Royal Signals Corps (Themiclesia)

Royal Signals Corps
中都兵, trjung-ta-prjang
Active	4th century – now
Country	Themiclesia
Branch	Army
Type	signal corps
Role	reconnaissance, communications
Size	approx. 4,000
Anniversaries	January 1
Commanders
Current commander	Sun Go
Colonel-general	Rar Kei

The Royal Signals Corps or Demesne Signals Corps (中都兵, trjung-ta-prjang) is the signal corps of the Consolidated Army.

History

A communications department (都兵曹, ta-prjang-dzaw) was founded under the traditional Ministry of War during the 4th century, centrally managing conveyances throughout the Tsjinh State. The department organized a network of stage stations (驛, ljek) where couriers (郵, gwrje) could rest or change horses, which galloped day and night to deliver urgent military messages to the central government and other bodies. While the department had few duties concerning warfare directly, it has since become a fixture in Themiclesian military. The department's purview was extended to border outposts and scouting in the 5th century. Outposts were ordered to make smoke, which conveyed emergencies across long distances relatively quickly; where secrecy was necessary, signalmen on horseback conveyed messages from outpost to outpost, which behaved like stage stations in the interior.  Military bands also fell under its jurisdiction. This was probably because Themiclesians utilized musical instruments to co-ordinate large armies from a distance.

In the 6th century, the department began to take private messages for delivery, and stage stations along important routes also functioned as inns. Accredited individuals found horses and accommodation at public expense, and others could use their facilities for a fee. Travellers received entitlements according to rank, the most important exchanging eight quadriga (八乘傳, prêt-djeng-drjon; 32 horses in total) at every station; ordinary civil servants normally used two. The signalmen (傳卒, drjon-tsut) at the station were required to escort travellers if entitled to; the image of aristocrats travelling and exchanging horses and escorts became one of the most prolific in literature and art. The same occurred when important items were transferred along these routes. When foreign diplomats arrived in Themiclesia, signalmen provided fanfares and escorts to the capital city.

Signalmen adopted muskets in the 17th century in addition to their melée weapons to defend themselves in the remote or hostile landscape; those stationed in the interior followed. In 1857, the department was ordered to set up a long-distance telegraph system for both military and civilian use, much as the postal service. These lines connected less profitable but strategically-valuable locations that commercial lines did not reach. Transmission was at a considerable cost, so it existed in parallel to the ordinary postal service. Horseback courier service persisted into the 20th century and was not abolished until telephone lines reached the most remote of communities.  While the RSC was increasingly integrated into ordinary units towards the end of the century, it retained primacy in military intelligence, especially in border regions where defences were distributed amongst isolated garrisons and ethnic forces. It maintained its own foot and mounted units that defended its installations and performed scouting missions. The RSC's units were some of Themiclesia's more effective, since recruitment was voluntary and training rigourous.

Organization

Traditionally, the communications department and all its units were under the Under-Secretary for Signals (都兵郎), which is a civilian position. To strengthen its administration, the position of Colonel-general of Signals (都中尉, ta-trjung-′judh) was created during the reign of Emperor Gwidh-mjen. It was nominally open to non-aristocratic officers, though most frequently aristocrats were appointed to it. At the same time, couriers and other units belonging to the Colonel-general began to professionalize, citing the poor performance of militiamen in distant or prolonged missions. As the responsible officer over border defence and intelligence, the colonelcy-general was considered a vital appointment. In the 18th century, a war secretary said of the Colonel-general that the timely marshalling of all the forces depended on his success.

Shifts in defence arrangments in the 19th century further empowered the colonel-general. A number of nomadic polities withdraw their pledged forces or merged them into the RSC forces for ease of administration. By 1850, much of the northeastern frontier was under RSC control, both for defence and erecting telegraph cables. Two regiments of infantrymen were raised there and remained under the Colonel-general's control. Combined with an already-vast presence through couriers and telegraph service, the RCS nearly became a peer to the Capital Defence Force and South Army. In 1878, a new regiment was raised for the desert and placed under the colonel-general. The South Army opposed this arrangement, believing that the RCS should be confined to communications, at least in the southeast. In the 1890s, several mountain units in the northwest were further assigned to the RSC on account of their position.

The importance of the RSC peaked and began to wane after 1900. At this point, it was responsible for defences across much of Themiclesia's borders with Dzhungestan, Polvokia, and Nukkumaa, internal communications, the national postal service, and other matters. Its personnel numbered some 9,000 and spanned electrical and civil engineers, catrographers, couriers, infantry, and cavalry. However, Liberal politicians under the Lord of Mik started to advocate for re-organizing Themiclesia's forces. By the Army Acts of 1921, the combat units of the RSC, Capital Defence Force, and South Army were merged to form the Consolidated Army. The RSC became one of its support branch in the course of the Pan-Septentrion War.

Uniforms

The Royal Signals Corps adopted Casaterran-style uniforms in the 1830s.

Current roles

• Continuity of government

See also

• Themiclesia