Chapter 40: The Imperial Guard Camp

  Overcast.

  This small county located on the banks of the Wei River has a total of over 1,000 households, with a registered population of 3,423 people in the Qin state's household registration. Among them: 947 males, 1,387 females, and the rest are children under the age of 17.

  Compared with other places in Yingchuan County, Pingyin has a sparse population. The county's hills and mountains are undulating, and the Wei River runs through it, making it an ideal place for military training. The clear streams flowing from the Tongbai Mountains nourish the vast lands of Yingchuan County before converging into the turbulent Yangtze River, which eventually merges with the ocean in Donghai County.

  Li Yuan decided to choose Pingyin as his base after advancing eastward, where he would train a special operations force capable of executing reconnaissance, rescue, assassination, eavesdropping, sabotage, and decapitation missions in all-weather environments.

  Irregular asymmetric warfare has become the main mode of modernized military operations between nations, and North Korea and the United States are the most obvious examples. Although my strength is not as strong as yours, and my ships are not as many as yours, I have nuclear weapons and missiles, so even if I can't beat you, I can still scare you!

  Now, in the Guandong region, anti-Qin vassals are emerging like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, wave after wave. Although the two main forces of the Qin army led by Zhang Han and Wang Li are very brave, if there is any accident, the empty Qin Empire will immediately fall into a state of disintegration.

  In a situation where he was at a disadvantage in all aspects, Li Yuan did not give up. He decided to rely on his own brain and efforts to establish an elite team that truly belonged to him, one that was more elite than the Wei Wu troops trained by Wu Qi.

  In Daliang, he lacked soldiers and generals, and could only pick the taller ones from among the dwarfs. Gan Houbao and Zhou Xing were loyal and dedicated, but in terms of ability, they were still insufficient, so Wang Shang thought there was still room for development; when they arrived at Baima, just as they had set up a recruitment banner, Liu Bang's army came over to attack.

  Now, finally having the time, sufficient authority, and a selection of elite soldiers from among thousands, Li Yuan's first wish was to cultivate an elite army, no matter what. When the time comes, whether it is Liu Bang or Xiang Yu, if they want to make a move, just let them come!

  ——。

  Water's edge, marshland.

  Li Yuanjun's wilderness survival training will last for ten whole days, and these ten days will be an unforgettable experience for the 300 participating guards.

  After Gu Yun left, Li Yuan immediately brought his soldiers to this swampy area. Before, he was a soldier; now, he is an instructor.

  What he says goes.

  Three hundred Qin soldiers stood in a dense, black phalanx formation. They came from different units of the Sanchuan County troops. Among them, some were skilled in horsemanship, some excelled at crossbow shooting, some had great endurance, and others were quick-witted. Of course, there were also those who relied on brute strength, with boundless energy.

  They went through layers of selection and are now the personal soldiers of General Li Yuan, they came to learn from General Li the skills of killing enemies on the battlefield.

  Heroes will always have blind idols, and this is the case in both ancient and modern times. For young Qin army officers, they used to worship the God of War Bai Qi, and worship famous generals such as Wang Jian, Wang Ben, and Meng Tian. Now, in their eyes, there was only Li Yuan, who was younger and more real than those famous people.

  Facing pairs of eyes filled with reverence and expectation, Li Yuan stood up straight, his head held high, looking at the distant mountains layered in peaks, his expression solemn and majestic.

  "You are the bravest soldiers of Great Qin, you are the troops I, Li Yuan, brought out, you are the best warriors, don't you yourselves say so?"

  No soldier responded, and except for the sound of the wind blowing through the treetops, there was only heavy breathing. Such face-to-face lectures may be common in later generations, with some leaders speaking for one or two hours at a time, but during the Qin dynasty, such lectures were almost unheard of.

  "Are you all cowards? Lift your heads up, dare to look into my eyes and say yes?" Li Yuan said loudly, his expression becoming somewhat ferocious. To train a group of new recruits into excellent special forces soldiers, the first thing was to make them confident.

  "Report to the commander, we are not——!" At first, it was just a few scattered voices responding in hushed tones. Gradually, more and more soldiers joined in, their voices growing louder and louder.

  "It's nothing, I didn't hear it clearly!" Li Yuan continued to provoke.

  "We are not cowards, we are heroes, the brave warriors of Qin!" One by one, the young Qin soldiers went wild with shouting under Li Yuan's continuous verbal provocation.

  The soldiers of the Qin state originally did not need so many passionate speeches to mobilize them, just one order and the whole army would charge out, with swords drawn, invincible wherever they went, but now such scenes are hardly seen anymore.

  If we lose our lives, who will take care of our wives and children at home? The officials of the Great Qin Empire are looking forward to flattering high-ranking officials in the court for opportunities to advance, who would think about the life or death of ordinary soldiers. The Qin soldiers who have lost their original motivation no longer have the conviction to fight for whom and why.

  Li Yuan now needs to use new sense of honor and responsibility to awaken the courage and confidence of his soldiers. At the same time, he will solemnly promise to the generals under his command that as long as they make their greatest efforts and fight with all their might, Li Yuan will never let the blood of brave warriors flow in vain, nor let their living relatives shed blood and sweat.

  "Warriors, to prove that you are not cowards in words only, next, I will lead you into the forest, swamp, deep mountains and canyons, walking through every place where people rarely set foot. You will face all kinds of hardships and dangers that you have never experienced before. Are you ready?" Li Yuan raised his right hand, tightly clenched into a fist.

  "Yes!" This time, the response of the three hundred soldiers was neat and loud. In the midst of life and death, a promise is worth a thousand gold coins. At this moment, the loyal guards who chose to follow Li Yuan solemnly made an oath in their hearts.

  Carrying heavy loads for long-distance training in the wilderness, Li Yuan led the way at the front, and the weight on his body was not less than that of the soldiers.

  For Li Yuan, it was a nostalgic journey to revisit the past. For the 300 soldiers, it was an unforgettable and arduous march. Although they were physically strong and had good running speed, many of them still fell behind in the face of high-intensity endurance training.

  Those who cannot adapt will be eliminated.

  In the following days, the guards will undergo rigorous training in various aspects such as standing at attention in cold winds, night raids, wilderness survival, free combat, crossbow, and marksmanship. Although ten days is not a long time, Li Yuan has confidence that after this period of training, the tactical literacy of these guards will be significantly improved.

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