Chapter 41

Although Mei Zhihuan generously sponsored Liu Jun and his men with a batch of firearms, Liu Jun ultimately decided not to change the original formation and equipment configuration plan. The original six teams of left and right banners and the weapon configurations of each small team remained unchanged. Only an artillery team was added to each of the left and right banners.

The artillery teams were directly under the command of the banner commanders. Fortunately, these tiger-squatting cannons were very light and easy to operate, requiring only two people to operate each one. Therefore, Liu Jun and Li Chunjiang each received three tiger-squatting cannons and set up a new artillery group under their banners, which, together with the original four household troops, formed a banner direct command team.

Each of the two combat banners had three combat teams and one banner direct command team. Each of the three combat teams still had twelve men: one team leader equipped with a banner spear, a waist sword, and a small crossbow. Then there were four bow-knife men equipped with long knives and small crossbows. Next were four musketeers equipped with muskets and long knives. The remaining two hook-spear men were equipped with hook-scythes and thirty rockets.

These rockets did not require a bow. A paper tube of gunpowder was tied to the arrow, and when engaging the enemy, the hook-spear was laid flat, and the rocket was placed on the hook-spear. The rocket was then ignited and fired directly at the enemy, relying entirely on the thrust of the gunpowder rather than a bow. Although these rockets had low accuracy, they had a long range. When they entered the enemy ranks, they flew around chaotically, and the enemy had no idea who they would hit, making them excellent for creating chaos.

The last fire soldier was responsible for cooking and carrying some supplies, directly under the command of the team leader, and other combat soldiers had no authority to command him.

Of course, they still had a cavalry team, so each combat soldier was also equipped with a horse.

Each banner also had three tiger-squatting cannons and four household troops directly under the banner commander.

The weapons and equipment had already been distributed, but Liu Jun did not plan to start training them in musketry, archery, and horse riding immediately. Qi Shaobao had also said that training soldiers first required training their strength and courage, and then their skills.

Liu Jun had been a soldier in a later life, and new recruits had to undergo three months of intensive training in the new recruit company. The purpose was to make the newly enlisted soldiers quickly adapt to the transition from civilian to soldier, understand the normal order of life in the military, and through learning and basic training, lay the foundation for the new recruits to become soldiers.

Liu Jun felt this process was very necessary.

These recruits, monks, hunters, postmen, farmers, craftsmen, and scholars, came from all walks of life and had to be first molded into a cohesive unit before they could be trained in military formations.

"Jiye, what do you think is the most basic aspect of training soldiers?" Li Chunjiang asked.

"Following orders without hesitation," Liu Jun replied without hesitation. If an army could do this, it could be considered well-trained. It was said that when Qi Shaobao was transferred to the Jizhou region to train troops, he led the Zhejiang soldiers north. On the day they arrived, the Jizhou troops lined up to welcome them, but a heavy rain started halfway through. The Jizhou troops scattered like birds and beasts, while only Qi Jiguang's Zhejiang soldiers stood firm in the rain. The northern soldiers, seeing this, truly admired the reputation of the Qi family army.

However, Liu Jun also knew how difficult it was to achieve "following orders without hesitation." More than 90% of the Ming army probably couldn't do it.

"Jiye, what do you think is the most important aspect of training soldiers?" Li Chunjiang, knowing that "following orders without hesitation" was difficult, asked again.

Liu Jun smiled, "It is said that the emperor and ministers discussed this issue in court. A minister replied that sufficient soldiers, sufficient pay, and sufficient training were needed to form a elite army capable of fighting the Manchus. Our cavalry has a significant advantage compared to the imperial army. We have three banners with over a hundred soldiers, which can be considered sufficient soldiers. Each soldier has a base salary of two taels of silver, which is much better than the less than ten taels per year for many border troops. We can be considered to have sufficient pay. The only thing we lack is sufficient training."

"How do you plan to train the soldiers?"

"First, three months of basic training. The first month will focus on formation, physical fitness, and flag and drum commands. The second month will add riding, archery, swordsmanship, and musketry. The third month will focus on formation and battle tactics."

Li Chunjiang, finding Liu Jun's plan reasonable, said, "Draft a training plan. I'll leave the training to you. You will be the chief instructor of our cavalry. My household troops, who have fought the Tartars in Liaodong, can assist you if needed. Additionally, Mr. Mei has sent a few artillerymen and musketeers who can help train the musketeers and artillerymen."

"Let's not rush. Let's start with a month of basic training first."

"Everything is up to you. I'll focus on tracking the bandits near Queen City."

"Be careful."

With Li Chunjiang's support, Liu Jun officially became the chief instructor of the Nine-Headed Bird cavalry. His training methods were based on Qi Shaobao's "New Book of Military Efficiency" and "Records of Training Soldiers," as well as his own military and martial arts experience.

Liu Jun distributed the equipment to the local militia, instructing them to maintain their weapons and armor and even to personally care for the warhorses, feeding and grooming them daily. However, he strictly prohibited them from riding the horses, drawing bows, or firing muskets and cannons.

He stored the arrows, gunpowder, and lead balls in the warehouse.

In the early morning, the wake-up call sounded, followed by the drill call. If any member of a team was late, the entire team would be punished. The punishments included running, push-ups, and frog jumps, but they would still be fed. The food was good, with plenty of white rice and meat every day.

Various bugle calls were used to convey orders, helping the soldiers adapt to the military communication system.

Then the formal training began.

Over a hundred local militia gathered on the parade ground, still retaining some civilian habits, whispering to each other.

On the first day of formal training, the local militia arrived early to form ranks, but the chief instructor, Liu Jun, was nowhere to be seen. He didn't appear even after two hours, by which time the sun was already high in the sky.

The group finally grew impatient, especially the team leaders and squad leaders of the left banner, who were originally Li Chunjiang's household troops and had served in Liaodong. They had a tendency to be lax in discipline.

"Is Chief Liu oversleeping?" Mao Gui, the team leader of the left banner's first squad, said sarcastically, folding his arms.

Qian Gu, the team leader of the second squad, wiped the sweat from his forehead and snorted, "I think he's just playing with us."

"Damn it, I'm not playing with him. Whoever wants to stand, let them stand." Li Chunjiang's three household troops finally couldn't take it anymore and left the ranks, walking to the shade of a tree.

At this moment, Liu Jun was actually watching the parade ground from a nearby room. He had a cup of cool tea in front of him, and Li Chunjiang, who had been investigating the bandits, was sitting beside him.

"Public Ji, will you be upset if I use your household troops to set an example?" Liu Jun asked with a smile.

Li Chunjiang shook his head and laughed lightly, "You always have so many tricks. But if it works, it's fine. To be honest, these few think they're invincible because they've fought the Tartars in Liaodong. They're usually arrogant and don't even respect me. If not for family requirements, I wouldn't have brought them along. It's good to teach them a lesson today."

"That's good. Today, I'll use them to set an example and enforce the training discipline."

In ancient times, prisoners were beaten with a "killing stick" upon arrest.

Now, Liu Jun wanted to teach a lesson to the most arrogant and disrespectful of Li Chunjiang's household troops.

He deliberately delayed his appearance, making the local militia stand for two hours in the sun, knowing that Li Chunjiang's household troops would not stand it.

However, these guys were surprisingly persistent, standing for two hours before leaving the ranks. Liu Jun had expected them to rebel after an hour.

"Let's go, to set an example." Liu Jun waved his hand, and four military police and his four household troops immediately followed him to the parade ground.

The three Li Chunjiang household troops under the tree saw Liu Jun come out but made no move to return to the ranks. Liu Jun sneered, "A bunch of fools."

"Seize them!"

The four military police and Liu Jun's four household troops pounced. The Li household troops tried to resist, but Liu Jun personally went forward, punching and kicking them to the ground. The military police and household troops then tied their hands behind their backs with ox sinew and dragged them to the platform.

The local militia, who had been growing impatient, were shocked and secretly glad they hadn't left the ranks.

"What right do you have to seize us, Liu?"

"What right? The right of being your chief instructor." Liu Jun sneered and waved his hand. "You violated military orders during training, left the ranks without permission, and complained, disrupting morale. I now announce that each of you will receive twenty military lashes and be demoted to ordinary combat soldiers."

"Take them away, beat them!"

The three Li household troops were dragged away, their pants pulled down, and the beating began. Each lash hit the flesh.

In a short while, the twenty lashes were over, and the three team leaders were left groaning.

"Carry them away and have the doctor treat them."

Liu Jun then announced that the three vacant team leader positions in the left banner would be open for competition after a month, with the best-performing local militia soldiers having the chance to apply.

After dealing with the three Li household troops, removing their team leader positions, and promising the local militia a chance to compete for these positions, the atmosphere on the parade ground changed. Initially, the local militia were somewhat lax, but after the beating, even as the sun grew hotter, they all became more focused.

However, in Liu Jun's eyes, they were still a disorganized group.

He had to start with formation training.

In ancient warfare, the most important aspect was the battle formation, which relied on strict discipline and a well-organized formation. Formation was the foundation of the battle formation. If they couldn't even form a proper formation, how could they talk about battle tactics?

Especially in Qi Jiguang's military tactics, formation and battle tactics were emphasized. His Qi family army used the team as the basic tactical unit. A team of twelve men was the standard formation.

Liu Jun decided to follow this model, dividing the local militia into teams of twelve. The first training content was three types of marching.

Parade march, quick march, and run.

These were the main marching steps, along with squatting, standing up, standing at attention, and saluting.

This was the most basic training, the first step.

"The team with the worst performance in each training session will stand at attention for fifteen minutes!" Liu Jun announced the punishment. Seeing the local militia's indifferent expressions, he thought, "You'll soon know how severe standing at attention can be!"

"Training begins now!"