Chapter 43

The weather was hot, the sun blazing like fire.

However, the enthusiasm for training the Nine-Headed Bird cavalry remained high. To boost everyone's morale, Liu Jun would evaluate the best and most active performers every day, with the top three receiving rewards of two taels, one tael, and five fen of silver, respectively. Those who performed the worst and were the most消极 (lacking in enthusiasm) would be punished with fines and labor.

Money can make even the devil grind the mill. Despite the heat, they had three full meals a day, each rich in oil, and one meal included meat. Those who performed well in training would receive two extra eggs.

After nearly a month of training, the local militia had gradually adapted to this level of intensity and no longer found it too tiring, as it had become a habit.

In the morning, the weighted long-distance run had reached two miles for the formation and five miles for individuals. Liu Jun, like everyone else, wore a full set of cotton armor, helmet, bow, saber, and bird gun, carried a backpack and tent, with a total weight of fifty pounds.

After running, he was drenched in sweat, but he didn't feel out of breath. Although he was tired, he hadn't reached his limit.

After removing the weights, the local militia lined up to take a shower in the newly built bathhouse, then queued up to eat breakfast in the canteen. The three best performers in the morning run received two eggs as a reward. The others had a breakfast of white rice, fresh river fish and shrimp from nearby fishermen, and some fresh vegetables.

The worst performers had to clean the canteen after the meal.

After breakfast, there was more formation training.

At this point, the basic formation training was already quite good. Liu Jun began to train the array, which was the most basic and core formation of the Qi Family Army, the Mandarin Duck Formation.

The Mandarin Duck Formation is actually very simple and clear. Initially, it was a basic tactical unit for infantry, not some mysterious formation like the Eight Trigram Array or the Heavenly Gate Array, but a practical combat formation.

The formation consists of twelve men. When arranged, the team leader stands at the front, holding a long shield, while another soldier holds a rattan shield on the other side.

The team leader uses the long shield to block enemy arrows and spears, while the rattan shield soldier holds a light rattan shield with a spear and a waist knife. The long shield soldier and the rattan shield soldier mainly protect the rear formation, and the rattan shield soldier can also engage in close combat.

The next two are the wolf brush soldiers, holding wolf brushes. The wolf brush is made from the old and sturdy bamboo of the south, with the tip cut into a sharp point and the surrounding branches left sharp. Each wolf brush is about three meters long. The wolf brush soldiers use the sharp front end of the wolf brush to stab the enemy, protecting the advance of the shield soldiers and the attack of the spear soldiers behind.

Following are four spear soldiers, two on each side, supporting the shield soldiers and the wolf brush soldiers on both sides.

Next are two soldiers holding "tong pa" (a type of spear) for alert and support.

If the enemy flanks, the short weapon soldiers will hold short knives and rush forward to slash the enemy. Each weapon has a clear role, and each soldier only needs to be proficient in their own weapon. The key to effective combat is overall coordination and strict discipline. The last member is the bird gun soldier.

The Mandarin Duck Formation not only combines spears and shields, long and short weapons, fully utilizing the effectiveness of various weapons, but also has flexible and adaptable formations. It can change from a column to a row, or from one formation to two or three smaller formations.

When it becomes two smaller formations, it is called the "Two Talent Formation," with the shield soldiers on both sides protecting the wolf brush soldiers, spear soldiers, and short weapon soldiers. When it becomes three smaller formations, it is called the "Three Talent Formation," with the wolf brush soldiers, spear soldiers, and short weapon soldiers in the center, and the shield soldiers on both sides protecting them. This changed formation is also called the "Changed Mandarin Duck Formation."

This formation is flexible and mobile, effectively countering the advantages of the Wokou (Japanese pirates). After training with the Mandarin Duck Formation, Qi Jiguang's "Qi Family Army" achieved victory in every battle against the Wokou.

Of course, Liu Jun's cavalry is a mounted unit, and the equipment is different from the initial Qi Family Army. It consists of four bow and saber soldiers, four bird gun soldiers, two hook spear soldiers, one team leader, and one fire soldier. This configuration is similar to one of the cavalry formations Qi Jiguang used in the Jizhen region.

Both cold weapons and firearms are equipped, making it neither a fully bird gun cavalry nor a fully cold weapon cavalry, but a light cavalry.

This light cavalry can also use the Mandarin Duck Formation.

In battle, the cavalry dismounts. The team leader holds the flag spear at the front, followed by four bird gun soldiers who dismount and form two rows, alternating to fire their guns.

The third row consists of two hook spear soldiers, who also dismount and fire rockets.

The four bow and saber soldiers form the fourth and fifth rows, drawing their bows and firing arrows.

If there are tiger crouch cannons, they can be placed behind the hook spear soldiers to fire grapeshot at the enemy.

"When the enemy is 100 steps away, blow the swan horn. The first row of bird gun soldiers fires. After the first row fires, blow the swan horn again, and the second row of bird gun soldiers fires. Blow the horn again, and the hook spear soldiers fire rockets. Blow the horn again, and the tiger crouch cannons fire. Blow the horn again, and the bow and saber soldiers put down their bird guns, rockets, and bows, and pick up their close combat weapons. The team leader holds the flag spear, the bird gun soldiers hold two-handed long knives, the hook spear soldiers hold hook spears, the bow and saber soldiers hold long knives, and the fire soldiers hold two-pointed iron bars."

Liu Jun trained the new recruits according to the tactics of the Qi Family Army, as these tactics had been proven effective.

"When the enemy is 30 steps away, the signal is given, and all soldiers put away their bird guns, rockets, and bows, and pick up their close combat weapons. The team leader holds the flag spear, the bird gun soldiers hold two-handed long knives, the hook spear soldiers hold hook spears, the bow and saber soldiers hold long knives, and the fire soldiers hold two-pointed iron bars."

"The whole team listens to the drum and moves forward slowly. When the drum beats, they run towards the enemy. The swan horn is blown, and the team shouts. Each formation has three beats, three blows, three shouts, and three advances. On the third advance, the whole team charges together."

Although they are a cavalry unit, Liu Jun knew that riding skills are hard to master in a short time. For now, they were more like mounted infantry. To train them as true cavalry would take much longer. Therefore, in the current training, he treated them as mounted infantry with mobility.

However, in battle, they would still dismount and fight on foot, using the infantry formation tactics of the Qi Family Army. They would start with long-range attacks and switch to close combat when the enemy approached.

Liu Jun scanned the crowd and shouted, "Prepare!"

With a "whoosh," the teams stood straight.

"Blow the horn!"

The horn player picked up the horn and blew the swan sound.

Liu Jun shouted, "Form the array, face the enemy!"

"Kill!"

The teams shouted together and quickly moved into formation. The team leaders ran to the front with their flag spears, followed by the bird gun soldiers, hook spear soldiers, and bow and saber soldiers. At this stage, Liu Jun had not yet included the tiger crouch cannons in the formation.

"Blow the horn!"

Another swan horn sound rang out.

The two bird gun soldiers in the first row of each team began to aim their guns.

"Fire!"

Several bangs sounded, and the first row of bird gun soldiers in each of the six combat teams fired their guns. Twelve bird guns roared, and a cloud of smoke filled the air as twelve lead bullets shot towards the targets.

After the first row fired, the second horn sounded.

The second row of bird gun soldiers quickly raised their guns and fired. The first row of bird gun soldiers were reloading, and after the second row fired, the hook spear soldiers had already laid their hook spears flat, taken out their rockets, and placed them on the gun barrels. They lit the rockets with a fire stick, and a sharp whistling sound filled the air as twelve rockets streaked towards the front of the formation.

Liu Jun saw the rockets fly like fireworks, without any specific target, but he could imagine that if the enemy approached in formation and suddenly dozens of rockets streaked towards them, the smoke and sparks would cause more panic than ordinary arrows.

After the hook spear soldiers fired their rockets, the bow and saber soldiers had already drawn their bows and aimed. At the sound of the horn, they quickly fired their arrows.

One row after another, the shooting continued. When one round of shooting was completed, it took only a short time, and the bird gun soldiers had already reloaded their guns.

During a battle, from 100 steps away to when the enemy was 30 steps away, with good training, they could fire three rounds.

After three rounds of long-range attacks, the whole team switched to close combat.

Even after training, each team could be equipped with a tiger crouch cannon to deal a greater blow to the enemy. Behind each team, a few true cavalry could be added. After the long-range fire, these cavalry would charge forward, and the teams would follow with their close combat weapons.

If they were only dealing with a small group of bandits, Liu Jun believed that just the first three rounds of volleys would be enough to make the bandits collapse. If they encountered more stubborn enemies, the close combat that followed would be hard for them to withstand against the well-equipped Nine-Headed Bird team.

However, to achieve close coordination, much more training was needed.

Liu Jun walked among the teams, ready to strike anyone who was flustered, and shouted loudly.

Although the coordination was not yet perfect, overall, in just a month, they had reached this level, which Liu Jun found quite satisfactory. If they could train for three more months, they would be basically qualified. If they could see some action and experience real combat, they would truly become an army.

These days, Li Chunjiang was fully focused on investigating the bandits. He left early and returned late, sometimes disappearing for several days. The bandits were indeed cunning, always appearing when you least expected them, and then disappearing without a trace when you tried to track them down.

This made Li Chunjiang very frustrated, feeling that he was being toyed with, which only made him more determined to investigate. He even brought a team of old family servants from the Li family to help him.

With Li Chunjiang away, the Nine-Headed Bird cavalry was temporarily under Liu Jun's command. Unconsciously, in the hearts of the team members, Liu Jun had become the true leader of the Nine-Headed Bird cavalry. His prestige in the camp grew day by day, unmatched.

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