Chapter 33: Generals Are Forged in Battle

  A true general is made through victory in battle after battle, and not by reading a few books on military strategy.

  Zhou Jian had a clear understanding of this, so he wanted to use this head-on battle to discover and find out the deficiencies and shortcomings in his deployment of troops. After all, without having gone through the test of the battlefield, he himself did not know what shortcomings and deficiencies there were in the tactics created by combining 21st-century special forces training methods with ancient cold-weapon era troop array methods.

  No one is born a general, real generals are all grown up in constantly summarizing experience and lessons.

  "Kill him!"

  "Kill all these goddamn government soldiers."

  Over a hundred mountain bandits charged forward with loud shouts, wielding all sorts of weapons and hacking wildly.

  "Vertical shield."

  Zhou Jian let out a loud shout, and the front row of swordsmen immediately raised their wooden shields to form a thick wall of shields. The hundreds of mountain bandits' wooden knives and bamboo swords hacked at it, producing dull thuds, but were completely unable to pierce the shield that was over an inch thick.

  "Long spear thrust."

  Without Zhou Jian's further orders, the team leader of the long gunners was a water bandit brought from Wuxian County. He let out a loud shout and one hundred long gunners immediately surged forward, under the cover of the knife shield soldiers, thrusting their guns to stab through the gaps in the shields.

  "Uh..."

  "Ah, my eyes..."

  A shrill, mournful cry suddenly shattered the air as more than thirty bandits fell to the ground with a pained wail under the long spear's thrust. The wounded bandits lay on the ground, letting out despairing cries, and the bandits' originally high morale suddenly plummeted.

  "Not good!"

  "Run quickly!"

  The mountain bandits behind saw this scene and were suddenly shocked and lost their color, where they dared to rush forward, threw away their weapons and ran.

  The mountain bandit leader at the forefront exerted himself to block two long spears, witnessing this scene, he couldn't help but burst into a rage, "Get back here, you sons of bitches! Whoever dares to retreat will have their whole family slaughtered by me!"

  The mountain bandits were ignored by everyone, and some of them even threw away their weapons and ran away in fear.

  Less than thirty people followed the scar-faced man, their eyes red as they charged forward.

  These mountain bandits are a true mob, with no discipline to speak of; their charges are merely driven by passion and bloodlust. Most of the bandits will turn tail and flee without hesitation once they realize how formidable the government troops are.

  Fear of death is human instinct, and not everyone can face life and death calmly.

  In the face of certain death, only those who have truly experienced the stormy weather and blood rain, with unshakeable faith and indomitable will, can overcome their fear of death and rise up to counterattack in desperate situations.

  And these mountain bandits are far from being Iron Blood warriors.

  Even if it's Zhou Jian's new army of a thousand men, although they are well-trained, they still fall far short of being true iron-blooded warriors.

  Even if the scar-faced man shouted hoarse, it was of no use.

  "You damned bunch of bastards—ahh!"

  The bandit leader's face turned ferocious, and he was so angry that he jumped up and down, cursing loudly. However, before he could finish his curses, two sharp long spears suddenly shot out from behind the shields like venomous snakes, one spear pierced through his chest, and the other spear pierced through his throat.

  The front row of halberdiers advanced steadily under the leadership of the team leader.

  Dozens of long spears were like a mouthful of sickles, continuously stabbing the mountain bandits who rushed up to death, like cutting grass.

  These new recruits had never killed anyone, and their eyes still held a fear of death. However, the strict military discipline had already been ingrained in their bones. With victory in sight, they were able to maintain a tight formation and advance forward without a single person daring to retreat.

  Over a hundred mountain bandits were either killed or fled in disarray, with the rest being quickly annihilated.

  The valley was filled with the sound of slaughter, and in the mountain stronghold, a porridge had already been cooked.

  Hundreds of mountain bandits who followed up heard that their leader had already died in battle, and they immediately panicked. Some brave ones loudly shouted to fight the government army to the death, while some cowards subconsciously ran back, and it was chaotic beyond control.

  Zhou Jian swiftly led his troops in a surprise attack, taking advantage of the opportunity to kill their way into the mountain stronghold and beheading all the bandits who refused to surrender.

  The entire battle lasted less than an hour before it came to a close.

  After counting the spoils of war, more than 200 mountain bandits were killed and over 300 were injured, with nearly 100 being seriously wounded.

  There were more than 500 robust men, and Zhou Jian prepared to recruit them all, incorporate them into the army for training.

  Jiang Qin hastily ran over and said: "Sir, there are still more than 2,000 old, weak, women and children in the mountain stronghold. How should we deal with them?"

  Zhou rubbed his temples, this was a problem. If they didn't do anything about it, after all the able-bodied men in the village were conscripted, he feared that no one would survive the winter, either freezing to death or starving to death.

  These old, weak women and children are all innocent civilians, who have no way out but to become bandits. Those who harm the poor people are strong men who go out to rob, while the old, weak women and children are innocent, leaving them to fend for themselves is really against my will.

  Zhou Jian thought for a moment and then resolutely said: "Send all of them back to their hometowns, settle them down with land and grain, and let them become self-sufficient."

  Chiang Qin let out a breath and said firmly: "Your subordinate obeys orders."

  It's not an easy task to resettle over 2,000 people, especially in the midst of a harsh winter. Not only do we need to provide food for these elderly, weak, women and children, but also build shelters for over 2,000 people. It sounds easy, but it's actually quite difficult.

  However, for now, the most important thing is to withdraw as soon as possible and avoid unnecessary disputes.

  The cold wind howled, and snowflakes had already begun to flutter in the air, making the sky even colder.

  Time waits for no man, and there was no extra time to let these bandits pack up their belongings. The commander led a thousand-strong army in forcing the more than two thousand people out of the valley, braving the swirling snowflakes as they rushed towards their destination.

  Fortunately, a heavy snowfall started, and the common people closed their doors, so even though they were on the road, they didn't attract attention.

  Back to myself, it's already midnight.

  More than two thousand bandits, with the elderly and children in tow, were not comparable to a well-trained army of one thousand, lightly armed and quick on their feet. Their pace was slow as a snail, and even slower when traversing open fields; they had only covered less than sixty miles but took more than three hours.

  It is impossible to declare to the public the use of troops across borders, otherwise it will leak out.

  These bandits came suddenly, and Zhou Jian couldn't let the county officials settle these more than 2,000 people, so he had to let Zhou Wu and Jiang Qin lead people to build temporary shelters twenty miles north of the county seat overnight.

  In order to prevent these bandits from causing trouble, a thousand new troops were also stationed here, implementing military control.

  After being busy for more than half a month, allocating grain and land, building houses and setting up stoves, the more than 2,000 bandits were finally settled.

  Zhou Jian also ordered Zhou Wu to select more than 5,000 robust men from the bandits and incorporate them into the army for training. The remaining elderly, weak, women and children would wait until the weather warmed up in spring, then open up wasteland and rely on labor to survive.

  The common people of this era are more adaptable to their environment and have a stronger will to live than those in later generations.

  More than 2,000 old and weak people may not be able to fight on the battlefield, but they can still farm and cultivate land without relying on others for support.

  As long as they are given enough land and the government does not force them into desperation, the common people of this era will not starve to death.

  And without those robust men who were accustomed to plundering, these old and weak people would not be able to stir up any trouble.

  County government back yard.

  Zhou Jian gathered Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Chen Fang, Zhou Wu and Jiang Qin to discuss matters.

  "Let's just talk about it!"

  Zhou Jian looked around at everyone and sighed, saying: "Through this campaign to suppress the bandits, have you all discovered what shortcomings there are in the training of our new army?"

  Zhou Wu spoke up first: "The new army lacks archers. If we encounter the enemy's longbowmen, we will be at a disadvantage."

  Zhou Jian nodded, he also realized this, but training archers and crossbowmen wasn't an easy task, it wasn't just a matter of picking up a bow and shooting arrows. "Anything else?"

  Jiang Qin thought for a moment and said, "I don't know if you've noticed, but the long spear soldiers and shield soldiers, although they cooperate with each other in a somewhat orderly manner, have an advantage when used to fight against infantry. However, if they are used to counter cavalry charges, they are not quite up to the task."

  Zhou Jian's eyes narrowed, and he had actually been thinking about the tactics of using infantry to deal with cavalry. Although there were many classic tactics in military books for using infantry to defeat cavalry, since there hadn't been any major battles in the Central Plains or Jianghuai region, he lacked real combat experience, so he never came up with a perfect plan. When he heard Jiang Qin mention it, he nodded and said: "This is one aspect, anything else?"

  Chiang Chin shook his head and replied: "No more."

  Zhou Jian inquired of others, but apart from Zhou Wu and Jiang Qin, no one else offered an opinion.

  Dian Wei and Xu Chu are both brave but lack strategy. Let them draw their swords to kill people, that's fine, but asking them to think is a bit too much for them.

  Chen Fang is not familiar with military affairs and has no suggestions to offer.

  Zhou Jianxin felt somewhat disappointed and deeply felt that his subordinates were not enough, Zhou Wu and Jiang Qin had some brains, but they had not experienced real battles and had not grown up, with little experience in the battlefield.

  Especially Zhou Wu, although his thoughts are meticulous and cautious, he lacks sufficient courage, and is more than enough to defend what has been achieved, but not enough to open up new possibilities.

  Personality is born, and it's very hard to change later in life.

  It's not that Zhou Wu is timid, the twenty followers are what kind of character Zhou Jian is very clear, under his hellish training can still come over, none of the twenty followers are timid and afraid of things.

  Zhou Wu is not bold enough, but rather lacks a pioneering consciousness and enterprising spirit from the subjective thinking.

  Such a character may be sufficient for defending, but if used to take the initiative, it will not be enough. Personality determines success or failure, without enough courage and enterprising spirit, being too cautious will lead to missing opportunities.

  Jiang Qin indeed has great potential. According to Zhou Jian's observation over the past year, Jiang Qin is not only meticulous but also brave enough. He is worth focusing on cultivating, however, since the world is at peace and there are no major battles, he has lacked opportunities.

  Zhou Jian tidied up his thoughts and looked around at everyone, asking: "For an army, what is the most important thing?"

  "An unyielding will to fight."

  "Morale of the troops."

  The rest of them, including Deng Ai, Xu Zhu and Chen Fang, furrowed their brows in deep thought, unsure of how to respond.

  Zhou Jian nodded and said, "Your two answers are almost the same, not bad. For an army, the most important thing is to have an invincible will. Only when the morale of the soldiers is unshaken can they possess the conditions to become an elite force. However, it's easy to say but hard to do. How can an army have an invincible will and an unshakeable morale?"

  "This..."

  Zhou Wu and Jiang Qin both had some difficulty speaking, this question was really too big, it's a bit hard to answer.

  There are many factors affecting military morale, which cannot be explained in just one or two sentences.

  Zhou Wu sank into thought for a moment before responding, "In my opinion, the most important thing to make an army invincible is the soldiers' ability to endure death and suffering."

  Zhou Jian did not give a definite answer and asked Jiang Qin, "What does Gong Yi think?"

  Chiang Chin hesitated and said: "I think Zhou Wu brothers are right."

  Zhou Jian asked Qu Wei, Xu Chu, Chen Fang and others. Qu Wei and Xu Chu were not used to thinking, let alone pondering such profound questions, and they scratched their heads in confusion, unsure of how to answer.

  Chen Fang also shook his head, really didn't know how to answer.

  "To make an army have an indomitable will, there are many factors, such as strict training in peacetime, severe military discipline, the commander's personal example, and incentives of fame and fortune. However, the most important thing is faith. Without faith, one's will is not firm. If an army does not have faith, how can it become an elite force?"

  "Marquis, what do you mean by this?"

  Jiang Qin and Chen Fang also looked puzzled, unable to understand why Zhou Jian had brought up faith again.

  Zhou Jian, from a later era, deeply understood the nature of humanity and the power of faith. He said calmly: "An army without faith is like a soldier who doesn't know why he's fighting. How can they have the determination to die for their cause or the conviction to win? Without the conviction to win, even if they've fought in mountains of corpses and seas of blood, the bravest soldiers can only be considered elite, but not truly iron-blooded warriors."

  Everyone heard this and fell into deep thought, frowning and pondering.

  Zhou Jian was also thinking that during the time of Emperor Wu of Han, the powerful Xiongnu Empire was destroyed by the Han army in one battle. This was because all the Han soldiers took pride in being Han people and had a psychological advantage over the minority groups, which gave them the confidence to win. They had a strong sense of fighting for the great Han, so they were able to defeat the Xiongnu, causing tens of thousands of Xiongnu troops to flee in disarray, with the remnants fleeing far away to the west.

  It's not just the pre-Han strong army, since Qin and Han dynasties, the Han people's military has been very powerful, it's because they have a firm belief, unlike in the Song and Ming dynasties, the Han people's blood was castrated, their faith was lost, they feared nomadic tribes like tigers, when facing nomadic cavalry, they didn't have the psychology of winning, that's why they were successively dominated by Mongolia and Manchu.

  The faith of the Great Han army is built on the sense of superiority of the Great Han nation in its treatment of foreign tribes.

  Because every Han person has an innate sense of superiority when facing ethnic minorities, every Han person thinks that the Great Han is the strongest nation, so the armies before Qin and Han could establish a faith in fighting for the Great Han, having an unshakeable conviction that the Great Han must win, with extremely strong combat effectiveness.

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  The first volume is finally over, and the next volume "Yellow Turban Rebellion" begins.