Chapter 26: Troops Are Valuable for Their Quality Not Quantity

  （0026）

  In order to enhance training effectiveness as soon as possible, Zhang Zhun adopted a more rigorous training method.

  Three drills and two lectures, this is definitely indispensable. The current troops are already a truly professional army, and they must be strictly bound by the requirements of a truly professional army. Various forms of training and colorful ideological education are the basic guarantee of combat effectiveness.

  Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army, except for the core of several thousand people, other soldiers were all armed farmers who had not received any professional training. They could win battles when they had the upper hand, but as soon as they encountered unfavorable situations, they would immediately scatter and suffer heavy casualties. Sun Chuanting, Lu Xiangsheng, Hong Chengchou and others had all used several thousand elite government troops to defeat the peasant army, causing them to flee in disarray. The lesson from this was extremely profound.

  Soldiers are valued for their quality, not their quantity.

  It's always like this.

  If the Ming dynasty is ruthless, it will cut down the troops on the nine borders, select the best and eliminate the worst, condense tens of millions of border troops into about 100,000 elite troops. Not only can this solve the major problem of lack of food and salary, but also make the equipment, training and combat effectiveness of the troops more advanced. Such an elite army is not impossible to compete with the Manchu Eight Banners.

  The Guanning Iron Cavalry had only 20,000 men and had once made the Emperor Taizong spit blood. The Ming Dynasty had a large population, but the Later Jin had only tens of millions of people. Even if the Ming Dynasty used ten soldiers to exchange for one of theirs, it would be enough to make the Later Jin extinct. Unfortunately, Emperor Chongzhen did not have this courage, and the Donglin Party was just a group of boastful people, so the Ming Dynasty ultimately perished in this way.

  An army that cannot fight is better left unled.

  Zhang Zhun from later generations deeply understands this.

  The Qi family army, which was once known for shaking the heavens, only had a small drill every three days and a large drill every five days. Now, the guard team has to practice every day. From this point alone, the guard team is more professional than the Qi family army. In terms of combat effectiveness, Zhang Zhun has deep confidence.

  But this is still not enough.

  Time waits for no man.

  Zhang Jun didn't have much time to train the guards in an orderly and leisurely manner.

  He wants his troops to grow up faster.

  The revenge of Fushan City will come at any time, and the guards may fight with the enemy at any time. The outside world is also changing rapidly, Houjin will soon become Daqing, and Li Zicheng will soon officially emerge. Since coming to this world, it is inevitable to get involved with these historical giants. Unless you are willing to crawl under their feet, otherwise, intense confrontation is inevitable.

  Are you willing to crawl under the other person's feet?

  The answer is self-evident.

  Since it is impossible to crawl under the other's feet, force is the best means of self-preservation.

  Therefore, Zhang Zhun adopted some very special training methods, focusing on strengthening the confrontation between people. In short, it is to enhance the feeling of actual combat. All training is for the service of battle, not for looking good, not for performance, and not for self-indulgence.

  The guard consisted of eighty men, who were divided into two teams that faced each other.

  Zhang Zhun had them prepare bamboo spears, one end sharpened and the other blunt. They took off their clothes, wrapped the blunt ends well, and then applied slaked lime on top, which was a weapon for mutual defense. Mount Fu was lacking in everything except slaked lime.

  "Those who have been poked by the ink pad will automatically withdraw."

  "The team that just lost, continue training!"

  "The winning team can rest and also get an extra fish!"

  Zhang Zhun announced the rules of the competition.

  The team members were eager to give it a try.

  "Let's start!"

  Zhang Jun gave an order, and artificially created a fierce confrontation.

  The two teams immediately started fighting.

  After this period of training, the main team members' spear skills have reached a high level, whether it's the long bamboo spear or the short three-edged spear, they are all very proficient. Each member of the guard team is clear that they will be facing a formidable enemy. Once they encounter the enemy, it's a real life-and-death struggle, and there can't be any illusions about luck. Only by continuously improving their own combat strength can they survive on the cruel battlefield.

  In fact, every time the two of them talked, Zhang Zhun would use cold, hard facts to shatter everyone's illusions. In a chaotic world like the late Ming dynasty, entrusting one's fate to others was absolutely miserable. This world had countless Wang Shixin, even if they killed one Wang Shixin, there were still more Wang Shixins. Only by eliminating all enemies could everyone truly live in peace.

  What method can be used to eliminate all enemies?

  Of course it is by force, violence must be used.

  Physically eliminating the enemy is the fundamental way to solve problems.

  To be honest, Zhang Zhun's two lectures were extremely biased, clearly carrying the resentment of having crossed over from a previous life. However, the guards liked it, and the military households liked it too. They had been suppressing their pain for too long, and now they wanted to release it. Slaughter was undoubtedly the simplest and most direct way.

  From one extreme to another, this is the biggest psychological characteristic of Zhang Quan and Yang Jiatun's military household. Unless the suppressed pain and suffering deep in their hearts have been painfully released, they will not easily realize their own shortcomings. Li Jiaxi and others are the most prominent, with a strong enthusiasm for killing.

  "Forward thrust!"

  "Left jab!"

  "Down thrust!"

  ……

  When one rises, another falls.

  The two teams, led by Yang Zhiyuan on the left and Hao Linyong on the right, were divided. It's not that the two men had the most outstanding assassination skills, but rather they grasped Chairman Mao's military thinking the fastest, basically touching the essence.

  Although there is no baptism of real combat, it is impossible to truly measure the level of both sides, but Zhang Zhun believes that in the future when they really fight, neither of them will be at a disadvantage. Guerrilla warfare, sparrow warfare, mobile warfare, this is originally an unbeatable tactic!

  At least half of the people were marked with a white dot after the first round of mutual stabbing.

  Facing such a ferocious assassination, wanting to block the bamboo spear is indeed not an easy task, even for the guards themselves. The team member who was stabbed could only regretfully withdraw and join the audience.

  One way, no return, sacrifice for the sake of benevolence, this is Zhang Jun's basic requirement for assassination.

  In short, once you fire a shot, you must be mentally prepared to sacrifice yourself if it doesn't succeed.

  If you can't kill others, you may be killed by your enemy!

  So, it must be done with one fatal blow!

  Don't ask about the process, just ask about the result.

  Those who fall down are failures, while those who stand up can write history!

  "Round two!"

  Zhang said with an expressionless face.

  The remaining two teams of warriors started fighting again.

  This time, all that's left are masters.

  Yang Zhiyuan and Hao Linyong are even more high-handed among the high-handed.

  The battle was extremely fierce, with people constantly being hit and eliminated from the competition.

  Finally, Yang Zhiyuan's side was left with only five people, but the five people hugged each other in a group, back to back, bamboo spears facing outward, taking turns covering and defending tightly, without giving Hao Linyong's side any chance.

  On the contrary, Hao Linyong's side was a bit anxious. Although there were nine people with an absolute advantage in military strength, facing Yang Zhiyuan and others' dense defense, it felt like a mouse pulling a turtle, unable to make a move.

  "Playing dumb!"

  Hao Linyong couldn't help but shout out.

  Yang Zhiyuan just didn't make a sound.

  Hao Linyong and others couldn't find an opportunity, so they had to rush in and try to forcibly disperse the opponent's team. As a result, as soon as two people rushed up, they were stabbed by Yang Zhiyuan's side and had to withdraw from the competition with full regret and dissatisfaction.

  Five to seven.

  After losing two people, Hao Linyong became calm instead and waved his hand to let the people on his side stop attacking. Yang Zhiyuan didn't move, neither did they.

  Yang Zhiyuan and others let out a sigh of relief.

  The two sides ended in a draw, and the result was still acceptable.

  Hao Linyong waved his hand and let his companions put down their weapons, apparently wanting to end the battle.

  Yang Zhiyuan and others also dropped their weapons.

  "Kill!"

  But at this moment, Hao Linyong suddenly shouted loudly.

  Seven people who had given up fighting suddenly picked up their weapons again and charged towards their target with a desperate stab.

  Yang Zhiyuan and others were caught off guard and didn't even have time to pick up their weapons.

  The result is predictable.

  All five people were stabbed.

  Failure!

  "You're cheating!"

  "Captain, Hao Linyong is being unreasonable!"

  Yang Zhiyuan shouted in anger.

  Everyone has already tacitly agreed to put down their weapons, but you're still picking up your weapon and continuing to fight. What's going on here? Who plays like this?

  "Soldiers don't mind deceit!"

  "The captain hasn't announced the end of the game!"

  Hao Linyong didn't think there was anything wrong with it at all.

  Yang Zhiyuan was very unconvinced and came to find Zhang Zhun to argue with him.

  "Did you hear me declare the match over?" Zhang Quan said in a low voice.

  Yang Zhiyuan was suddenly speechless.

  Zhang Zhun said coldly, "Since the game is not over yet, you are still on the battlefield. You put down your weapons on the battlefield and were deceived by others, killed by others, do you think you have any reason to shout unfair? No! Even if you have a great dissatisfaction, you can only appeal to King Yan!"

  The whole audience was silent as if all the birds had stopped chirping.

  Yang Zhiyuan and others were pale with anger, unwilling to admit defeat, but had to acknowledge that they had indeed failed. If it were on a real battlefield, they would have become cold corpses, and even if they had a great grievance, they could only appeal to the King of Hell.

  Zhang Zuans gaze swept across, and he said in a deep voice: "Do you know what the uprising army in Shaanxi is best at?"

  The warriors of the guard corps looked at each other in dismay, all feeling very strange.

  How did the captain suddenly get involved with the Shaanxi uprising army?

  "Play dead! The greatest skill of the Shaanxi insurgent army is to play dead! Every time they are at a disadvantage, the insurgents will accept the imperial court's amnesty and obtain food and supplies from the government troops. After eating their fill, drinking enough, and regaining their strength, they immediately take up arms again and resume fighting against the government troops."

  Yang Zhiyuan swallowed hard.

  Hao Linyong smiled triumphantly.

  Zhang Zhun looked at Hao Linyong and said solemnly, "You've used some clever tactics, worthy of praise. However, in terms of tactical level, you're not as good as Hu Tou."

  Hao Linyong acknowledged this point and smiled without denying it.

  Yang Zhiyuan said: "Next time I won't fall for your trick, let's see how you can win me then."

  "The real battlefield only happens once! There is never a next time!"

  Yang Zhiyuan was solemn again.

  [At least 6,000 words updated every day~~~]