Chapter 28: Force-feeding Training Method

  In Xiao Tianjian's view, after these people have undergone a period of training, they can be taken out to practice their hands. As for the current exercise, Xiao Tianjian doesn't expect these people to quickly reach the requirements of elite soldiers. However, the reason he is so strict in his training is that the most basic thing is to instill in them an absolute obedience consciousness.

  The vast majority of these people are peasants by origin, and although they have no problem with hard work, they have never been subject to any discipline in their daily lives, and each one is used to being idle.

  A group of people who do not know how to obey gather together, even if their individual abilities are strong, when it comes to the battlefield, they will never be one plus one equals two. As long as a few people retreat during the battle, it will affect everyone's psychology, and one person's escape will lead to the collapse of the entire army, which is a terrible thing in war.

  In this era, the way to command troops was a secret transmission of various generals' families, and few outsiders could learn the tricks. However, by the time of the Ming Dynasty, it had already become rare for people who truly understood how to control and command troops. Furthermore, the Ming dynasty's military system had become increasingly corrupt, and the collapse of the Wei-Suo system made it extremely difficult for the Ming court to produce strong armies like those at the beginning of its founding.

  Even if it was like the Qi Jiguang's troops trained later, they had already departed from the Wei Suozhi system and were a force mainly relying on recruited soldiers. It can be said that as a strong army in the Ming Dynasty military, the Qi Jiajun was the last afterglow of the Ming Dynasty army.

  With the knowledge of later generations, Xiao Tianjian also has some understanding of the decline of military power in the late Ming Dynasty. He knows that from top to bottom, the court is already rotten and cannot be supported. Corruption is rampant, and it's common for officials to embezzle grain rations. When the Ministry of Revenue allocates grain rations, they first cut off 20-30% and put it in their own pockets. Then, when it reaches local officials, another 20-30% is cut off, leaving only a small portion for generals. By the time the generals receive the grain rations, less than 50% of the original amount remains. The generals then cut off another 20-30% and put it in their own pockets. As a result, when the soldiers finally receive their grain rations, they can't even get 20-30% of the normal amount. Moreover, the court often fails to provide these meager rations on time, with cases of several months or half a year without pay being common in the Ming army.

  When soldiers are not well-fed and warmly dressed, they cannot support their wives and children. If they have combat effectiveness, it's really a ghost! When fighting, if they can rush forward desperately, it must be that their brains were kicked by donkeys.

  So it is said that the generals had to use limited money and food to support some family soldiers, who were considered to be truly capable of fighting. However, the number of these family soldiers was also very limited. The reason why they were valued by the generals was simply because they knew some martial arts and had slightly stronger personal abilities on the battlefield. This is why the Ming dynasty's official army was so incompetent that it could not defeat the Later Jin dynasty's army, nor even the peasant uprising army.

  Xiao Tianjian, although not a military background, but the information he received later in life can be called massive compared to people of this era. Plus, since he was a child, he has been a military enthusiast, and when he grew up, he often liked to visit various military websites, so he really had some understanding of military knowledge.

  In his view, as a commander, the first thing to do is to make his subordinates form a habit of obeying orders in all actions. Only an army that truly enforces discipline can become a strong army; otherwise, everything else is meaningless.

  But his subordinates were a bunch of people who didn't understand what fighting was all about, which made things easier for Xiao Tianjian. These people were like a blank sheet of paper to him, and he could freely express his views on military training without encountering any opposing opinions.

  So he started training his subordinates from the beginning, and took a completely different path of military training in this era. He didn't ask for personal combat skills at first, but instead focused on obedience consciousness. Every day, as soon as he opened his eyes, he would start conducting various basic trainings non-stop, like a middle-aged woman, in a way that was almost hysterical, pouring the concept of obedience into his subordinates' minds.

  Under Xiao Tianjian's nearly crazy and intense training, the people under him have accepted the concept of obedience at an incredibly fast speed.

  In just a few days, under Xiao Tianjian's scolding and stick education, as well as the leadership of the old soldiers, more than a dozen new recruits from Zhaojia Village had gained some temperament similar to that of the older men. They began to instinctively obey every order given by Xiao Tianjian.

  As for the endurance of these people, Xiao Tianjian himself found it a bit unbelievable. If he were to use his current training methods in the future, those young masters would probably have rebelled long ago. But now, all he needs to do is feed them full meals and occasionally show them a smiling face during their leisure time. Every few days, he would kill a sheep or chicken, letting these goods get some meat, and they would honestly let him train them as he pleased without raising any objections. Sometimes Xiao Tianjian himself would wickedly ponder whether these people were born with a tendency to be masochistic.

  No matter what, in the ten days it took for these new recruits to arrive at their temporary nest, they fully adapted to Xiao Tianjian's nearly cruel training methods, quickly merging with the dozen or so old hands and, under the leadership of the veterans, began to practice the simplest and most basic assassination moves.

  Xiao Tianjian, in order to improve the effectiveness of their assassination training, also had them cut a lot of grass on the mountain and tie it into more than ten straw men, which were densely arranged together. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder with long guns, constantly practicing collective stabbing movements towards the straw men.

  "You've all heard, the things in front of you are not scarecrows, but your enemies! They're the soldiers who brought disaster to your families, the landlords and wealthy merchants who oppressed you! They're your sworn enemies, don't treat them as scarecrows, treat them as your enemies and stab them to death! Use force... Right! Don't change your movements! Use all your might! Stab... Kill... Kill... Kill..."

  The only sound on the training ground was Xiao Tianjian's hysterical roar, a group of long spear soldiers repeatedly stabbing at the scarecrows with loud shouts, as if these scarecrows were really their enemies.

  "Don't be stunned! After stabbing, you must immediately retract the gun and come back. With your clumsy method, you should have been cut down as soon as you went on stage! Retract the gun, remember to retract the gun quickly! Only then will you not give the opponent a chance to counterattack! Fast, fast, fast! Must be fast......" Xiao Tianjian continued to correct their movements.

  A new recruit of the long gun squad hastily retreated back to collect his gun, and as a result, the formation immediately fell into disarray, infuriating Xiao Tianjian who jumped up and down, scolding loudly.

  "Attention! All of you, guns at the shoulder, idiots! Idiots! Yang Mantun and Zhao Fugui, where did you two idiots stab? Get out of line! Down! Iron head! Each of you hit them with five military clubs, let them remember next time!" Xiao Tianjian stared intently at their stabbing movements from the side, and as soon as they put down their guns, he suddenly burst into a loud roar.

  Yang Mantun and Zhao Fugui, the two newcomers in the queue, immediately cried with a sad face, got out of line and honestly lay on the ground. Tie Tou didn't say a word, took out the bamboo-made military club made by Xiao Tianjian, went up and hit each of them five times on their buttocks, beating them until they were both grinning from ear to ear.

  "Get up and line up, don't pretend to be a garlic peeler in front of me! I know this thing can't kill you, but I've had enough!" Xiao Tianjian shouted after Iron Head executed the punishment. The two guys who were beaten stood up immediately, grabbed their guns, and lined up in formation, not even daring to rub their buttocks.

  "Do you know why I want to keep you all in constant motion?" Xiao Tianjian walked to the front of the troops, holding a whip behind his back and loudly asked the guys in front of him.

  A group of people shook their heads, although they also roughly knew the benefits of doing so, but couldn't explain the reason. Especially those who had just joined in felt that this was a bit like "dropping one's pants to fart", why not just charge forward and stab when seeing the enemy approaching? It seemed completely unnecessary to maintain consistent movements, as long as they used all their might to thrust forward, wouldn't it be better?

  Xiao Tianjian shook his head helplessly and said loudly to them, "Let you do this, there is a reason for doing so. At the critical moment of the battle, only by maintaining the consistency of the team's formation can we avoid giving the opponent an opportunity to take advantage of us. Everyone comes out with guns, collects guns, and the enemy's knife shield hand has no chance to drill into the gap. Otherwise, everyone loves to stab whatever they want, there is no coordination between each other, and the enemy can take advantage of someone collecting their gun to squeeze in. And you long-gunners are densely crowded together, letting the enemy get close, and you only have to wait for them to be chopped up, without even having a chance to fight back! At this point, the battle is over, we can only disperse and let them chase us and chop our asses!"

  It's what I've told you more than once, fighting is not a one-man thing, each of your lives is not only in your own hands, but also in the hands of your brothers around you. We rely on collective strength to survive, not individual bravery! Never show off! Nor allow anyone to show off in front of the formation, unless it's when chasing after the enemy. At all times, remember that you are a group, not fighting alone!

  You must trust your brothers around you, unconditionally believe that the brothers around you will always be consistent with you, protecting your flanks and not being taken advantage of by the enemy!

  If you can't do this, then you are not qualified soldiers, not only unqualified but also not worthy of being brothers! You don't deserve to stay among us! Remember my words, in wartime, you must follow the officer's orders without any hesitation, otherwise it won't be just your own death, all your comrades will die with you!

  "Do you remember what I said?"

  "Remember, boss!" More than a dozen guys finally understood the reason for doing so after listening to Xiao Tianjian's remarks, and immediately stood up straight, puffed out their chests, and loudly shouted.

  "Alright! Continue training! First row, fall back! Second row, forward march in step! Left, right, left... Halt, rifle at the ready, fire!"

  "Kill..."

  Another burst of shouting and killing sounds on the small school field...

  After looking at the new book list today, my heart is cold. Is it that historical books are not popular? I'm first on the historical new book list, but look at the front page of the new book list, it's pitiful! Does this represent the end of an era, and from now on, there won't be many people who appreciate historical books? If not, then please help me out, brothers! Collect, vote, and promote this book! Lift me up!