Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 38 Coach
midsummer.

The morning light was just beginning to appear, the breeze was cool, and the sun was not yet blazing, which was a good time for training. The Left Association of the Supervisory Standard had already gathered early and had been training on the training ground for a long time.

Teams one, two, and three were deployed, each in an area, mainly practicing fighting. They had to hurry up to train, as they had to leave the city in the afternoon and pull the war horses outside the city to graze.

As Jiao Lian's standard-bearers, the Central Army, the Left Army and the Right Army were stationed in Guilin City, while the troops from other towns were stationed outside the city.

Not long ago, an epidemic swept through the garrison outside the city, but fortunately not many people died. In times of war, epidemics are common. When no one collects the bodies of soldiers who died in battle, their bodies pollute the water source or are eaten by beasts, which in turn are eaten by hungry people, and the epidemic will spread.

Fortunately, the barracks were stationed in the city and were free from the epidemic.

A new official has three things to do when he takes office. Cen Danchu leads the Left Brigade of the Du Biao and recruits boy soldiers in the Central Army, with a change of intention. The first, second and third teams are Jiao Lian's personal troops, who have followed Jiao Lian for a long time. Danchu has no choice but to seek steady progress and win them over carefully.

He served as the captain of the third team, although the time was not long, but he formed a deep friendship with the officers and soldiers. After being promoted to the commander of the left assistant, Danchu recommended Chen Wu to succeed him as the captain. Chen Wu was Jiao Lian's personal soldier and came to the third team with Danchu.

Jiao Lian understood the intention clearly and agreed readily.

The commander of the Central Army was regarded as a subordinate of the commander and was not taken seriously. Danchu had the right to select and appoint him. Unexpectedly, Danchu appointed Feng Lin, the deputy commander of the Third Brigade, as the commander of the Central Army.

Feng Lin is already over 40 years old, mature, diligent, and is Jiao Lian's old brother, and can be considered Dan Chu's elder. He is gradually losing his sharpness, but he is conscientious and responsible, so he is suitable to be the sitting camp officer.

Chen Wu was promoted from team leader to team leader, and the vacant post was taken by the second sentry leader Kuang Shi. Kuang Shi was brave and resourceful, and had the talent of a general. The deputy post left by Feng Lin was taken by the first sentry leader Wu Jie.

In addition, the soldier He Guoju made outstanding military achievements and was promoted two levels according to the law and appointed as a sentry leader.

Team 1 and Team 2 did not perform as well as Team 3 on the battlefield, and there were few personnel changes. Danchu came from behind and was very polite to the two captains, not easily interfering in the internal affairs of the two teams.

As for the boy soldiers in the central army, Danchu can use sticks to establish his authority and force them to study hard. Soon after, he can incorporate ideological education.

Most of the standard-bearers are arrogant and brave, and it is simply not feasible to use sticks to establish authority. It is also not feasible to set up a teaching team in the Left Association to train backbones and win over confidants, so we can only take it step by step.

The key lies in the first captain, Wei Guosong. He is about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, competitive, highly respected in the old battalion, and considers himself the best captain. The second captain is nearly forty years old and has a calm personality.

To catch a thief, one must first catch the leader. If Danchu wants to establish his prestige in Zuoxie, he must first subdue Wei Guosong.

"No! This fancy spear may look good, but it is not practical on the battlefield."

When Cen Danchu arrived at a team, he saw veteran soldiers teaching new recruits how to use rifles and pointed out problems on the spot.

The old soldier was obviously dissatisfied. Although he did not dare to refute him face to face, his face showed an expression of disapproval.

One of the team leaders was named Wei Guosong, a typical veteran soldier from northern Shaanxi, who was good at using spears. Therefore, he organized a team to train, focusing on using spears.

Wei Guosong was a senior person, and seeing that Danchu was speaking rudely, he retorted:

"This is the Ma family's long spear, which is inherited from the Yang family's pear blossom spear. It has the characteristics of odd and even, false and true, sharp when advancing and fast when retreating, still as a mountain and moving like thunder. If you say that the Ma family's long spear is useless, then according to your opinion, what spear technique is useful?"

Wei Guosong's spear skills were superb, and Danchu was not sure he could defeat him. However, the old soldier's spear skills did have a flaw, and Danchu had a plan to defeat him, so he said:

"The Art of War says, 'One hand holding a spear is called a single bet. This is the disadvantage of the Yang family spear, and many scholars have been misled by it.' I am not good at using the spear, but I would like to learn from this old soldier. What do you think?"

The old soldier didn't dare to agree, but Wei Guosong had no worries and said, "Old Bi, you should spar with Xietai, and be careful with your hands."

Each of them held a long stick, which they used as a spear, and stood fifty feet away from each other. A group of officers and soldiers put down their weapons and gathered around to watch.

One is a veteran who has fought in hundreds of battles, the other is a young and energetic assistant. Who will win in the battle with spears?
Under the gaze of the crowd, the two men held their spears tightly and approached step by step, their steps getting faster and faster. In real combat, they would seek to be fast and ruthless, and no fancy moves were allowed.

With a clang, the spears collided and blocked each other. The old soldier stopped and planned to take back his spear and fight again.

Danchu took a few quick steps forward, used both hands to pull back the gun, and then held the front end of the gun with both hands. Suddenly, he was only one step away from the old soldier. When masters fight, one move can determine the winner. The old soldier wanted to dodge, but he heard Wei Guosong say, "Okay, stop. Lao Bi, you have already lost."

He turned to Danchu and said, "Xietai, your marksmanship is unexpected. Guosong admires you."

Many officers and soldiers were confused and stunned.

Wei Guosong explained: "If it was a real spear fight, Xietai's spear tip would be very close, while Lao Bi's spear tip would still be five steps away. The spear wins with the spear tip, not the spear shaft, so Xietai will win."

Everyone suddenly realized what was going on and were in awe of Dan Chu.

Danchu smiled calmly and said, "Qi Wuyi said long ago that long weapons must be used in a short way. Long spears are easy to age, and if you don't know how to use them in a short way, you will be misled by the long ones. I am young, and I don't have as much experience in battles as you guys. I just read a few more books and learned a little from them."

Seeing that Wei Guosong was still a little unconvinced, Danchu tried to suppress him and said, "There is a sentry leader in the third team who is good at using rattan shields. He was a great contributor in the battle of Limuling. Using rattan shields to break long spears has been around since ancient times. Let him try it today."

He Guoju, holding a rattan shield, was ordered to join the first team.

The soldiers saw that he looked like a Yao man and pointed at him:

"So he's a native."

"I heard he is a Yao ethnic group."

"Then aren't we from the same clan and hometown as the great eunuch Wang Zhi?"

"That's right. Those who are not of my race must have different hearts."

……

He Guoju was furious but couldn't get angry.

Danchu saw this and stepped forward, saying: "Everyone says that Wang Zhi brought chaos to the government, but do you know about 'Chenghua Liting'? Wang Zhi once led his army deep into Liaodong and killed the Jiannu army, which was so weak that they dared not to spy on the inside for decades.

"A hero doesn't depend on his background. It's true that He Guoju is a Yao, but he has made outstanding military achievements and was promoted from a new recruit to a sentry leader. Today, I will show you his martial arts skills and let you know that when I hire people, I only look at their merits, not their backgrounds."

He Guoju held the rattan shield in his left hand, placed the wooden sword across the inside of the shield in advance, held the javelin in his right hand, and waited for the opponent to attack.

The old soldier thrust his gun forward.

"Bang!" He Guoju blocked the spear with a rattan shield, and then threw the javelin with all his might.

The veteran soldiers had no choice but to dodge. If the spearmen missed their target, they would be easily attacked by the enemy's short weapons, and they would not be able to retreat in time, which was no different from being unarmed.

He Guoju stepped forward quickly and drew his wooden sword. The old soldier was unable to dodge and before he could retract his spear, He Guoju's wooden sword was already in front of him.

"Good! Good!" Wei Guosong looked at He Guoju differently and couldn't help but cheering.

Cen Danchu and He Guoju succeeded in succession and finally convinced Wei Guosong.

He took the opportunity to summon the officers of each team and announced that he would serve as the "coach". He would select key training personnel from each team to serve as "instructors". He would first organize a period of intensive training to unify standards and exchange martial arts.

The first training session mainly focused on flags, spears, lances, bows and arrows, horsemanship, swords, and rattan shields.

This is a bit like a teaching team. But it is too early to set up a teaching team because the conditions are not yet ripe.

Training with cold weapons is too slow and too difficult!

(End of this chapter)