Three Kingdoms New Lü Bu

  On the second day, Lü Bu ordered Zhang Liao to post recruitment notices. The border counties had military officers bringing troops of up to 500 men, but it was difficult to recruit that many people in Shuofang and they could not afford to support so many, so they just tried to recruit as many as possible. There were not many provisions in the army, so Lü Bu asked Gao Shun: "Are there any wealthy families in the county?"

  Gao Shun replied: "There is a Wei family household that is a distant relative of ours. They have some stored grain."

  Lü Bu said: "In that case, you can take Wei Xu to lead some cattle and sheep to exchange for some money and grain. I will recruit soldiers today, which can be used to pay the military salary."

  Gao Shun led the order and left. Later, Lü Bu ordered Cao Xing to go to the iron shop to convey his orders, requiring the blacksmiths to speed up the manufacture of weapons and accelerate the production of bows and arrows. Only then did he take Cheng Lian to stand outside the gate, set up a signboard, and wait for strong men to come and enlist.

  The Shuofang issued a recruitment notice, proposing military pay and treatment that would be better than the original food ration. There were two reasons for this: firstly, to seek a mouthful of food; secondly, being a soldier in Shuofang was stronger than farming or herding. For the original county residents, when the Xianbei people came to kill, at least those who joined the army would know the news first and could escape quickly. However, they did not know that Lü Bu had no intention of escaping. Therefore, as soon as the notice was issued, more than 100 people came to respond. At present, Lü Bu has some military funds, but there are only over 50 horses. So he carefully selected 25 strong men who could ride horses to form a cavalry. He recruited 75 reserve riders and infantrymen to serve as garrison soldiers. The rest were not suitable for Lü Bu's requirements and were not employed. As a result, Shuofang had old and new soldiers, including officials, with a total of 40 riders, 75 reserve riders and infantrymen.

  As for how to train new recruits, Lü Bu had known since his time in the army that the most cruel but effective way was actual combat. Now, after several days of fighting, Lü Bu truly understood the reliability of this method. Gao Shun, Zhang Ba and others, as well as himself, were the best proof. After several rounds of brutal fighting, Lü Bu could clearly see the difference between his current self and the person he was when he first arrived a few days ago.

  So Lü Bu decided to train the new recruits for a few days before taking them out on a raid. For new soldiers, raids were the best form of combat training.

  Lü Bu trained his troops not in the way that Gao Shun did now, but with the intensified training method he had suffered from when he was a soldier. Lü Bu himself led forty new and old cavalrymen, leaving more than ten horses to be handed over to Gao Shun, who used these more than ten horses to train the remaining seventy-five new soldiers.

  Lü Bu's initial training was simple, but very strict. First was military law, first explaining the military law to each new and old cavalryman, then executing it. Once a violation of the military law was discovered, double punishment was given.

  Lü Bu gathered the good people, and Gao Shun also brought back half of the cattle and sheep exchanged for money and grain. Lü Bu then ordered Gao Shun to distribute the money and grain to the soldiers. Each soldier saw that they could receive their military pay as soon as they returned from battle, and everyone was smiling with joy. Lü Bu sat on his horse, a sly smile spreading across his face, watching all of this.

  After everyone had received their military pay, Lü Bu asked the 125 soldiers: "Everyone has received their military pay. Is there anyone who hasn't?"

  Everyone laughed and said in a disorderly manner: "Have all received...".

  Lü Bu sneered: "You have already received my army's pay. From this moment on, all of you are the soldiers of the Northern Frontier Army. I am the Marquis of the Northern Frontier Army, and from now on, you must obey my military orders. Anyone who disobeys my orders will be severely punished without leniency. Do you understand?"

  Everyone again all mixed up and returned: "Heard clearly......"

  "Lü Bu's voice was stern: 'My first military order is that anyone who disobeys will be punished along with their comrades. If one soldier disobeys, the entire squad will be punished together. If a squad disobeys, the squad leader will also be punished.' Where are Gao Shun and Wei Xu?"

  Gao Shun and Wei Xu led their cavalry out of the pass: "Gao Shun is here." "Wei Xu is here."

  Lü Bu ordered: "From now on, Gao Shun will be the reserve cavalry of 75 people stationed in Chang'an, and he will command the reserve cavalry. He will train the reserve cavalry soldiers and miscellaneous affairs of the city defense of Shuofang. Wei Xu will be the assistant to the garrison commander and assist him."

  Gao Shun and Wei Xu's voices responded in unison: "Yes."

  Lü Bu shouted again: "Where are Zang Ba and Cao Xing?"

  Zang Ba and Cao Xing rode out: "Zang Ba is here." "Cao Xing is here."

  Lü Bu ordered: "From now on, Zhang Liao will be the commander of the cavalry, Cao Xing will be the deputy commander, and they will lead the cavalry to follow me."

  Zang Ba and Cao Xingli responded in unison: "Yes."

  Lü Bu shouted again: "Where is Cheng Lian?"

  Cheng Lian rode his horse out of the path and said: "Cheng Lian is here."

  Lü Bu ordered: "From now on, Cheng Lian will be my personal bodyguard. You go and select four cavalrymen to form a personal guard unit. You will be the captain of this unit."

  Cheng Lian heard this and replied: "Yes." He then rode his horse to the cavalry unit and selected four cavalrymen.

  Lü Bu then said to Gao Shun, Zhang Liao and the others: "From now on, the army of Xiapi will be reorganized. Five men will form a squad, five squads will form a company, five companies will form a battalion, and five battalions will form a division. Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, you two go and choose the squad leaders and company commanders."

  Gao Shun and Zang Ba each went to their respective troops to select the team leaders and captains. After a while, they finally selected the right people and returned to report back. Lü Bu then ordered the two of them to instruct the team leaders and captains to choose their own teams and soldiers. Lü Bu sat on his horse watching as just this selection of team leaders and soldiers caused them to vie with each other, and he watched it all unfold before his eyes. The chaos continued for a while until the commanders of each army had finally selected their respective troops.

  Lü Bu said: "Now that we have selected our men, let each return to his own unit."

  Afterwards, the troops were in disarray for a while before calming down. On Gao Shun's side, there were three team leaders and fifteen squad leaders, totaling seventy-seven people including Gao Shun and Wei Xiu, with twelve horses. Zang Ba had two team leaders and seven squad leaders, but two of the squads were not full.

  Lü Bu said, "Each has his own position and duties already determined. From this moment on, the Bianzhou Army is established. The Imperial Guard, Cavalry, and Reserve Forces will take orders. Follow me in shouting: Bianzhou is mighty!"

  Lü Bu sneered coldly. Then he said: "As a soldier, one should be united and ambitious. Your tone is weak and not in unison, try again. I want to hear a powerful voice! Shuo Fang! Powerful!"

  "Shuò fāng... wēi... wǔ..." The second voice was a bit louder, but still somewhat disordered.

  Lü Bu rode his horse towards Gao Shun. With a "crack", the whip landed on Gao Shun's chest. Gao Shun's body trembled, but he stood still in his original position. Lü Bu rode his horse towards Zang Ba and shouted, scanning the troops with his eyes: "The soldiers are not in line, the commander is at fault..." With another "crack", the whip landed on Zang Ba's body. Then he walked towards Cheng Lian. Cheng Lian saw Lü Bu approaching and was so frightened that his mouth trembled, but he did not dare to move. Lü Bu shouted: "The military law is not strict, it is the commander's fault." With a loud "crack", another whip landed on Cheng Lian's body. Although Cheng Lian had expected to be whipped, he did not dare to dodge.

  Three men were flogged with three lashes, and Lü Bu shouted again: "The military law of our army is not for show. Listen to the order. The team leader will be flogged by the squadron leader, the squadron leader will be flogged by the team leader, and the team leader will be flogged by the soldiers. Each person will receive one lash as punishment."

  Gao Shun listened to the order and swung his whip as he walked towards the team leader. Following that, a series of cracking sounds were heard, and everyone was whipped once. Lü Bu looked around at the troops and saw some people complaining, some people afraid, and even more people constantly saying "aiya". Lü Bu looked around and saw someone on Gao Shun's side muttering to himself. He rode his horse over, looked coldly at that person and said: "You! What are you dissatisfied with?"

  The captain saw Lü Bu coming over, and was initially intimidated. He then muttered: "Just became a soldier, and got flogged... I... I shouldn't have become a soldier..."

  Lü Bu sneered, "My army is about to flee, according to military law, it's beheading on the spot. You just received your military pay, I've made it clear, you're all border troops, are you thinking of fleeing?"

  That man heard and laughed loudly: "County Magistrate Wang... is my uncle, you... dare to kill me?"

  Lü Bu sneered: "You try walking out of this gate."

  The man hesitated for a moment after hearing this. Then he threw the money and grain on the ground, saying: "Leave... leave if you want to, I won't be a soldier anymore." Afterwards, he walked towards the gate.

  Lü Bu gazed coldly as the man walked out of the gate, with everyone watching. Lü Bu rode his horse towards the man and drew a dagger from his waist, slashing at the man's neck. The man was just about to turn around when Lü Bu let out an "Ah..." sound. A column of blood spurted out, and the man's head had already fallen to the ground.

  Lü Bu rode back to camp, still gripping the blood-stained dagger in his hand, and shouted: "My second military order: deserters will be beheaded on the spot."

  The troops watched with cold sweat on their backs. Lü Bu shouted again: "Follow me and shout together: Shuo Fang! Wei Wu!"

  "Shuo Fang! Wei Wu!" A loud shout in unison, a hundred voices echoed together.

  Lü Bu put away his sword. He rode his horse to Gao Shun's front, raised his whip and shouted: "Choosing the wrong person should also be punished."

  Gao Shun didn't dare to dodge, and turned his head to one side. "Slap" sounded, Gao Shun was whipped again.

  "Those who rape Han women without cause shall be beheaded! Those who plunder Han people's property without cause shall be beheaded! Those who fight with comrades over spoils..."

  Seeking gold medals, seeking collection, seeking likes, seeking comments, seeking red envelopes, seeking gifts, all kinds of seeking, whatever you want, just throw it over!