Wubei Zhi (Vol. 32)

...everyone dons their equipment and mounts their horses, and the drum signals begin. This battalion original: 哨 Shao observes which direction the flags of the Central Command original: 中軍 Zhongjun are pointing and points its own flags in that same direction.

The troops and horses original: 兵馬 Bingma under this battalion follow the direction indicated by their flag. They first simulate the maneuver for encountering a narrow passage by deploying the beam-bridging horses original: 架梁馬 Jialiangma; a lead formation used to navigate restricted terrain or provide a structural front for the march. In this formation, the Left Division takes the lead as the vanguard, the Middle Division of the Central Command acts as the center route, and the Right Division serves as the rear route. For every flag, three squads of six horses ride in parallel, moving together as a single column.

After circling the drill ground original: 教塲 Jiaochang once, the Central Command raises three supervising flags original: 監旗 Jianqi and fires a cannon blast original: 放砲 Fangpao.

Upon hearing the cannon, the entire assembly looks up at the flags. When the three flags are raised vertically, the troops immediately shift into three columns. The Left Division stands fast and waits for the Middle Division to advance to the center route and the Right Division to advance to the right route. The center route maintains a gap of thirty paces from both the left and right columns.

If two battalions are training together in a combined camp, the Left Battalion first transforms into three columns at the front, while the Right Battalion transforms into three columns at the rear. When three battalions train together, the Middle Battalion takes the center, and four... The text cuts off here, likely continuing with the coordination of four or more battalions on the following page.