Volume 9: Home Chapter 303 The Value of NCOs
Admiral Andrew, six generals, and more than 400 non-commissioned officers from various battalions (two battalions of vanguard and combat troops, and three battalions of auxiliary troops) were not detained together with the soldiers. After the non-commissioned officers were identified from the soldiers, they were moved out of the prisoner camp and sent to the mud brick dormitories that had been eliminated by the cat tribe for centralized detention.
This was the lesson learned when taking in the first batch of prisoners. If the non-commissioned officers, including the three bear generals, had not taken the lead in slacking off and going against the soldiers who were guarding and disciplining them, it would not have taken more than half a year to convert two-thirds of the bear brains.
Well, after "recalling the bitter past and thinking of the sweet past" in their own camp for more than half a month, the more than 600 people who followed General Sanxiong were transformed and became capable assistants of the "prisoner transformation front" of Huoyan City. Only General Sanxiong and a few non-commissioned officers were still stubborn, so they were also given the treatment of staying with Admiral Andrew.
No. 1 Cat Farm, formerly a centralized resettlement area.
More than 90% of the cats who originally lived in the resettlement area have moved away. Those who have not moved away all live in two rows of dormitories in the northwest corner, close to the farm. Most of the remaining empty houses have been converted into greenhouses, where vegetables and sweet potatoes are grown in winter, and cash crops such as peppers, beets, and tomatoes (the tomato sauce consumed by the elves is now all supplied by the grassland) are grown at other times. The houses that have not yet been renovated are more than enough to accommodate hundreds of bear heads.
Of course, it was just resettlement... There were no job opportunities (it was difficult to convert them into their own workers anyway, and they were too lazy to waste manpower to organize training), no wages, no extra meals, and no leisure and entertainment activities. They only had one chance a day to leave the house and take a walk under the supervision of the tiger and snake tribes.
The two tribes had deep hatred for the bear tribe and would never be as gentle to them as the snow wolf people or the cat tribe. As a result, the three bear generals who had "enjoyed" the superior captive life for half a year suffered...
At lunch time that day, Black Bear General Aubrey was holding a coarse flour cake made of bean dregs and wheat bran flour, and a bean sprout soup without any meat or oil. He was stunned for a while, then suddenly jumped off the kang, rushed to the door and slammed it hard: "Let me out! I want to work! Give me a work meal!"
"Hey, you still want to work." On the corridor outside the door, the snake warrior who was responsible for delivering meals sneered and pretended to say to the tiger warrior who was sitting on a small stool doing manual work, "Abu, do you have any work here that you can assign to them?"
A tiger warrior named Abu was working in a sweet potato flour factory, earning the salary of an ordinary snow wolf plus a full bonus five times the amount (after all, he knows magic), and his life was so comfortable; but he was suddenly assigned by Ted to look after these bears, and he was not allowed to return to the factory for almost two months, which made him very angry. Hearing this, he skillfully crocheted a colorful small bag with wool, and said slowly: "We are a shelter, not a prisoner camp, and Huoyan City will give us special policies. Apart from other things, there are so many manual jobs in the prisoner camp that you can choose any one you want, but here we don't have enough manual jobs for our own people."
The sound of knocking on the door inside the house suddenly became much quieter...
The snake warrior chuckled and squatted down to look at Abugou's colorful wool bag: "This bag you made is very beautiful, similar to the sample I saw in Fire City before."
"It only costs 20 copper coins to weave a small bag like this, which is enough to buy half a small pot. It takes at least three hours to weave one." Abu complained, "For this kind of handicraft, I can only get two a day, no more."
"So much? Then wouldn't you be able to earn almost one silver coin a day?" The snake warrior was shocked.
These warriors who are dedicated to guarding the bear heads also receive salaries, but only a basic salary every month, with no bonuses. That is, a base salary of five silver coins plus an additional bonus based on years of work, with one more silver coin for every full year of work.
Abu was a little proud, and pretended to complain impatiently: "Do you think it's easy to knit? You have to knit different shapes, use different colors of wool to knit patterns, and then sew plastic buttons on. People living in big cities like this kind of small carry-on bag, but they are very picky. They won't spend money on a bad bag. Really, I don't know what they buy this kind of small thing that can't hold anything for."
The snake warrior took the woven bag from the dustpan next to Abu and looked at it over and over again: "Hmm... It's only the size of two palms, so it really can't hold anything, but it looks pretty good... Are these two ears tiger ears? Why is this pattern so strange... Hey, why does it look like a round tiger head when you look closely?"
Abu pointed out: "This is a tiger head bag. You can see the base color is golden yellow. These two black circles are the eyes, and this side is the tiger whisker..."
The snake warrior understood and said in amazement: "So that's how it is. You tigers are really skillful. No one else can do this."
The tiger tribe... is also a cat tribe, and their claws are quite nimble... Only the cat tribe can make these handmade cartoon woven bags sold to female urban residents in the human kingdom quickly and well, and even the human female workers have to step down...
The sound of knocking on the door inside the house became weak and disappeared after ringing a few times without any meaning.
After the bears finished their lunch, the snake warrior went in to collect the dishes and waved goodbye to Abu. Not long after he left, two tiger warriors came over , exchanged a few words with Abu, and waited for Abu to put away his tools. Then the three of them opened the door together and let the guys who had been locked up in the house for a whole day out for some fresh air.
"You are only allowed to walk around here. You are not allowed to leave the main group, go anywhere else, or fight or make trouble!" Abu and his two companions brought more than 20 bear-headed people to the square where the cats used to work. After giving them a few stern reprimands, the three of them squatted aside to chat.
If there is trouble in any of the shelter dormitories , all inmates will be deprived of their day off for exercise the next day and their food will be halved. After a few lessons, these rascals have become much more well-behaved, and those who are guarding them can worry less.
As soon as Aubrey arrived at the square, he opened his eyes wide and looked around. In order to "shelter" people like them, the square and the houses where they lived were surrounded by earth walls. Fortunately, the wall was not too high, and they could still see the cat farm buildings not far away, as well as the fields in the distance.
After looking around, disappointment appeared on Aubrey's face again... The cats that could be vaguely seen were all busy with their own affairs. No one cared about the people and things inside the wall. Most importantly, Aubrey didn't see a single snow werewolf.
...When the Snow Werewolves trapped him in the canyon and "beat the bear behind closed doors", General Black Bear hated these orcs who had betrayed the Far East so much. But now, without seeing those stupid big guys, Aubrey just felt uneasy - compared with his "own" Moon Bear army, and the Tiger and Snake tribes who were guarding them, the Snow Werewolves were so friendly and reassuring!
Especially after being transferred here and eating the "prison food" made by the snake tribe for almost two months, Aubrey wanted to treat the cafeteria staff who delivered food to them as relatives...
The square was very large, and even with hundreds of bears thrown in it, it still seemed empty. Some of the bears huddled together, reminiscing about their hometown, some lay on the wall looking outside, some randomly sat down and stared blankly, and some surrounded Admiral Andrew, all of them with gloomy faces, and no one knew what they were discussing.
Aubrey had no interest in getting close to Andrew. The old moon bear was one of the people he hated the most. After walking aimlessly for a few steps, he naturally walked towards Bazel and Wood who were squatting together and sat down next to the two old brothers.
The three brothers sat side by side, staring at their fellow tribesmen wandering around the square in a daze, and no one spoke.
During the twenty days they were thrown into the same carriage and imprisoned in the army of moon bears, the three of them had already talked about everything they could. Aubrey knew exactly what Basil's youngest cub liked to eat... Basil and Wood had heard about his own situation countless times.
White Bear General Wood suddenly let out a long sigh.
Aubrey and Bazel turned their eyes to the big white-haired guy at the same time. They knew that this guy was about to speak... Although they were not very interested in what he would say, it was better than doing nothing.
Wood turned his head and looked at them, with a worried look on his face: "What do you think...will the next army that comes be our army?"
Aubrey & Bazel were silent.
It goes without saying that Bazel is the smartest. Aubrey, the leader of the black bear tribe, knows that the Beast King will not easily consume the warriors of the black bear tribe before he has found out the details of the grassland people. Just like the elite beheading plan last year, the Beast King sent the moon bears and white bears to attack the grassland people's lair, but sent the largest black bear army to steal the grassland people's MSG factory. It is clear that the hard bone is thrown to the two bear coalition forces, and the Beast King only takes advantage without suffering any loss...
Well...even though I didn't get any benefit, I still ended up losing money.
Wood didn't want to hear any definite words from the two old brothers, so he turned his head and continued to stare at his fellow tribesmen wandering on the field.
The three of them have been prisoners for a long time. No one can influence the decision of the rear, and even hatred is meaningless.
Several black bears who were squatting in the corner and whispering seemed to have made some decision. They stood up together and walked towards the direction where Aubrey was.
"General, we..." One of them was pushed to the front by his companions. He started speaking with difficulty and then lowered his head in shame.
Aubrey raised his head and looked at these people one by one. They were all low-level non-commissioned officers, very young, without a companion or cubs... He slowly closed his eyes. So what if they had families in the Far East? Many of those elite warriors had families, but they still resolutely defected to the grassland people and abandoned the Far East.
"You made your own choice, so you don't need to tell me." General Black Bear said with difficulty, "I just hope you don't forget that the Far East is our home, our hometown."
"General." A man standing behind him suddenly raised his head and looked at him with sharp eyes. "Did you hear what the snake guard said about the drama in the prisoner camp?"
Aubrey's face changed slightly, and Basil & Wood also turned their eyes over.
The black bear warrior was somewhat afraid of the generals' authority, but still said firmly: "My mother was a team officer for her entire life, rising from sergeant to staff sergeant. I have also been a team officer for ten years, always being a staff sergeant. Will I, my future cubs, my cubs' cubs... my descendants have the chance to be promoted to lieutenants?"
The three generals were silent.
The team officer (non-commissioned officer) is similar to the leader of the Tiger Tribe and is usually selected from elite warriors.
In the era of the Tiger Emperor, outstanding warriors could be promoted from soldier to the great tent (similar to general), because the Tiger Emperor attached great importance to the military force. Although this excessive emphasis may also cause the policies implemented by the Tiger Emperor to be too "biased", at least this atmosphere of respecting military power in the army can make the soldiers see hope.
During the era of the Bear Emperor, all traces left by the Tiger Emperor were erased with great effort, which naturally included the martial spirit which had both advantages and disadvantages... Of course there were advantages, but the disadvantages were also obvious... Professional soldiers, professional non-commissioned officers, and professional officers, even if they ate from the same pot, would never circulate among each other - or rather, they would never circulate upwards, and the door to upwards was always closed.
The middle class in the established society always has the illusion that they are "closer to the upper class" and look down on civilians. Of course, non-commissioned officers in the army also have similar problems. The White-Haired Girl, which was launched to transform the thoughts of ordinary soldiers, revealed the scars that the soldiers had intentionally or unintentionally ignored, and naturally also touched the pain points of the non-commissioned officers - the middle class is actually closer to the bottom, and the non-commissioned officers are actually still far away from the officers.
Especially Xia's line "I've never heard of a person who doesn't have general parents becoming a general" was like a bolt from the blue for those who eat the army's dinner...
"As expected, it's here." This thought popped up in Aubrey's mind, and surprisingly he was not too angry.
The black bear tribe is rather irritable, but that doesn't mean they can't think... the bear tribe is not a barbarian like the snow wolf tribe. Even barbarians can become smart, not to mention that the bear tribe's IQ is not low to begin with?
Under normal circumstances, such a drama that takes pleasure in exposing the "truth of the world" would not cause much stir. A wealthy person with a relatively stable life, even if he knows that he is at the bottom of the food chain, rarely has the courage to abandon everything he has and break free from the shackles.
But now the entire army is someone else's prisoner, and the distance between soldiers and generals is completely shattered. Without having to go through the pain , there will naturally be more people who are brave enough to make a choice.
Aubrey nodded slightly, maintaining the dignity of a general, and said calmly: "Do whatever you want to do. I hope you remember that you have abandoned your hometown, but your hometown has not abandoned you."
The black bears felt relieved, breathed a sigh of relief, and then retreated away.
The female black bear who dared to question the general face to face hesitated, took a few steps, turned back, and looked directly at the black bear general: "General Aubrey, if you can return to the Far East, can you still be a general? Can your cub still be a general?"
After saying this, the female black bear and her companions walked away without looking back, running towards the tiger warriors who were chatting at the edge of the square, running towards their new life.
General Black Bear, who stayed where he was, was stabbed in the heart by these words...
"This little bastard, doesn't he know that when you have nothing to say, you should give others more room?" Aubrey cursed angrily and turned to look at the two old brothers awkwardly.
Basel tilted his head, not knowing what he was thinking, while Wood was still staring in a daze at his fellow tribesmen who were taking a walk on the field.
Aubrey murmured "Hey" in a self-deprecating tone. It was not surprising that the two of them didn't watch his fun. They were all people who fell into the same pit. What was the difference between making fun of others and making fun of oneself?
The three brothers were so embarrassed, but they have become skilled in this area.
The troupe of "White-Haired Girl" performed the play three times in the prisoner camp, and after receiving good responses each time, they came to the internment camp with full confidence and performed for the "reactionary main force" composed of several hundred non-commissioned officers, officers, and generals.
Before the performance, the people who pulled the rolling stones (large stones processed into long cylindrical shapes) to roll the road and set up the stage were all progressive people from the prisoner camp who had performed well and had been given the opportunity to work outside the camp. White Bear Hal was among them. When Wood saw the elite warriors of this tribe enthusiastically helping the grassland people during his exercise, even though he was used to this kind of scene, General White Bear's face twitched violently.
The stage was set up, the troupe was in place, and hundreds of sheltered people were seated in groups according to their dormitories under the arrangement of the tiger and snake tribes. The cat tribe living in the resettlement houses also came to watch the fun.
The music recorded in the sound shell (provided by the bard) started, and the cast and crew came on stage to start the performance.
Unlike the spectacular scene in the prisoner camp performance where the audience cried along with the snow leopard cubs, the more miserable the snow leopard cubs looked, the more embarrassed the audience in the audience became - as they belonged to the "privileged class" in the Far East, they were basically in the same camp as the villains on the stage!
Finding excuses to increase taxes during the harvest season and arbitrarily requisitioning the labor of the tribesmen is something that all officers above the colonel level have been involved in to some extent... There are large tracts of wasteland in the Far East, and it is difficult for those in power not to "generate income" from the land themselves. Hiring professional farmers is certainly not as cost-effective as requisitioning the lower-class people of the tribe.
When the elders and deacons reclaimed the houses and fields of the orphaned cubs, some officers began to get restless... Eating up the entire family was not uncommon in this world. Humans usually eat up close relatives, but for the orcs, who have weaker kinship, whoever has power and is "close" eats up...
When the snake actor who played the villain acted out the scene of dividing up the funds of the Cub Hall and used lines to express his envy and hatred for those who could get a share of the "big projects" of the tribe's funds, even General Aubrey began to look embarrassed. As a general, he only had an annual income of 500 gold coins on the surface, and the gray income that was difficult for outsiders to know about naturally included "tributes" from various channels!
After the scene, only the white bear's officers were able to stop twisting and turning as if there were needles under their buttocks... The environment and resources in which the white bears live are too poor, and they must stick together closely to ensure their survival. Those in power do not have that much room to "cash in".
When the drama reached the last scene and the villain Xia began to poke everyone's hearts in a sharp way, even General Wood began to look unnatural... Things like solidified class stratification and closed upward channels will appear in a relatively peaceful and stable society that can last for decades or hundreds of years, and the white bear clan is no exception!
On one side of the stage, Hal and others, who were sitting with the troupe staff and Snow Wolf warriors, focused half of their attention on observing the reactions of the audience below the stage.
The curtain closed and the hundreds of bear-headed people in the audience fell silent.
A Yan, who was in charge of the security of the troupe, smiled and poked the fat white bear sitting next to him with his finger. He lowered his voice and said, "See? It's not that they don't know that what they did was wrong, but they can't see how miserable those who suffered injustice are, so they just live their lives with peace of mind."
Hal nodded slightly, his eyes sweeping across the ground at the White Bear General Wood, whom he once respected so much, feeling a little angry and a little uncomfortable.
"I will convey the reactions of these...detention personnel to everyone truthfully." Hal said with difficulty and force.
A Yan smiled and patted his shoulder, then asked everyone to get up and clean up the stage.
Well... the white bear has the same white fur as the snow wolf, the same strong physique, and is equally cold-resistant but not heat-resistant. It is normal for the two sides to develop a revolutionary friendship...
When these transformed bear warriors helped dismantle the stage, the crowd that was being guarded and organized by the tiger and snake tribes to return to the shelter suddenly started to riot.
A Yan glanced over there, called out to a few Snow Wolf Warriors to follow him, and strode towards the stopped Bear Heads to help maintain order.
After a brief commotion, the tiger warrior Abu and two of his fellow tribesmen arrested the moon bear sergeant who caused the dispute. They asked the others to send the bears back to the dormitory first, and pulled the young man who tried to pounce on a moon bear general aside and surrounded him for a talk.
"What's wrong with you? Don't you know the consequences of causing trouble? Do you want to drag the entire dormitory into solitary confinement and starvation with you?" Abu scolded sternly. He would not be so angry usually, but this time there was a Snow Wolf watching nearby!
"I just want to ask the general if he knows that my father was transferred to the sea area!" Sergeant Yue Xiong said with an indignant look on his face.
"Sea territory?" Abu was completely clueless about Yuandong and subconsciously looked at Ayan who came over to check the situation.
A Yan spread his hands. What he knew about the Far East was limited to the information brought back by Primo.
"I know." Hal, who followed A Yan, hurriedly tried to express himself, "The Sea Territory is the eastern border of the empire, the wasteland facing the endless sea. Because it is too barren, no race has ever occupied it. It is the most remote territory of the empire."
Abu & Ayan said "Oh", it seems that Xia's lines really involved a victim...
"If you have any questions, you can ask them next time you are out for exercise. It is wrong for you to suddenly get impulsive and disrupt collective order like this. Everyone was watching the performance happily, but suddenly you got involved. Even the people in your dormitory are implicated by you. Do you think this is appropriate?" Abu said seriously, criticizing and educating the detainee... Under normal circumstances, he would definitely not have this kind of patience, and would beat up anyone who made trouble. But now... isn't there a snow wolf watching them?
Sergeant Moonbear's expression changed several times. He suddenly looked up at Hal who was standing with the Snow Werewolf, and gritted his teeth and said, "I want to be like him. What should I do?"
Whether it was the Snow Werewolves or the Tiger Tribe, the warriors on both sides were shocked!
After the scare, Abu and other Tiger warriors all showed happy smiles, rushed forward enthusiastically, and asked about the detention center's well-being - those who walked out of the detention center and returned to the prisoner camp to receive transformation education during this period were the first batch of prisoners, and this guy was the first one among the second batch of non-commissioned officers who took the initiative to express his intention to accept education and transformation!
The guards of these internment camps also have "performance" rewards. During the internment period, they receive a bonus for every person sent to the prisoner camp. Huoyan City is indeed impatient to waste manpower on these determined "reactionaries", but no one would dislike labor!
The so-called non-commissioned officers are the most basic backbone of the army among professional soldiers. They are higher than elite soldiers but lower than professional officers. They can receive relatively good military subsidies in peacetime and are responsible for leading soldiers to charge in wartime.
In a full-time professional army with smooth upward and downward communication channels, non-commissioned officers are officer reserves selected from professional soldiers. Becoming a non-commissioned officer is the first step to becoming an officer, such as Yale, who rose from a tent master to a big tent in the Tiger Tribe, and Selina, who rose from a sergeant to a second lieutenant.
But this is just normal...
In the Far Eastern Empire, where the internal peace is maintained and the external invasion is guarded by others, the NCOs are basically always in reserve. Even during the war with the elves, the most casualties were soldiers and NCOs, and officers had almost no casualties. How many radishes can be planted in such a small radish pit?
"It seems that non-commissioned officers are also very valuable for transformation." Xiao Yun received the report two days later. He happily handed the report written by the Tiger Tribe and full of typos to the chief of the Grassroots Tribe, the director of the Labor Department who was in charge of the prisoner transformation project, and said with a smile, "Should we conduct another screening of the internment camp, select all officers below the rank of officer, and arrange personnel for ideological transformation?"
"You've added more work to my workload." The grassroots chief complained, but her radiant face didn't show any resentment at all... This was also a very normal thing. So many people were eyeing the manpower in the prisoner camp. Anyone would have to be in high spirits and full of fighting spirit to be surrounded by people trying to please them the next day.
"You've worked so hard. NCOs have seen the world and eaten meat. It's really harder to transform them than ordinary soldiers or elite soldiers. But if the transformation is completed, the effect will be greater than that of ordinary soldiers." Xiao Yun said with a smile. "Among the 300 people going to Hongye, there are four former NCOs. They have been in the coal yard for less than a week, and they have not only set up the framework, but also managed it in an orderly manner."
"Why don't you say that now everyone has discovered the usefulness of being a non-commissioned officer, and they are all dissatisfied with the original allocation policy and demand a new selection. How much trouble has this caused me? There are only a few converted non-commissioned officers!" The grassroots leader rolled his eyes at him.
"It's okay, it's okay. After this batch of non-commissioned officers are distributed, the Beast King will send us the next batch!" Xiao Yun smiled and took out the letter sent back by Primo. "Look, the ones coming this time are all our old friends, including the Lion Clan, the Tea Bear Clan, the Fox Clan, and the Wing Clan."
"Hey, isn't that the white bear's army?" Yu, who was paddling next to them, asked in surprise.
"We are going to fight with the Lion Clan Tea Bear and the others?!" Snow Flower was completely shocked. "We just delivered our sugar! If a fight breaks out here, what will happen to our business with them?"
Xiao Yun said calmly: "Don't be anxious, business is business, fighting is fighting, there is no conflict between the two sides. Besides, on our territory, whether to fight or not, and how to fight, aren't we the ones who have the final say?"
