Chapter 73: Temporary Training
As night fell, the Chenqiao Posthouse camp was quiet, without the clamor of troops. Only the orderly footsteps of the patrol soldiers could be heard, showing Guo Chongwei’s strict discipline.
Xiao Yi even noticed that there were still common people hiding in the shops of the post station market.
Although the general mood of the Five Dynasties was decadent, the more elite the troops, the stricter their military discipline, which strengthened his confidence.
“Commander Xiao.” Liu Tingrang held up a torch and escorted him to his quarters, saying, “You are the guest army. You may remove your armor and rest tonight.”
“What if the Southern Army attacks at night?”
“Heh heh,” Liu Tingrang said, “Don’t worry. You’ve had a hard journey. Rest well, and you’ll be able to kill enemies in the next two days.”
“With that, we can rest assured and recuperate.”
That night, the Nian Battalion, for once, removed their armor. Including Tang Jin, forty-eight men squeezed into a communal bed, reeking of foul odors.
Xiao Yi initially felt like his lungs were going to explode from the stuffiness, wishing he could go live in the tents, which were cold but airy. Gradually, he got used to it; as the main commander, sharing food and lodging was the most basic requirement.
He kicked Zhang Mantun and cursed, “You son of a bitch, wash your feet.”
“Heh heh,” Tang Jin said, “You smell it, but I don’t. I’m a very clean person.”
“My feet just stink, you have a foul mouth.”
Zhang Mantun went outside and scooped some snow, quickly wiped his feet with it, and returned, saying, “This vanguard has only five commanders, plus the Nian Battalion makes six.”
“Tch, you guys count as one?”
“Everyone shut up! You two talk the most, no talking after lights out!”
Xiao Yi learned to curse, and felt much better in his heart.
He found that it was useless to talk too much to these big-headed soldiers; only by scolding them would they behave.
“Hua Nong, Old Pan, come here.” Xiao Yi called the two over and walked outside the door, saying, “Tomorrow we train the troops, let’s make some preparations…”
That night, I slept soundly amidst the sounds of snoring that rose and fell.
On the fifteenth day of the eleventh month, at the first moment of the Rabbit hour.
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
“Get up and prepare! We assemble at the drill ground at the third quarter of the Mao hour!”
The commander’s shouts, accompanied by military drums, came from another camp.
Xiao Yi sat up, teeth gritting quietly from the pain; he had traveled over thirteen hundred *li* round trip in ten days, and not a single muscle in his body wasn’t aching.
He kicked Guo Xin.
“We’re up.”
“Let me sleep a bit longer,” Guo Xin turned over and mumbled, “So sleepy.”
“Rise.”
Xiao Yi unceremoniously dragged him from the communal bed onto the floor, but this movement pulled a muscle in his own back, instantly jolting him awake in pain.
“Ouch.”
“Put on armor, eat, and drill on the drill ground.”
“Commander, General Guo didn’t have us Nian Battalion drill.”
Xiao Yi said coldly, “I told you to train.”
After eating breakfast in the mess tent, the Nian Battalion prepared to rush to the drill ground.
Tang Jin was still sitting there eating heartily, even deliberately irritating people, and let out a very loud burp.
“Hic! Stomach, oh stomach, I haven’t let you down. I ate until I was full wherever I went.”
Zhang Mantun looked back and spat, “Your belly has failed you too much; it hasn’t given you a single idea.”
“Aren’t you going to report for duty?!”
Arriving at the drill ground, it was precisely the third watch, third quarter. Guo Chongwei was already mustering the troops. He glanced only once towards the Nian Battalion, ignoring them, and led a troop of cavalry out of the camp like flowing water.
The Deputy General Wang Shenqi was responsible for guarding the camp.
Xiao Yi drilled the Nian Battalion on the drill ground without receiving any military orders.
The great battle was imminent. It was too late to practice swords, spears, clubs, and staffs. He had considered that in these two days, the only thing that could be improved was cohesion.
“Fall in line!”
“Here!”
“Fan Si, acting Captain; Wu Gouzi, his deputy.”
“Here!”
“Xi Hou, act as second commander; Hu Deng, be his deputy.”
“Here!”
“Commander, Commander, report to the third regiment and fall in.”
“Here.”
“Everyone stand at attention!”
The drill ground was quiet for a moment.
Xiao Yi stood there, his posture upright and proper, unmoving.
The soldiers stared at him blankly, gradually freezing as well. Old Pan then stepped forward and adjusted each of their stances.
“Stand up straight, look at the commander, shoulders level, backs straight. Anyone who moves will have to run ten laps.”
Standing at attention is unavoidable.
After half an hour, all three teams had run around the drill ground and no longer dared to move randomly. The military appearance finally had some semblance of order.
“Tired of standing?” Xiao Yi finally spoke, “Let’s play a game, name association.”
“What is it?”
“……”
“My name is Jin Sanshui. I’m from Zuocheng, Huazhou, a new recruit from the Third Battalion. I can use a spear and ride a horse; the person in front of me is Hu Deng, I think he’s from Caozhou?”
“That’s wrong, Hu Deng is his nickname. What’s his real name?”
“Oh, Hu, what was Hu’s name again? I forgot.”
“Hu Zhaogu, you donkey ball, my name comes from a poem by Li Bai, ‘This moon once shone on ancient people’, do you understand?”
Xi Hou greatly amused, said: “You, Hu Deng, actually have such an elegant name? I couldn’t tell.”
“My grandfather used to have some wealth, how could you possibly know that, Hou Ji.”
“Tch, don’t call me by my real name. Jin Sanshui, continue the ‘dragon’.”
“Alright, in front of me is Hu Zhaogu, from Juanqu in Caozhou, skilled in horses, spears, bows, sabers, and vocal imitations.”
“My name is Wang Jiu, from Suanzao in Huazhou. I know horse riding, archery, and… embroidery. I used to be a weaver. In front of me is Jin Sanshui, also from Huazhou. He doesn’t know much.”
“……”
Xiao Yi watched silently, understanding the soldiers’ personalities based on their smug or embarrassed attitudes while being observed by the crowd.
Tang Jin stood with his arms crossed, unable to refrain from interjecting, “Just listen to me! My full name is Tang Jin. I was born in Mayi, Shuozhou. Apart from not knowing how to read, there’s nothing I don’t know!”
“You dog, you’re not even from my Nian Battalion, who bothers to remember your name?”
“I just want you to remember, Tang Jin, Tang Jin, Tang Jin…”
“Enough!”
Xiao Yi shouted to stop, and once again ordered everyone to straighten their ranks and report their numbers before speaking again.
“The next game is trust fall.”
“What is this now?”
“…”
“Commander, how can I not fall? I’m too heavy, I’m afraid they won’t be able to catch me.”
“Trust your comrades!”
“I am Xin, but I am heavy.”
“Fall!” Xiao Yi shouted. “You don’t even dare to fall backward, and on the battlefield, will you entrust your life to them?!”
As the commander, he caught him every time during the trust fall.
“Trust us, come down.”
Zhang Mantun stood on the battle platform, his back to the edge, and cautiously looked back, still hesitating.
Tang Jin roared with laughter, “You damn donkey, hahaha, you’re too much of a coward! In our Direct Guard, this kind of idiot can only haul dung.”
“You try it, Wu Gouzi.”
“Then come down and let me try, come on, I’ll catch you.”
Finally, Zhang Mantun fell backward.
Xiao Yi and the other four reached out to receive it, only to feel a great mountain toppling down, so heavy that he almost stumbled, his entire body’s muscles aching.
Tang Jin stepped forward, helped Zhang Mantun up, and taunted: “So heavy, you haven’t shat out all the shit in your belly, have you?”
“Ah—”
Zhang Mantun roared and let out a breath.
Afterwards, it was Tang Jin’s turn to go up. Zhang Mantun clearly wanted to say a few words of sarcasm, but he didn’t expect Tang Jin to not even turn his head, just carelessly falling backward.
“Catch him!”
“Hahahaha…”
Xiao Yi ordered a rest until almost noon.
The military now has two meals a day, with an extra meal of provisions during wartime. However, Xiao Yi was used to three meals a day, with additional supply meals if his consumption was high. He specially gave money to the kitchen staff, and ate at a quarter past noon, with hot lamb.
Everyone ate heartily.
“Barbarian dog, you’re not from the Nian Battalion. How dare you shamelessly run over to eat our provisions?”
“Heh heh,” Tang Jin, who knew how to bend and stretch, said with a laugh while gnawing on a lamb spine, “My brothers and I came all the way together.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“Commander Xiao, what other fun is there this afternoon?”
Xiao Yi asked, “Together?”
“If I have to stand there foolishly, then I won’t.”
“Come, I’ll show you how to play ‘three-legged race’.”
“Haha, you really have a lot of tricks!”
Noon, quarter past the hour, and they were back at the drill ground.
First, using a three-legged race game to trick Tang Jin into the Nian Battalion and make him disoriented, Xiao Yi began serious training.
“Commander, step forward.”
“Here!”
Hua Nong held the command flag and stood at the front of the formation, loudly shouting, “Next, we will train ‘listening to the horn and recognizing commands’!”
He had five command flags in his hand: red, black, cyan, white, and yellow, each with a copper bell at the end of the pole.
“Watch closely! Red flag raised high and waved slowly means advance; black flag at the waist, waved up and down, means retreat; blue flag tilted left and circled means turn left; white flag tilted right and circled means turn right. You must understand the command within three breaths, or the formation will be disrupted, and you will be punished.”
Tang Jin shouted, “I can endure hardship, but I can’t remember. I was just listening to what the sergeant shouted, and it was very loud!”
Xiao Yi sternly commanded, “All of you remember this for me!”
Hua Nong picked up the yellow command flag again.
“This is a tactical command flag. Yellow flag with red flag, raised high and waved forward three times, charge the enemy formation; yellow flag with black flag, held horizontally and moved sideways, immediately form ranks and hold shields for defense; yellow flag with blue flag, raised diagonally and waved, circle to the enemy’s flank.”
These were already difficult for ordinary soldiers to remember, but Xiao Yi even had Xi Hou take out his command flag to teach everyone how to recognize it.
Xi Hou’s flag was much smaller, with words embroidered on it that were quite easy to recognize.
“Take a good look, you illiterate cowards. If I see the enemy routed, I’ll raise the victory flag, and the central army will beat the victory drum; this is the character ‘reinforce’, if I raise this flag, it means reinforcements are coming; this is the character ‘alert’, the enemy is going to sneak attack us.”
“Damn it, I remembered you, but forgot what was in front again!”
Xiao Yi was not afraid that they would not remember him for a while; it was nothing more than practice.
He divided the Nian Battalion into two teams, with Guo Xin and Old Pan each leading one. He had Hua Nong stand on the battle platform, waving a command flag and constantly advancing, retreating, and charging left and right. Whichever team made more mistakes would wash the gaiters for the other team tonight.
Naturally, Zhang Mantun and Tang Jin had to be separated.
From time to time, Xi Hou would charge out, holding up the “Alert” command flag to test their immediate reactions.
“Form ranks, form ranks! The yellow flag is up, then the black flag. Don’t make us lose to that silly donkey!”
“Stop! The right team wins, and the left team will be punished tonight.”
“Son of a bitch!”
“Haha, is the training finally over?”
Xiao Yi looked at the sky and began the day’s final drill.
He pointed, having everyone sit on the ground, and nodded to Hua Nong.
Hua Nong understood and took out a piece of paper, stepping forward and saying, “Sing another song, and everyone will have a meal. Those who sing well will get an extra piece of meat.”
“Haha, there’s another round? Let’s sing. I know how to sing ‘Happy Wedding Song’.”
“Sing the army song, I’ve finished writing it.” Hua Nong squinted his eyes, spread out the paper, cleared his throat, and said, “This is the 《Song of Quelling Chaos》. I listened to the Commander’s account of the world’s situation, recalled the past few years in the military, and was inspired… cough, cough, I hope you’ll forgive my indulgence.”
“Sing then.”
Hua Nong licked his lips and finally spoke. At first, his voice was very quiet, but he sang well. Although the tune was simple, it was desolate and ancient.
“Armor cold, soaked by the frosty sky’s moon; Beacon smoke, rolling like snow on the homeland.”
“I recall the many separations in the villages; whose job was it to collect the white bones left scattered in the fields?”
“Father weeps for his son, wife weeps for her husband. Fields are desolate, with few to till them.”
“I was originally a farmer who tilled and wove, but I donned armor and took up a spear to go to the battlefield.”
“Yesterday on the ridges we sowed millet and wheat, today on the front lines we drive away jackals.”
“Leave rice in the stove for the widow, add firewood under the eaves to warm my mother.”
“If you ask where this heart yearns, ten thousand lights reflect in the cold window.”
“We have come with lances in hand, willing to bring peace to the common people.”
“Even if I die and hear of the peace and joy of the land, why should this body fear being buried in the green hills?”
“……”
Xiao Yi knew the soldiers wouldn’t understand, but it was alright, they could sing together.
Singing for the second time, he took the paper from Hua Nong’s hand and began to sing loudly. He knew his singing was bad, but it didn’t matter.
They sang like this, again and again, their voices gradually becoming more organized, mixed with accents from all over the country, resounding throughout the drill ground.
Xiao Yi turned his head to look, seeing the setting sun dyeing the sky red, and the entire day passed just like this.
He also noticed that the vanguard’s Deputy General, Wang Shenqi, stood in the distance, seeming to have been watching them for a long time.
