Chapter 43: Slaying the Cow

  Yan Chongxi's opinions are actually quite good, after all, what he learned in the military is summarized from actual combat, which is far more practical and powerful than Xiao Tianjian's moves that were created behind closed doors.

  Xiao Tianjian took Yan Chongxi out alone and invited Tie Tou to come over. He asked Yan Chongxi to demonstrate the moves used in actual combat with knife and shield, and after Tie Tou watched, Xiao Tianjian had Tie Tou and Yan Chongxi exchange moves, so that he could experience for himself whether or not the moves Yan Chongxi taught were useful.

  In the end, Xiao Tianjian still only selected two or three of the most practical and simplest moves from Yan Chongxi's knife skills, which were also a few moves that seemed to be fierce and deadly attacks. After deciding on them, he provided them for the knife shield soldiers to practice with. Yan Chongxi was still somewhat puzzled by this and asked Xiao Tianjian why he did so.

  "This principle is simple, the knife and shield combination moves you've practiced are indeed practical, I don't deny this, after all it's something that countless soldiers have summarized over hundreds of years in actual combat! It can't be wrong!"

  However, there is only one problem, that these tactics are too focused on individual ability and ignore the issue of team cooperation. When we face the enemy, it requires common progress and retreat, in other words, it's about fighting a group battle under disciplinary constraints, rather than letting each person show off their bravery and duel with the opponent alone!

  You may have already noticed that my method of training troops is quite different from the methods used by today's government armies and other people. They train their soldiers to focus on individual elite warriors, whereas I require every single person in our army to be a part of the whole team, emphasizing mutual cooperation rather than letting them engage in one-on-one combat with the enemy.

  The few moves I've chosen may seem the simplest, but they're actually the most suitable for team coordination. Think about it, several people taking on one person at the same time - no matter how powerful that person is, what can they do? Two fists are hard-pressed to defend against four hands; as long as the opponent has more people and coordinated movements, even if you have three heads and six arms, you won't be able to withstand it!

  Moreover, if we were to drill the troops according to the moves you've practiced, it's fundamentally impossible to quickly bring the knife and shield hands up to combat requirements. We don't have that kind of time, so we can only use the simplest moves, forcing each person to repeatedly practice until they form a habit, and when they go into battle, they dare to fight with their lives on the line. In this way, as long as the enemy doesn't want to exchange blows to the death, they will definitely retreat in self-preservation. This way, we won't need to continue fighting, and we'll have already won!

  "There's another benefit to doing this, which is that we can continuously train more brave warriors. Think about it, by doing so, won't we become stronger and stronger? Maybe you don't quite understand now, but I believe that one day you'll come to realize it!"

  Xiao Tianjian's words were actually somewhat ruthless, openly stating that he wanted the soldiers to exchange their lives for new ones, relying on a faster speed than the enemy to continuously train and produce usable new soldiers, ultimately crushing the enemy. However, he didn't mind letting Yan Zhongxi and Tie Tou know, because these two people would be reused by him in the future and become his officers, so some things still needed to be made clear to them.

  Tie Tou's understanding was limited, and after listening to Xiao Tian Jian's words, he was still a bit confused. What team collaboration and other things sounded fresh to him, but he firmly believed that Xiao Tian Jian's words were definitely right, even to the point of blind obedience. This was also the root cause of his conflict with Yan Chong Xi.

  Yan Zhongxi, after all, was a soldier and had many actual combat experiences. So as soon as he heard it, he quickly understood the meaning of Xiao Tianjian's words. After careful consideration, he immediately figured out why Xiao Tianjian did this. He then cupped his hands and said: "Palms are indeed heavenly talents! I understand now, palms are too powerful! From now on, I will never dare to speak loudly again, and I will definitely remember the teachings of palms!"

  Xiao Tianjian heavily punched Yan Zhongxi's shoulder and burst out laughing: "Haha! You've actually learned the skill of flattering in the government army? Spare me! I like to hear nice things, but I can still tell what's flattery!"

  Tie Tou, what else can you say about Yan brothers' skills now?

  Tie Tou's face turned red with excitement, and he hastily said in a low voice: "Yan brothers are indeed more capable than me!"

  "That's good! You admit it, so let Yan brothers be the instructor for everyone. For now, just focus on helping you practice these knife and shield techniques?" Xiao Tianjian continued to say to Tie Tou.

  Yan Zhongxi was overjoyed, although this instructor wasn't a leader, but undoubtedly his status here has been greatly improved, at least in the school grounds, everyone had to listen to him. This beating wasn't in vain, one rod of punishment exchanged for an instructor position, this is also worth it!

  "Yes sir!" Iron Head was a man of few words, immediately nodding in agreement. And so, under Xiao Tianjian's command, another freshly baked drill instructor emerged and took office on the spot!

  Although most people were not very receptive, Xiao Tianjian still decided to kill all the cows they had obtained. Under Xiao Tianjian's orders, the auxiliary soldiers led the dozen or so oxen to the riverbank below the small stream, and one by one, they bled, skinned, cut up, and deboned them, making many people feel that Xiao Tianjian was really being extravagant.

  But Xiao Tianjian didn't care what they thought, after ordering the slaughter of the cows, he had Jing Fuzi lead people to salt and cure all the beef, then air-dry it for reserve use. Some was cut into small pieces, roasted and dried, becoming ready-to-eat food, stored away with some of the cow's internal organs also air-dried to make cured meat, in order to preserve them for as long as possible, in preparation for unexpected needs.

  And those beef blood, beef bones, and some things that are not suitable for pickling, were eaten in batches, so that everyone had a meat craving, and they had soup to drink every day, and beef blood and miscellaneous fragments to eat, one by one, eating with relish, shouting with delight.

  As for the cowhide, it was what Xiao Tianjian wanted. More than a dozen pieces of cowhide and tendons were handed over to his new subordinate who had been a tanner before. They used salt to make dried raw cowhide, which would be set aside after being air-dried.

  To know this era, cowhide is a rare thing, it's a state-controlled material, to be made into leather armor for the military use, even with money can't buy, unless by looting, otherwise ordinary people don't think about getting these things.

  Xiao Tianjian felt that his current brothers were severely lacking in protective gear, and even poorly made arrows could cause great harm to them. He thought it was necessary to get some leather armor for them to wear, which would reduce casualties and greatly boost their morale.

  It's another new week and also the last week for this book to hit the new book chart! I really need your help, brothers, please leave your precious red tickets! Thank you very much!

  Xiao Tianjian knew some of the major events that occurred in this era, but he wasn't clear on the specific timeline. He only had a rough understanding. He didn't know how many more days Shaanxi could remain stable. In his memory, Shaanxi was both the birthplace of the rebel army and the region where the rebel and government armies clashed most fiercely. This place could become a battlefield at any time, and he feared that his peaceful days were numbered. In his memory, the rebel army had tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of soldiers, making his current strength seem like a single grain of sand in the ocean, not even enough to create a ripple.

  The imperial court, on the other hand, regarded these righteous armies as a thorn in their side and had never stopped besieging them. Shaanxi was one of the main battlefields, and it was uncertain when this area would become a battlefield for both sides to fight each other.

  This is also the reason why he doesn't manage this old nest much, because it's really not a place where he can operate for a long time. At most, he will stay here for a while, look at the situation and then find a place to develop.

  So Xiao Tianjian had a sense of urgency, always feeling that he must quickly expand his power, and once he reached the point where he had to run for his life, he would have a greater chance of survival. He didn't think he was lucky enough to be a nine-lived cat, and in this chaotic world, if he let his guard down even slightly, he could die without leaving behind even a single hair.

  He himself is also clear about his own abilities, if he doesn't have martial arts skills, at most he can just wield a flying axe, and his physical strength is only slightly better than that of an average person. Basically, he's just an ordinary person, and the only thing he can rely on is his brain, relying on his familiarity with historical processes and some knowledge related to military affairs, in order to have a chance to survive in this world.

  He was really too busy, every day as soon as he opened his eyes, he would think about what to do today, even at night when he dreamed, his brain didn't rest, so busy that the little brother in his pants hadn't had morning erections for a few times, and even human instinctual desires were suppressed by this busyness, all just to quickly develop some life-saving strength. As a result, Hu Yue'e would often intentionally or unintentionally flirt with him, but he would automatically ignore it, not thinking about desire at all. This made Hu Yue'e very disappointed, wondering if her appearance was really that unattractive, that Xiao Tianjian, a young man, would be completely oblivious to her repeated hints.

  Xiao Tianjian naturally couldn't manage this, his mind was preoccupied with how to quickly make these dozens of people stronger, in order to soon go out and recruit more manpower, and get more food.

  High-intensity training makes everyone's appetite huge, like Tie Tou this guy, let him eat freely, three catties of food a day is not enough for him to eat, the rest of the people are almost the same, each and every one of them can be called a big eater king, even Xiao Tianjian himself eats no less than them. As a result, their seemingly sufficient food is eaten nearly 200 catties every day, so it's consumed very quickly.

  There were also those wounded soldiers he brought back from the battle in Guzhuang, who could not participate in training for the time being. Every day, they should be given good food and drink as much as possible to help them recover quickly and join the team.

  It's good that they brought back a doctor this time, and Lv Rongxuan is much better than Yang Mantun, that half-baked veterinarian. Under his treatment, the wounded men recovered well, and in just a few days, several of those with lighter injuries were able to join the team for training exercises, which made Xiao Tianjian very satisfied.