Chapter Twenty-Five: Arrayed Spears

  Li QIN finished the demonstration and didn't want the villagers to watch, so he took five soldiers to the other side of the forest, found a secluded spot, and continued to practice formation drills.

  Li Qian's way of training soldiers was different from the regular military training methods at the end of the Han Dynasty, and he didn't know how the regular army trained at that time.

  The training of Han Dynasty soldiers was mainly focused on individual combat, emphasizing personal bravery and heroism, which is why famous generals emerged, and they were skilled in single combat.

  Except for a very small number of generals, few commanders care about the overall way of fighting, but this is not to say that the generals do not understand the importance of overall combat, but are forced by the situation.

  Since the Han dynasty emperor beheaded Xiang Yu, emperors often did not allow military generals to hold troops for a long time. Even when they went on expeditions, eunuchs were sent as supervisors to monitor the generals. After the war, the generals would also hand over their military power in a timely manner to avoid being suspected of having treasonous intentions by the emperor.

  Once war breaks out, the army will mobilize tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops, but the outcome is often not ideal. They are often defeated by a smaller enemy force. Ten years later, with many heroes rising and fighting each other, this situation will become more and more common.

  Li was drilling his troops, although only five in number, but it was based on the basic starting point of overall combat, and because he was practicing in a exploratory way, so it was similar to the training methods of modern armies. Under the premise that the personal quality of the soldiers was not high, he could only forcibly require the soldiers to unconditionally obey his orders, and by severe punishment, make the soldiers form conditioned reflexes, thereby ensuring that his orders could be thoroughly executed. This kind of training method often produces an army that is purely a killing machine.

  However, Li Qin has no other choice now but to slowly explore and see what kind of soldiers he can train his men into. At least for the time being, he wants to cultivate these few soldiers in front of him as seeds and turn them into the backbone of his future forces.

  On the edge of the forest, Li QIN continued to drill the soldiers, but they still couldn't make their movements uniform and consistent, and every one of them had to suffer a whip on their buttocks.

  At noon, Li Qin took them home for lunch. During the meal, all five soldiers couldn't sit on stools and had to stand while eating. Shen Yi muttered to himself as he ate, "During training exercises, I didn't dare, but now that we're not training, if I don't mutter, it'll suffocate me."

  In the afternoon, they went to Linbian for exercises, but it was a practice of shooting skills. Li Qin demonstrated first again.

  "Holding the long spear, Li Qindao said: 'We practice spears not to fight one-on-one with our opponents, but to prepare for future battles. In peacetime, we sweat more, and in wartime, we bleed less. You see, when you thrust your spear, it must be level, swift, and straight, with the force reaching the tip of the spear, making a straight line. As for the target, I require you to aim at the enemy's right rib or the right side of their body as the entry point. After piercing the enemy's body, twist the spearhead to the right, then pull it out forcefully. When there are still enemies standing in front of you, do not allow yourself to give a finishing blow to those who have fallen to the ground!'"

  Having said that, he charged at a small tree, stabbed out with his spear, and stood up straight, saying: "If you have different opinions, now is the time to speak up."

  Among the five people, except for Xu Xiaoni, the other four can use guns and have a foundation. Xu Xiaoni belongs to Li Qian, whatever he asks him to do, he will follow suit, without any different opinions.

  After listening to Li QIN's explanation, Shen Yiwu and Wu Xiaosan nodded simultaneously. What Li QIN said was the way to deal with knife shield soldiers. Although they had not summarized it before, in their past battles, they all vaguely understood something.

  "Wu Xiaosan usually doesn't talk much, but now he says: 'Our archers need to be fierce, only then can we ensure that only the elite swordsmen can charge into our midst... Hmm, it's not necessary to be so cautious. I think no enemy army can form a phalanx like us, so even if their long spearmen charge into close combat, they won't come in formation. But we are in formation, so several stabs will take down several of them.'"

  Li QIN nodded and said: "That's right, but let's practice archery later. Now we have fewer people and our equipment is not complete, so we can't all practice at the same time."

  Jing Qi thought for a moment and said: "Why is it only pierced on the right side, what about the left?"

  Li Qindao said: "We are now few in number, when we have more people later, we can form two or three rows. The enemy's front and left sides can be stabbed by the people in the back row, as long as the people in the back row hold their guns high, without affecting the people in the front row from shooting."

  He paused, then continued: "Even if it's just one row, it doesn't matter. You see, if we come out with guns individually, we'll be stabbing the enemy in the right rib, but if we stand in a row, the long guns will come out together and form a cutting edge, which is the same as the cutting edge of a direct thrust, only the direction of the stab is different. The power of stabbing to the right is greater."

  The five of them nodded in unison, accepting this point of view, and then began to practice.

  As for spear, the five soldiers were quick to practice, after all, except for Xu Xiaoni, they all had a foundation, and Xu Xiaoni was a blank sheet of paper. What Li Qin drew on this sheet of paper was what it looked like. Although Xu Xiaoni's progress was slow, he was the most standard in terms of spear technique among everyone.

  The difficulty lies in how to make them draw their guns at the same time. Of course, under the whip's swing, this problem will soon be solved as well.

  In the late afternoon, Li Qin took them back to the village for dinner. After finishing their meal and resting for a while, he led the soldiers out again, taking them on a run around the village in circles, running three laps at a stretch, covering over ten miles, shouting as they ran.

  Li QIN shouted in front: "Supporting General!"

  The five people behind him must connect: "Brave to the end of the world!"

  Although this kind of shouting is a bit shameless, the effect is obvious. Every word shouted corresponds to one foot, just like shouting "one, two, three, four" while running, which makes their pace gradually unified and can increase momentum. It subtly gives soldiers an idea that they are the strongest army under heaven, and a sense of pride arises spontaneously, followed by a sense of belonging!

  Six people ran around the village, shouting and boasting, not only astonishing the villagers but also scaring the dogs in the village, which hid in the yards of various homes and barked wildly in protest.

  After running, the soldiers were already exhausted, and another day of training was added to run three more laps. Not only did their legs ache, but their buttocks also ached, and everyone had been whipped dozens of times, except for Li Qinfang who beat people up.

  Jing Qi returned to the city weak and exhausted. He stayed with Wu Xiao San and others, and Li Qin only allowed them to sleep after they had washed their feet and faces.

  The sky was pitch black, and the bright moon rose. Li Qin stood outside the yard, listening to the snoring sounds from inside the house, thinking: "This time it's not fake. They're so tired, they won't have any thoughts of running away again. After a long time, when they have a sense of belonging, even if I drive them out, they won't leave."

  He turned back to his own house, took out his bow and arrow, and led out his black horse. He rode the horse out of the village, practiced riding skills, went to the forest to practice archery, and after an hour, he rode the horse back. To be better than others, one must work harder than others, Li QIN understood this principle very well.

  The next day, he got up first again and, just like the day before, called out to the soldiers, finished washing and eating, and took them to the edge of the forest for training. But this time, it was no longer a case of one person making a mistake and everyone being punished together; instead, whoever made a mistake was pulled out, and those who did well were given an extra bowl of mutton soup at noon as a reward. As a result, the soldiers feared that they would not be able to keep up with others, so they practiced even harder, and even Shen Yi no longer fooled around, focusing solely on training.

  On the third day, Li Qindu added a requirement that during training, soldiers were not allowed to show any emotions. They were not allowed to laugh when they were happy, nor get angry when they were angry. As long as they held their guns and stood in formation, they were not allowed to show any joy or anger. At first, this was difficult to achieve, but after a few lashes with the whip, the soldiers got used to it. They became silent and mechanical, executing Li Qindu's orders without any expression, even if they had complaints, they could only vent them through their gun barrels!

  In just three days, even if Li QIN worked hard and his soldiers made rapid progress, they could only barely be considered to have a basic scale. But there was one thing that Li QIN was absolutely confident about: his soldiers marched in unison, at least they wouldn't step on each other's feet, and when shouting slogans, it was loud and neat. Li QIN believed that no one else's soldiers could do this.

  That night, Li QIN no longer let the soldiers run around the village, but instead had a meeting to discuss how to make a good impression during the big exercise. If they could make a good impression, they might be able to get more military rations, which would be a practical benefit.

  After everyone had eaten, they gathered in a circle in Li's courtyard, either squatting or standing, and held the first plenary meeting of the Horned Army.

  Li QIN asked: "Tomorrow after everyone has recognized each other, they will definitely want to try something. What do you usually compare? Do you know?"

  Jing Qi said: "I know, it's a game of Cuju. After recognizing the players' heads, each team will send out one team, with 12 people on each team. The winning team eats first, and the losing team eats later. After eating, they disperse and go their separate ways. As for Cuju, I'm absolutely proficient in it! When my grandfather was alive, our family hadn't declined yet, and we even had a Cuju guest. In my childhood, I saw what high kicks were like - the ball wouldn't fall to the ground all day long! Wherever you wanted to kick the ball, that's where it would go. I followed and learned for two years, and usually played with others. I was always invincible... with my feet!"

  He spoke of jū kè, similar to football stars in later generations, who could receive support from the wealthy families just by playing ball well, and belonged to a type of food guest.

  Li Qian furrowed his brow, thinking to himself: "I thought it was about formation or something, but it's actually about Cuju. The silk book records the Daoyin technique, which includes Cuju, but it's recorded under horse riding techniques. I didn't understand it back then and still don't now. Is Cuju really that important? Isn't this just ancient football?"

  After some thought, Li Qin said: "If we choose people from Shili, our Shili Jingqi will be fine. However, this may not show the overall strength of our Shili, I've thought of a way, let's hear it out, if it's suitable, we'll do it!" He spoke out the method he had come up with.

  Everyone laughed after hearing this. Wu Xiaosan smiled and said, "This is a bit embarrassing, isn't it? It's like flattering in public!"

  Shen Yi said: "Will it work? If it does, then let's do it this way. As long as we can get more military rations, I'm willing to do whatever."

  Jing Qi and Wu Danzi burst out laughing together, Xu Xiaoni saw everyone laughing, he also followed suit, but in his heart, he thought: "Is it that simple? Shouting a few times can make you seem stronger than others?"

  ——

  Xiao Qin's army, magnificently thrust to the right! Sincerely and sincerely asking for support from brothers and sisters, as long as you can click on the collection "Master", vote for recommendation for "Master", it will bring unparalleled surprise and motivation to Ping An, thank you all, Ping An is grateful!