Chapter 13, Expand Training

  Starting from the second day, Wu Shaotong began to conduct intensive training for his troops. He considered that these soldiers had not exercised extensively for many years and it was impossible to rush them into shape in a short period of time. Therefore, he planned to gradually increase the intensity of training, with the first week consisting of only 5-8 li of running drills per day, while other times were spent on military posture and etiquette training.

  Many people think that military training is superficial, because on the battlefield it's impossible to salute the enemy. In the 21st century, when Wu Shaotong first joined the army, he also had this idea, but later gradually came to understand that military etiquette is actually an important part of the military.

  The Qi family army's camp training had the saying "the name of the military, must start from the beginning of the military ceremony" so the Qi family army almost became a model for the Ming Dynasty at that time. Later, Zeng Guofan trained the Huai Army, which also attached great importance to military ceremonies. The reason is simple: military ceremonies are used to temper the character of soldiers, shape the spiritual appearance of the troops, and cultivate the habit of lower-level personnel obeying their superiors.

  Wu Shaotong spent the last three days teaching all soldiers the Twenty-First Century Army's drill commands, posture standards and other things, and required them to act in accordance with these command standards from now on.

  Every morning before dawn, the soldiers of the rear guard would line up on the large drill ground for a run. For the first few days, all the soldiers were sore and aching in their waists and backs, with numb limbs to boot. On top of that, they had to stand at attention under the scorching sun for several hours, and they couldn't help but complain bitterly. Even when they returned to their barracks to rest at night, they would secretly discuss among themselves, "At most we'll just forfeit our silver coins; let's all quit training together."

  But by the next morning when Wu Shaotong came to kick in the door and gather everyone, not a single person was willing to stand up and take the lead, so the matter was dropped.

  After a week, the rear guard soldiers' bodies finally adapted, and they no longer felt sore or painful. Instead, they seemed more energetic every day. Anyway, in their free time, they had nothing to do, so it was better to participate in collective training to earn some extra money! As a result, everyone's morale rose even higher.

  Wu Shaotong started to increase the intensity of training from the second week, adding one more mile to each morning exercise. In addition to the usual review of static and dynamic commands and standing at attention for three hours during the day, some combat posture training was also added.

  That day, as the usual standing military posture was about to end, Wu Shaotong walked to the front of the troops, with sweat on his face condensing into many small droplets. Every time he stood at attention, apart from the necessary inspection, he basically stood upright with his chest out and abdomen in, on the one hand letting the soldiers know that he was standing shoulder to shoulder with them, and on the other hand serving as a model.

  He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and shouted: "Li Wenqi, Chen Qun, step forward."

  The two took a step forward and simultaneously stomped their feet, saying in unison: "Arrived."

  Wu Shaotong's face showed a satisfied expression, and he continued: "You two go and bring out all the weapons from the sentry post."

  Li Wenqi and Chen Qun were stunned, the two of them almost couldn't help but ask the same question: Are the weapons for the whole company just going to be moved by two people? However, the training over the past few days had taught them the importance of "obeying orders", so they swallowed their doubts and turned to run towards the barracks.

  The weapons of the rear guards were all placed in their respective barracks, which made Li Wenqi and Chen Qun secretly cry out in distress. They had to go to each barrack to fetch the weapons, and because there were too many weapons, they had to run back and forth several times.

  Half an hour later, they finally moved all the weapons of the whole sentry post to the school grounds.

  Li Wenqi was getting old, and after several trips of such hard work, he seemed a bit out of breath. However, he still stood up straight with his chest out, maintaining his military posture, and reported to Wu Shaotang: "Reporting to the master, the rear sentry... all weapons of the rear sentry have been collected, please inspect them!"

  On the other hand, Chen Qun was also exhausted, but he was in his prime and much better off than Li Wenqi.

  Wu Shaotong looked at these two subordinates who were still in the style of the local army just a week ago, and now they have a bit of military temperament. He nodded slightly and said: "Very good, I was intentionally giving you two a small test just now, and you two did not disappoint me. Wang Lifa, take note that Li Wenqi and Chen Qun will each receive two more silver coins this month."

  The soldiers secretly admired them, but thinking that Li Wenqi and Chen Qun were team officers, they had been busy with these rough jobs for half a day, and it was only right to take some reward money. On the other hand, Wang Lifa and Wang Yun were somewhat unwilling, deciding that from now on, whatever orders Wu Shaotong gave would be carried out seriously, and they would even rush to carry them out.

  Li Wenqi and Chen Qun were both moved to tears, and after a week had passed, they finally saw the reward silver.

  Wu Shaotong looked at the expressions of the crowd and revealed a triumphant smile. Training these local soldiers was just like training pets, although this kind of benefit relationship was not reliable, but at least it could establish an atmosphere of clear rewards and punishments. Moreover, things had to be done step by step. He adjusted his posture and commanded: "Everyone, take a short rest, next I will teach you some reasonable combat postures."

  The soldiers all assumed a posture of rest, and their upper bodies could finally take a break.

  There were only eleven rifles in the rear guard, and the models were not uniform. Except for the eight Hanyang-made 1894-style standard-issue guns, two Manchester repeaters of unknown origin had one with a problem, and the last one was a bird gun that didn't have enough black powder. As for other weapons, there were cold weapons such as red-tasseled spears, chopping knives, and wooden knives. Originally, most of the cold weapons were rusty, but after Wu Shaozong's scolding, the soldiers ground them with whetstones overnight.

  "Wu Shao Ting said loudly: 'The method of assembling and stabbing cold weapons, I believe you are more familiar with it than me, so let's not mention it. Now I will only teach the combat movements of firearms.'"

  At this time, a soldier raised his hand.

  Wu Shaotong pointed at the soldier and said, "Very good, knows how to raise his hand to ask questions. Speak."

  The soldier received Wu Shaozhong's praise, and with a joyful heart, he said repeatedly: "Wu Daren, our sentry has only eleven firelocks, most of the comrades are still holding knives and spears. You only teach us the combat movements of firearms. In the future, when we go to the battlefield, only these eleven brothers will be useful, and we will not be useful."

  Wu Shaozhong said, "What you said is very good. The times have changed, swords and spears have been replaced by firearms, I believe that soon all military weapons will be replaced with more advanced firearms. In future battles, using these knives, guns, clubs and rods to fight against enemies with regular equipment, you will lose any advantage."

  He paused for a moment, then continued: "You can rest assured that if it really comes to your turn to go on the battlefield and fight in the vanguard, I will definitely request from above to issue rifles to you. In other words, as long as you don't have enough quick-firing guns, those above will not let you fight in the vanguard."

  Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this.

  Wu Shaotong then asked: "By the way, I want to ask how many of you still can't use firearms?"

  Among the soldiers, three or four young-looking men raised their hands.

  Shan Ziyang is an old army, in the past few years, it has participated in several bandit-suppressing and suppressing battles, so most soldiers have practiced gun operations. Only new recruits who have joined in recent years have not received training in this area because there are not enough guns in the camp.

  Wu Shaotong glanced at the young men and said, "Wang Lifa, Wang Yun, you two are in charge of teaching them how to use firearms! Use the spare time during training, within a limit of ten days, any questions?"

  Wang Lifa and Wang Yun thought this was an opportunity to show off, so they hastily replied in unison: "Guarantee the completion of the task."

  Wu Shaotong nodded slightly and shouted: "Those with guns, step forward. Hold your own guns in your hands."

  Eleven soldiers walked out of the ranks, including four team officers. These military officers were all veterans and would naturally fight for the best weapons for themselves.

  "Wu Shao Ting ordered: 'Now, use your usual action habits and launch a quick dash from here to that tree in front.'"

  These ten people hesitated for a moment, and the concept of rapid sprinting didn't even exist in their minds, let alone any ordinary action habits! However, the four team officers looked at each other, feeling that they should set an example, so they stopped thinking about it and ran forward with the guns in their hands.

  The other soldiers saw it and followed suit, closely following behind.

  The whole situation is like a running competition, especially during the running process, with various shooting postures.

  A group of people "rushed" and then quickly returned.

  Wu Shaotong's expression was very serious, and he shouted loudly: "If there had been a heavy machine gun near that tree just now, no, even if there were only three enemy soldiers with handheld guns, you would all have been done for. You, are you hungry? When running, you actually pointed the muzzle at your own chin, do you want to eat bullets? You, holding the gun on your shoulder, are you charging or retreating? And you, holding the gun upside down, when it comes time to organize firepower, your preparation will be slower than others by a beat."

  Everyone lowered their heads, looking wronged. Wu Shaotong waited for a while, thinking that someone would cry out in injustice, after all, they didn't know the correct way to act yet. However, after several minutes passed, these people still remained silent.

  He revealed a smile and said, "However, there's one thing you've done well. I haven't taught you the correct way to sprint yet, but you didn't complain when I scolded you just now! Of course, that's just on the surface. As for what's in your hearts, only heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I don't know!"

  The soldiers secretly let out a sigh of relief, and some were even amused by Wu Shaotong's words.

  "You remember, obedience is the nature of a soldier. Even if I am unreasonable, even if I am rude and violent, as long as I am your superior, you must obey."

  Wang Yun immediately raised his hand after hearing this.

  "Say."

  "Director Wu, it's true that subordinates should obey their superiors, but... what if your orders are wrong, or you ask us to do something that goes against heaven and reason? Should we still obey?" Wang Yun asked cautiously.

  "Good question!" Wu Shaotong's cold face said, "My answer is still obeying!"

  "This..."

  The soldiers all started a commotion, thinking Wu Shaotong might be too rigid.