Themiclesian Marine Corps (according to November Magazine)
| Themiclesian Marine Corps | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 17 February 1318 |
| Country | Themiclesia |
| Type | Naval infantry |
| Size | 7672 active 4233 reserve |
| Part of | Themiclesian Ministry of Defence |
| Colors | cyan |
| March | tbd |
| Mascot(s) | penguin |
| Engagements | |
| Website | http://iiwiki.com/wiki/Themiclesian_Marine_Corps |
The Themiclesian Marine Corps (舫人, pjang-njing) is the naval infantry branch of the Themiclesian Navy (艦航, krams-gang).
Name and translation
Many Themiclesian institutions acquired their Tyrannian names when they were confronted with their counterparts, and the Themiclesian Marines are one such example. The Tyrannian Royal Marines, who fought them in 1791 during the Raid on Rad, gave them their present name. Before then, Rajian and Sylvan sources regularly called them the Exercitum Themiensis, or in Tyrannian, the "Themiclesian Army". However, that term is no longer widely used due to possible confusion with the similarly named Themiclesian Army.
The professional head of the Themiclesian Marine Corps is the Captain-General of the Marine Corps, who holds the Seventh Rank at court. Note that the "Corps" is treated as a plural noun (read as "cores" rather than "core") in Tyrannian, since when the title was first translated there were two Marine Corps, one for each Fleet.
History
Early centuries
Records show that a "General of Maritime Troops" (水軍將軍, sjui-kwljen-tsjang-kwljen) was appointed in the 721, along with a "General of Battleships" (艦將軍, krams-tsjang-kwljen), which dated to the 400s. While their titles suggest they may have commanded naval infantry, their actual duties remain unclear. During the 3rd to 7th centuries, the Themiclesian fleet often carried infantry to defend ships at port and to clear ports of hostile forces when landing; however, there was no particular designation for such units at that time, and they may have consisted of sailors rather than dedicated personnel. Nevertheless, it seems plausible that some dedicated infantry units existed, since ships were fully manoeuvable while infantry engaged. In the devastating Battle of Clarkestown in 892, four-fifths of the Themiclesian Armies perished in battle against a general coalition of Columbian first nations. The naval infantry, which guarded the ships that ferried them over the Halu'an Sea, were also wiped out in the chaos that followed their rout. In 754, a "Director of Deck People" (舫人令) was appointed, the direct predecessor of the modern commander of the TMC. The Director of Deck People was an administrative official and, by the Tyrannians, called one of the "Six Admirals" of the Navy.
During for most of late antiquity until the 1400s, the TMC were active against coastal Columbian natives, Rajan raiders, and pirates, who often raided Themiclesian ports along the shore of modern Organized States. As it was uneconomical to use the Five Armies for this purpose, the TMC fought on land when the demand arose; however, their battlefield was always limited to the coast, for both reasons of logistcis and superstition. They frequently encountered the Port Corps, which answered to the Secretary of State for Appropriations (度支尚書), as part of his jurisdiction over control and taxation of foreign trade. For engagements with even larger opposition, the regular army may be ferried by the Fleets, though this very seldom occurred; in this case, the maritime infantry would serve as landing troops to allow the Army to enter formation unmolested. While some military historians believe this is a surprisingly modern way of setting up battle, others assert this is artifactual of the very inflexible way in which the Army established its formations. Both the South Sea Fleet (大航) and the North Sea Fleet (內航) fielded maritime infantry formations, and their strengths during the early 15th century may have be between 3,000 to 5,000. In 1810, the two forces were merged into a single one.
17th century
In the 17th century, they saw action in expelling pirate raiding parties that sometimes bothered the Maverican coast; in battles from street-to-street and pier-to-pier, they proved more adept at suppressing the heavily-armed but not-well-organized enemy without doing unacceptable damage to infrastructure. Part of their action included seizure of pirate ships. The Marines welcomed this type of action, since pirates were usually unable to muster cannonfire that modern naval combat came to implement at increasing scale. That pirates were not affiliated with foreign powers also removes the element of diplomatic dispensation that a formal battle between states required; some records suggest Themiclesian Marines were indiscrete in dealing with pirates they found and embezzled captured properties, without, as the law of the sea required, submitting them to the Treasury. Much of this money was later taken by the Navy to fudn new ships, in an era in which the government lost revenues from trade routes in Columbia and elsewhere. In 1623, the North Sea Fleet wrote off some of its outdate ships to the Marines' use, which proved valuable in chasing pirates—this made them disreputable in the Halu'an and the Meridian Ocean, esteemed by merchants of multiple nationalities trading in the Strait of Portcullia as "pirates upon pirates". In 1628, the South Sea Fleet followed suit.
Into the 1600s, peace in Columbia was restored after the War of 1597 ended in favour of the Rajians and Sylvans. The results of the war left the two powers dominant across most of Columbia and most of its ocean-facing coast; the Halu'an Sea remained under Themiclesian governance for some time, though the arrival of the Tyrannians across the Columbian east coast eroded that at a steady rate. Between 1620 and 1678, the Themiclesian government exacted revenue from the Tyrannian settlers, and the Marines acted as a forceful backing; they suffered to adopt an infantry-like fighting style and were marginally successful in suppressing some uprising and other resistance by settlers. The North Sea Fleet lobbied to transform it into a full-fledged military with a fleet and independnet army (to be filled by its marine corps) for retaking Columbia, for which they demanded 100 million Mjon (roughly the whole annual income for the government). The Appropriations Minister was aghast, assaying the Treasury "is hardly afloat with single army and could not survive with two". When it was suggested new income would offset this large initial cost, he replied that "hypothetical revenue was hypothetical" (或有之課，或有之也).
The Army, historically, focused exclusively on dealing with large-scale infantry invasions fielded by the Galvisti Empire and cavalry charges from the Dzhungestani Khanate. With the demise of the Galvisti Empire and the Dzhungestani Khanate close to the end of the 17th century, Themiclesia lost its two most powerful and immediate enemies, leaving the Five Armies without a strategic opponent. This came as an enormous relief to the imperial court, which immediately decreased exactions from the Army-held plantations; temporarily, the strained relationship between the Army-born men and the force was slack. The government assumed that the new territory would be placable, given Themiclesia's decision not to help the Galvisti Empire suppress destroy them. The Marines were involved in surveying the ports in the area and keeping order, though the Appropriations Secretary soon directed the Port Corps, which was languishing at home, to maintenance of local security and collection of revenues in Njit-nom. In 1701, the Marines received custody of the sixteen coastal counties, the remainder still under the Port Corps. In 1713, after the land survey was complete, the Public Affairs Secretary took over administration and expelled forthwith the Port Corps and Marines. This caused some disquiet, since both lost their fortifications built at some expense.
18th century
In the Rebellion of 1757, the Marines held onto the port cities in Njit-nom, utilizing their foreknowledge of the layout of the relevant areas gained before their expulsion in 1713. Most historians believe this shortened what potentially could have been a much more protracted affair in strategic terms. However, the Marines were uninhibited in dealing with the locals, who petitioned in 1759 the government to use Ostlandian in official proceedings, which the government agreed to consider as a condition for the rebels' peaceful surrender. The government promptly rejected and permitted the Marines to start painting over public and private signs that were not in Shinasthana, provoking widespread resentment between the Ostlandic settlers and Themiclesian oficialdom. When their petition to "end abuses and restore civil administration" was read before the Emperor, the Prime Minister Kjag penned the reply that they were not under military occupation because the Marines did not count as a military force on a missoin; though Kjag's response was not legally unfounded, community leaders in Njit-nom found it unconvincing and fraudulent. Pamphlets in Themiclesia-proper soon surfaced criticizing Kjag's "manipulation of the law" to aggrandize his own achievements, forcing his resignation in 1763.
The Secretary of State for Finance acceeded to the permiership and ordered an egregious fee be imposed for the privilege of restoring Ostlandic signs, engendering another general revolt, this time targeted against the Port Corps, who were re-stationed in the interior in 1762; when the revolt spread to the coast, the Marines were forced to engage and caused a settlement to burn to the ground. Believing this as a deliberate act of destruction, two sanguine conflicts ensued on the coast. At least 100,000 Ostlandian settlers either sustained crippling injuries or died between 1765 and 1767, and evidence suggests the Themiclesian forces targeted innocent civilians in an attempt to terrorize the locals under numerical inferiority. After the rebellion ended, Markus Boltier of Yohannesburg appeared in Kien-k'ang with the severed heads of his five daughters, whom he said was murdered by drunken Themiclesians, even when his household has always been loyal to the Crown. The matter scandalized the court and public of the capital city and led to an investigation on the incumbent Prime Minister, who was already unpopular for diverting the Treasury's money originally designated for disaster relief in the north. Nod was later found guilty for diverting funds to support a "campaign of murder", exacerbating the death toll in the north, as well as pocketing part of the plunder that the Port Corps took in Njit-nom. He was executed for treason in 1769 at his house, by empoisonment, becoming the last official of ministerial rank to die for a crime committed in office.
In 1770, the new government issued an amnesty for all crimes committed in Njit-nom and introduced the policy of "Rebuilding Public Relations" (與民更新), agreeing to appoint Ostlandic individuals who have demonstrated Themiclesian qualifications to local offices and "in all wise deem the public there as public anywhere". The Marines retreated from Njit-nom that year and moved camp to the northern coast of Themiclesia, where the navy's new ships were being built. When revolts began again in 1793, the (also rebuilt) Army was sent instead. The independence of the OS across the Halu'an prompted the Tyrannian Royal Navy to sail into the Halu'an for the first time, for which the Themiclesian court feared a battle was gathering; attempting to take the initiative away, they attacked the Tyrannian fleet, which was embargoing all sea access to the OS. Temporarily successful, goods were shipped to the OS in assistance of their efforts; this battle saw very little involvement for the Marines, though naval battle was fierce. Around 200 Themiclesian ships, each with more than a hundred guns, blasted away at a single point in the Tyrannian blockade. However, a few months later, the Tyrannians signed the Treaty of Paris with the OS, recalling their fleet. In 1791, the Tyrannian fleet found the Themiclesian fleet at home in the port of Rad and launched an attack on the fleet itself, successfully destroying 89 out of 91 ships-of-the-line that flew Themiclesian colours. This engagement saw the Tyrannian Royal Marines attacking Rad, Themiclesian Marines being completely taken by surprise, having assumed the Tyrannians were sailing home immediately. They managed to set fire to the Themiclesian fleet and fought a short but bloody battle with the defenders, who suffered over 1,000 casualties in the cross-fire. Tyrannian reports consider this a victory, though Themiclesia considered the invasion per se "peripheral" to the loss of 89 ships, which permanently cripped the South Sea Fleet and consigned its country to naval insignificance for the following century.
19th century
After the Marines of the South Sea Fleet successfully allowed their own fleet to be destroyed almost completely, there was panic about the future of the two-fleet system that Themiclesia had used for more than 900 years. The government faced a choice between re-building their ocean-going fleet at tremendous cost or curtailing their naval presence to the Halu'an Sea with the surviving fleet that was meant for Halu'an operation. In 1795, the Ostlandic settlers rebelled yet again; it became progressively clear that the South Sea Fleet was not going to be rebuilt in the foreseeable future, and those Marines were merged with that of the North Sea Fleet; the smaller ships that were not burnt to the waterline also were turned over, marking the South Sea Fleet's dissolution after 922 years in continuous existence. Ultimately, the Army was unable to suppress the rebellion; in 1800, it fielded more than 250,000 soldiers in Maverica and was demanding more. The government was alarmed that if conscription continued, productivity would plummet further; then, as goods became scarce, prices would rise and generate dissatisfaction, while the already-hiked taxes on export would result in unaffordable prices at the point of export. The former would hurt agricultural revenues as the population of peasants decreased, the latter would turn away merchants and kill trade, burying customs with it, the other major source of income. All this was, as Ga Trjidh wrote, "The poor become poorer because prices become higher, and price becomes higher because goods become scarcer. The defrayment of ever-growing public costs lands on ever-fewer shoulders, as men are forced to fight a war of questionable aims," or a vicious cycle in modern terms. For several years, the government spent over 85% of its income on funding a massive, ineffective, and highly questioned campaign in Maverica.
Prime Minister Siagw (1734—1812) drafted the Edict of Remonstrance in 1810, at the eve of granting independence to the Ostlandic settlers:
In the previous two centuries, the state has engaged in multiple enterprises to the devastation of the prosperity that the commons of this country has longed for and the gentry argued for. At the same time, it has also damaged the peace and tranquility in the several states that border Themiclesia and, of right, ought to have been treated with respect and care by our unending benevolence, but have received instead violence and destruction by armies and other means, for the private interest and the idiotic desire for grandeur by evil-meaning individuals, who have achieved high offices on account of the indiscernment of the court and carelessness of leading ministers. We thus declare and make clear to the world that Themiclesia desires nothing more than peace and common prosperity, such as the public that constitutes this country have required the first day as in every day. We chastise ourself for our indiscretion and the errors of our ancestors and decree that our officials restore to all grieved parties what they have lost and strictly to refrain from similar errors in the future. We accept that our own faults in our policies and character have made our governance unwelcome in Njit-nom, and, regretting that we are unable to improve ourself, we set them free according to their own desires to govern themselves or be governed by whomever they accept. Let our Prime Minister and other officials do accordingly before further harm is caused. The Emperor said, "Assented".
The defeat of 1791, amongst other things, destroyed the Marines' archives. As such, historians rely upon the South Sea Fleet's archives, which survived 1791, to study their activities prior to it. Nevertheless, the Marines did submit summaries of their actions to the Council of Records in the Inner Court, which contained name lists, detailed geographical information in the areas in which they operated, and equipment descriptions.
For whatever it was worth, the government's desire for peace was realized. Unlike the situation in the 1600s, increased revenues resulted from flourishing trade with the Casaterran powers and the rapidly developing OS and the free states in northern Maverica. By 1830, Themiclesia was wealthier than ever before, exporting silks and porcelain bearing "oriental art" that became highly fashionable in Casaterra. The prosperity of this epoch revolutionized Themiclesia's worldview, which contrasted the old policy of enforcing its interests, particularly in taxing foreign trade routes, and the new one of reaping fruits from increased volume of trade and collection of lighter tariffs domestically. In 1837, the government radically reformed the old Army, discarding the generational tether that guaranteed a source of young soldiers and accepted volunteers instead. This policy eliminated a hidden class of discriminated and unstable individuals who were becoming permeated with the notion of personal freedom and desired release from generational soldiery and released the same into the industrial and artisanal sectors. The Marine Corps escaped possible abolition due to its small size and the Navy's insistence that they were necessary to keep order at ports, without which foreign traders would fear piracy. In this role they would remain for almost the next 100 years, until the PSW occurred.
Early 20th century
The first years of the early 20th century progressed largely as those of the late 19th. Numbers were around 5,000 total at this point, with roughly one-half in combat positions. Under the leadership of Navy Secretary Muh Mjii-gaw (1862–1935), the Macmillan Mission, a military consultancy from the Organized States to Themiclesia, started to review Themiclesian forces for possible reforms. Particularly, the officer responsible for the TMC, Col. Terrance Perringson, was a long-time Shinasthanologist (an enthusiast for Themiclesian culture) and had, according to his memoirs, contested for the opportunity quite vigorously. The Mission arose as a result of changing views in the OS itself, progressive views tending to characterize Themiclesia as an ally, rather than a country whose existence was to be exploited economically.
Perringson wrote a detailed and volumous report on the status of the TMC in 1924. His findings indicated that the TMC was in decent morale, equipment, and discipline, though they "lacked a sensation of purpose", which he attributed to Themiclesia's "very impassive attitude towards pelagic opportunities". He was not critical of
PSW and Dayashinese recruits
At the outbreak of the Prairie War in 1926, the Themiclesian Army was deployed with all haste to the eastern border with Dzhungestan, where they successfully repulsed an invasion with remarkable ease. However, after repeated negotiations for treaties failed, the Themiclesian Army was ordered to take Dzhungestan's capital city, which they occupied in 1928 for the next five years. Due to political issues, the Menghean Empire turned against Themiclesia and engaged in 1933, pushing the latter back. Themiclesia's occupation was almost voluntarily withdrawn in order to delegitimate the invasion, though it resulted in little change. When it became obvious that Dayashina would join the war against Themiclesia, domestic commentators began to shadow doubt on the allegiances of the roughly 100,000 Dayashinese immigrants who had settled in Themiclesia. An MP argued that these immigrants should be conscripted preferentially in order to test their loyalties; while the entire Council of Protonotaries heckled him out of the chamber, and the Prime Minister criticized this position in very strongest terms, it generated anxiety in the Dayashinese diaspora community.
It is a well-known fact that Dayashina has, for the past ten years, suffered the unfortunate governance of lunatics and agitators. They have prohibited emigration to any state under the pain of death, and these people have already put their lives on the line to demonstrate their appreciation of the values of this country, by the fatally risky act of immigrating here. Now, a friend of ours in this Chamber argues that they should be conscripted preferentially to demonstrate their loyalties. I argue, Mr. President, that this our most highly esteemed friend has the fortune of being born here, rather than having to risk his life to reach this country's borders and enjoy its amenities. What inevitably emerges is that our very esteemed friend demands demonstration of loyalty twice, when he himself has demonstrated it not once. We shall not desecrate ourselves with this species of illogical suspicion and idiotic [used as in "self-serving"], superarogatory requirement. These proposals are beneath contempt and not worthy of the gentle mind and tongue that our esteemed friend commands.
Some decided to volunteer to join the Army, but the government was in reality also concerned about the loyalty of the newest immigrants and their willingness to take up arms against their former compatriots. In view of a conjectural naval invasion to the west coast, the Themiclesian Marines were ordered to recruit, which progressed very slowly as most able-bodied men were conscripted or volunteered to join the Army instead. To assist in their recruitment, the Marines handed out pamphlets in Dayashinese and Menghean—sections of society that were still under-represented in the Army. Surprisingly, response was lively and forthcoming. Historians attribute this response to the "policy of openness and good faith" that the government implemented two years ago, which was supposed to have a moving effect in many Dayashinese households, which then encouraged their male members to help their country in way which did not emotionally harm them. The government supported this because engagement with the IDA was not expected there, and their personal allegiances were less worrysome than if they were on the front. In 1936, Dayashinese men accounted for over 80% of the entire enlistment, allowing the Marines to expand in size more than ten-fold in three years. A strong push for linguistic uniformity occurred, but eventually the language spoken by the force turned into a pidgin of several languages, including Shinasthana and the languages of the OS, Dayashina, and Menghe. The idea, articulated by the Paymaster-General, was
[the] hardest form of Tyrannian is not the one used at the Tyrannian court, but the one used in the marketplaces of its many colonies. Nobody from beyond understands a single word of it.
It is a most natural and intuitive source of [en]cryption.
Current roles
All active units are permanently on loan to the GA.
Equipment
Melée era
From the inception of naval infantry combat in Themiclesia, weapons and armour were modified to suit the highly restrictive geography of ships and the requirements of formations that moved upon them. While very large ships (up to 5,000 tons in displacement by most estimates) existed in the era of sail, such ships were uncommon and rarer still as warships. Armour designs therefore gave priority to mobility and survivability in water, while weapons were designed so that a soldier had sufficient variety on hand to deal with enemies at a distance and up close. The entire kit assumed minimal reliance on his line-mates, since large formations with multiple specialized components were not practical on a soldier's own ship, and even less so if boarding an enemy ship via nets or planks.
The basic weapon for ranged combat was the recurve bow before the gunpowder era; however, towards the end of the 14th century bows became rare. It appears the use of catapults have discouraged ships to stay in arrow range. In its place archaeologists have recovered slingshots and javalins. For person-to-person fighting, most Marines held either a pike or halbred; the halbred had two sides, one being the blade of an axe, and the other a blunt, hammer-like weapon that could be used to push enemy combatants off the edge of ships and planks, and the pike was longer than the halbred but had a smaller, elongated blade. Both had barbs that could be used as a reaching device if overborad. These two weapons were designed to be used jointly, and most were trained to use whichever was more convenient. Short-range combat was fulfilled with a sabre. This is the same sabre as cavalrymen used with a slightly longer grip for two-handed use, permitted swinging and slicing cuts; the blade was overall straight but had a slight inward curve for better "bite". Infantry, on the other hand, usually used swords, which were slightly longer and had two sharpened edges.
Armour heavily used leather, layered cloth, and bamboo. Cloth waxed to a canvas-like consistence reduced water absorbsion, which, with dozens of layers, weighed the wearer down. The last had resilient fibres that resisted traverse cuts well; the weakness of bamboo to cuts parallel to its grain was mitigated by weaving bamboo fibres and then treating it with lime, which made the fabric more pliable but retained its resistance to traverse cuts. Metal armour was present in the form of a mixture between scale and plate, but it was worn far more off ships than on them, since metal armour reduced agility. It seems the choice of armour depended on the weapons the enemy was expected to field. Metal helmets were, however, common; under the helmet was a cap made from leather and spacers, designed to make spread pressure across the head more evenly in the event of a head-on impact. In the 10th century, another helmet design from the Army's charioteers were co-opted; these had longer rims that reached the collars of neck armour, allowing impact to spread there and also protecting the neck area from both trauma and leision more effectively. These were the "Raccoon Helmets" that was themed after a raccoon's protruding facial features, with ears, eyes, and nose encouraging blows to glance off.
There is disagreement over what they wore under their armour. Recent art and film tend to depict them wearing form-fitting crimson tunics and cream pants, which is implausible because crimson was a privileged colour, not permitted on individuals without rank. Form-fitting clothing were also exceptionally rare in Themiclesia before the modern era. It is most likely that the Marines did not have a uniform colour, or even uniform garments, since armour adequately identified affiliation. Nevertheless, the suspension belt worn under the armour (it ran diagonally across both shoulders and attached to a waist belt, which held onto greaves) suggests that something similar to ordinary Themiclesian clothing could have been worn to avoid abrasion, with long, wide sleeves and loose, billowy pants. Sleeves would have been drawn back or folded under gauntlets, and pants tied at the knee, if it was more convenient; written evidence shows that billowy pants were not only common on soldiers but all walks of life. Pieces of string were prepared in pockets and used to tie pants up, making tripping less frequent, when required. All evidence points towards sailors being barefoot onboard; the same is assumed for the Marines while onboard, since clogs slipped easily on the polished-wood decks of the day.
Gunpowder era
When gunpowder spread, boarding enemy ships became progressively less frequent. Themiclesian Marines therefore receded in number and started to spend more time on land, manning naval fortifications and protecting the fleet in dock. Sources suggest their armoury had some difficulty adapting to the demands of the new era, continuing to produce armour and weapons that suited a more ship-bound lifestyle than the one they led in the late 1500s and forward. Nevertheless, they were one of the earlier adopters of firearms, almost at the same time the ships were fitted with cannons. The argument was that the short range and inaccuracy of early firearms did not matter as much when the enemy had little cover and room to maneouvre on ships' decks; compare the situation in the Themiclesian East, in which the Army relied on cavalry and longbowmen rapidly releasing arrows to deal with a much more scattered enemy.
The advent of firearms rendered most forms of armour, except the heaviest of plate, ineffective; however, that more engagements were shifting onto land allowed them to develop the medical apparatus that was only possible with territorial fortifications. Weaponry in this era generally followed Themiclesia's ability to supply them with modern firearms, though sidearms such as sabres were still retained. As interaction with both Menghe and Casaterra intensified, the Marines had their armoury merged into that of the Army, as both seemed to be evolving towards the model of the modern infantry force. Around 1650, they acquired mobile, small-scale cannons, resembling modern mortars, though their artillery was not conceptually included by the rest of the Navy's fleets; while essays were written arguing for an artillery department, the Naval strategem did not include the Marines as a permanently land-based force, and the Marines themselves could not demonstrate how artillery would help them in their increasingly confused role. With the Army in 1690 restored to self-sufficiency, money was made available for the Fleets to build new ships and update existing ones, and the Marines benefited by receiving updated firearms and plate armour. This final rendition of plate showed obvious Casaterran influence.
In various campaigns in Njit-nom (now the north of Maverica), the Marines discovered that coating shoes in rubber increased their grip. While shoes had spread to almost every unit that was not strictly guarding ships and spending most time on board, they were not issued to each member of the service; rather, they wove shoes from whatever grass fibres forthcoming, tying a mass of knots serving as a sole. Soaking these soles in rubber, common in Maverica, produced a much more resilient and comfortable sole, since the rubber set into the space between the knots, which then firmly clung onto the rubber sole; by the 1760s, most had their shoes regularly soled with rubber whenever available, and rubber was made a commodity available on ships, since they were useful for stopping minor leaks in the short term too. This fashion quickly spread into other walks of Themiclesian society. The Army's shoe shop (which produced footwear that was issued) adopted the same technique with existing leather shoes in the 1800s, and this design survives into the modern age as the M70 Army Shoe (Themiclesia). When the Marines further learned to use old canvas to shell their shoes, wax was used to provide a water-resistent outer coat, offering protection against saline environments; this technique also found its way across the entire spectrum of military personnel very soon. It has been jokingly argued that the M70, billedthe "all-weather" shoe, acquired these defences because it was a merger of foot protection from multiple services.
Currently
Miscellaneous
Culture
Historically, the Themiclesian Marines were a very closely-knit group, but only within their respective fleets. As the two fleets never sailed together, there was no interaction between the two components of the modern force. This strong affinity towards each other was noted by its own members that were literate, a number of whose essays and letters have survived into the modern day. Fraternity was indispensible as units had no choice except to spend prolonged periods of time together and in isolation, during lengthy voyages. The ships' crews were also usually unfriendly, and many captains prohibited persons not on duty (that is, anyone not participating in manning the ship itself) to move freely. These unique conditions compelled the creation of many board and word games. When lengthy voyages grew rarer and ultimately extinct by the 19th century, Themiclesian Marines came to spend more time on shore guarding their Fleets' vessels. Various other tasks, traditionally of the jurisdiction of local police, also fell to the Marines in areas where administration was unstable. Curiously, the Marines, far from resenting such tasks, preferred them to their canonical duty of guarding and boarding ships.
Currently, only under close inspection are traces of the original values and spirit of the pre-PSW organization visible. As the Themiclesian forces transformed towards an expeditionary one, frome one that was defensive, the Themiclesian Marines were assigned a more generalist role based on the Casaterran model. Though similar in purport to their original purpose, they also faced new challenges. The ability to operate beyond the shore was acquired in the 20th century, early in the PSW, at great effort, breaching one of the their most established boundaries. Experiencing new attention and unprecedented levels recruitment, the hierarchy has promoted creativity to maximize the potential in each member of the service. Proportionally, the Marines have the highest number of strategists and tacticians in any arm of the Themiclesian forces except the Air Force, and invested the most in personnel training assessed by the branch-unique unit of "instructor/pupil/hour" or IPH. In 2004, they also announced they were experimenting with the "parallel unit" which sees two or more tasks assigned to each troop, to be executed under different circumstances; as a result, new multifunctory equipment was developed. "Parallel functionalism is a most desirable concept in the new millennium, because we are not well-endowed in terms of numbers. We shall throw challenges at people, but we shall not throw people at challenges," the Captain-General opined in 2000.
Honours
Laureate of the Stars
In his monograph A Force for All Seasons (1881), Captain Terrence G. Gah of the 10th Regiment of the Marines wrote:
Rjim [in 707] saved his comrades-in-arms, all four thousand six hundred and fifty of them, from certain doom by his shrewd interpretation of the stars in the night sky, over hostile terrain laiden with cannibalistic savages, leading a ten-day march to the welcome embrace of the South Sea Fleet. [...] The Sovereign was pleased [...] to dignify him as the Laureate of the Stars. In the centuries following, we bestow this title to the one who has salvaged all and none whomsoever lesser.
The title Laureate of the Stars has subsequently been generalized to honour any member of the Marine Corps who, through an act of "unsurpassed fortitude or aptitude" has averted the destruction of the whole force. For several centuries this dignity was not awarded to anyone, until again in 1202, to Captain (translatus) P'ljum, who, again, correctly judged the stars in an overcast night to lead an ambush that broke a siege on the entire naval infantry complement trapped in modern-day Khalistan. In 1257, the same title was bestowed on another officer who predicted a future earthquake and decisively led his troops away from a basin, where they set up camp; the enemy took up the camp the Marines had built for themselves. The earthquak caused a nearby reservoir to breach, which eradicated the camp with the enemy within, while the Marines suffered no casualty. This battle was later named the "Infinitely Glorious Battle".
Because the title "Laureate of the Stars" is actually a civilian office, only a formal edict, passed by the Protonotaries and the Meridians and then the Sovereign, could confer this dignity. In the modern period, this dignity is granted solely by act of parliament. Similar titles existed to recognize extraordinary achievements in the Themiclesian Army. A recipient of the title was said to be "a fish that jumped into the Celestial Gate". Themiclesian society before the 19th century honoured the Civil Service as its highest echelon and debased the military forces, hence for a member of the latter to join the former was deemed an immesurable honour and moreover carried the acknowledgement of the entire government with it. The prize of being created a gentle house, to participate in electing peers to parliament, and being treated to a salary several dozen times the one they received for service was a pragmatic token of gratitude.
At the same time, the Marines also discharged the canonical duty of "guarding" stars onboard during nights. The Themiclesian Navy's captains believed the stars needed watching, or else new stars may appear, old ones vanish, or stationary ones move. If such a thing happens, it was interpreted as a disastrous omen that severely limited the fleet's ability to navigate home, especially over the dangerous waters of the Strait of Portcullia. While crossing, each ship's captain arranged the Marines in shifts of ten, to "keep watch" on the stars. At dusk, the ship's astronomer delivered his expectations of the rising and falling of asterisms with reference to the ship's alignment; the Marines would lie on the open deck, eyes fixed to the skies, four on each end of the ship, and a fifth to make sure none fell asleep. The rising of each asterism would be announced, and the identity and magnitude of each star clearly recorded. These were delivered to the ship's navigator at dawn. If the ship sailed sound, the Marines responsible would be rewarded; if the ship went off course, they would be thrown overboard.
Unit names
The Themiclesian Marines have a very whimsical unit-naming tradition. This is in stark contrast with the constellation-driven naming scheme that the Themiclesian Navy has obeyed. Names can be acquired by voting within the formation, usually by voice rather than ballot, or by appelation from another group of people, whenever it is accepted by the unit itself.
- 201st Regiment—Star Chasers, acquired by voice vote in 1948, in reference to the ancient traditions of nocturnal navigation that the Marines performed.
- 202nd Regiment—Executioners, originally the Right Division of the Port Corps; acquired by appelation, though orignally in Shinasthana carrying more the meaning of "problem-solvers", which is intuitive domestically because Themiclesia does not practice capital punishment; the corrupted translation was accepted via voice vote in 1969.
- 203rd Regiment—Sharpshooters, originally the Left Division of the Port Corps, acquired by vote in 1977; secondary, non-official nickname Marine-killer by appelation by the 201st; the referent is a 1838 incident where about 56 drunken Marines of the 201st, on shore to vacate premises to permit repairs to their ship, were all shot dead by the Port Corps that guarded the local area; the 201st commemorated the "outrageously killed" by calling the Left Division "Marine-killer".
- 204th Regiment—Cellists, acquired by voice vote in 1977; the 203rd and 204th were to receive their names only several days apart, and the 204th also heavily gravitated towards the name Sharpshooter, which the 203rd took; the name Cellist was then allegedly adopted as a slight to the 203rd. The Naval Staff were not impressed, but a high-ranking officer revealed that "votes must be honoured wherever they are taken".
- 225th Regiment—Lightning, acquired by voice vote in 1980.
Marine Corps tune
The song most anciently associated with the Marines is the Celestial Amble (步天歌, boh-t'in-kar), which is an abridgement of a song passed down by Imperial Astronomers in stringent secrecy. Legend has it this song was written as early as 584, but the earliest surviving version dates to 890. The version in use at the Imperial Observatory includes clues to the astrological meanings of the relative positions of the stars, supernovae, and a variety of abnormal phenomena; the version that the Marines used did not have them. The Celestial Amble is a first-person narrated, rhyming lyrical poem that describes the magnitude, colour, and relative position of the 283 Themiclesian asterisms and, composing them, 1,464 stars. The number of stars swelled gradually, from that figure in the 900s to well over 3,000 by 1700, new stars being named and the celestial bodies of the southern hemisphere added.
The song itself is of considerable length, and singing at 180 beats a second the song only ends after about thirty minutes. Those who mastered this song and were able to apply it while on voyage or expedition were called "Star-chasers" in Marine parlance, receiving triple or quadruple pay than one who could not. The Celestial Amble remains the unit march of the 201st, who are named in honour of these Star-chasers", who records represent some of the earliest geographies of West Hemithea and North Meridia. The position of "star-chaser" was a much-honoured one; despite the low status of the military, civil aristocrats are required to call the Star-chaser "your honour" (明公 mrjang-kung, 明君 mrjang-kwljen) in the second person and "well-esteemed" in the third in respect of their critical duty.