Today is the tenth day since the formation of the Zhejiang Army. The soldiers of the Zhejiang Army were born as bandits and are used to being free and undisciplined. Nine consecutive days of high-intensity training have exhausted them physically and mentally. Every cell in their body is protesting instinctively...
However, no matter how much they wanted to protest, they were powerless to change the situation. In reality, they could only lie down and accept the torture of training.
Because Zhu Ping'an had tailored a training package for them on the fifth day: in queue training, any soldier who made a wrong turn or went the wrong way would be lined up and beaten with a stick three times, and they were not allowed to rest after the beating, but had to continue training; in fist and weapon training, any soldier who made a mistake in the movements would also be lined up and beaten with a stick three times, and then continue training. Moreover, every day, Zhu Ping'an would have all the squad leaders draw lots, and the two squads would practice actual combat. The winning squad would eat first, and the losing squad would not only eat later, but also have to wash clothes for the winning squad for a day.
In addition to the training of formations, fists, and weapons, Zhu Ping'an also added "commands, drums, and flags" training. In ancient times, unlike modern times, there were no instant communication tools such as radios and telephones. It was difficult to expect the army to obey orders and fight. On the battlefield, people shouted and horses neighed, and the sound was noisy. It was unrealistic to command the army by shouting. It could only be commanded by loud instruments such as drums and flags. In simple terms, it was to beat the drums to advance, sound the gong to withdraw troops, and march with flags. In addition to the general flag, Zhu Ping'an also set up five five-color flags according to the overall situation of the Ming army, namely the red flag in the front, the black flag in the back, the blue flag on the left, the white flag on the right, and the yellow flag in the middle, representing the front army, the rear army, the left army, the right army, and the central army. Raising the red flag means that the front army obeys orders, raising the black flag means that the rear army obeys orders, and raising the blue flag means that the left army obeys orders, and so on. The continuous waving of the flag represents urging the soldiers to get ready. When the flag is waving forward, it means ordering the soldiers to move forward; when the flag is waving to the left, it means ordering the soldiers to turn left; when the flag is waving to the right, it means ordering the soldiers to turn right; when the flag turns around and waves backward, it means ordering the soldiers to retreat.
Just like the drills, fists, kicks, and weapons, mistakes in the training of the drums, gongs, and flags will also be punished, with three strokes of the cane...
This is so serious that during breaks in training, the soldiers of the Zhejiang Army often joked that they ate the most “bamboo board rice”…
Zhu Ping'an tailored a training package for the Zhejiang Army, which prevented the soldiers from displaying their free and undisciplined nature. If they couldn't display their free and undisciplined nature, they would be punished. If they did display their free and undisciplined nature, at best they would lose their positions, and at worst their lives.
Of course, Zhu Ping'an also knew the principle of combining work and rest and relaxing in moderation, so he gave them rest time at the right time, carried out ideological education and military song training during the rest time, and at the same time ensured that their meals were always meat dishes every day... ...
The military law was strict, the training was tough, the beatings were painful, the food was delicious, the soldiers of the Zhejiang Army persevered despite the pain...
While Zhu Ping'an was training the Zhejiang Army intensively, Hu Zongxian, who was full of ambition, was repeatedly hit by setbacks in the face of reality and suffered a bloody nose.
Hu Zongxian was a worker with great ambitions. When he left Beijing to serve as the Inspector and Censor of Zhejiang, he made a great wish: "I will not return to Beijing until I have pacified the Japanese pirates and pacified the southeast!" He wanted to take the Japanese invasion as an opportunity to write a glorious chapter of his life in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and the southeast.
To suppress the Japanese pirates and pacify the southeast, military strategy is the top priority.
Therefore, as soon as Hu Zongxian took office as the Inspector and Censor of Zhejiang, he immediately began to inspect the military camps and garrisons under his jurisdiction.
You don't know until you inspect it, and you'll be shocked when you inspect it. Not to mention the local military camps and garrisons, even the military camps and garrisons in Yingtian and nearby areas made Hu Zongxian speechless! Before coming to Yingtian, Hu Zongxian did his homework and read through the military archives of Yingtian and Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and got a written understanding of the military preparations of Yingtian and Jiangsu and Zhejiang. According to the archives, Yingtian had 120,000 soldiers ready to fight, but reality gave Hu Zongxian one loud slap in the face after another.
The first stop Hu Zongxian visited was Daxiaochang Camp. According to archival records, Daxiaochang Camp had 30,000 combat-ready soldiers. The records also record that Daxiaochang Camp was well-trained and powerful, and was the model army for Yingtian to imitate.
But that's the reality.
When Hu Zongxian arrived at the Daxiaochang Camp, he found that the gatekeepers were sloppy. Two of the ten gatekeepers were old, weak, sick, and disabled, and one of them was even a white-haired old soldier with a cane...
"Father-in-law, why are you still serving in the army at your age?" Hu Zongxian asked.
"Alas, our family has no land and no harvest, but we still have to pay taxes. My son has to work as a porter at the dock to make a living, so I will enlist in the army to take his place..." the white-haired old soldier sighed and replied after hearing this.
After hearing this, Hu Zongxian remained silent for a long time.
After Hu Zongxian entered the Daxiaochang camp, he found that the number of old, weak, sick and disabled people in the camp was even more serious. He caught a lot of them, and by naked eye observation, it was more than half of the entire army. In addition, many people did not even have training weapons, and it was obvious that they were just here to kill time in the barracks.
The whole military camp is filled with a relaxed atmosphere, with people sunbathing, chatting, playing around, gambling... all kinds of leisure and entertainment can be seen in the military camp, but the only thing you can't see is training scenes.
Hu Zongxian had a gloomy face and asked the commander of the parade ground to beat the drum to gather the troops. It took half an hour to gather all the soldiers in the camp.
After Hu Zongxian led his men to check, he discovered that the number of soldiers in the Daxiaochang camp was seriously inaccurate. Compared with the number they reported on paper, it was seriously insufficient. Even if the old, weak, sick and disabled were included, the entire camp had only 6,891 soldiers, which was nearly 80% less than the number they reported.
The report said 30,000 people, but there were actually only 6,891 people, a deficit of more than 23,000, and more than 23,000 empty salaries...
Really unscrupulous!!
Seeing the mighty Beijing Camp in such a state, with no fighting power and no scruples from the generals, Hu Zongxian was deeply distressed and laughed in anger, "Haha, the Daxiaochang Camp is also the Beijing Camp, the Beijing Camp, I never expected, I never expected that six out of ten soldiers are old, immature, tired and lame, and two out of ten are unarmed. It's really true that the emperor is far away and the peace has lasted for a long time, so they have nothing to fear..."
"Haha, Lord Hu, some soldiers have asked for leave, so they are not in the camp. Please understand..."
The commander of the parade ground, General Zhang, came forward with a chuckle, and while explaining in a low voice, he slipped a silver note into Hu Zongxian's hand without leaving any trace.
Hu Zongxian rejected the banknote, stared at the commander expressionlessly, and curled his lips, "Master Zhang, have all the 20,000-plus soldiers asked for leave?! What a coincidence?!"
The commander of the parade ground, Lord Zhang, smiled awkwardly and whispered, "It's a bit of a coincidence..."
Hu Zongxian's face suddenly became gloomy.
"Haha, Lord Hu, calm down. To be honest, it's not just my camp that's like this. Other armies are like this as well."
Lord Zhang, the commander of the parade ground, gave a dry laugh and explained.
"Now the Japanese threat is becoming more and more serious. How can we resist it in this situation?!" Hu Zongxian asked with a sneer.
"Since the Jingnan Campaign, our Yingtian City has not been invaded for more than a hundred years. The Japanese pirates only wreak havoc in the countryside. Even if they were brave enough, they would not dare to come to our Yingtian City."
Lord Zhang, the commander of the Grand Parade Ground, said without any worry.