A group of soldiers came forward, running quickly. The trumpet sounded suddenly, and everyone picked up their bows and nocked arrows.
The arrow flew out from the string and landed far away on the straw man in the distance.
This was repeated until the sound of the hammer was heard, and the soldiers stopped and slowly gathered into formation.
Zhu Shuzong stepped forward and looked at the straw men one by one.
He looked very carefully and checked the impact point of each arrow on each grass target.
In the military assessment of the country, archery ranks first, which is more important than anything else. Everyone must be able to shoot, after all, there is no professional team of archers.
Shooting grasshoppers while marching is an important training subject, which tests the accuracy and speed of the sergeants' shooting in moving situations.
On the battlefield, the situation is complicated, and you will not always be given the opportunity to shoot on the spot - there is also the assessment, and there is also the silent shooting in the long stack.
"Not very good!" Zhu Shuzong returned to the high platform with an expressionless face and said to all the coaches: "In the past, the commander-in-chief was in charge of Tielindu and killed the rebel general He Gongya in Jinyang. His subordinates came from Heyang and Zhaoyi.
The old soldiers in the town climbed over the wall, raised their hands and shot. After shooting, they rushed forward, and then fired with great accuracy, and the arrows bit the flesh. What does it look like now?"
The coaches were speechless. They were all veterans back then. Some of them had seen battles more than a dozen times. Killing people was as common as dressing and eating. These were all new recruits in front of them. They had only been trained for two years. How could they compare?
It takes only three to five years to train a good archer? What's more, this archer cannot practice bows all the time. He also needs to practice basic martial arts such as spears and swords, and he also needs to learn a short weapon. In addition, special weapons such as long-handled axes
, hook sickle, mace, modao, epee, etc., you have to pick one to learn and practice diligently.
To put it bluntly, there are no classifications for sergeants in the country. There are too many skills to learn and the training period is too long.
In fact, all the vassals and towns have been facing the problem of insufficient reserve resources to a greater or lesser extent since the war. It's not that there are not enough people, it's that there are not enough skilled sergeants.
The consumption of war must be faster than your training. Recruit a newcomer from the field who knows nothing and make him strictly disciplined, follow orders and prohibitions, be familiar with the golden drum and flag, and will form several commonly used military formations with the robes.
, it will take almost a year, and this is achieved when the local villagers already have a certain foundation.
Therefore, after the government troops were consumed a lot, the generals of the feudal towns gave priority to the state soldiers to replenish them. If the state soldiers were not enough, they would supplement the county soldiers. The county soldiers were also exhausted, so they could only supplement the local soldiers.
There are about 30,000 state troops in the fifteen prefectures of Lingxia, and there are no county soldiers. This reserve troop source is actually not enough.
However, Marshal Shao often ordered subordinates, vassal towns, and various grassland ministries to select and send over, which was also a major source of supplementation.
The surrendered troops collected on the battlefield will also be screened and used.
These are the three major sources of Xia's military strength, and they still rely on this system to operate.
However, as the war became more and more intense, it was no longer the small fight in the northwest. The consumption became very intense, and the proportion of people cultivated by themselves became larger and larger.
A few months ago, the coach commanded the Yamen to send 10,000 new soldiers to the river, both infantry and cavalry, mainly to supplement the battle losses of the Yamen soldiers of various ministries. These people were "authentic" trained by Shuofang Town themselves and trained for several times.
Years long.
After the 10,000 people were sent away, Coach Du made the yamen have 10,000 "semi-finished products" left in training, so they urgently recruited another 10,000 recruits, divided them into three batches, and started training at different paces.
The name of this army in training is "Continued Preparation Army", a designation that once appeared and was later discontinued.
Among the 20,000 people in training, 5,000 have begun to be exposed to advanced subjects such as shooting grass while on the move, 5,000 are still undergoing basic gun skills and sword skills training, and 10,000 are just familiar with military rules and regulations and have practiced several times.
secondary queue.
The 20,000 recruits are all young, generally under 20, and most are only 16-18 years old. They are people born before Shao Shude left to control Xiazhou. There are both Tibetan and Han people, locals and outsiders mixed in.
They had a difficult childhood, but as they got older, their lives gradually improved, and as they grew older, their lives had improved significantly. Now when they join the army, their families have even undergone earth-shaking changes.
They are lucky because they have enough to eat when they are young, but they are unfortunate because people born ten years later than them live a better life. They can eat milk from an early age, eat some meat from time to time, and grow up.
When they grow up, their bodies will be stronger and taller than theirs.
There is no question about the loyalty of this group of people. Before entering the big dye vat of the army, they were not domineering and arrogant. At most, they were affected by the social atmosphere and had some symptoms. Yes, it is the social atmosphere and any system.
We must consider the social atmosphere or consensus, and rashly transplant the system of managing the army from the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties to restrain the big soldiers at this time, which will cause a huge backlash.
After all, the system relies on people to implement it. If the atmosphere is like this, even the purest people will be affected to some extent. Warriors are not machines without emotions. If you say that you are strictly required not to open your mouth to rebel, why should people listen to you?
The atmosphere in the military camp is like this. Everyone usually talks about which officer is good, which officer is bad, whether they should kill him, etc. Subtly, the "newcomers" who don't understand anything, "newbies"
"You will also become a domineering warrior.
Changing the atmosphere cannot be achieved by one or a few people, nor can it be restricted by the system. This takes a long time and requires a change in social consensus, that is, everyone realizes that this is not possible and is not good for everyone.
Only with this consensus can the atmosphere be changed. Instead of someone raising their arms and saying what system to implement, the military will become pure within a few years. It can resist the pollution of the atmosphere of the whole society, maintain a small circle of purity within oneself, and implement the system.
Each of the officers, like the political commissar, fully understood the meaning of the chief officer and thoroughly safeguarded the chief officer's interests without any selfish motives. They relied on words to persuade the domineering warriors to use their knives.
Even the most loyal martial arts student, let alone an old military officer, cannot be selfless and obey orders.
The current atmosphere of the Xia Army is the same as that of the Xuanwu Army. It is relatively obedient and relatively pure. This atmosphere is a result of the history of the army's establishment, the general social environment, the personal will of the commander, the selfishness of the officer team, the self-interests of the lower-level warriors, and institutional constraints.
The balance achieved under various conditions, and which direction this dynamic balance goes, all depends on the outcome of the game between all parties.
If you accommodate the sergeants, then they will go in the direction of the extremely domineering warriors of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. If you hold on to the reins, they may go in a more submissive direction. This is a game, it is not that simple, and it cannot be achieved in the short term.
See the results.
"These five thousand people still need to train for a year." Zhu Shuzong said without hesitation: "I have no shame to give unqualified sergeants to the general. If there is a war, we can supplement them from the state soldiers."
"Du Tou, when the Suppressing Army was first established, soldiers from various states were heavily mobilized. In recent years, the replenishment has been slow. Wouldn't it be inappropriate to recruit state soldiers again?" someone asked.
"That's right." Zhu Shuzong thought for a while and then said: "Perhaps we can let the chiefs of the Hexi and Qing and Tang tribes offer some backs. These people are very skilled. As long as they are given some rough training in the army, they can go into battle. That's it.
Well, anyway, if the soldiers are not trained well, even if the general comes to urge them in person, I will not let them go. If the envoys of the various armies come to inquire, you should also say the same, don't be polite."
Everyone secretly cursed after hearing this.
Your daughter is the eldest daughter-in-law personally selected by King Xia. In the future, when the country is founded, she will be the crown princess or even the queen. How dare you say that? How dare we? People who have made it to the capital and the yamen have no connections. How can we offend her?
Those generals?
"Go to the school yard and get busy, and train hard for me. Now that you have enough meat and milk, don't be afraid that they won't be able to practice, let's go!"
"I will obey the order of the capital." The coaches dispersed one after another.
After giving orders to his men, Zhu Shuzong got off the high platform, rode a horse, and walked slowly along the wide school field, carefully watching the sergeants' drills.
"The gun is so slow. If we were to fight in a battle formation, you would be dead, do you know that?"
"Why is your voice so low? Haven't you had enough to eat?"
"Why do you stab someone in the chest every time? If he is wearing armor, can you stab him through?"
"Your spear skills are somewhat advanced, but not enough. General Wang of the Baoyi Army fights on the battlefield, roaring like thunder, stabbing the thieves in the throat every time, and never misses. You still need to practice more."
"Hey, it seems that you have practiced before joining the army, but don't be conceited. The king has a saying, 'A moon stick is used for a lifetime, and a sword is used for a lifetime, and a sword is always hidden.' When fighting in formation, the thieves were wearing armor and only had a few scratches on their bodies.
To protect, you have to make sure to thrust back and forth, steadily, accurately, hard and quickly, then your martial arts skills will be perfect."
"You are not using the sword correctly. Come out here and practice chopping a hundred times."
"Today I will teach you how to quickly string the bow and calibrate the bow before the battle. Please listen carefully to each one."
…
On the training ground, coaches, instructors, and assistant coaches drove officials around, shouting constantly.
This is the true foundation of a feudal army and the basis for long-term maintenance of combat effectiveness.
It is not easy to train a qualified soldier, the cost is huge, and the cycle is long. But during the war, tens of thousands of elite main force may be lost in one day, which often makes everything they do become a joke.
But it still needs to be done and scaled up.
Nowadays, the production of grain, meat and milk in the town has greatly increased, which can support larger-scale recruit training.
The continuation army may be expanded to 50,000, and 10,000 qualified recruits will be sent every year to supplement battle losses.
In this way, under a long-term tug of war, the enemy will not be able to hold on and can only huddle up and defend the city. He will use the advantages of the terrain and the city to offset the gap in the personal quality of his sergeants.
"Dutou, there is an ultimatum." A civil servant hurried to Zhu Shuzong's side and reported it.
Zhu Shuzong took the official letter, opened it and read it.
It turned out that the Feilong Army suffered heavy losses due to long-term battles. Moreover, Shao Shude found that when it was originally formed, too many Tibetan people from the Yinshan tribes were mixed in, and their quality was too poor. This time, they added a lot of new recruits and barely completed the organization, but he also wanted to
The number was expanded to 10,000 people, and Zhu Shuzong was asked to pick 2,000 new recruits who could ride horses and send them with qualified skills. After the river froze in winter, the Feilong Army used battle as training, and went south to harass Luo, Zheng, and Huazhou.
"It's just——" Zhu Shuzong was about to scold his mother, but he saw the last line. Shao Shude planned to buy wine to entertain the generals in the twelfth lunar month, and asked Zhu Shuzong to bring his daughter there. The princess had many rewards, so he held it back.
"You will go to Coach Hu soon and ask him to pick two thousand men who can ride horses and send them to Anyi." When he said this, Zhu Shuzong blushed slightly.
So he added: "The commander-in-chief wants to send the Feilong Army to fight. The military orders are like mountains, we dare not obey them!"
"Yes!" The civil servant had no expression on his face as he resigned and left.
Zhu Shuzong looked at the bustling training ground and thought that it would be time to move to Wen Anyi. It was imminent to expand and replenish the army.
The ultimatum just now also mentions that Li Tangbin, the Heluo military envoy, personally supervised the battle and stormed the Xiashi Fort, which was defeated and recovered.
The brutality of the battle was shocking. There were no less than 20 generals and chiefs of the Tibetan tribe killed by Li Tangbin with his own hands. After capturing this place, the armies made great efforts, marched down the missing gate and the white base, and arrived at the foot of Xin'an County.
, but the front of the army has been blunted, so we can only retreat temporarily and build strongholds.
It is necessary to replenish the battle losses again, but it should not be from the replenishment army, but from vassal troops, such as the Huazhou Army.