with such a large population, only 200 people were recruited, but there were hundreds of people who signed up. Therefore, in order to screen out qualified candidates, it took three days to conduct various assessments. After the recruits were screened out, they boarded a small flying fish sailboat heading north the next day and quickly went to Hanyang County to assemble.

Just when all the recruits who applied for the army from all over the country were gathering in Hanyang County, Qubing and his fiancée were also holding a wedding in Ruyang County, Ruyang County. Qubing was the leader's personal guard and the leader's designated commander of the imperial army. Although it was not announced, everyone with a discerning eye knew that this kid would definitely have a good status in the future if he followed the leader.

In addition, Qubing's family also ran a photo studio business, which was also an enviable existence.

In simple terms, this guy is rich and has status, and is an absolute top-notch stock in the Han tribe. Many girls want to marry this guy, but the girl from the Zhan clan got there first. It is said that the leader's second wife personally arranged the matchmaking for this marriage. They can't compete with such nepotism even if they want to.

The wedding was grand, the food and wine at the banquet were delicious, and the bridal chamber was of course passionate

. Qubing knew the rules of being a soldier. Soldiers from the Han tribe who went to war must have children at home. Although it is too late to get married now, at least it is possible to get his wife pregnant before going to war. As for whether it is a boy or a girl, it can only be left to fate.

The new recruits from the eight northern counties who are close to the nearest have already gathered in Hanyang County. Qubing was summoned by Luo Chong to lead the army less than a week after his marriage. However, in order to take care of the newly married couple and to help his wife get pregnant smoothly, Luo Chong specially approved a day off every Monday for him, so that this guy has time to go back and have children.

The Shen Ce Guards were the leaders of the imperial army, so naturally they couldn't be too far away from Luo Chong. So after Luo Chong considered it, he placed the Shen Ce Guards' barracks in the mountains north of Hanyang County, near the hanging thorn man-eating tree in the back mountain.

The area around the man-eating tree was usually a restricted area for the Han tribe, not only to prevent the people from mistakenly entering and causing casualties, but also to prevent people with ulterior motives from stealing tree species. After all, although the hanging thorns of the man-eating tree can kill people, they are also good materials for making arrows and gun barrels. They are considered strategic materials and must be strictly protected.

The area of ​​this restricted area is large enough to accommodate an army of more than 2,000 people.

As soon as the new recruits arrived, Qu Bing led 200 Jinwu Guards to set up camp with them.

The Jinwu Guards were borrowed from Luo Chong's personal guards. Although these 200 Jinwu Guards had never fought in a war, they had always been with Luo Chong. Sometimes Luo Chong would personally train them. Overall, the military literacy of this group of people was relatively high, and it was perfect to use them as instructors for the new recruits.

However, the new recruits have not yet arrived. Only 1,600 new recruits from the eight counties of Hanyang have arrived. For the time being, they can only cut wood and set up camps.

The tribe does not have much time left for the Shen Ce Guards to train. They only have about four and a half months of training time. They will go to the north to fight in late autumn, so the barracks naturally do not need to be built too well.

The new recruits are still living in tents. Fortunately, it is summer now, so it is not cold to sleep in tents. However, simple adobe houses still need to be built. Adobe houses can protect against wind and rain, and it is perfect for sleeping for a few months.

While the new recruits in the south are still taking the boat to the north, the Shen Ce Guards barracks in Hanyang County have been built. With Hanyang County behind it and the support of several counties around it, the building materials here can be delivered almost by noon. In addition, the rammed earth house is easy to build. You just need to build a frame with wooden boards and then hammer the loess into it to make it solid. Therefore, it is built very quickly.

Half a month after the conscription order was issued, 600 herdsmen from the three counties of Honghu in the southern grasslands arrived at the dock of Weishan County first.

The reason why they landed in Weishan County was also Luo Chong's special request, because Weishan County looked more prosperous. In addition to a shipyard and some industries related to shipbuilding, there were not many other things to show in Liuyang County, but Weishan County was different.

Weishan County is not only an important material transfer station, but also has the only lighthouse in the inland of the Han tribe at the dock. In addition, there is also the first railway in the Han tribe. There are many things to show. Since these herdsmen from the grassland are here to broaden their horizons, how can Luo Chong not satisfy their wishes? !

A small flying fish speedboat from Kaiyuan County slowly docked at the dock of Weishan County. The recruits lined up to go ashore from the pier. As soon as they got ashore, they saw a row of loading and unloading berths like gantry cranes. One end of the crane extended into the water, and the other end was the rails laid on the shore.

A worker was operating a crane powered by the Iron Bull II, hoisting coke from the ship. After the huge iron basket was filled, it was directly hoisted to the top of the train cargo box parked on the shore at the other end of the gantry crane. The gate was released, and with a crash, several tons of coke automatically leaked into the train cargo box. This loading and unloading method greatly improved the transfer speed of the dock and saved a lot of manpower for the dock loading and unloading business.

The herdsmen who had just landed were all stunned by the whole row of such giant cranes. Although the three cities in their grassland also had docks, they had never seen such a high-level hoisting method.

There was also the steel train on the shore, and they had no idea what it was.

In addition, there was the white tower on the dock, which looked quite spectacular, but it was daytime and the lighthouse was not lit, so they didn't know the purpose of the tower. They only knew that it was beautiful and imposing.

"Everyone, line up at the train station and rest for half an hour. Those who need to go to the toilet can go to the toilet, and those who need to rest can rest. If you want to buy something, there are products for sale at the station. Don't run around, don't leave the train station, we will board the train to the military camp later."

"Yes."

"Got it."

"That big brother, where is the toilet? I just got off the boat before I got on. I can't hold it anymore."

Just as the recruits were looking around at the bustling dock in front of them, the officer who brought them here suddenly shouted at them and led the recruits to the train station.

The officer who led them here was also from the three counties of Honghu in the grassland. How could he know the toilet in Weishan County? Fortunately, the government office in Weishan County also sent a temporary reception clerk to take them to the station immediately.

The newly built train station in Weishan County has a large public toilet and a super large waiting hall. In fact, it was renovated from the warehouse of the previous dock. The floor was repaved with blue bricks and many benches were placed inside. A ticket counter was also renovated at the door of the warehouse, but basically no one would buy tickets. It was mostly used as an office for train management to record each train trip and the amount of goods loaded on the train.

As for selling tickets, that was just their side job .

They lined up to flush the public toilet at the station, and the other recruits started to move around in the train station. Almost no one sat honestly in the waiting hall. One reason was that they were curious, and the other was that they had been sitting on the ship for a week, sitting in the narrow cabin every day, and their hearts had been suffocated for a long time. Now that they were on land, of course they had to move their legs and feet.

Because the government knew that new recruits would come today, they specially opened the canteen of the station for them to eat. After some people knew that there was food for sale here, they immediately rushed to the canteen. They came here on a long-distance sailing ship. Because the fuel on the ship was limited and it was not convenient to make a big pot of rice, they basically ate dry food every day. Now that there was hot food, they naturally would not let it go.

The canteen at the train station is a bit like a buffet. You need to go to the counter and use money to buy a bamboo card with the price per person written on it, and then you can use this bamboo chip to get food.

The staple food includes steamed buns, rice, mixed noodle buns, pot stickers, and boiled corn cobs. The soups include egg soup and mutton soup. The dishes are mainly beans, cabbage, loofah, tofu, and mutton. They are all home-cooked dishes of the Han tribe, but they are very new to these herdsmen on the grassland.

They usually eat more dairy products, basically no soy products, and very few vegetables. They have never eaten any of the stir-fried dishes in the canteen.

Because it is to entertain soldiers, the canteen was opened to the recruits this time without charging any fees. They just specifically told them to take as much as they can eat and not to waste, otherwise they would be punished by military law.

These herdsmen have all lived through hard times. Even if they don’t need to be told, they will not waste food. It’s just that this is the first time they have eaten such stir-fried dishes, and they are all young and middle-aged people in their teens and twenties, so they will naturally eat more.

While tasting the northern delicacies, the herdsmen squatted at the door of the canteen and looked at the rails and trains outside. The long train was still loading and unloading goods.

"Why is this called a train station? Does anyone know what a train station means? Is it related to the iron car in front?"

"I don't know. Why don't we have one on the grassland? I don't know what this thing is used for."

"What else can it be used for? Didn't you see someone loading things from the boat when you went ashore just now? This should be a cargo truck, but such a big and long truck can catch up with several sailboats. How many cattle and horses can pull it? I don't know who came up with the idea to create such a monster."

Just as the herdsmen recruits were discussing the train in front of them, a roaring sound of a whistle suddenly came from a distance, attracting everyone's attention.

Woo woo woo woo woo————

Not far from the station in the north, a train with a big red flower on the front of the car was spewing black smoke and steam, slowly driving towards the merging line in the station.

The new soldier was so shocked when he saw this that he dropped the food in his mouth.

"Oh my god, this is really a monster. How can this thing run so fast without the traction of cattle and horses?"

(End of this chapter)