From a slave to the Great Qian Martial Saint

In the afternoon, at the wooden dummy field.

In the vast venue, tens of thousands of wooden puppets were neatly arranged.

In the second half of the semester, the mornings at the Zhechong Academy were still dedicated to martial arts practice, while the afternoon classes changed from strategy to military tactics!

"These are wooden military puppets."

Looking at the wooden puppets on the field, including those of officials who had been recommended for official positions, he couldn't help but show surprise.

The predecessor of Zhechongyuan was Zhuge Hall. Zhuge Liang invented these wooden military puppets specifically to guide students in training military formations.

The so-called wooden puppets are wooden puppets that can be manipulated with command flags and arranged in formations just like real people.

Zhuge Liang was a man of extraordinary talent. In addition to his brilliant military strategy, he was also highly accomplished in other fields, and was known as one of the Seven Wonders of Zhuge Liang.

These wooden military puppets were invented by him by combining formations and mechanisms.

"Each person should receive ten coins first."

The instructor shouted a command and then distributed the command flags for controlling the puppets.

Once you have the command flag, you can control it by waving it, just like commanding a real army, as long as you connect it to the military puppet.

"This flag..."

Holding the command flag in his hand, Chen Shi couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.

The flag is outlined with a battle formation, which vaguely resembles the Eight Trigrams Formation.

However, the formations on the command flags are much simpler and more straightforward, and their complexity is far less than that of the Eight Trigrams Formation.

If this command flag represents the Three Character Classic, then the Eight Trigrams Formation represents the Four Books and Five Classics.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. These were all written by Zhuge Liang, so how could they not have similarities?

"Choose your own unit type."

After the command flags were distributed, the instructor gave another shout.

The crowd was already impatient and immediately rushed into the wooden dummy arena to choose according to their own preferences.

Although these military figures are all infantrymen, they can be classified into different types of soldiers based on the weapons they carry.

There were spearmen, swordsmen and shieldmen, as well as archers and crossbowmen.

After a moment's thought, Chen Shi selected ten spear-wielding puppets.

An inch longer, an inch stronger—especially when forming a battle formation, it has a greater advantage in attack. Of course, it becomes less agile in areas like dense forests.

Military branches and formations should be adapted to local conditions.

Following the instructor's demonstration, connect these ten spear-wielding puppets to the command flag mechanism.

Whoosh!

The next moment, when Chen Shi waved the command flag, the military puppets suddenly moved.

"It's truly amazing!"

With a wave of the command flag, the military puppets moved again, and Chen Shi opened his eyes wide, his face full of curiosity.

I can't help but sigh again, Zhuge Liang truly deserves to be called the greatest genius of the millennium, his creations are simply miraculous.

"You should familiarize yourselves with these wooden blocks today."

Seeing that everyone had finished choosing their military dolls and were all beaming with joy, the instructor smiled and gave a shout.

No matter how talented Zhuge Liang was, he could not possibly make wooden puppets exactly like real people. Moreover, in order to quickly increase the number, these were simply simplified versions made by later generations to cut corners.

Before using these wooden figures to practice military formations, it is always necessary to spend a few days familiarizing oneself with how to use them.

Upon hearing this, everyone waved their command flags, directing the puppets to leave the wooden dummy field.

Since it was their first time trying, they all staggered and swayed, as if they were drunk. Some of the puppets even bumped into each other, creating chaos for a while.

However, some people are different. They quickly figured out the basic operation of the puppets and successfully led the ten selected puppets out of the wooden puppet field.

For example, Nangong Caiyun and Feng Qi.

In addition, there were several students who had likely been familiar with wooden puppets before, and they were quite skilled at handling them as soon as they started.

Chen Shi didn't rush into action. He listened to the instructor's explanation while observing the others' operations. After a while, he had a good grasp of the process and then began to try.

After the ten military puppets shook a few times, Chen Shi gradually figured out the key points and couldn't help but smile as he slowly led them out of the wooden dummy arena.

Since it is a military drill, a certain amount of space is required.

Fortunately, the only advantage of the Zhechongyuan (a type of military academy) is that it is large enough.

Chen Shi led the soldier to a flat area, looked around, and nodded.

"Let's try forming a square formation first."

The formations formed by ordinary soldiers are different from the formations of the elite troops under the command of the Marquis of Jing'an and the Marquis of Dingyuan, which can connect blood energy; they are just simple formations.

Soldiers must rely on and support each other, and use different formations to deal with different situations in order to exert their overall strength; otherwise, they will be a disorganized mess.

Previously, I studied military strategy and many military books, which all described military formations.

The most basic of these are the square formation and the circular formation.

Square formation for attack, circular formation for defense.

More advanced formations include the Goose Formation, Fish Scale Formation, Arrowhead Formation, and Chariot Formation, among others.

Chen Shi was also a complete novice when it came to troop deployment.

Moreover, we are not yet proficient in using these wooden military puppets. We cannot reach the sky in one step; we must start from the basics.

The so-called square formation has four sides of equal length, and nine people are just right. These ten military puppets are actually one extra.

However, there is no fixed principle in troop deployment; it is all about adapting to the situation and going with the flow.

Chen Shi thought for a moment and arranged them into two rows of five.

"It's not that easy after all."

But just getting these military puppets to line up took almost half an hour, making Chen Shi sweat profusely with anxiety.

"It's finally done."

Looking at the military puppets that were finally arranged neatly, Chen Shi breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but smile.

No wonder the instructor had everyone familiarize themselves with these wooden puppets first; they really are a bunch of wooden blocks, and they're quite difficult to handle.

"Um?"

Just as Chen Shi's group had formed their ranks, a series of chaotic footsteps approached.

A scholar who had passed the imperial examinations was seen leading his military mascot towards them.

The puppets wobbled and swayed, clearly not yet skilled at handling, twisting and turning before finally crashing straight into Chen Shi's puppet.

With a whoosh, the twenty military puppets mingled together, instantly turning Chen Shi's carefully arranged military formation into chaos.

"Sorry, these wooden blocks are out of control."

The student who had passed the imperial examinations stood to the side, and although he said those words, he had a slight smile on his face, which did not look like an apology at all.

"It's alright, you can take these military puppets with you and leave."

Chen Shi remained expressionless and said something indifferently.

To everyone's surprise, the student who had passed the imperial examination gave a cold laugh and stood with his arms crossed, not moving an inch.

"Why should I leave, and why not you?"

"First come, first served".

"What if I don't leave?"

The scholar looked at Chen Shi with a cold gaze.

Chen Shi's face darkened; this was deliberately picking a fight.

He's only at the eighth rank of cultivation; if he doesn't leave, Chen Shi could easily throw him out.

Or, could we use this person to continue practicing Dragon Claw Hand?

Regardless, it was a waste of time that was used to practice military formations.

Thinking of this, Chen Shi waved his command flag and directed his dummy soldiers to leave.

It's better to compete with a wise person than to argue with a fool; it's not worth wasting time with such a person.

As Chen Shi left, the scholar, looking smug, practiced with his military puppet.

A moment later, Chen Shi led the puppets to another open space to practice.

But just as he rearranged the formation, another student carrying a military puppet rushed up, accompanied by the sound of chaotic footsteps.

Oops, my hand slipped.

The scholar looked at Chen Shi and gave a provocative chuckle.

Chen Shi sighed helplessly; it seemed that it was not as simple as a coincidence.