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陸軍內調一大場, 四設木柵, 陸軍卿以下諸官, 邀余設椅地坐, 先試步軍, 步軍伍伍什什, 按行而立, 一隊必有隊長, 手持標旗, 又有一騎將, 往來指麾, 節以一角, 角聲一作, 旗爲之應, 旗脚纔動, 衆軍齊動, 進則齊進, 退則齊退, 坐作進退, 拔劒揷劒, 擧銃植銃, 無一先者無一後者, 左出右入, 右出左入, 前者後而後者前, 或走而過之, 或圍而裹之, 如常山之蛇, 腰腹受賊, 而頭尾皆爲之來救也.
The army (Headquarter) has a big training ground(field), surrounded by the wooden fence. The minister of the army and the other subordinate officers welcomed me to set the chair to sit. First, there is the exhibition of the infantry army. The infantry men by fives and tens line up and stand. Every unit has unit leader, whose hand had a signal(code) flag. Besides, a mounted officer commands riding back and forth and directing by every whistle. Once the whistle sound is made, the signal flag respond to it. The end of the flag moves and then only all soldiers move together. When they proceed, they proceed in uniform. When they retreat, they retreat in uniform. In carrying themselves on their knees[haunches] back and forth, unsheathing and sheathing swords and making ready and unready guns, there is no one to do it untimely(to do it faster or later). The left side goes out and the right side comes in. The front goes back and the back comes forward. They maybe run and pass it, They may surround and enveloped it. As like "the snake of Shang Mountain" of Master Sun's Art of War, The troop receive the enemy by the part of belly. Then, the head part and the tail part all come to save it.
次試馬軍, 馬皆腰短項長, 脛瘦題濶, 竦其雙耳, 有萬里之勢, 軍皆壯健矯捷, 腰劒手戟, 飛身上馬脚鐙一夾, 馬走如飛, 綠茸茸芳草地上, 只見四馬蹄, 轉燈翻盞而已, 而一前一却, 一無違令, 一如步軍.
Next, there is the exhibition of the mounted troops(horse riding unit). All horses have slim waists and long necks. They have slender shanks and broad foreheads with pricking up their two ears. They have the power to run ten thousand Chinese li. The soldiers are all sturdy and agile with sword in their waist and halberd in their hands. They swing themselves into the saddle of the horse and moved their feet in the stirrups to kick the horse once. Then the horses run like flying. On the green fine grassland, only four horseshoes can be seen and the oil lamps are turning over. Once they proceed and retreat, there is no one to disobey orders just like the infantry army.
次試車, 戰車兩輪, 駕以駟馬, 上坐一將, 前後戎御車, 而後又有小車, 鉤鎖連之, 連之斷之, 可惟意也. 前置大砲, 後有藥筒, 皆銅造也. 一番馳逐, 一時放砲, 砲隨所指, 聲震大野, 又有馬載砲隨之, 臨放下砲于地, 一齊砲放, 無少參差, 惟令前却, 一如馬車, 但其陣法, 一是長蛇捲地之勢.
Next, there is the exhibition of the tank forces(corp). The tank has two wheels, driven by four horses, on the top of which was sitting a officer. The front and the back of that have driving cars and the rear has also small car, linked by hooks. Linking and separating can be freely done. In the front part of it is installed a big cannon and the rear part of it has a powder keg, all of which was made of bronze. Those tanks run a track and fire guns at the same time. The cannons follow the directions and fire guns, whose sounds shake the field. Again, horses carrying the guns follow those tanks and get ready to put the guns on the ground to fire guns at the same time. Their actions have no small differences only to follow the orders to proceed and retreat just like the tank forces. But the tactical deployment of troops all tend to follow "long snake rolling the ground" of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
海軍省觀放大砲, 直臨海岸, 有一屋, 兩頭纖而腰*濶, 一如船制, 入其中十數開戶, 如船窓, 窓前必置砲, 砲有機輪直向窓, 窓左右斜直, 各有兩道鐵, 可當砲輪, 砲左當左, 砲右當右, 亦各有鐵道, 於是一人, 手小旗, 一面當窓, 窺察如覘敵者, 一人吹角而節之, 而有七八人裁藥傳火, 直欲放砲覘敵者, 忽又手旗右指, 吹角者應之, 放砲諸人, 卽推砲輪向右而轉, 而砲口指窓, 纔欲施放, 而覘敵者, 又左指, 角聲又作, 則卽又推之轉之, 砲體向左而砲之口仍指窓也,
In the minister of the army, we watched to fire the big cannon, where is close to the beach. There is a house. Both ends of that are narrow and the middle part of that is wide. It shapes just like the ship. As we entered the inside of that house, there were ten more windows open, whose shaped like the ship windows. The front of every window has the gun(cannon) installed. The gun(cannon) has wheels facing straight up to the window. At both sides of the window are respectively diagonal and straight iron rails, whose are served for the wheels of the cannon. The gun(cannon) goes left and the wheel goes on the left rail. The gun goes right and the wheel goes on the right. Each side has the rail also. Accordingly, one person who has a small flag in his hand watches through the window and is snooping just like observing the enemy. One person whistles to give a sign. Then, seven or eight peoples fill the powder and light the fuse directly to fire the gun. The snooper suddenly raised the hand flag to direct right side. The whistler responds to it. Then the people in charge of firing gun immediately push the gun wheel to turn right and the gun muzzle directs at the window ready to shoot. But, the snooper directed to the left again and the whistle sounds again. Then they immediately push the gun wheel and turn that. The body of the gun turns left and the gun muzzle still directs at the window.
蓋俄者左右前却處, 規輪舖鐵政爲此也, 覘敵左右, 隨所之而放之, 今此習放, 如臨敵也, 於是七八人一時幷力, 推者推, 整者整, 丸者丸, 藥者藥, 火者火, 手忙脚亂, 呼吸之間, 諸砲幷發, 聲*山海, 兩耳爲之茫然也, 臨放, 傳語官二人, 走至余坐床兩邊, 緊緊執定, 爲慮我驚動也, 余笑曰, 余雖疲茶, 已過不動之年, 若個砲聲, 豈足以動我乎.
In general, moving left and right, advance and retreat to the purposed point is done very soon. Guiding wheels and extending the railway is exactly designed for this purpose. The snooper signed left or right and they followed it to fire the gun. This time's gunnery exercise is as like they really face the enemy. Accordingly, seven or eight people joined forces to work at the same time. The pusher pushes, the leveller levels, the loader(ball-loader) loads the ball, the filler fills the gunpower. They are in a great bustle. In a breath, all guns are fired at the same time, whose sound shakes the mountain and the sea. Two ears are deafened by that loud sound. When the gun is ready to fire, two correspondent officials run to the both sides of my chair to hold me firmly. They are afraid I would be startled. I smiled to say, "Even though I am very exhausted, my age already passed so-called "undisturbed mind" 40. How just a sound of gunfire can be enough to disturb me?
屋之右, 立一柱高可三四丈, 頂施一物, 若紙裹胡桃大者, 少頃而發, 劃然作爆竹聲, 一火團直衝上天, 回回旋旋, 俄而千點流火, 紛紛落下, 此乃軍中機密相報之暗號云.
In the right side of the house stands a pillar(post, column, tower) as high as 3 to 4 Zhang. On the top of it is installed a thing, just like a paper-wrapped package as big as a walnut. After a while, it exploded and made a sound of firecrackers. The ball of flame goes up in the air with circling round and round. All of a sudden, the showers of a thousand of sparks fell down one after another. This is said to be military confidential code to report each other.
傍海, 穿渠引海入, 廣可容巨艦十數, 長可千餘弓, 此是操演水戰之地也, 中一船火輪, 卽彼所謂蒸氣船也, 三帆檣, 檣有繩梯, 千架萬疊, 纈眼如紗, 於是望船一哨, 有二人疾上檣張帆, 身緣繩梯, 如鳥附葉, 如蠅仰塵, 危乎怕哉, 令人愁絶, 一人張之, 一人掛之, 旋復捲之襞之, 意氣安閒, 如在平地, 於焉還下, 拱手而立, 於是齊運大砲, 齊轉火輪, 齊擧碇, 齊下梯, 備示嫺熟便利之狀也.
In the seaside was a canal to guide ships from the sea to enter, as broad as accommodating ten more big ships and as long as more thousand Gong. This place is for a naval battle drill, the middle of which has a steamer. That is exactly what the Japanese call Zokisen(steamship). Its three masts have rope ladders. The rope ladder was framed in thousands and folded into one thousands of leafs, dazzling and gauzy. Accordingly, there is a observatory post(crow's nest), where two persons climb the mast very fast and their bodies lean into the rope ladders, looking like birds on the leaf and flies on the ceiling. It looks so dangerous and frightening to let people worry them extremely. One man extends the sail and the other man hangs it. Then they roll up and fold it again and again. Their appearances look very comfortable, just like doing in on the ground. Then they returned down and stand after making a obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before their chest. And then they carry the guns together, roll the wheel together, weigh anchor together and come down the ladder together, which all suggests the appearance of adeptness and expertism(how they are skilled and feel easy).
又觀放水礌砲, 砲已埋之水底, 線施岸上, 諦視之, 無聯絡之可尋, 傳火線末, 亟上樓隱身而觀之, 少頃, 天崩地塌, 一聲响亮, 一團火塊, 直衝上天, 而波翻浪倒, 一陣驟雨, 直灑向琉璃窓來, 俄而簷溜滴滴, 開戶視之, 上天無雲, 而水面尙沸也.
Beside, we saw to shoot the mine. The mine was already buried below the seabed and the line was deployed on the shore. I examined it closely but could not find how to connect. We lighted the fuse and urgently went upstair and hid ourselves and watched it. After a while, it is as if the sky and the land collapsed and A big and loud sound came. A ball of fire(a mass of fire) straightly shoots toward the sky. And waves fluctuated upside and down. A burst of shower abruptly came down like a rain and directly hit and sprinkled (beat against) into the glass window. Very soon the eaves gutter dripped. I open the door and watched it. The sky has no cloud and the surface of sea was still boiling(turbulent - Son).
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