The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

While advising the county magistrate and the county magistrate to promote public toilets in cities such as Jiangling, Hei Fu did not neglect his main job: training the army.

In late July, in the southern suburbs of Anlu City, the sound of gongs and drums continued. Hei Fu and others stood on the city wall and looked down. On the wide field, thousands of soldiers from different villages and pavilions were divided into several groups, practicing formations, flags and drums, and advancing or stopping, attacking or retreating according to the sound of gongs and drums. They looked very professional...

Looking at this scene, Ji Ying, who was responsible for passing orders for Hei Fu, sighed: "I can't help but think of the scene of training with the county lieutenant in the night watch three years ago. Now, the county lieutenant has trained and commanded a thousand people. It's like a dream!"

"Everyone started as a recruit."

Hei Fu smiled: "I am no exception. I learned step by step. When I was a night watchman, I learned to be a platoon leader. When I was a garrison leader, I learned to be a hundred generals. When I was a hundred generals, I learned to be five hundred leaders..."

Time travelers also need to keep learning. Hei Fu has experienced more than a year of military career. He humbly learned the methods of training and managing soldiers from Yang Xiong and Li You, and now it comes in handy.

"The Art of War" talks more about strategies and tactics. In terms of training, "Wu Zi" is more detailed. Hei Fu was fortunate to borrow this book from Li You. He spent half a year reading and copying it, and now he has memorized it.

In the chapter "Managing Soldiers" of "Wu Zi", issues such as marching, fighting, training, organizing troops, and command are specifically discussed.

Soldiers often die in battle because they have no skills and are defeated because they are not familiar with the tactics. Therefore, the method of using troops is training first. If one person learns the skills of fighting, he can teach ten people. If ten people learn, they can teach a hundred people. If a hundred people learn, they can teach a thousand people. If a thousand people learn, they can teach ten thousand people. If ten thousand people learn, they can teach the whole army.

Applying it to the organization of the Qin army, it is: "After the squad leader is trained, he will be combined with the sergeant. After the sergeant is trained, he will be combined with the garrison chief. After the garrison chief is trained, he will be combined with the rate chief".

When finalizing the candidates for conscription, Heifu gave priority to those who had served in the county and prefecture, and young people who had served as corvée soldiers. These people were considered as reserve forces, at least they were familiar with the front, back, left, and right.

In early July, they also completed the basic organization in their respective pavilions and villages. Five to ten people from each village were organized into sergeants, with the sergeant or village chief as the sergeant. Every two pavilions were organized into a garrison, with the pavilion chief as the garrison chief.

This also conforms to the principle of "village and village compare, sergeants and garrisons protect each other" in the military strategy. Officials can know the soldiers, and the soldiers also trust and are familiar with each other, so it is easy to form a group.

After these people gathered in the county, they were stationed in separate camps, and Heifu organized them into a larger organization: Qu.

…

"The five hundred people from Yushui Township and Yunmeng Township will be the rear group, led by Wei Shi Lixian!"

"The five hundred people from the county town and Beijiao Township will be the front group, led by Beijiao Township patrol officer Dongmen Bao!"

Dongmen Bao was originally a general, and he was also the head of the military officials in the township. He had a lot of prestige in the county town and Beijiao Township in the past six months. It was in accordance with the rules to make him the leader of the five hundred.

And Lixian was promoted from a general to a general because of his merit in capturing Yunman and Liping last time, and he was also qualified to be the leader of the five hundred.

After the order was issued, everyone congratulated the two. Lixian smiled and accepted everyone's congratulations, and was confident that he could do a good job in this position. But Dongmen Bao came to Heifu worriedly afterwards, and knelt down without saying anything:

"I am a rough man, and I only know how to rush forward when fighting. I don't know how to train and lead soldiers. I am afraid that I can't do a good job and disappoint the county lieutenant..."

This guy is self-aware. Dongmen Bao is an expert in charging into battle, and his ability to train soldiers is indeed unknown.

But Heifu has his own plan in mind.

"Do you want to be a small general forever? Listen to Xiao Tao or Li Xian's command? You are not changing your title now, and you are admired by people in the county and Beijiao Township. If so, not only will the soldiers feel unfair for you, but I think you will also be unwilling."

"Or, let you be my short-armed general? Short-armed soldiers cannot be separated from officers and officials. If you stay by my side all the time and watch others charge into battle, you will not be at ease, and your strengths will be buried."

After saying this, Dongmen Bao also found that he could not do either of these two positions. At this time, Hei Fu patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Abao, you have outstanding martial arts and are brave in battle. Although Qin law stipulates that doctors and above cannot be beheaded in battle, the five hundred commanders must also lead the way when encountering critical battles. You just need to look at my flag and listen to my orders. When I ask you to stand by, you cannot move a step. When I ask you to charge, you wave the flag and lead the way for me!"

Although Dongmen Bao had no ambition to make progress before, he began to pick up martial arts again after being stimulated by Hei Fu's ambition to be a marquis. He asked him about training and managing soldiers. He was just lacking confidence at the moment, but he was not incapable of change. Hei Fu encouraged him and he readily agreed!

Hei Fu divided the two 500 men into the front and back. Dongmen Bao led the vanguard, while Li Xian was used as a reserve. In this way, the different personalities of the two could be fully utilized.

In order to reassure Dongmen Bao, Hei Fu also asked his short-armed leader Xiao Tao to bring a hundred county soldiers who served as personal guards to assist him in training.

This method was really effective. The county soldiers were standing troops, well-trained, and all knew the drums, flags, and advance and retreat. With the soldiers from various pavilions and villages training, they became familiar with the formation again in just five days.

The changes in the formations of the army in this era were still "round and square, sit and stand, walk and stop, left and right, front and back, split and join, tie and untie." Hei Fu had practiced these until he was almost sick when he was a night watchman and in the army.

After that, it was the more complicated golden drums and flags. Fortunately, everyone had served once or twice and had a foundation. It only took ten days for them to be familiar with the drums of the infantry, marching, marching, generals, commanders, and commanders. The low flag meant a quick march, and the continuous hurricane meant a fierce attack. It looked a bit like a military posture...

"Wu Ziyan, every change is practiced, so he gave him the soldiers."

It was not until the end of July that Hei Fu opened the county arsenal and distributed weapons to everyone.

The Art of War says: "In the order of teaching war, the short ones hold spears and halberds, and the tall ones hold bows and crossbows."

Heifu asked the chiefs of each garrison to distribute weapons to the soldiers according to their physical fitness, but the proportion of the five weapons must be reasonable to meet different tactical needs. Therefore, among the five hundred people, there are 100 people holding spears, halberds, spears, swords and shields, and bows and crossbows.

"Wu Zi" also said: "The strong hold flags, the brave hold golden drums, the weak are given to servants, and the wise are the counselors." So Heifu also completed the final call-up, and in addition to the front and back two curves, he completed his central army.

Although the number of people in the central army is not large, the types are very complex. Ji Ying, as a messenger, led ten people to communicate the three parts of the front, middle and back. Yu Shuo, the stable manager of Yushui Township, was a cavalry officer, leading ten cavalry as scouts.

If the front and back curves are the hands, then the messengers and scouts are the mouthpiece and eyes of Heifu.

Shiwu "Mu", who used to be a night watchman with Heifu, was a tall man. Heifu asked him and several equally tall and strong soldiers to help him hold the banner, and ten more people were responsible for the drum cart, which was considered "the strong hold the banner, and the brave hold the golden drum".

Shi, a county engineer who had dealt with Heifu before, was recruited to join the army. Heifu asked him to take a hundred merchants and craftsmen to manage military equipment, food, bedding and other supplies. Bu Cheng, who knew medicine, took ten people as medical and emergency personnel, which was considered "the weak are taken care of".

In addition, Heifu also had the prison official Le as a military law officer, and the public official Quji from Chaoyangli as a book assistant, which was also considered "the wise are the strategists".

In this way, everyone practiced with weapons for another five days, and Heifu ordered the military officers of various departments to decide to conduct the first joint training of 1,000 people!

…

On the fifth day of August, just before the autumn harvest, the county magistrate, the county magistrate and the officials in the city came to the south wall of the city to watch at the invitation of Heifu.

The public fields near the county town were already golden, and they would be harvested in a few days. Outside the slightly rippled moat, in the open space on the outskirts of the city surrounded by rice fields, more than a thousand soldiers stood in two groups, kneeling on one knee on the ground, waiting for orders.

On the top of the city, the hundred short-soldier guards led by Xiao Tao also changed into new clothes. A group of sword and shield soldiers carried leather shields and wiped their swords to a gleam; a group of crossbow soldiers also carried crossbow machines, as if they could shoot at the enemy at any time. In addition, ten strong men such as Mu stood on the left and right of Heifu with flags. The big flags fluttered in the wind, but the ten people stood still.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Heifu personally beat the drum on the top of the city!

As the first drum beat sounded, the soldiers began to line up again, spread out to the left and right, and formed a battle formation.

After the second drum, the soldiers held swords and shields in the front row and spears and halberds in the back row, listening to the orders of Dongmen Bao and Li Xian, advancing when they heard the drum, beating when the drum was heavy, stopping when the halberd was sounded, and retreating when the halberd was heavy. For a time, the swords and shields were like mountains, and the spears and halberds were like forests, which was spectacular. And from the top of the city, the overall situation was also in order.

After the third and fourth drums, the soldiers had sweat on their foreheads, but they still quickly regrouped. As Hei Fu's fifth heavy drum sounded, they began to line up in military formations, and walked neatly under the city one by one, and turned their heads to shout loudly at the top of the city:

"Qin will win!"

The shouts of thousands of people shook the sky and made people's scalps numb.

The Qin army will win! This is also the idea that Hei Fu has been instilling in them every day for the past month.

Seeing this, the county magistrate Yong He and others praised him highly: "One drum is for training soldiers, two drums are for training formations, three drums are for feeding, four drums are for strict debate, and five drums are enough. When the drums sound, then raise the flag. The soldiers trained by the county lieutenant are so well-organized that they have already caught up with the county soldiers..."

During this month, Hei Fu's hard work was seen by everyone. He didn't even go back to his home near the county town a few times. He lived in the barracks all day long. He had to patrol the barracks every other day, talk to the soldiers in detail, and take care of their food and clothing.

The military officials were all his trusted old subordinates, like his arms, and the soldiers were all children of the county, knowing their roots and ins and outs. In the past few years, Hei Fu's deeds made them famous, and Hei Fu himself was a typical example of a leap forward because of military merit. Those soldiers who wanted to be rewarded with honors regarded him as a role model. They were encouraged by Ji Ying, who arranged for Hei Fu to encourage them, and were influenced by the propaganda that "the Qin army will win", and they were very enthusiastic about the war.

However, Heifu only said modestly: "More sweat in peacetime, less blood in war, that's all."

Yong He nodded: "I heard that the county lieutenant asked the soldiers of each county to gather in Yancheng before the end of August, and the county lieutenant can still train for more than ten days..."

"Not so much time."

Heifu smiled and said: "I plan to let the soldiers practice together once a day, and on the tenth day of August, I plan to let them disband..."

"Disband!?"

County magistrate Yong He was shocked: "The army is about to set off, why disband?"

Heifu said: "When I was patrolling and chatting with the soldiers, I found that they are most worried about two things at the moment. One is that they have been away from home for more than a month. After going north to participate in the war, they may not be able to return for a year or two. They are a little reluctant, and they have not prepared winter and summer clothes. The second is that the autumn harvest is coming soon. Without them at home, the autumn harvest will be delayed a lot."

"Therefore, I decided to split the whole army into small groups on the tenth day of August, and each garrison chief, squad leader, and platoon leader will lead everyone back to the hometown to participate in the autumn harvest for seven days, and regroup here on the eighteenth day of August!"

Yong He and the county magistrate looked at each other. Although Hei Fu had the final say in military affairs, they still had doubts: "County lieutenant...what if the soldiers never come back?"

Hei Fu smiled: "Kill."

"Military law requires that the ten and five protect each other, and the village is the comparison. If one person does not return, the squad leader and platoon leader will be guilty of the same crime. If a group is late, the garrison chief will die. For those who escape, their entire family will become prisoners and slaves, and the whole village will be ashamed of them! I will inform everyone about this in advance: I can love them like my own children, but they must also fear my axe!"

"The biggest harm in using troops is hesitation. The disaster of the three armies is born from suspicion. I do this to let the soldiers know that I trust them, so that they can say goodbye to their families. I also hope that they will not betray me. If they betray me, what is the use of bringing such soldiers to the battlefield? At the critical moment, they will become black sheep. It is better to kill them..." Hei Fu looked at the soldiers with his sword, and suddenly he had the demeanor of a general: "The county lieutenant asked me to train elite soldiers. Only when thousands of people are united and happy to hear about war, can they be elite soldiers! Only then can it work!"