Chapter 64

On the 21st day of the 12th month of the third year of the Yingli era, nearly three hundred bandits stood in neat rows on the open ground in front of the assembly hall of the Five Tigers Fort in Xiayun Ridge, waiting for the new leaders to appear and give their speeches. Some of them were eagerly anticipating or anxiously awaiting the announcement of their new positions.

At the hour of Chen, the group from Yuxu Palace, led by Liu Wanbao, walked out of the assembly hall and stood on the steps. Over twenty people stood there, all dressed in Taoist robes, carrying swords on their backs, looking solemn and dignified. In particular, Qingchen, who had once demonstrated his skills in front of the bandits, was now standing at the edge, and anyone could see that he was the lowest-ranking among the new leaders. Seeing the highly skilled Daoist Qingchen not even ranking among these Taoists, the bandits below were both impressed by the hierarchy and intimidated. Some even wondered if these Taoists were to act together, their three hundred men might not be enough to stand against them.

The reactions of the bandits below were all observed by the people from Yuxu Palace, which further boosted their confidence in the smooth reorganization. Zhang Weixin, as the organizer of the reorganization ceremony, stepped forward, took out the reorganization plan from his sleeve, cleared his throat, and loudly said, "Brothers, the renaming and reorganization ceremony of the Five Tigers Fort now begins. The first item is for our new chief, Chief Wang Xiaojun, to announce the new name of the fort." He then led the applause, and the others on the steps, including Liu Wanbao, joined in. The bandits below, though not understanding why the leaders were clapping, followed suit since their leaders were doing it.

Amidst the enthusiastic applause, Wang Xiaojun stepped forward, raised his hand to greet the bandits, and then signaled for them to quiet down. He then pulled out a sheet from his sleeve and announced, "Brothers, I now declare that from today, the Five Tigers Fort of Xiayun Ridge will be officially renamed the Flying Dragon Fort of Xiayun Ridge."

After another round of enthusiastic applause, Wang Xiaojun continued, "To better develop the fort and to make the best use of everyone's abilities, all the bandits and leaders of the fort have participated in evaluations and competitions over the past few days. Based on the results of these evaluations and competitions, and after discussions among the new leaders, necessary adjustments have been made to the bandit organization, and some leaders have been appointed or dismissed. I will now announce the reorganization plan and the list of new leaders."

Wang Xiaojun then read out the pre-arranged plan and list. According to the resolution of the expanded committee meeting, the穿越者们 (people from the future) reorganized all 315 bandits and leaders of the Flying Dragon Fort, excluding Liu Wanbao and Xing Budai's personal guards. They formed two companies, each with three platoons, and each platoon with five squads, with each squad consisting of ten to eleven people. Qian Yuanshan and Zeng Zhilin were appointed as company commanders, and each also served as a platoon leader. Tang Chao, He Qiang, Fang Guoqiang, and Mutel were appointed as the other four platoon leaders, and six bandits who performed exceptionally well in the evaluations and competitions were appointed as their deputies.

However, the platoon leader positions of the people from the future were temporary. After completing a three-month retraining program for all bandits, twenty-five people would be selected to form a personal guard unit, which would be integrated into the security group and serve as household guards in the two residences where the people from the future would live. Therefore, the current organization would be adjusted. If the six deputy platoon leaders performed well, they would be appointed to corresponding leadership positions in the new organization. If they performed poorly, new leaders would be promoted from other outstanding bandits. After the retraining, only Qian Yuanshan, Zeng Zhilin, Tang Chao, Mutel, and Lu Yue would remain, while He Qiang and Fang Guoqiang would return to Liangxiang County.

After reading out the reorganization plan and the names of the leaders of each company, platoon, and squad, Wang Xiaojun introduced the names of the people from Yuxu Palace to the bandits, so they could have a general impression. Then, Zhang Weixin read out the names of the bandits in the newly organized squads and ordered them to reassemble according to the new organization.

The bandits below began to move around. The leaders first arranged their positions according to the temporary platoon leaders' instructions, loudly announcing the numbers of their platoons and squads to help the bandits find their places. After a period of confusion, the over three hundred bandits finally reassembled in neat rows. By then, it was nearly noon. After ordering the bandits' living quarters to be renumbered according to the new organization, Wang Xiaojun dismissed the bandits to pack their personal belongings and move to the newly assigned dormitories after lunch.

Moving over three hundred people was a complicated and chaotic process, but as an important step to break the ties between the bandits and their former leaders, this trouble had to be endured. Fortunately, under the command of the leaders, the move was chaotic but not disorganized. After a busy afternoon, the move was basically completed.

That evening, in the residence where the people from Yuxu Palace stayed, Wang Xiaojun, as the chief, hosted a grand banquet, inviting Liu Wanbao, Xing Budai's family, and the newly appointed leaders. At the banquet, Wang Xiaojun first highly praised the contributions of Liu Wanbao, Xing Budai, and others to the survival of the fort. He then encouraged the leaders present, urging them to continue their efforts for the future development of the fort. The leaders naturally responded enthusiastically, expressing their determination and loyalty. Liu Wanbao and Xing Budai also repeatedly affirmed their loyalty to the fort. The people from Yuxu Palace were naturally very satisfied with their statements and praised them highly. The banquet lasted until nearly midnight, forcing Qian Yuanshan, Zeng Zhilin, and the other training leaders to announce a day off the next day, with training to resume the day after.

The next day, Wang Xiaojun and the others stayed at the Flying Dragon Fort. Qian Yuanshan, Zeng Zhilin, Tang Chao, and others submitted the training outline they had compiled to the committee, hoping for their evaluation. This outline was based on the new recruit training content from their previous lives in the military and police forces, adjusted and supplemented to fit the characteristics of small-scale battles in this era. It mainly included drill, housekeeping, physical fitness, martial arts, and team cooperation.

Most of the training was personally overseen by the members of the留守小组 (留守 group), while martial arts training was mainly handled by the Liu family and Qingchen, who had been invited to stay and help. This was not because the martial arts skills of the留守 group members were poor; in fact, in terms of internal cultivation, they were much higher than Qingchen and the Liu family. However, their strengths were not suitable for the bandits' martial arts training. The bandits needed to learn hand-to-hand combat and weapon techniques, and the留守 group members, having practiced martial arts for a shorter time, were less proficient in these areas compared to Qingchen and the others, so they were responsible for this training.

Actually, according to the authorization given to the留守 group, the training outline did not need to be reviewed by the committee. However, the留守 group felt it was better to inform the committee since all four committee members were present. Since the留守 group had this request, the committee could not refuse. The four committee members discussed the outline and agreed that it could be implemented. However, this was an informal statement, not a committee resolution, meaning that the留守 group could modify the content without committee approval. This was to give the留守 group sufficient autonomy, as the committee members, except for Xu Shaowan, were not familiar with military training. It was better to let the professionals in the留守 group operate independently.

After lunch, the people from Yuxu Palace, except for three or four who stayed to guard the fort, were led by Liu Wanbao to tour the Flying Dragon Fort and the nearby village at the foot of the mountain, to get a general understanding of the surrounding environment.

The members of the security group were very satisfied with the rugged terrain around Xiayun Ridge, believing that even with thousands of troops attacking, the three hundred men in the fort could hold their ground. The members of the technology group were more interested in the location of Liangshuiquan Village at the foot of the mountain, finding it well-suited for various confidential product tests due to its distance from towns, relatively flat terrain, and proximity to the Flying Dragon Fort. The villagers, due to the former chief Wei Caizi's principle of not plundering nearby areas, had lived in peace with the fort. The land was relatively poor, so most villagers made a living by hunting, making relocation relatively easier. With generous incentives, they would be willing to move.

After the tour, Wang Xiaojun and the others, seeing it was getting late, bid farewell to the留守 group and left Xiayun Ridge, returning to Yuxu Palace in a grand procession. The留守 group members then began the three-month retraining of the bandits.

Thus, from the 23rd day of the 12th month of the third year of the Yingli era, the 300 bandits of the Flying Dragon Fort were plunged into a "hellish" three months. Except for a five-day break during the New Year, there was no day off. However, the bandits were not only subjected to high pressure; there were also many incentives. On the one hand, it was announced that bandits who consistently performed well in training would have the opportunity for promotion. On the other hand, the top performers in each evaluation would receive monetary rewards, which came from the confiscated private property of Wu Xingji. These rewards greatly boosted the bandits' enthusiasm for training.

Of course, the training was also extremely arduous. This period was referred to as "hell season" by many bandits who participated in the retraining, and the hardships and difficulties were unimaginable. It was said that many bandits secretly called the training leaders "demons," referring to them as the "first demon," "second demon," and so on up to the "sixth demon."

However, despite the complaints, the bandits did not skimp on their training. Although many claimed they would run away and never return, no one actually did. These originally undisciplined and unruly bandits, after three months of intensive training, had basically met the standards of qualified soldiers. Their movements, actions, sitting, and lying down had become orderly, and they were no longer a disorganized mob.

Of course, this was a future development. At the time, the留守 group had no idea. They had no confidence that the people of this era could quickly adapt to their training methods. The only thing they could do was to put in their best efforts and fully commit to the retraining, to live up to the team's expectations.