Chapter 62: Desire to End, Heart Broken, Ten Thousand Difficulties (1)

  On the second day after dawn, a group of soldiers were awakened by the sound of drums coming from the drill ground, and they hastily got dressed and went to the drill ground in twos and threes.

  On the north side of the large courtyard, there was a high platform about two meters above the ground. Zhou Wenbo borrowed the chairman's podium from his previous life and set it up. Yesterday, the empty platform now had several chairs placed on it, and Zhou Wenbo, Cui Hao, and Duan Shichen were sitting here.

  Looking at these new recruits gathered in several groups, Zhou Wenbo saw hope. He knew that the group of people in front of him was the first army he had created with his own hands in this world, and it would also be his capital for settling down.

  So the majestic Zhao Guo Gong did not get angry at this group of people for their undisciplined and disorderly appearance, nor did he mind his own identity as a national duke, but instead planned to personally train these new recruits according to his own ideas.

  Liu Meng loudly introduced Zhou Wenbo, Duan Shichen and Cui Hao's identities and positions.

  On the large drill ground, a group of new recruits heard that this handsome young man in his early twenties was actually Zhao Guo Gong, the commander-in-chief of the Hu Tiger Army, and they were instantly shocked. Only a small number of people who already knew or had guessed Zhou Wenbo's identity could remain relatively calm.

  "Gentlemen, from today on, you are all new recruits in my Milk Tiger Army. In our army, every ten people form a squad, with one squad leader; every ten squads form a brigade, with one brigade commander. Is there anyone brave enough to step forward and compete for the position of squad leader?" shouted Zhou Wenbo, dressed in military uniform, standing on the high platform.

  Zhou Wenbo's words were like a fuse, immediately detonating the atmosphere in the room.

  It is known that since ancient times, the formation of an army has always been done by first having officers and then recruiting new soldiers. This ensures that the newly formed troops are under the control of the commander-in-chief and also allows new recruits to grow quickly under the guidance of veteran soldiers. However, this Zhao Guo Gong, who is destined to be a military commander, actually wants to select officers from among the new recruits?

  It was also at this time that the nearly hundred knights who had gone to various counties to recruit and escort the national public were lined up in formation, standing far away. These elite soldiers had a considerable deterrent effect on these people who were ordinary citizens just yesterday.

  Among the soldiers, those with ambition and enough confidence in their own martial prowess immediately perked up. If they could stand out and become a company commander or even a brigade commander, wouldn't that save them countless efforts?

  "I'm willing to serve the country!" At that moment, one person stood out from the crowd. This man was full of vigor and had a straight figure, he was indeed the "Silver Gun Little Overlord" Hua Qing, who had received hints from Zhou Wenbo before. He had no qualms at this time, so he was the first to stand up.

  Seeing that someone had become the vanguard, and the commander-in-chief on the high platform seemed to be delighted to see the self-recommendation of the military officers, including Song Tianbiao and his brother's son, nearly forty people walked out of the crowd and stood in front of the high platform.

  Li Mutang thought for a moment and finally walked forward with big strides.

  "Our army currently has 220 people, and more than 40 brave warriors are willing to take on the heavy responsibility. Why don't we pair them up and have a competition to see who has better martial arts skills?" Zhou Wenbo continued after seeing the new recruits' reactions were not bad.

  Hua Qing's beautiful silver spear and the strength to open two strong bows had long been spread in the army, while Song Tianbiao's name "Song Pili" was enough to intimidate others. Therefore, these two men stood proudly on the empty ground, and no one dared to go up and touch their whiskers.

  Others sized each other up, and some found an opponent they thought they could beat and issued a challenge. Since the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese have been fond of playing horn-butting games, and Japan's sumo wrestling later evolved from the horn-butting that was introduced to Japan during the Tang Dynasty.

  More than twenty people were staring at each other, and a group of soldiers standing on the periphery were also pointing and whispering to each other, which was also a treat for the eyes.

  Li Mutang was already over forty years old, but he had a majestic physique and an aura that intimidated people. Even those with discerning eyes didn't dare to approach him to test his abilities.

  Until finally a young man hesitated and walked forward, his hands in front of and behind him forming a stance, with one leg straight and the other bent.

  Young people are about to exert themselves, Li Mutang's body shook, like a tiger going down the mountain, and like an eagle swooping down on a rabbit. One hand grabbed the young man's collar, and the other hand also landed on his waist in an instant. With a loud shout, the muscles on both arms bulged high, and before the young man could react, he was already lifted above Li Mutang's head by the blink of an eye, and his whole body instantly left the ground, only to make strange cries of "wow wow".

  Li Mutang had a mind to show off his skills, so he loosened one hand and held the young man aloft with the other, spinning him around in circles on top of his head. The speed of the spin grew faster and faster until it was impossible to tell the young man's head from his feet, just like a spinning top that had been vigorously spun up.

  From the perspective of Zhou Wenbo standing on the high platform, this young man was spinning like a helicopter's propeller. He was afraid that the young man would get dizzy and shouted loudly: "Li Zhuangshi, stop quickly, stop quickly."

  From the young man's provocation to Zhou Wenbo's stop, it was only a short time of two or three breaths. The young man who was put on the ground by Li Mutang had already been completely dizzy and vomited violently, spitting out the miscellaneous noodles and radish bai cai he ate yesterday.

  Li Mutang's move shocked everyone on the scene, even Hua Qing and Song Tianbiao, who were originally standing by with a proud expression, secretly wondered if they could get along well with this burly man.

  After a while, all the contestants finished their performances and the winner was decided.

  "Those who win in the horn-butting contest will temporarily take over as squad leaders, while those who lose will temporarily serve as deputy team leaders. The two individuals who engage in horn-butting with each other will be grouped into one squad." Zhou Wenbo announced his arrangement in a loud voice.

  As soon as Zhou Wenbo's voice fell, the onlookers who were watching the commotion and mocking the losers suddenly felt a pang of regret, their intestines turning green with envy. Who would have thought that just by daring to stand out, they could at least become a deputy team leader!

  Upon hearing Zhou Wenbo's words, Li Mutang's expression changed and he pulled up the young man who was still vomiting uncontrollably in front of him. He patted and massaged his back with force for a while, and after a moment, the young man finally stopped vomiting.

  Hua Qing and Song Tianbiao automatically took on the role of Wu Zhang as no one dared to come forward to challenge them.

  After the temporary leader was elected, Zhou Wenbo ordered the 22 deputy captains who had just become acting captains to line up in a row, and the deputy captains lined up behind them.

  Then Zhou Wenbo allowed these new recruits to freely choose which squad leader they would follow, and each squad would stop recruiting once it had ten people, with the old soldiers in charge of counting.

  Soon, quick-witted people rushed forward and joined the teams of Hua Qing, Song Tianbiao and Li Mutang.

  Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the martial arts of these three far surpass others, and everyone wants to follow in the footsteps of the strong.

  Song Tianbiao has the best mass base, and his team is also the first to be fully manned.

  Chen Shaojun had originally wanted to follow Song Tianbiao, the "Song Thunderbolt" Song Dawei, who had promised to teach him martial arts last night, but unfortunately he could only turn to Li Mutang now.

  It took almost half an hour for the twenty-two teams to temporarily complete their formation, and all the new recruits gathered into a large square.

  Unfortunately, the quality of these new recruits is far from comparable to the National Day military parade troops that Zhou Wenbo saw in his previous life. The formation they lined up was crooked and skewed, looking like a clumsy scribble by a three-year-old child.

  At this time, new soldiers had come to join the army. Duan Shichen and Cui Hao left the rostrum and began to host the recruitment and registration affairs, leaving only Zhou Wenbo here to conduct the first training of the Hu Tiger Army.

  At least up to this stage, things are going smoothly according to Zhou Wenbo's plan. Moreover, in the competitive Wu Chang section, the smoothness of things has exceeded Zhou Wenbo's expectations, so he is still very satisfied with the current progress.

  Zhou Wenbo didn't continue with the order, instead he made a hand gesture and two old soldiers brought up a bamboo basket, inside which were coarse cloth-wrapped red bundles.

  "Each squad leader, come and take ten red armbands from the box. Put them on the right arm of each person in your squad. Those who can't tell left from right, watch others and follow suit! The rest of you, stand still and don't move!" Zhou Wenbo continued to command.

  Zhou Wenbo did this to help the new recruits identify left and right, so that they could quickly grasp the formation training. These red armbands were all made by the women of the Pi Institute overnight at his command, although rough and crude, but also sturdy and durable.

  Li Mutang had also commanded thousands of troops, now as a small deputy commander, it was indeed a waste of his talents. However, he was very interested in Zhou Wenbo's training methods that transcended the times, so he followed them without hesitation.

  Because there were people on both sides who could refer to each other, although some Wu Chang couldn't tell left from right, they still completed the task smoothly.

  "Everyone, take note! The arm with the red strap on it now is your right arm, and the other one is your left arm. I want you to wear this red strap for all twelve hours of the day, every day, until the distinction between left and right is etched into your minds, so deeply that no amount of washing can erase it, and no forgetting can make you forget it. Only then will you be allowed to remove this red strap!"

  Zhou Wenbo's next words were heard clearly by the new recruits below, and many of them stretched out their left hands to touch this inconspicuous red strap. As for people like Li Mutang who had military experience and even commanded soldiers, they seemed to be lost in thought.

  Then Zhou Wenbo taught you new recruits how to stand at attention, at ease, turn left, turn right, and line up in formation on this large drill ground.

  As for the subsequent goose step and correct step, Zhou Wenbo didn't have time to teach, and all the work that day was spent on training new recruits to do the above actions.

  Although he had mentally prepared for the possible difficulties, Zhou Wenbo was still exhausted. He shouted loudly all day, his voice already hoarse, but the mental fatigue made him even more exhausted.

  Even if it were a university student who had received more than ten years of education in his previous life, he would still have to waste a lot of time on these links during military training to achieve basic qualification. What about the whole team of Hu Tiger Army, only Zhou Wenbo and Liu Meng, who was instructed by him, could do the standard action model.

  In this winter of the year 925, whether it was an officer or a student, they were far inferior to those in the past. On this large campus, more than 200 new recruits made countless jokes.

  Although a red armband had been tied to the right arm of each new recruit in advance, there were still many people who, upon hearing "turn left", suddenly turned to the right, causing the surrounding people to burst into laughter while also ruining the solemn atmosphere.

  When a trainee with extremely poor physical coordination tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground with a thud, both the new recruits undergoing training and the elite guards of the Zhao State Manor standing on the side couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  However, Zhou Wenbo did not smile. The expression on his face seemed to be frozen by the biting cold wind, and his whole face was gloomy as if a storm was about to strike.