[center][h2] [color=ed1c24]The Xian Clique [/color][/h2][/center] [center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80589065/Random/United_Republic_of_China_flag.png[/img][/center] [center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvo-u5pU6jY][b]The Revolution is successful[/b][/url][/center] [center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80589065/Random/foedini.jpeg[/img] [i]Foedinei, circa 1905.[/i][/center] Immediately after the final meeting of the Liberation Council, Foreign Minister Shiu Fuhua was once again sent away from the Xianese homeland to the capital of the Grand Survaek Empire. However, the Foreign Minister brought with him a swath of younger NCOs in training. These soldiers were predominantly sergeants and corporals, warrant officers designated for command in the future. Upon arrival aboard a civillian vessel, Fuhua and these officers were brought to one of the many garrison regiments in training at the Imperial Academy of Foedinei. The first sights of interest to the Xianese military delegation were the defenses being prepared around the city, visible from the Port as well as the Academy. Trenchworks, sandbags, and even barbed wire marked strategic locations in the outskirts of the Survaekom capital. For the moment the defenses were garrisoned only by a skeleton crew, but the number of machine-guns and supporting artillery pieces at each of the strong-points suggested that there were plenty more soldiers nearby. One battalion of such soldiers was training in the fields near the Academy when Minister Fuhua and his compatriots arrived. They were greeted by the unit's captain, whose rank was apparent only from his pauldrons and small markings on his helmet. He was a short but strongly-built man with weathered copper skin and a thick moustache. "Greetings, you must be Foreign Minister Shiu Fuhua from the Xian Republic," he began. "Welcome to Foedinei, and to the 451st Surv-Akur General Infantry Battalion. Will you or your companions be needing refreshments or shade?" "Yes, yes. After our travel refreshments would be most appreciated." The Foreign Minister stated simply, giving a short smile to the captain as he looked out onto the field. The Xianese officers took their own respective positions around the Minister, who had removed his glasses to wipe the dust that seemed to constantly blow since his arrival. The storms that afflicted the soldiers in the west evidently was beginning to move eastward as well. The captain nodded to the Xianese and motioned towards an aide, who promptly set off for a collection of tents on the South end of the field. "Tell me captain, what regiment is out on the field now? Yours I presume?" Mister Fuhua asked, his bifocals now once again upon his aged and pale visage. It was evident that the Minister was not adjusted to the heat of the capital, however Fuhua was a man of the old guard. He would surely adjust. "Only a battalion, not a full regiment I'm afraid," the captain replied with a smirk. Fuhua chuckled, "Of course, my apologies captain. I'm still quite used to seeing the Xianese regiments training in Beiqling. I dare say I forgot where all the Survaekom men had gone!". The Minister gave another laugh as he looked out again towards the men out on field. "Will you be instructing this battalion today, captain?" The officer heartily joined in the Foreign Minister's laughter. He was relieved to see that Fuhua knew how to be of good humor, and in the Survaekom language too! "First I suppose I ought to give you my name. Captain Waldei Gjois, commander of the 451st. I will indeed be training the men here today. And if you don't mind staying a while, once we're done with the first round of exercises we'll be marching farther from the city into the steppe, for a proper set of exercises with the entire 88th Regiment. My boys here aren't gree anymore, and it's time they learn to work in cohesion with the other battalions." "If these men can handle the heat then so can I. We will of course be staying for the full exercise, and I highly anticipate seeing how your men perform Captain Gjois. Now, where in the Divines is that aide?" Fuhua turned from the field, looking towards the academy again for a moment. "Tell that boy I'll be demanding him on the field if this heat keeps up!" Fuhua continued, giving another smile. [center][img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Ottoman_soldiers_1917.jpeg/640px-Ottoman_soldiers_1917.jpeg[/img] [i]Soldiers of the 88th Regiment being lead by Captain Gjois, circa 1908.[/i][/center] While the Foreign Minister and the Captain conversed, the Xianese officers had attentatively begun watching the Survaekom soldiers. Even though the actual excercises had yet to begin, most of these men had never left their respective villages and towns, much less Faresia. The sight of the significantly taller Survaekom men was a sight to be seen for them. After a few minutes of banter among the officers, the aide finally returned with a dozen companions. They had brought out chairs and a table for the delegation, along with large parasols. And, of course, two of them carried refreshments: A large plate of delicately-prepared cold meats, another plate with olives and dates and all manner of tasty fruits, a large basket of bread, and several bowls of spiced oils. The Xianese delegation, predominantly the young officers, was quick to swarmp the plates of food that had been brought out from the academy. Mister Fuhua however took only a glass of water and a seat at the head of the table, waiting for the excercises to begin. Captain Gjois smiled at the young Xianese men competing for the dishes before they had even been set on the table. He turned to the more restrained, elderly Minister. "Your men have a good appetite, and no shortage of energy it seems even after the long voyage! It'll serve them well on the field: Motivation to steal the enemy's rations is as good as any!" He chuckled. Meanwhile, in the field, the battalion stood motionless in neat ranks, all facing the captain. Besides the occasional whisper and murmur, they were silent, presenting a dignified formation to represent the Surv-Akur to the foreign visitors. The captain wouldn't leave them hanging too long, though. He rose from his seat as soon as the visitors all seemed comfortable enough, making his way to the soldiers with a proud smile on his face. "Excellent display of good order, men! But our guests are here to observe more than your uniforms! Stagger yourselves and present facing West!" Immediately the Surv-Akur ranks broke and spread out, only to reform in a much looser formation facing to the left of the observers. Further West lay a field of target dummies and sandbags. "[i]We're under attack![/i]" Gjois barked. "Take cover and return fire!" The soldiers crouched, went prone, or dove to whatever nearby barriers they could find. Rifle cracks sounded seconds after the shout as the mostly-trained regulars aimed and fired at their wooden adversaries. Some groups, instead of firing, rushed South to tents and came back with machine-guns and ammunition belts. Like clockwork the teams deployed and loaded their machines in a matter of ten to fifteen seconds each, before unloading their firepower on the dummies. "[i]CEASE FIRE![/i]" the captain roared after some forty seconds, signaling the end of the staged firefight. Before the war the fire exercises would have gone on longer, but nowadays munitions were precious commodities not to be wasted. Seemingly pleased, the commanding officer strode towards the "enemy" camp. "Aed be praised, you little mongrels managed to hit all of them!" he beamed, but only for a moment. Suddenly his expression turned stern, sour even. "But, you're still taking too long! Machine-guns should have been ready at least ten seconds earlier! If it comes to combat, you won't have time to waltz over to the tents and back like you're on a stroll through the park!" Gjois paused a moment, stroking his moustache with a single hand. "You lot need your muscles trained better! Twenty laps around the Academy, and any man not back in twenty minutes gives me his rations! [i]Understood?![/i]" "[i]YES SIR![/i]" the battalion replied in unison, setting out for their run briskly and in good order. Captain Gjois shook his head slowly as he walked back to the Xianese delegates' table. "The lads have the order and the mechanics of it all together, but they need more speed before they can join the main army! I figure more exercise will boost their fitness, and from there their speed will improve too. But what are your opinions, good officers of the Xian Republic?" The Xianese officers sat in silence for a moment. Fuhua himself turned to look towards his own delegation. This was their time to show themselves as officers. From the back, a scrawny young officer, looking no older than twenty spoke up above the pondering men. "Their speed isn't the issue sir. They're struggling with the belt loaded rounds." The entire delegation turned towards the officer who spoke, some with looks of shock at the fact that someone would disagree with the captain's conclusion about his own battalion. "In my village, Chongshi, we trained using the same model of machine guns on banana trees. It doesn't matter how fast you can get the gun in place, if you can't load the belt the weapon's useless sir. I recommend exercises on loading sir. It's the same concept of speed training we use." After a moment of silence between the delegation the Xianese-Survaekom translator repeated what the young officer had said. Fuhua finishing with an immediate apology over the officer's wording. "These men aren't used to the proper behaviors and attitudes we use in addressing superiors just yet Captain Gjois, I apologize for his mannerisms." Captain Gjois raised an eyebrow as the translator interpreted the young man's words and seemed ready to say something in response, but waited for Fuhua to finish his apology first. "Your apology is accepted," he acknowledged to his esteemed guest, before turning to face the upstart lower officer. "I didn't have an issue with how they were loading the guns. Fact is they're getting to the tents and back too slow. But...it never hurts to load even faster. Why don't you demonstrate the speed training you practiced in your village, for the benefit of the whole battalion?" He grinned wryly. It was a win-win scenario for him: Either the exercise had merit and the Surv-Akur would benefit -with Gjois taking the credit of course- or the officer would be shamed for his insolence. Minister Fuhua leaned back and gestured for some of the officers to fetch a machine gun and a belt. Within moments two young men rushed off towards the same tents that the Survaekom regulars had gotten their own weapons from minutes prior. The scrawny officer nodded, stepping up to the table next to Fuhua and Captain Gjois. The aides that had originally brought all the oils, spices, and other assorted foods were quick to clear a space for the large gun as the other officers returned from the tent, one carrying the ammunition belt and the other the gun itself. Seeing that the officer was going to make his demonstration soon, the captain stood up and shouted to his battalion. "[i]Soldiers of the 451st! Cease your running and gather in the field![/i]" With a small smile the scrawny officer adjusted his uniform and cracked his knuckles in mock preperation as the gun was placed in front of him. Fuhua leaned forward and watched closely as the young man prepared himself. The last thing this gathering needed was tensions to rise. By now, most of the unit's three-hundred soldiers had returned to the field, gathering around to watch the foreigner manning an Ishui Model 11. "Our guest here has most kindly offered to demonstrate a technique for loading the machine-gun belts more quickly! Watch carefully!" The young officer stood for a moment, his eyes following the Survaekom men as they gathered. He didn't know what the Captain had said, but he presumed it was for him to demonstrate. He took a breath and immediately went to work. He even spoke as he began unrolling the cloth-belt. "In my village, we would do little competitions to see who could unroll these things faster. The trick is not letting the rounds get stuck onto the cloth, if they do you'll have a jam in the gun itself and it takes awhile to unjam these things." Within a matter of five or so seconds the roll had been undone and placed onto the table, then the officer quickly slid the cloth loader through the 'magizine' and clipped it onto the weapon. The entire process taking no more than nine to ten seconds. Captain Waldei Gjois nodded at the young officer, and then looked back to his soldiers. "Impressive! Now [i]that[/i] is the way to load an Ishui 11! Instead of laps, I want you all to drill by following this man's technique until fifteen o'clock. Designated gunners first, but I want everyone in the battalion knowing how to load an Ishui in no more than ten seconds! You'll be tested tomorrow! Understood?!" "[i]Yes sir![/i]" came the scatter of replies, less unified than before after their run and witnessing a foreigner best most of them at using their own nation's gun. The captain turned his gaze to face the translator. "Inform your comrade officer that he is to demonstrate proper technique for my soldiers for the next two and a half hours. After that, we will march West for the regimental training camp." The translator nodded, repeating the captain's words to the now beaming young officer. Minister Fuhua leaned back in his chair, giving a small smile. "It's going to be quite an interesting afternoon I believe, Captain Gjois." The captain took a few steps back to the table and sat comfortably in his chair. He looked to the old man with something between a smirk and a smile. "It will, Minister Fuhua. It will." [center][img]http://static.origos.hu/s/img/i/1504/20150424gallipoli13.jpg?w=620&h=349 [/img] [i]Soldiers of the 451st Battalion shortly before their deployment, circa 1907.[/i][/center] [hr] A stupidly long flavor post by me and [@AspenIvan].