Chapter 8

In the morning light, the dozen or so bodies hanging from the wooden poles, drenched by the dew, had become extremely stiff. Among the many new recruits, who were sleep-deprived and constantly yawning, their trembling eyes and expressions watched as the bodies continued to sway in the wind, making their movements under various commands even more vigorous.

Some who had been injured from the night's panic and trampling were piled to the side, moaning softly, like a background and a form of embellishment.

Well, a potential隐患 has been eliminated, I couldn't help but sigh lightly, still feeling a sense of unreality. The rules of this troop were brutal and simple; fleeing at night or disrupting the camp was a death sentence. As for why they "escaped" to my tent to hurt people, it seemed few cared anymore.

The early risers were already fetching water and preparing meals, with the steam from cooking beginning to spread throughout the camp.

Only the leaders had a bowl of hot porridge in the morning, while the soldiers only had two meals a day of wild vegetable black balls and coarse cakes with so much sand that they gritted their teeth, and they had to wait until the sun was high to receive them.

The veteran I knew was tearing at a piece of dried meat, inspecting the new recruits' drills, his face showing a hint of helplessness.

These former refugees, forming the pole team, took nearly half an hour just to be called up and find their units.

This couldn't help but remind me of the military training in the future, where college students and others, trained in groups and drills over a week, had been conditioned to follow orders and maintain order since their kindergarten days.

Compared to these refugees, whose movements and sense of direction were truly pitiful, there was really no comparison. To expect these people, who had almost all their lives faced the earth with their backs to the sky, to immediately find a sense of direction and coordination was too much to ask.

Thinking about this, I, holding the ledger while listening to their numbers, couldn't help but show a certain emotion on my lips.

"Scholar, are you also interested in military drills?"

The old soldier suddenly spoke, seemingly noticing me from the corner of his eye.

"Somewhat, somewhat..."

I rubbed my protesting stomach and yawned.

"Mainly, I've heard a little bit about it..."

"Many of the sons of the outer vassals are skilled in archery and horsemanship, rarely participating in group training, to prepare for the wilderness..."

He continued to probe.

"To be honest, I really can't remember many things from the past..."

I thought for a moment and carefully said,

"But I do remember some methods of rewards and punishments..."

"Oh..."

"Also, is it really okay to let them relieve themselves everywhere?"

Encouraged, I continued, pointing to the yellow and white stains on the ground, where people stood carelessly, trampling and creating a mess that the sun gradually made unbearable.

"Aren't you afraid of an epidemic?"

"Oh."

He finally became serious.

"If you don't mind, I do have some simple methods..."

"You can call me Deng Fang, or Deng Jun."

The old soldier interrupted me, loosening his expression.

"Go on, tell me."

This veteran, Deng Fang, was said to be a fellow townsman of Jiang An, a former official soldier who had returned to his hometown. Although he was not a leader or a team leader, he had considerable prestige in this hastily assembled troop.

The idea I gave him, in simple terms, was a common last-place elimination system, but the rewards and punishments were in the form of food rations.

By units of dozens, the best-performing unit would receive half the rations of the worst-performing unit. Additionally, the worst-performing unit would be responsible for cleaning the camp's filth and garbage. Under the threat of hunger, other issues would naturally be overcome.

In the following days, the chaotic drills continued. The former refugees, who couldn't distinguish left from right, would often hold their wooden poles and look around in confusion, or stand still in hesitation, or turn the wrong way and collide with others, leading to a series of shouting and fighting. However, the listless and dejected air that had once characterized them was slowly fading.

Clearly, the last-place elimination system using food as a reward and punishment was gradually taking effect.

Therefore, I was summoned again by the leader, Jiang An. He was slurping a bowl of lumpy soup, waving his hand and mumbling,

"Cao Dulizi... You can go to the scout team..."

"The military roster and provisions are handed over to you. If you need anything, go directly to Old Deng."

"Finally, I can get out of this..."

A short, stout man, who had been frowning and leaning on the table, felt a great relief and threw everything down and left.

"My hands have been trembling from copying for days..."

"I'll go find those brothers to play..."

Thus, I gained more convenience and benefits, such as being able to inspect the limited supplies of this armed group and select some daily necessities first.

Then, I just gave a few ideas for the drills, such as using a rope to indicate direction, with those who touched the line being punished; improving and simplifying the distribution and calculation of provisions to reduce waste, which reportedly saved several dozen liters of supplies daily; and optimizing the allocation of labor to make daily activities more sustainable.

Of course, all of this was unrelated to the leaders' daily shares and rations. Even in this chaotic situation, basic principles were still known. A new recruit with no foundation, trying to challenge the established interests for a limited show of effectiveness, would be foolish.

For this, Jiang An specially called me to ask, then patted my shoulder and promised that if I did well, I would have a share in the great fortune of this militia. He personally rewarded me with an old sheepskin to sleep on.

Thus, I slightly improved my status in this group, being able to pick two helpers from the soldiers and gain the right to eat with the leaders.

In this way, I gained my first small privilege and responsibility within this group, to escape the heavy drills and chores and eat earlier, without having to scrape the bottom of the pot for leftovers. Therefore, among the newly recruited, many were willing to become my helpers, so that I only had to give orders for most of the physical labor, and I could receive some small thanks.

However, did this mean anything to me? I would still leave at the first opportunity, because besides the women, I felt that there was something unresolved in Luoyang, attracting me to go there.

Slowly recruiting and eliminating along the way, after stopping and starting, the number of people recorded in my ledger, due to the increasing number of heads, had decreased to the hundreds. Finally, Jiang An decided to move on to the next destination.

As the bookkeeper of this small militia, I didn't have too many responsibilities, but they were quite trivial. I also had time to hang around the leaders, playing the role of a spectator who likes to watch the show. Over time, they got used to my presence and ignored me.

Thus, I gradually learned more about this militia. For example, although Jiang An was from a small local aristocratic family, he had gone to sea with his father in his early years and only returned home recently. After a short period of peace, he spent his wealth to raise this militia, with many experiences.

The monkey-like young man by Jiang An's side, Wang Fuer, was a family-born son. Despite his young age, he had the skills to run and hunt in the mountains, and thus also served as a scout and lookout for the militia.

The short and stout man in charge of provisions, Cao Dulizi, was Jiang An's childhood friend, who had grown up together. The other dozen or so leaders were either subordinates, relatives, or fellow townspeople, forming a small local group.

In this chaotic era, there were many forces that disrupted the world and plundered regions. Those who rebelled due to hunger could be called rebels; those who became bandits and plundered could be called mountain bandits or roving bandits; those who occupied a region and ruled it could be called semi-black semi-white local strongmen.

For the high-ranking officials, among the numerous rebellions, only those who dared to raise the banner of overthrowing the court and called themselves kings could be called rebels. The forces from overseas were uniformly called rebels.

For the high-ranking officials in the court, the rebels from overseas, who had forced the Tang emperor to retreat north and west several times, were more hateful and dangerous than the short-sighted rebels or the unpredictable roving bandits.

To maintain their rule, they sacrificed part of their authority and established military towns to defend themselves, developing to the point where they were almost independent. Under the nominal authority of the court, they used appointments and titles to control and coordinate the disputes and conflicts between the towns, to jointly resist the so-called overseas rebels originating from the Lingnan region.

Of course, due to the enfeoffment of the vassals, these overseas rebels were divided into several groups and factions, each with slightly different demands and claims in the dynasty's territory.

Thus, these local armed groups, which rose and fell, gained a brief space to exist and be active. The identities of these groups were not fixed and were full of various possibilities and variables.

For example, a local militia, due to its excellent performance or other contributions, might be recognized by military leaders and become a state army. Or a band of bandits, due to their fierce activities, might be recruited and turn on their former comrades, or their leaders might find a powerful patron and become a key figure in suppressing rebels, eventually establishing their own power and ruling a region.

Or an official army, due to bad luck, might be defeated and scattered, becoming bandits and robbers, or local garrisons, due to lack of provisions and mistreatment by their superiors, might rebel and become bandits, causing chaos in the region.

The chaos of the times, like a furnace, had already consumed many ambitious people and their unfulfilled dreams.

This small militia, without a unified banner, was raised by the leader Jiang An and a few wealthy local people, breaking their homes and careers. In this region of Qingzhou, they had no towns or villages as bases, and could only camp in the wilderness, recruiting refugees to supplement their numbers.

This was the wealthy cause that Jiang An promoted, a common path for local armed groups.

However, in general, this small militia was only the size of one or two battalions. According to my memory, according to the court's regulations, based on the fubing system, a complete battalion should have at least 800 to 1,200 soldiers, with a full complement of weapons, including spears, bows, and cavalry, to be considered a unit.

But after years of turmoil, in this chaotic era, a battalion of a regular garrison, guard, or militia, with 300 to 400 combat-ready soldiers, could be considered a complete military force. The remaining vacancies were filled by "driven" cannon fodder, as long as there were towns and villages in the central region, there would always be enough replacements.

This small militia was no exception.

Among the thousand or so people, those who could actually fight were the hundred or so local strongmen and their companions around the leader Jiang An. Although their weapons were mixed, they had some leather armor or coats for protection, and their health and nutrition were better. They also had a dozen or so horses and mules for patrols and personal guards, known as "ranked soldiers."

The rest were people brought along from their hometowns to fill the numbers. When they reached the battlefield, if they could hold wooden shields and weapons and stand together without immediately fleeing, they were considered trained soldiers. They made up about 30% of the group, armed with short sickles, axes, and other tools, and a significant number of farming tools like rakes.

The only relatively well-equipped group was a dozen or so hunters and mountain people, forming a bow team, but their equipment was not uniform. These people were collectively known as "leaders," led by a dozen or so trusted leaders.

The largest group was the "pole team," consisting of severely malnourished refugees recruited along the way. They could barely hold a sharpened pole to support themselves at the back of the formation, and were considered less important than the supplies.

Just the daily chaotic formation and marching consumed most of their energy. Although they ate like starving ghosts, most of them would collapse like dead dogs after a short distance, requiring constant whipping and shouting to keep moving.

At some point, some would scatter, and they would have to be gathered again. Small-scale escapes were also common. In such cases,

The "ranked soldiers" in charge of supervision had no qualms about beating them to a pulp, as they were considered expendable. Falling behind might not be better than death.

At this point, I could be of some use, judging and deciding who could be saved and who should not waste food.

Despite this, this group looked quite impressive on the surface. Even if they encountered small groups of bandits on the road, the bandits would wisely avoid them, leaving the victims behind.

In such situations, this militia would either eliminate the heavily damaged enemy as a black-on-black victory, or extort a ransom and "escort" them to the next town to demand more money.