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 (舫冗人, pjang-njung'-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 Exercitus Thimiensis, or in Tyrannian, the "Themiclesian Army". In non-Tyrannian communication (normally limited to diplomatic letters), the term Exercitus Thimiensis is also used by Themiclesian diplomats; the analogous term that refers to the Navy is Naviter Thimiensis. The former term is no longer widely used due to possible confusion with the similarly-named Themiclesian Army.
Though the "Themiclesian Marine Corps" is the sanctioned translation of the Shinasthana name pjang-njung-njing (舫冗人), Themiclesians do not use pjang-njung-njing to translate "marine corps" in general; rather, the term shljui-prjang (水兵, lit. "naval soldier") is used. This is because, domestically, shljui-prjang refers to the lake-based naval infantry that was part of the Themiclesian Army. This branch was abolished as an institution in the 19th century, but it remains a specialization in the consolidated Infantry branch. Conversely, since the pjang-njung-njing are one department of the Naval Ancillaries (冗人), other departments like the Corps of Physicians (醫冗人), which bear a similar title in the Themiclesian language, are translated drastically differently into Tyrannian. This creates a paradox in translation that is in fact common in Themiclesia, as translations are often made without reference to the overall structure of Themiclesian institutions.
The term pjang-njung-njing (舫冗人) can also be analyzed further. pjang (舫) is a proper name for a cabin located in the stern of a ship and constrats with stjit (室), a cabin in the bow of a ship. Both pjang and stjit are terms derived from common names of parts of terrestrial buildings. Being cabins under the exposed deck, both contrast with the dzrjung (崇), the exposed deck, and the ro (樓), the superstructure. There is currently disagreement about the proper reading of pjang: the 3rd Regiment, formed in 1810 and the oldest extant unit, reads it as pjang, while the 4th and 5th Regiments, both dating to the Pan-Septentrion War, read it as pjang’ instead. Philologically, pjang is likely the correct reading, since it is homophonous with the root word pjang (房, lit. "rear chamber"), and also since pjang’ means jib (the foremost triangular sail of a ship). Various theories have been forwarded to explain the confusion of "two very different things" by individuals who "have good reason to be familiar with the names of parts of a ship". B. Martin, maritime historian, argues that the confusion occurs because the 4th and 5th Regiments were raised after the age of sail and did not ever experience a situation where the distinction was meaningful. A. Tarrow, linguist, posits that because the 4th and 5th Regiments were mostly Dayashinese, they overlooked the difference, since their native language was non-tonal, rendering the two terms completely homophonous.
History
Early centuries
Records show that a "General of Maritime Troops" (水軍將軍, shljui-kwljin-tsjang-kwljin) was appointed in the 721. A "General of Battleships" (艦將軍, krams-tsjang-kwljin), also existed, dating to the 400s. While their titles suggest they may have commanded navies and naval infantry, their actual duties remain unclear. During the 3rd to 7th centuries, Themiclesian fleets often carried infantry to defend ships at port and to clear ports of hostile forces when landing; then, much of the norhtwest coast was still not under Themiclesian control. There was no formal designation for such units at that time, since these fleets were organized by local communities and likely unspecialized. Nevertheless, it seems plausible that some dedicated infantry units existed, since ships remained manoeuvable while infantry engaged. In the devastating Battle of Clarkestown in 892, the entire Capital Defence Force and four-fifths of the West Expedition Army perished against a coalition of Columbian natives. The naval infantry, which sailed with the ships that ferried them over the Halu'an Sea, were also exterminated. In 794, a Director of Ancillaries (冗人令, njung-njing-mlings) was appointed. The Director of Ancillaries 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 Navy were active against coastal Columbian natives, Rajan raiders, and pirates, who often raided Themiclesian ports along the shores of Columbia. As Themiclesia did not intend to establish governance over the massive interior of eastern Hemithea, the militia structure was never established there. The Navy's battlefield was limited to the coast, for both reasons of logistcis and superstition. They answered to the Secretary of State for Appropriations (度支尚書), as part of his jurisdiction over foreign trade and revenues from its taxation; the Navy's role was to repulse challenges to Themiclesian maritime power and suppress piracy. The regular army was ferried by the Navy in at least two occasions, though this very seldom occurred; in this case, the marines 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 2,000 to 3,000. 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 adept at suppressing the armed but disorganized 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 submitting them to the Treasury. Much of this money was taken by the Navy to fund new ships, in an era in which the government lost direct 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 as "pirates of pirates".
Into the 1600s, peace in Columbia was restored after the War of 1597 ended in favour of the Rajians and Sylvans. These results left the two powers dominant across most of Columbia and its ocean-facing coast; the Halu'an Sea and coast remained under Themiclesian control 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 marines) for retaking Columbia, for which they demanded 100 million Mjon (roughly the whole annual income for the government). The Appropriations Secretary was aghast. When it was suggested new income would offset this large initial cost, he replied that "hypothetical revenue was hypothetical" (或有之課或之有也).
The Army 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 both at the end of the 17th century, Themiclesia lost its most powerful and immediate enemies, leaving the Five Armies without a strategic opponent. Themiclesia fortuitously acquired the north of Maverica. The government assumed that the new territory would be placable, given Themiclesia's decision not to help the Galvisti Empire 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 being compressed to the extreme east of the Halu'an coast, to maintenance of local security and collection of revenues in Njit-nem. In 1701, the Marines received custody of the sixteen coastal counties. Though Maverican elites petitioned the Themiclesian court to establish "normal administration" in their territories, the court never took action upon a suggestion that was widely accepted; as a result, these two forces continued to administer those lands.
18th century
In the Rebellion of 1767, the Marines held onto the port cities in Njit-nem. Many historians believe this shortened what potentially could have been a much more protracted affair in strategic terms. The locals petitioned in 1759 the Themiclesian court to use Ostlandian in local proceedings, which the government agreed to consider as a condition for the rebels' peaceful surrender. However, in 1769, the Port Corps crushed the resistance, and the government promptly rejected the petition. When their petition to "end abuses and restore civil administration" in 1769 was discussed, Prime Minister Kja replied that they were not under military occupation because neither the Port Corps nor the Navy were under the Ministry of War; though Kja's response was not legally unfounded, as Tribunes conceded, the Prime Minister's opponents and community leaders in Njit-nem found it unconvincing and deceptive. Pamphlets in Themiclesia-proper soon surfaced criticizing Kja's "manipulation of the law" to aggrandize his own achievements, forcing his resignation in 1770.
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 qualified Ostlandic individuals to local offices and "in all wise deem the public there as public anywhere". The Marines retreated from Njit-nem that year and moved to the northwestern coast of Themiclesia, where the navy's new ships were being built. The independence of the Tyrannian colonies across the Halu'an prompted the Tyrannian Royal Navy to sail into the Halu'an; attempting to take the initiative away, they attacked the Tyrannian fleet, which was embargoing all sea access to the west coast. The Themiclesian fleet successfully repulsed the Tyrannians in 1782; this battle saw very little involvement for the Marines, though naval battle was fierce. However, a few months later, the Tyrannians conceded to the colonies' independence. In 1791, the Tyrannian fleet found the Themiclesian fleet at home in the port of Rad and launched an attack on the fleet itself. The Tyrannian Royal Marines landed in Rad, their counterparts surprised completely, having assumed the Tyrannians were sailing home with seasonal winds. The landing party 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.
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 1791, 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 1795, it fielded more than 250,000 soldiers in Maverica and was demanding more.
For whatever it was worth, the 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 states in northern Maverica. By 1830, Themiclesia was wealthier than ever before. 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 1807, the government radically reformed the old Army, discarding the generational tether that guaranteed a source of young soldiers and accepted volunteers instead. 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 and coastal waters, without which foreign traders would fear piracy. In this role they would remain for 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 3,000 at this point, with roughly one-half in combat positions.
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. The Menghean Empire turned against Themiclesia in 1933, pushing the front westwards. Themiclesia's occupation was almost voluntarily withdrawn in order to delegitimate the invasion, under the Foreign Office's direction, though it resulted in little change. When it became obvious that Dayashina would join the war against Themiclesia, domestic commentators began to express 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; generating anxiety in the disaspora community, the view was nevertheless not adopted as policy and publicly repudiated. The Marines were divided into three regiments during this era; two were involuntarily conscripted by the Army to fight at Themiclesian border.
Some Dayashinese men volunteered 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 Marines were ordered to recruit in 1937, which progressed very slowly as most able-bodied men were conscripted or volunteered to join the Army instead. To assist in their recruitment, they handed out pamphlets in Dayashinese and Menghean—sections of society that were still under-represented in the Army. Surprisingly, response was forthcoming. Their enlistment were not opposed because engagement with the Imperial Dayashinese Army was not expected there, so 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.
D/ISOG infiltration
Starting when Dayashina declared war on Themiclesia, the IDA's Imperial Special Operations Group sought to infiltrate the Marines. The core object, as declassified D/ISOG papers show, is to cast doubt on the allegiances of the 100,000 or so Dayashinese immigrants to Themiclesia and to create terror in the Themiclesian public behind the frontlines, since the Marines were used as rear-line troops in this case. The Cabinet Office had, in 1937, heavily propagandized the immigrants enlistment as proof of a "resolve that transcends ethnicity and language"; the Army had further elaborated on this, in early 1939, with fliers dropped in Dayashinese camps to attack at their national construction of the war as a struggle between races. The infiltration concentrated on the Dayashinese-majority 4th and 5th Regiments.
To engender terror and non-confidence in the public, Dayashinese operatives, mostly feigning as surrendering IDA soldiers, first announced an intention to naturalize to Themiclesia; welcoming any opportunity to disparage Dayashinese national unity, the Foreign Office enthusiastically accepted them. They would then apply to join the Navy, which preferentially placed Dayashinese recruits (identified by their names) into the Marines. Infiltration in the 4th Regiment was particularly prolific, since it was assigned to guarding the temporary capital city at Blim-tsi, which was a coastal city with some naval armaments. Infiltrators then took advantage of the Marines armouries, which contained only light weaponry, to attack civic amenities and attempt assassination on the Emperor. Ultimately, attempts on the Emperor's life were almost successful in two instances, and attacks on civic amenities were limited in their impact on the war effort, since the Army's supply lines were intentionally diffuse.
The infiltration was assisted by several structural problems that existed in the Marine Corps at the time. The most important, identified by historian N. Gamble, was the lack of oversight. When the Themiclesian Navy was reformed in 1801, there was a general push to separate civil administration from the chain of command. The former was divided into six departments, but the metamorphosis of the Admiralty from a command apparatus to a permanent body marginalized it. The Admiralty was nominally under the Department of Fleets (航令), while the Marines were part of the Department of Ancillaries (冗人令); other members of the Department included doctors and accountants. The Admiralty acquired administrative power over the Marines in 1821. However, it entrusted ships' captains to ensure the Marines' fitness of service, discipline, and morale. For existing regiments, this proved effective, given their permanent relationship with their respective fleets; new recruits would be immersed and conditioned serving alongside veterans. For those raised during the PSW, the Admiralty failed to muster together a training program outside of the naval context or provide adequate leadership and supervision when discharging their duties on land.
With traditional means of conditionment unavailable, the 4th and 5th Regiments remained poorly trained and unmotivated between 1937 and 1939. Soga Koma, private of the 5th Regiment recalls,
I helped my family run a poorly-patronized bookstall in Kien-k'ang. When it was decided that I should be joining the Navy to serve my country, I thought I would die in training to exhaustion; however, to perhaps everyone's surprise, the Navy dumpted weapons and uniforms on us and gave us no instruction of any kind for the first 19 weeks. I thought I was the idlest man in the world, until the I joined up.
In the 4th Regiment, things were barely better, with
a retired captain appointed to oversee the regiment's activities, who, in his great wisdom, spent more time drinking coffee, playing the harpsichord, and discussing metaphysical questions with the recruits.
In the 19th century, the Marines' officers were usually appointed based on their captains recommendations; lacking this mechanism, the Admiralty did not start appointing officers until many weeks into the regiment's first assembly.
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.
Current units
- 3rd → 203rd Regiment—Star Chasers, acquired by voice vote in 1948, in reference to the ancient traditions of nocturnal navigation that the Marines performed.
- 4th → 204th Regiment—Glory Seekers (榮益). Orignally "Problem Solvers" (永蔽), but in the 4th Regiment's dialect, the nickname was homophonous with "executioner" (刑辟), which was accepted via voice vote, as a pun, in 1949. The Foreign Office informed the Navy that the Maracaibean 1st Marines were, in fact, executioners, and, since Themiclesia had abolished capital punishment, the unit's name should not reflect something unlawful. Though the Navy leadership entertained the pun, the connection with the Maracaibean 1st Marines was deemed an evil portend of the highest degree; as a result, it was changed to the current one by voice vote.
- 5th → 205th Regiment—Sharpshooters (循射). However, members of the Regiment have pointed out that "sharpshooter" was homophonous with "missed by a long shot" (夷射) in the dialect of the 4th Regiment. This has become the bane of their existence while training with them.
Former units
- 1st Regiment—
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.