Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing (得勝兵) — Part 5

Ying-level Formations

Ying (營) was the largest tactical unit in the army of Xu Guang Qi (徐光啟), although administratively Da Jun (大軍) was the largest unit. A Ying consisted of five Bu (部) plus ninety-nine support personnels (on top of what Bu already had), led by a Jiang Guan (將官).

Fang Ying (方營, square regiment)

Layout of one corner of Fang Ying, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. 

Fang Ying was the largest square formation in Xu Guang Qi's army. It could be formed from Fang Wu (方伍), Yuan Yang Wu (鴛鴦伍) or Yi Zi Ping Wu (一字平伍).

Every troops in the formation was standing five chi apart from his comrades. The formation occupied a space of two hundred eighty by two hundred eighty chi. Like its Bu-level counterpart, this number could be adjusted.

Yuan Ying (圓營, round regiment)

Layout of one corner of Yuan Ying, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'.

Yuan Ying was the circle formation for Ying-level tactical unit and the upscaled version of Yuan Bu (圓部).

Every troops in the formation was standing four chi apart from his comrades. The formation had a circumference of one thousand four hundred and forty chi and diameter of four hundred and eighty chi. It could also be adjusted when the regiment was not at its full strength.

Qu Ying (曲營), Zhi Ying (直營) and Rui Ying (銳營)

Xu Guang Qi only briefly discussed the remaining formations and did not provide any illustrations, as these formations were directly upscaled from their Bu-level counterparts.

Verdict

Xu Guang Qi's army, if successfully raised, would certainly be a force to be reckoned with. However, given the financial situation of late Ming Dynasty, one cannot help but think that Xu Guang Qi's vision of raising such an elite (and expensive) army was simply too idealistic. Even if, against all odds, he succeeded, the new army would most likely face extremely heavy attrition immediately due to rampant peasant rebellions as well as Manchu threat.

While dual role or even multi-role troops were quite common in oriental warfare, Xu Guang Qi's suggested loadout (which would put even Double Armed Man to shame) was probably too extreme and would heavily burden his troops. Worse still, even with all these heavy equipment, the Manchus still held advantage over Xu Guang Qi's army in terms of numbers, equipment (armours, cold weapons, war wagons and bow design), mobility, experience and military leadership.

Other blog posts in my De Sheng Bing series:

Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 1
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 2
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 3-1
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 3-2
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 4
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 5

Read more

Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing (得勝兵) — Part 4

Bu-level Formations

Most of the Bu (部) formations were simply multiple Shao (哨) formations assembled together, as such, Xu Guang Qi (徐光啟) only discussed some of the formations in detail. A Bu consisted of five Shao plus nineteen support personnels (on top of what Shao already had), led by a Qian Zong (千總).

Fang Bu (方部, square battalion)

Layout of a Fang Bu, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Empty circles represent Wu, circles with black dots represent platoon leaders and four porters, double circles represent company leader with four support personnels, and the bolded double circle with black dot represents battalion leader.

Fang Bu was the square formation for Bu-level tactical unit. It could be formed from Fang Wu (方伍), Yuan Yang Wu (鴛鴦伍) or Yi Zi Ping Wu (一字平伍).

Every troops in the formation was standing five chi apart from his comrades. The formation occupied a space of one hundred twenty by one hundred twenty chi, although this number could be adjusted as the battalion would not always be at its full strength.

Yuan Bu (圓部, round battalion)

Layout of a Yuan Bu, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'.

Yuan Bu was the circle formation for Bu-level tactical unit and the upscaled version of Yuan Shao (圓哨).

Every troops in the formation was standing four chi apart from his comrades. The formation had a circumference of five hundred and seventy-six chi and diameter of one hundred and eighty-four chi. Like its square counterpart, it could be adjusted when the battalion was not at its full strength.

Qu Bu (曲部, crooked battalion)

Layout of a Qu Bu, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'.

Qu Bu was the crooked formation for Bu-level tactical unit. Unlike its smaller cousins, Qu Bu could be formed from Yuan Yang Wu in addition of previous sub-unit formations.

Like all crooked formations, it did not occupy a fixed area.

Zhi Bu (直部, straight battalion)

Zhi Bu was the straight formation for Bu-level tactical unit. It was assembled from several Zhi Shao (直哨), either in one large column, line formation, or two-by-two square (consisted of only four Shao).

Xu Guang Qi did not provide illustration for this formation.

Rui Bu (銳部, sharp battalion)

Layout of a Rui Bu, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'.

Rui Bu was the rhombic formation for Bu-level tactical unit. It was formed by two Rui Shao (銳哨) in Fen He Shi (分合勢) as vanguard and rearguard, two Shao in Yuan Yang Wu facing left and right directions, and one Shao along with porters and battalion leader at the centre of the formation.

Like other Bu-level formations, Rui Bu formation could be adapted according to its current strength. If formed with only two Shao, the middle part was omitted.

Other blog posts in my De Sheng Bing series:

Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 1
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 2
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 3-1
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 3-2
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 4
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 5

Read more

Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing (得勝兵) — Part 3-2

Yi Zi Shao (一字哨, lit. ''One' ideograph company)

Layout of a Yi Zi Shao formed from Fang Wu, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Empty circles represent Fang Wu. 

Layout of a Yi Zi Shao formed from Yuan Yang Wu, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》).' Note: Two vertical black lines represent one Yuan Yang Wu.

Yi Zi Shao was the line formation for Shao-level tactical unit. It could be formed from either Fang Wu (方伍) or Yuan Yang Wu (鴛鴦伍). Porters, support personnels and company leader were positioned behind the line.

Shao-level Unit Rotation

As the number of troops increased, unit rotation also became more complex. Rotating unit was no longer the relatively simple affair of switching between front line troops and reserves, but complex intra-unit manoeuvre.

Er Zi Shao (二字哨, lit. ''Two' ideograph company')

Er Zi Shao Fang Wu rotating using Chou method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Empty circles represent Fang Wu.

Er Zi Shao Fang Wu rotating using Die method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Empty circles represent Fang Wu.

Er Zi Shao Zhi Wu rotating using Chou method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Two vertical black lines represent one Yuan Yang Wu.

Er Zi Shao Zhi Wu rotating using Die method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Two vertical black lines represent one Yuan Yang Wu.

Er Zi Shao Ping Wu rotating using Chou method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Horizontal black lines represent Ping Wu.

Er Zi Shao Ping Wu rotating using Die method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Horizontal black lines represent Ping Wu.

Er Zi Shao was the upscaled version of Er Zi Dui (二字隊), it could be formed from either Fang Wu, Yuan Yang Wu or Ping Wu (平伍), and could employ both rotation methods. As the formation would become very wide if formed normally, distance between sub-units could be reduced slightly.

San Zi Shao (三字哨, lit. ''Three' ideograph company')

San Zi Shao Fang Wu rotating using Chou method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Empty circles represent Fang Wu.

San Zi Shao Fang Wu rotating using Die method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Empty circles represent Fang Wu.

San Zi Shao Zhi Wu rotating using Chou method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Two vertical black lines represent one Yuan Yang Wu.

San Zi Shao Zhi Wu rotating using Die method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Two vertical black lines represent one Yuan Yang Wu.

San Zi Shao Ping Wu rotating using Chou method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Horizontal black lines represent Ping Wu.

San Zi Shao was a new three-line formation devised by Xu Guang Qi (徐光啟) for Shao-level tactical unit. Unlike other formations, San Zi Shao was a detachment formation as it consisted of only fifteen sub-units (company leader and the rest of the sub-units stayed behind). It could be formed from either Fang Wu, Yuan Yang Wu or Ping Wu, and could employ both rotation methods. It could even use two rotation methods simultaneously.

Zheng Zi Shao (正字哨, lit. ''Straight' ideograph company')

Zheng Zi Shao Ping Wu rotating using Die method, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Horizontal black lines represent Ping Wu.

Zheng Zi Shao was another three-line formation devised by Xu Guang Qi. Similar to San Zi Shao, it was also a detachment formation, but mostly employ Die (叠) rotation method.

Other blog posts in my De Sheng Bing series:

Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 1
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 2
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 3-1
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 3-2
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 4
Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing — Part 5

Read more

Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing (得勝兵) — Part 3-1

Shao-level Formations

At Shao (哨) level, the formations of Xu Guang Qi (徐光啟) became even more complex. A Shao consisted of five Dui (隊) and four support personnels, led by a Shao Zong (哨總).

Fang Shao (方哨, square company)

Layout of a Fang Shao, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'. Note: Empty circles represent troops, circles with black dots represent porters, circles with  chinese numbers represent platoon leaders, and a slightly larger circle with black dot represents company leader. 

Fang Shao was the square formation for Shao-level tactical unit. It was scaled up from Fang Dui (方隊). Four Dui guarded the four corners of the formation and one additional Dui positioned at the centre to protect company leader.

The formation could be formed from either Fang Wu (方伍), Yuan Yang Wu (鴛鴦伍) or Yi Zi Ping Wu (一字平伍). It occupied a space of fifty by fifty chi.

Read more

Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing (得勝兵) — Part 2

Dui-level Formations

Dui-level formations were scaled up from Wu-level formations. It consisted of four Wu (伍) and four porters, led by a Dui Zhang (隊長). From Dui-level onward, these formations became gradually more complex.

Fang Dui (方隊, square platoon)

Layouts of Fang Dui, from 'Xuan Lian Tiao Ge (《選練条格》)'.

Fang Dui was the square formation for Dui-level tactical unit. Unlike its smaller counterpart, Fang Dui was a defensive formation similar to a hollow square. Twenty-five troops were deployed inside a five chi by five chi square (it was actually more compact than its Wu-level counterpart), with all their weapons pointing outward. Platoon leader was positioned inside the square, surrounded by four porters. If the square was formed without porters, then the formation became slightly more flexible, occupying a six chi by six chi square. Every Wu inside the square was deployed in Er Zi Ping Wu (二字平伍) formation.

Read more

Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing (得勝兵) — Part 1

Portrait of Xu Guang Qi currently kept at Guangqi Park, Shanghai.

Read more