Hu Tou Che and Hu Yi Che: Wheelbarrow regiment

Note: If any of you think that this article looks familiar, it's because it is partially co-oped from my previous blog post about wheelbarrow regiment for Ying Yang Che (鷹揚車).

When I was writing that blog post, I used a 19th century Japanese reprint of 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)' as my reference, as it was the most complete version of Zhao Shi Zhen's military treatise in my collection at the time. However, I did not realise Japanese edition actually redacted/rearranged some of the writings of Zhao Shi Zhen, with both Hu Tou Che and Hu Yi Che completely missing from the book, while the parts of the proposed organisation meant for them were "transplanted" to to the regiment for Ying Yang Che instead (note that this was a surprisingly common occurrence in the days of manual typesetting). I've since corrected that error to better reflect the original intention of Zhao Shi Zhen, although I will keep an old version of that blog post in Patreon for archival purpose.

Proposed organisation

Like his multipurpose shield, Zhao Shi Zhen also envisioned a detailed organisational as well as required manpower to make use of his Hu Tou Che and Hu Yi Che. Due to the fact that these wheelbarrows are larger than multipurpose shield, they require a larger team of operators as well as more complex supporting elements in order to realise their full potential and tactical applications.

Zhao Shi Zhen proposed a powerful regiment-sized unit for his war wheelbarrows, likely as a throwback to the then-active Ji Garrison war cart regiments raised by Qi Ji Guang (戚繼光) decades before. However, unlike Qi Ji Guang's large war cart laager, Zhao Shi Zhen seems to intend his war wheelbarrows to operate in smaller and more maneuverable platoon-sized units. A breakdown of Hu Tou Che/Hu Yi Che platoon, aptly named Yi Hu Zhen (翼虎陣, lit. 'Winged tiger formation'), will be shown below:

Command team

A command team consists of a platoon leader who is in charge of the entire platoon, his second-in-command, a standard bearer, as well as two military musicians: a drummer and a gong player.

A platoon contains one command team.

Hu Tou Che team

A Hu Tou Che team consists of one captain, two steersmen, and four gunners. It is equipped with two Ying Yang Pao (鷹揚砲) and one Ju Ma San (拒馬傘), a watering can and a Ji Tong (唧筒) for firefighting purpose, a spade, a hoe, an axe, a waterproofed wrapping cloth, two waterskins, and some signal bombs. If available, Hu Tou Che team will also be equipped with one cannon such as Fo Lang Ji (佛朗機) or Hu Dun Pao (虎蹲砲).

A platoon contains one Hu Tou Che team, serving as the centrepiece of the formation.

Hu Yi Che team

A Hu Yi Che team consists of one captain, two steersmen, and six arquebusiers, and is equipped with four Lu Mi Chong (嚕密銃), two Che Dian Chong (掣電銃), one Ju Ma San, assortment of tools and signal bombs similar to Hu Tou Che team, as well as one cannon if available.

A platoon contains two Hu Yi Che teams, which guard the flanks of the Hu Tou Che.

Supporting infantry

An infantry team consists of one standard bearer, one soldier armed with Lang Xian (狼筅), one pikeman, as well as two arquebusiers armed with triple-barreled Yi Hu Chong (翼虎銃). When fighting against Mongol horsemen, pikeman and Lang Xian troop may swap out their weapons for a Gou Lian Qiang (鉤鐮鎗) and a Zhao Shi Zhen's modified Tian Peng Chan (天蓬鏟) respectively.

A platoon contains four infantry teams, each team tasked with the safety of one wheelbarrow (including the supply wheelbarrow).

Supporting cavalry

A cavalry team consists of five horsemen, all of them armed with bows and arrows, or an assortment of Yi Hu Chong, Tie Jian (鐵鐧), glaives, and quarterstaves.

A platoon contains one cavalry team. Rather than staying within the formation, cavalry usually scout ahead or cover the rear of the platoon.

Logistics team

A logistics team consists of five porters and is given one supply wheelbarrow, five pots, a hoe, an axe, two water buckets, one water well bucket, a sickle, five (carrying) poles, one waterproofed wrapping cloth, and one Ju Ma San.

Members of the logistics team are dispersed to support other teams. Generally, Hu Tou Che team and cavalry team share one porter, two porters will support two Hu Yi Che teams, and two infantry teams will also share one porter. The last porter, of course, handles the supply wheelbarrow.

Full might of the regiment

Hu Tou Che/Hu Yi Che platoon forms the basic building block of Zhao Shi Zhen's proposed wheelbarrow regiment. As a general rule, eight platoons (480 troops) form a Shao (哨), which is roughly equivalent to a battalion. Up to six Shao (2,880 troops) form a full 3,000-strong Ying (營), or regiment, with the remaining vacant positions filled by commander's personal retinue, sub-commanders and advisors, scouts, messengers, firearm specialists, craftsmen, and other supporting personnel, forming a Zhong Jun (中軍, lit. 'Army of the centre') or headquarters unit.

A full strength, six Shao regiment can thus field a minimum of 144 war wheelbarrows, 960 arquebuses, 96 heavy muskets as well as 240 cavalry. Its firepower can be further bolstered by additional field artillery and arming the cavalry with matchlocks.