Chapter Thirty: Array (Seeking Recommendations)

  In ancient times, most soldiers had little culture and had not learned any martial arts. Anything too complicated was not suitable for the soldiers to learn, so Pang Tong let the soldiers practice only one move, that is, "thrust spear!" This move was done well, it can defend tightly, be beneficial to attack, and give the enemy a spiritual threat.

  The action of "bayonet charge" consists of two steps. The first step is to turn sideways and hold the gun, and the second step is to thrust forward with force. From then on, let them practice these two actions repeatedly every day until their movements become standardized, fast, and conditioned reflexes are formed.

  As for the soldiers practicing knife skills, they also practice only one move, divided into two steps: first, lift the knife; second, slash diagonally. The action of lifting the knife must meet standards, and the angle of the slashing motion is also strictly regulated.

  In this way, the training went on until October. After three months of training, the soldiers had made rapid progress in physical strength, spirit and willpower.

  At this time, the northern land had already begun to cool down slowly, and the grain that was planted in June had also reached the harvest season. However, Pang Gang's training of his soldiers did not stop, because there was always an inexplicable sense of crisis bothering him. By October, with nearly a hundred refugees coming to join, Pang Gang recruited another 120 soldiers, so now Wanghai Fortress had 240 soldiers, which could be considered as having the power to defend against ordinary bandits and robbers.

  Still on the school grounds, the north wind was gently blowing, and Pang Gang stood upright in the center of the school grounds. In front of him stood row upon row of helmeted and armored soldiers, their chain mail gleaming with a faint light under the dim sunlight.

  Looking at the neatly lined up soldiers, Pang Gang shouted: "Prepare!"

  "Ah!" The crowd stood up straight!

  Pang Gang shouted again: "Raise your guns!"

  "Kill!"

  Over a hundred long guns protruded at once, the scene was quite magnificent, and there was also a thread of cold murderous aura.

  "Draw your sword!"

  "Kill!"

  A burst of angry roars, a flash of knife lights rose, leaving only sixty soldiers with knives, but their neat and uniform movements also gave a stunning visual effect. The flashes of knife light came down diagonally, and in the gentle breeze, they also had a sharp and fierce momentum.

  After training for a while, Pang Gang picked up a rifle and walked in front of everyone. With a "bang" sound, he made a bayonet gesture and said loudly: "When holding a gun, make sure to do the preparatory action well, when facing the enemy, you must stare at each other with anger, this will make the enemy tremble with fear, otherwise it will boost the enemy's morale. Therefore, when 'preparing to use the gun', you must ensure that your actions are correct and powerful, spirited and majestic. When lifting the gun, the muzzle is slightly to the left, the tip of the gun is about the same height as the throat, and in line with the left eye, both eyes gaze at the enemy."

  "The key points of the preparatory gun movement can be summarized as: "Press top send, two simultaneous, general high". Press top send refers to using the tiger mouth's pressure and four fingers' top force to send out the gun; Two simultaneous means that turning the body, stepping out, and shooting should be done simultaneously, and both hands holding the gun should also be simultaneous; General high means that the gun tip is approximately at the same height as the throat. When hearing the command "gun put down", with the right foot palm as the axis, the body turns half to the left, while quickly retracting the left foot, the left hand hands over the gun to the right hand, forming a standing-at-attention posture holding the gun..."

  As for the ancient gun method, Pang Gang was not aware of it, and there was no real expert in using guns inside Wang Hai Fortress. Pang Gang had to recall the tricks he learned from his old comrades-in-arms when they were idle and bored, and taught them all one by one to these soldiers, but it seemed that the effect was not bad!

  "Raise your guns!"

  "Kill."

  "Draw your sword!"

  "Kill, kill, kill!"

  "Remember, all of you, the enemy is right in front of us, the Qing dynasty's barbarians are right in front of us. You don't need to put on a show with your guns or pretend to be brave. All you need to do is stab, stab with all your might, and stab quickly. If you can stab faster and more ruthlessly than they can, then you'll be able to survive! The battlefield is a place where only the ruthless win, those bandits and barbarians won't reason with you, if you want to stay alive there's only one way: kill every enemy in front of you!"

  Pang Gang walked back and forth in the ranks with a dark face, and if he saw anyone's movements were not good, he would immediately hit them with a stick without mercy, even if it was Da Zhuang or Wang Zhi, who had been following him for the longest time. The phrase "Mercy does not control the army" is an iron law of leading troops that has been passed down since ancient times.

  In the training of the mighty Six Ancestors, it is notorious that whoever cannot withstand it can speak out or quit. However, there is only one condition: from then on, you are no longer a person of Wanghai Fortress, and neither you nor your family will be able to enjoy any treatment from Wanghai Fortress again.

  This is the most deadly, these soldiers who entered Wanghai Fort are what, can't they just eat and wear warm clothes? Now in Wanghai Fort everything can be enjoyed, and it's about to be autumn harvest day, if because of not being able to bear hardship and being driven back with tails between their legs, not only will the land that was about to be distributed fly away, but the whole family will have to go hungry. Therefore, even if it's bitter, none of these selected soldiers want to quit.

  Apart from the password, Pang Gang also invited an old veteran to teach the soldiers how to listen for drumbeats and flag commands, as they may also fight alongside other Ming troops in the future, and such training is indispensable.

  But in the long gunner's formation training, Pang Gang encountered difficulties. At this time, Pang Gang was empty-handed and had no one with experience in leading troops under his command. He didn't know any of the formations like Mei Hua Zhen, San Cai Zhen, or Yuan Yang Zhen used by the Ming army. With no other choice, Pang Gang could only borrow from the Macedonian phalanx formation he had seen before to train his troops.

  The essence and advantage of the Macedonian phalanx tactics lies in the fact that all soldiers work together, advance together, and those who retreat will be severely punished. This is consistent with the traditional Chinese saying "列堂堂之阵，千百人列队而前，勇者不得先，怯者不得后".

  Of course, the Macedonian phalanx also has its weaknesses, that is, their flanks are very weak. Pang Jian naturally knows this, but he will think of ways to overcome it later. He chose the Macedonian phalanx formation to train his soldiers in order to cultivate their coordination and discipline. On the battlefield, as long as the officer gives an order, even if it means death, you must die on the road forward, which is especially important.

  "Knock knock knock knock..."

  The drums of gathering troops sounded, and the soldiers who heard the order quickly formed into row upon row of long queues. They tightly grasped their long spears, with sixty men in each row, two hundred and forty people divided into four rows, and each person was closely connected to one another. Listening to the drumbeat, they marched forward in unison. The last row of the formation was the knife shield hand.

  After months of training and countless big sticks teachings, the soldiers have formed a conditioned reflex to the drumbeat and oral orders, because they know that if one person makes a mistake, the whole team will be punished. As long gunners, they can only exert their greatest strength when united.

  "Fire!"

  "Whoosh..." A forest of long spears was raised up.

  "Forward!"

  "Knock knock knock..."

  The drums sounded, and the soldiers moved forward in rhythm with the drumbeat. Although there were only over 200 people, they gave the feeling of being as heavy as a great mountain!

  "Just take this team out to see blood once and it's a good soldier!" Looking at the team advancing in an orderly manner, Pang Gang nodded in satisfaction and thought secretly, "The bandits of Wangjiatun have been tolerated by me for a long time, and soon I will clean them up."