Red Guard

Red Guard
Picture taken from "Mao's Littlest Red Book", a coloring book intended to indoctrinate Chinese children teach basic art to Chinese children.
Minor Faction	Communist China
Other Faction(s)	None
Unit Type	Infantry
Designation	Anti Infantry
Production Building	Propaganda Centre
Secondary Ability	Bayonet
Cost	Unknown
Production Time	Unknown
Heroic Upgrade	Jade Infused Weapons • Adds Afterburn
Dev. Status	Conceptual

Country of Origin	People's Republic of China
Trained at	Base Rat, Jinan
Key Features	» Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle  » 17-inch blade bayonet  » Forest green jumpsuit  » Improvised grenades (duds)  » Used copy of "Mao's Little Red Book" (Well protected)

"6 miles of ground has been won. Half a million men are gone. What's the price of a mile?"

- From a letter, source unknown

Tactical Analysis

• We Stand Together: The Red Guard is the basic soldier of the Communist Chinese army. While not terribly impressive, they number (or did number) in the millions.

• Rifles at the ready: The Red Guard's standard issue weapon is the Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle. While far from the best weapon around, the Mosin-Nagant is cheap and outranges the USM-01 carbines that the Nationalists use, although it has a lower rate of fire.

• Charge!: Attached to their Mosin-Nagants is another weapon; a blade bayonet. While the practice of bayoneting is obsolete, it is quite effective at taking chunks of flesh out of enemy soldiers, although it is not nearly as effective as the Imperial Warrior's beam katana.

• Glow-in-the-dark: Prior to his disapperance, General Tao managed to infuse Jade into rifle ammunition and bayonets, causing them to emit small amounts of radiation. A Jade contaminated stab or bullet wound is even more deadly than a regular wound, though such Jade infused weapons are in short supply, limiting their usage to select Red Guard.

Background

Before the Bombs

As the ideals of Communism spread throughout China, an initially small, but rapidly growing group of youths began to become more and more outspoken against the "bourgeoisie" ruling class of society. This group of students, known as the Red Guard, soon made a name for themselves as even more loyal to Mao Zedong's ideal of a Communist China than most of the more educated adults. This movement grew exponentially when Mao advertised their movement on every school in the country to advocate the inevitability of Communism.

This broadcast however proved to be a mistake, as the Red Guard were divided as to who was loyal. What resulted was a bloodbath as the groups of students culled those whom were seen as disloyal or against the party, even their own families. This ended with Mao himself being forced to take rein over the situation. He reorganised the groups in such a way that they would provide a backbone for China's "Cultural Revolution" while not being officially affiliated with the party.

The results soon became evident as these soldiers, armed mostly with old bolt action rifles and blade bayonets, ravaged and destroyed many of the temples throughout China. The Red Guard even made an attempt on the life of the last surviving member of the previous dynasty, though disease got him first.

As time went by, though, the amount of students in China dwindled, leaving Mao with the possibility that he would no longer have an army to fight the waxing Chinese Civil War. He needed a large number of people, and quickly. To that end, he began organising "re-educations" where he would force the entire population of youth of villages and towns to march to Propaganda Centres around China, presumably for education purposes.

In truth, these were little more than conscription centres, where the only education was loud and bombastic propaganda coming from all speakers while the young men and women were drilled for combat. The ideals of the Cultural Revolution were lost; now they were simply weapons of Red China. In a few short years, these Red Guard were ready for combat, and received it in the most horrible way.

They were sent in waves against the Blue Chinese with horrendous casualties, with the only medical care being a large propaganda speaker. Reinforcements, however, were constantly arriving, as it only took the mass conscription of another village's youth (and as the war escalated, the entire village) to provide the next wave. Few, if any Red Guard ever saw their homes again, and the only reason they weren't completely wiped out is that Battlemaster tank waves (manned by urban conscripts) were just as often thrown against Nationalists.

After the Bombs

Against all odds, Base Rat has survived. This is not due to some valiant defence or ingenious fortification, but simply because the atomic bomb dropped on Jinan was the rare dud. While the city of Jinan itself was already ruined by several sieges, the base itself is intact and still filled with Red Guard. Since the surrounding area is still alive, if heavily affected by fallout, they can even be fed.

Enough discoloured rice can be harvested and cancerous animals hunted to keep the people from dying, and Base Rat is the most populous place not controlled by Atomic China. There's enough Red Guard there to reinforce other Red Chinese positions if need be. Requests for reinforcements are brought by whatever means necessary, and a force of Red Guard marches all the way across the blasted landscape to the rallying point. These "Long Marches" often kill as many Red Guard as Nationalists do.

Base Rat, however, was not always in such a good state. The dud itself was seized by General Tsing Shi Tao, who disappeared into an underground hangar in an attempt to make his Overlord Tank "atomic powered". He never came out again, and everyone is too afraid to open the doors to find out. With the highest authority around gone, Base Rat seemed like it would soon fall to chaos again.

However, another leader sprang up, one everyone could look up to (literally). Originally from humble origins, from a farm on the outskirts of Jinan, this leader did not seem to have a great destiny, starting off simply by advertising the sale of geese. However, during the Cultural Revolution, this leader was turned to the correct path of Communism, and was soon seen by all the people of the camp as the highest ideal of Mao Zedong.

The reason that this leader is so cherished is because it is in fact a giant poster of Mao Zedong. While not the highest quality (it is a reprint of a farm advertisement, after all), it is fairly well sized, so everyone can see it. To the blasted minds of the Red Guard, who cannot accept that Mao Zedong is truly dead, this poster is as good as the real leader.

It attends all official briefings, silently addresses the Red Guard during the morning assembly, and is required for every major decision. To outsiders this is quite strange, in a land of horrid wonders, but no one in Base Rat denies that Comrade Poster of Mao Zedong is a just and moral leader, with his edicts seemingly coming from the gestalt of the Red Guard there on the whole.

Attempts to go against his silent words are severely punished. Since they seem so willing to help other Communist forces, no other Red Chinese attempt to even doubt their words. Some even admire and even envy their ability to cling on the glory days of old, and more than a few wish they could join Base Rat.

Behind the Scenes

• Based on the Red Guard from C&C Generals.