Left and Right Guard Regiments
The Left Guard (左衛, dzar′ gwrjaih) and Right Gurad (右衛, gwrje′ gwrjaih) are royal guard or imperial guard units of Themiclesia. As the core of the Themiclesian Army in its function to defend the seat of the sovereign and government, they are two of the most ancient components of the force; for most of history given some independence from the general Army apparatus, they were structurally incorporated into the Army in 1935. Currently, these two regiments are nominally under the Southeast Defence Command, but their day-to-day activities are co-ordinated with the Citadel Precinct, Kien-k'ang Metropolitan Police and with Palace Security Division of the Cabinet Office.
Structure
The Left and Right Gurad share largely the same structure, which was maintained out of an interest for symmetry more than combat effectiveness. Since the two were under the same minister and served the same function, with only a geographical difference in jurisdiction, in most historical events they also appear in together regardless of context. Before the modern period, there was little difference in their structure from that of any normal Army regiments, which can be summarized as follows (all terms in translatio):
- Regiment (~2000)
- Quartermaster's Department
- Auditor's Department
- Regimental Staff
- Regimental Anciliary Company
- Battalion 1 (850, stationed in the palace)
- First Company (Service company, maintenance of garrisons and supplies)
- Second Company (125, in five sections of 25)
- Third Company (id.)
- Fourth Company (id.)
- Fifth Company (id.)
- Battalion 2 (850, stationed outside of the palace)
- First Company (Service company, maintenance of garrisons and supplies)
- Second Company (125, in five sections of 25)
- Third Company (id.)
- Fourth Company (id.)
- Fifth Company (id.)
History
Pre-modern history
Unlike many other organizations in the Themiclesian armed forces, whose origins are shrouded by ambiguous statements or want of context, the Left Guard and Right Guard's founding can be dated with certainty to Feb. 22nd, 266, which is the date of the founding of the first unified dynasty of Themiclesia. Of primary records surviving from them, the commanders of the two guard regiments were appointed on the same day as the dynasty. Interestingly, the edict of their appointment required them to "lead the same men as accustomed for the time being", indicating a substantial part of the Left and Right Guards may predate the appointment of their commanders as public officers. These two commanders answered to Marshal of the Guards (衛尉, gwrjaih-'wjes) and were administratively supervised by the Under-Secretary of State for Palace Guards (中兵郎, trjung-prjang-rang), who in turn was a subordinate to the Secretary of State for Five Forces (五兵尚書, nga-prjang-djang-stja). Most of this structure was carbon-copied from Menghean practices, awkwardly shoehorned into the much smaller establishment Themiclesia needed.
The Left and Right Guard were originally garrisoned near the citadel, one close to the modern T'jun-mrjang Gate and the other close to the Si-mrjang Gate, on the east and west sides of the citadel respectively. The name "Left" and "Right" refers to this position; Themiclesia regarded the south as the default orientation, hence the "Left" was to the east, and the "Right" to the west. Their duties are not clear in primary sources, but later custom suggests that they protected the citadel by guarding its gates and major roadways within it. Likewise, they stood guard at the gates to the palace itself and sometimes within it. Other than the commanders of the two regiments, commissioning of officers remains an obscure area, like in other parts of the pre-modern Army. It is possible that civil servants that could not find better appointments landed themselves as lower officers in the Left and Right Guards, which enabled them to remain in the capital city rather than being sent to a (possibly dangerous) corner of the country. Guardsmen were drawn from the same pool of conscripts that other units drew from. Unlike many other royal guards in the world that require prior experience or imposed a more rigourous standard, enlistment was by drawing lots.
Despite their status as royal guards, they played a very limited political role. For the most part, the Left and Right Guards were not permitted to enter the palace at will, much less interfere with proceedings within. Whenever it was felt the interior of the palace needed extra protection, the Marshal of the Guards obtained the permission of the Council of Correspondence (via the Under-Secretary of State for Palace Guards), which ensured their movement was with the knowledge of the government. They were neither particularly prestigious nor usually in contact with the person of the monarch. Scholars have argued that the Left and Right Guard should not be considered royal guards, but the guards of the capital city; others disagree, as during emergencies the Left and Right Guards do respond to summonses into the palace and have, on more than one occasion, escorted the monarch to safety during natural disasters. Arguments typically revolve around the Gentlemen at Arms (郎, rang), who guarded the palace hall (殿中, ntenh-trjung). The Gentlemen were selected for their literary talents rather than martial prowess.
19th century
The Left and Right Guard regiments were the only units not to have been disbanded following the military reforms that lasted the 19th century, not so much as a statement of confidence in their effectiveness or loyalty, but because the capital city was felt to be the epicentre of political instability and required constant protection. Even though the Regiments did not undergo wholesale restructuring, major changes occrred in response to changes in the regular army. In 1811, the Left and Right Guards were temporarily permitted to recruit directly off the general public, but shared recruitment with the regular army resumed after 1832; when the "reserve pool" system was drawn up in the second half of the 19th century, the regiments also drew from them.
In 1835, both regiments were granted a small garrison within the grounds of the imperial palace, as it was realized that the three Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms no longer provided security around the inner sections of the palace, even on a largely symbolic level. Contemporaries state that hallways, only a few decades ago filled with the sons of high-ranking civil servants, were now "as empty as in an abandoned home". Standing guard in the palace, as a member of the Gentlemen-at-Arms, was becoming unfashionable for the progeny of the gentry, when once it was considered highly desirable and honourable, if a chore just the same. In a period of general upheaval since the second half of the 18th century, prime ministeral terms shortened dramatically, which meant spending time in the palace was no longer a good opportunity to establish powerful contacts that would remain in office for years and decades to come. Another factor was the gentry's distain for carrying firearms, which became increasingly necessary as part of the armaments of any effective combatant.
20th century and beyond
Battle of Kien-k'ang
Immediately before the encroachment of the Menghean Army in the territories of the Inner Administrative Region, the Left and Right Guards were agglomerated as the 656th Infantry Brigade and participate in the defence of the capital city; both formations remained in their garrisons for most of 1940 but did contribute to the reinforcements on the city's walls. Though the main body of the enemy forces failed to break into the capital city, a Dayashinese paratrooper unit did successfully drop into the imperial palace on Nov. 12th, 1940. The palace at this point had been sealed off by brick and mortar and its residents evacuated, and the paratroopers were unable to find sustenance within its expansive grounds. As a result, they relied on regular air drops. In the beginning of 1941, the paratroopers attempted to break out of the palace, but the potential routes of exit, namely the gates, had already been booby-trapped by the two Guard regiments, and early attempts were largely unsuccessful in rendering any damage to the city's infrastructure. Much of this is credit to fact that a further set of city walls contained the palace and prevented the paratroopers from reaching the civilian areas.
By March 1941, the Themiclesian Air Force was exerting much effort to re-establish aerial superiority over the city, and drops for the paratroopers became increasingly difficult, prompting them to attempt more daring escapes. On March 21st, the Dayashinese in the palace broke out of the South Side Gate and then breached the T'jen-mrjang Gate. Very soon, the attack splintered into several streets and began to cause much panic amongst the residents of the city who did not wish to be evacuated. A number of civilians proceeded to attack the paratroopers with household items and other refuse, which only caused additional anxiety in the Dayashinese. The Left and Right Guards eventually contained the region the paratroopers were present and gradually pushed them, over the course of an afternoon, into the imperial palace, at terrific casualty. The Guards then proceeded to brick the gates to the palace to prevent any future exit, which ultimately proved successful. After several letters encouraging their commander to surrender the palace, the Dayashinese paratroopers died of starvation and exposure inside the palace. When the Guards opened the gates to the palace four years later, they were responsible for collecting the remains of the invader and interring them in the park grounds north of the palace.
Historical position & criticism
In general historiography, the Left and Right Guards have been regarded as part of the Army for reason that they shared the same Secretary of State's supervision with the rest of the Army. However, due to their proximity to the seat of the government, special attention has always been paid to their maintenance and control. Initially organized no different from any Army unit of the same size, they gradually acquired a plethora of officers of both ceremonial and operational roles. That a government minister should be dedicated to their activities was understood as a sign of their importance, since other Army ministers governed broader specializations. This view is not without its detractors, such as Larry Stenson, who noted that the Music Corps also had their own government minister (1954); later scholars have pointed out that the Music Corps was not simply a military band, but a signals department, since the Army relied on musical signals to communicate and co-ordinate large movements in a battlefield (Hart, 1968).
Before the Pan-Septentrion War, the Left and Right Guards did not particpate in any significant battle, which called their effectiveness into question; in fact, Ian S. P. Lakw, commander of the 29th Armoured Division, compared in 1939 the combat ability of the regiments to that of an unknown enemy unit, which was "uncertain". Military historian James B. Winterland states that this is "not a problem visible to the Themiclesians, since the civilian establishment did not, generally, permit standing units of any significant size, to prevent the formation of unit cohesion, which was deemed inimical to civilian supremacy in peace time. As a result, most units were formed from the reserve pool to fulfill a specific defence need in a specific place and time and were dissolved once their replacement was found on schedule". That the Left and Right Guards were permitted to have a relatively stable leadership was "already unusual for the Themiclesian mindset".
Relationship with other organizations
After the PSW, the 656th Infantry Brigade was dissolved, and the Left and Right Guards were returned to their original roles. Despite being released from the Army General HQ (formed in 1935 in preparation for conscription and total war), the Left and Right Guards retained their regimental numbering (582 and 583 respectively) from their Army designations. When the Army General HQ was dissolved in 1947, the Army Ministry ordered the two units to clear the roads near the capital city in anticipation for the return of the Imperial House. On Dec. 22nd, 1949, the Left and Right Guards, for the final time, cleared the roads for the ministerial procession into the palace, a task part of their portfolio for more than 15 centuries by that point. The duty of protecting the ministers' processions (which were cut in 1955) were defaulted to the Kien-k'ang Metropolitan Police.
Since the changing of hands over the protection of ministers in 1949, the Left and Right Guards have co-operated with the Kien-k'ang Metropolitan Police to secure the capital city. Between 1947 and 1970, the Left and Right Guards were considered a floating part of the Army not under any regional command. There were efforts to integrate them into the territorial defence structure, i.e. as a normal part of the Army, with some ceremonial duties. In 1970, the two regiments were enlarged to brigade size and granted new garrison buildings further away from the citadel, in an effort reduce response times; this change soon generated much criticism as the City had to designate several non-parking zones close to their garrisons. These non-parking zones encroached on the interests of certain businesses, which prevailed on the City to restore parking, which effectively prevented the Left and Right Guards' wider vehicles from exiting their garrisons, which was necessary, amongst other causes, for regular repairs. In combination with calls to restore "policing to the police", the Army assigned the two brigades to the Southeast Defence Command and moved their garrisons into the suburban areas; a small garrison shared by both in the palace itself, for those participating in ceremonial duties.
Recruitment
In keeping with the non-elite tradition of the Left and Right Guards, it is not possible to enter either at the point of recruitment. Both take up new members as normal Army units, and recruits all have more or less an equal chance of being chosen to serve in either.
Incidents
1932 Nationalist Revolt
A number of fringe parties, consisting of Radical Republicans, Annexationists, and Fascists, under a variety of domestic and foreign influence, learned the Nationalist Party planned a demonstration before the Mjeis-lang Palace in Apr. 1932; without obtaining the Nationalists' agreement, they decided joined the demonstration as a coalition. The Nationlists did not oppose their participation and allowed their leadership to confer with their own leadership regularly during the demonstration, which was a month-long assembly just beyond the city gates. Frustrated by the lack of public response, the leadership of the several parties entered a heated dispute on the morning of Apr. 29th, at the end of which the Nationalist Party's Chairman was killed by gunshot. The assailant was unknown. The Fascists claimed the joint leadership to have agreed to merge their party supporters and move the demonstration to the palace gates, which was less than a mile away from the seat of the government. After the removal, radical members of the demonstration began clamouring for entry into the palace, which gatekeepers refused; pushing and scuffles resulted. To egg on the crowd, the leader of the Fascists, with the assent of No Chi-won, nephew of the Menghean Emperor Kwon Chong-hoon, claimed they had received permission from the sovereign himself to "depose the government". Once this was noted by the palace ground staff, the government ordered the Left and Right Guard regiments to suppress the demonstration.
The 3rd Battalion of the Left Guard was the first to arrive, from their garrison just north of the Lower Chamber of Cavaliers. They fired on the demonstrators, who were overpowering the heavy wooden doors in the T'jang-gep Gate, south-west on the palace's perimeter walls. The initial volley failed to faze the demonstration, so the Left Guard, under the command of Major Krin Mak, continued to fire, while slowly shifting westwards to obtain a better firing angel. The 1st Battaion of the Right Guard, meanwhile, chose to exit from the West Side Gate and very soon arrived, at a dash, to the south side of the T'jang-gep Gate, where the demonstrators at the rear were still pushing inwards, with No Chi-won visible and shouting, "heave!" They too began to fire north-east-north, since firing directly north would hit an antique drum at the gate. This firing position meant the two units were not readily visible to each other. After about a minute, a bullet fired by the Right Guard ricocheted off the walls of the gate and killed a member of the Left Guard. The latter was momentarily confounded but began to call for heavier weapons, believing there were armed demonstrators. With the Left Guard now firing a machine gun, several members of the Right Guard were hit. Kun Sjut-ts'jing, Tribune of the Hall (殿中侍御史, den-trjung-sdji-ngjas-srje’), on his way to work, accidentally discovered the actual situation and ordered both regiments to stop shooting, but over 450 demonstrators have died.
Kun reprimanded the commander of the 3rd Battalion and ordered him to kneel at the East Carriage-Stop Gate. The rest of the unit were required to lay down their weapons in place and return to their garrison. The same was required of the Right Guard, but the battalion commander was to kneel at the South Carriage Stop-Gate instead, to prevent the two from colluding. When asked if he was empowered to imprison military officers, Kun replied, "Any one who is not a secretary of state, an MP, or a cavalier or meridian attendant, I am empowered to imprison." The two were eventually permitted to return to their original posts without disciplinary action, as the government had decided to stake itself on the validity of the suppression.
Parking disputes
In 1966, the Left Guard was granted a small garrison just northeast of the East Market District of the capital city. This district, extremely busy, has been known for its shortage of parking spaces since the 1950s. This is because many merchants place stalls in the street, reducing the effective width of the main throughfare from eight lanes to two. Since vehicles do use this street, parking is impossible. The new garrison's gate faced the north end of this street, just south of a major intersection. Military vehicles would pass through the artificially narrow street and turn into the garrison; when the garrison's parking spaces were full, trucks and armoured personnel carriers overflowed into the street, leaving a single lane for traffic in both directions. On Jan. 16, 1967, the Kien-k'ang Metropolitan Police towed an empty APC that has been parked at the gate of the garrison; however, due to inclement weather and poor embankment, the towing truck and APC plunged into a canal. The truck driver was able to escape before both vehicles sank to the bottom.
The Themiclesian Army sued the Metropolitan Police for property damage, but the court found responsibility to lie with the Army, not the Police Department, since the APC was illegally parked for a prolonged period of time. On appeal, the Army asserted that the tow-truck driver failed to secure the APC properly and was at fault; the Metropolitan Police argued that road vehicles cannot be fully opaque on all sides of the passenger section, and the APC did not clear passenger vehicle balance tests. In the end, the suit was brought before the Exchequer Chamber in 1983, at which point both parties, having spent millions on legal fees, agreed to withdraw their respective suits and settled out-of-court.
Armour and arsenal
Armour
Both Left and Right Guards are some of the better-armed infantry units in Themiclesia. In Casaterran classification, they were deemed "heavy infantry". Closer to the units' founding, lamenar armour was issued to all members of the Regiments, worn in four pieces. The first piece had lamenations on the sleeves only, reaching the elbows of the wearer. Another piece then covered the torso. The shoulder piece, fortified with a tall collar, was worn above the two previous, to permit better mobility for the wearer's arms. Then, a short pair of armoured pantaloons reaching knee level was donned. There was considerable overlap between the pieces ensuring coverage in all positions. Starting in the 6th century, the top secton of the torso armour was replaced with steel plate. Body parts covered by plate grew gradually since that time, spreading to the shoulders (8th c.), lower arms (9th c.), until the entire upper body was behind plate (12th c.) This plate armour generally had a ridged design, with many parallel but shallow ridges, which encouraged meleé blows and arrows to glance off or slide into the valleys, which was hammered thicker to reinforce it. A primitive articulatory design permitted arms to move, but prior to its adoption in the 14th c. individual pieces were simply tied to the wearer's body, with specific flares along the plate pieces to avoid clashing. A helmet slightly different from normal infantry was used amongst the Regiments, with the figure of red pandas replacing that of raccoons. This meant slightly larger ears and more animalistic (rather than stylized) facial features. Casaterran ambassadors remarked on them as "adorable helmets".
The clothing worn under armour nearly as well-documented as the armour itself. Guardsmen wore two or three layers of linen robes, with sleeves running several inches past their wrists, to be drawn up under armour to permit flexibility, since completely form-fitting clothing was liable to restrain movement if caught between armour pieces. The upper robes had two frontal lapels that closed at the waist, overlapping to form a V at the neck. During colder months, a scarf-like garment would be worn under the robes to protect the guardsman against the elements; this scarf would blouse out over the collars, mkaing it visible. Clothing for the lower body is worn in two layers of pantaloons. The inner layer had a closed crotch and loose except a fastener at the waist, tied to the wearer's left. The outer layer was much roomier and whose crotch was left open. When worn, the front panels would be pulled, by strings attached, across each other and fastened at the wearer's right. Then, the outer layer was tied at the knees to prevent tripping. The strings at the knees, functioning like garters, usually peeked out of leg armour and was made of embroidered silk closer to the modern period, as part of their regimental identity. When the guardsmen stood at palace gates, they also donned a crimson silk robe that covered most of their armour; court etiquette required all persons present at the palace to wear crimson during major events.
Though few would disagree that the Guards regiments received more expensive armaments than most units prior to the modern period, this ceased to be the case in the 16th century. Casaterran armour manufacturing techniques gradually replaced Themiclesian ones for infantry, along with the spread of firearms; this was less apparent in the Guards, who were expected to maintain a certain historical appearance, even if their dated armour was less serviceable than Casaterran munitions-grade armour. Historical appearances also appaered to be a factor in determining the attire of the Guards as early as the 14th century, when most infantry units were no longer issued the "outer layer" of pantaloons. Some units, mostly cavalry, retained them, for unclear reasons. Pictorial evidence suggests that, in the 16th century, the Guards were the only infantry regiments left that consistently wore two pairs of pantaloons and gathered them up at the knees. As much, they were also the only unit not to adopt the ankle boot when that became commonplace roughly the same time; instead, they continued to use silk slippers over wooden clogs. When others have traded sashes for belts, they retained the latter. Even as late as the 19th century, their conservatism prevented them from introducing the ubiquitous Blue Army Shoe. They are the only Army unit to have standard-issue court uniforms, which are imitative of 4th century attire of commoners at court, consisting of a red robe, loose pants, and silk sash. Enlisted men have plain, black collars, while officers have embroidered collars. Doublecloth work was added to the rims of the trousers during modern times.
In media
- Fairytale of Travellers (1938), a monochrome film, was the first film to feature the Regiments with imitative uniforms.