Chapter 48 Zhang Yu's Training "My lord, what do you think of the effectiveness of our military training?" Cheng Yu asked. Cheng Yu, who was in charge of the Ministry of War, attached the most importance to the training of the army. He devoted most of his time in the barracks, handling government affairs while teaching military tactics and guiding training. He almost wanted to move his office and home into the barracks. With the concerted efforts of Cheng Yu and the military training general Yu Jin, the efficiency of soldier training was greatly improved. Every time Tian Ze came to inspect, he could see refreshing changes. Cheng Yu was very welcoming to Tian Ze's arrival, because Tian Ze always brought him surprises. In Cheng Yu's eyes, Tian Ze seemed to not know how to train soldiers, but in many cases he was able to point out problems directly and gave him a lot of inspiration. He and Yu Jin's improvements to military training methods were often based on the methods of the ancient sages, which they continuously refined and perfected. However, the improvement method proposed by Tian Ze was so imaginative that it was beyond their imagination. It was as if another path had been opened up, dismantling and reshaping the original military training techniques, and the results were often surprisingly good. Many methods may seem strange and absurd at first glance, but upon closer inspection, we can find similarities in the theories of our predecessors. It is like a tree planted by a sage, which, after being nurtured by countless people, has grown two branches. All they can do is to carefully prune and cultivate these two branches, striving to produce more fruits.
However, Tian Ze directly made the tree grow more branches. All they can do is improve, but Tian Ze is creating. The capabilities of both parties are simply not at the same level. Therefore, even though Tian Ze performed somewhat poorly in many aspects, Cheng Yu still looked up to him and attached great importance to every word of Tian Ze. "That's right." Looking at the soldiers who were practicing changing formations by beating drums, Tian Ze nodded. He originally didn't know much about military affairs, but after all, he was a student of Lu Zhi, so he had some knowledge of military tactics. "There are four schools of military strategists: military strategy, military situation, military yin and yang, and military skills. But in my opinion, there are only two categories. The first three schools are about the use of military force, and only military skills are about the construction of military force." Tian Ze said. "There is no difference between the two. But the first three factions rely too much on talent, and are easily affected by various factors and difficult to control. Although it is naturally best to win with strategy and tactics, the most fundamental thing is the support of military strength." "Just like the Wei Wu soldiers led by Wu Qi, they were invincible. Even if the leader was not Wu Qi, but an ordinary third-rate general, if he played steadily, even a first-rate general would find it difficult to win." "Since we have enough money and food, we must work hard on our military skills and take the path of fundamental strength." "The current training is already quite good, but we can also strengthen simulation training for extreme situations such as how to quickly respond and organize a counterattack when attacked, how to organize in an orderly manner when retreating, and how to fight and retreat at the same time." "If our soldiers can follow orders and persevere, we can fight back fiercely even if we are attacked by surprise, inflict heavy damage on the enemy even if we are defeated and retreat, and fight a desperate battle even if we are outnumbered." "In this way, as long as we don't encounter natural disasters such as floods and fires, or get into desperate situations such as food shortages and dangerous places, we will be able to succeed in everything we do." At the end of the Han Dynasty, there was a top master in military skills, Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang insisted on governing the army by law, and he had achieved a certain level in military training, military discipline, ideological education, reward and punishment mechanisms, and tactical formations. He also invented and improved the Zhuge Crossbow, the wooden ox and the flowing horse in terms of military equipment, and optimized the Eight Formations in terms of military formations. Although Prime Minister Zhuge's ability in military strategy may be controversial, his military management is absolutely impeccable. When the Shu army went to Qishan for the sixth time, they were outnumbered but never lost the upper hand. Sima Yi, who had the advantage in manpower and logistics, could only retreat and defend, relying on the excellent soldiers. The strength of his soldiers made Zhuge Liang's leading troops in battle very tolerant, and he could handle it calmly, whether it was splitting up troops, hastily fighting or retreating. He even often ate up the enemy's pursuers while retreating, which shows his ability. Cheng Yu's expression was a little solemn, but he still nodded and kept what Tian Ze said in mind.
If it were in the past, he would have thought that what Tian Ze said was a fantasy. Because marching and fighting alone require consideration of many complex matters, including food, daily life, logistics support, weather and terrain, military morale, etc. It is difficult for ordinary generals to take care of everything when it comes to simply organizing a march. After all, they are living people with thoughts and personalities, not consciousnessless machines. Under normal circumstances, a lieutenant general would be considered qualified if he could organize a group of soldiers to march long distances for a month without any problems. If you consider fighting again, you also need to maintain the marching formation, protect the logistics team, and do reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, etc. These all require soldiers to be constantly trained, otherwise, they will only be a group of rabble. If we take out a thousand men, there might only be eight hundred left before we reach the battlefield. It would be good enough if ordinary armies could train them to a satisfactory level. Today's Liaodong Army has extremely rigorous training in these areas, in addition to daily weapons drills, physical training, formations, tactical training, psychological training, etc., which almost squeeze the soldiers' physical and mental strength to the limit. If it were any ordinary soldier, they would have revolted long ago. After all, such high-intensity training is not only a question of whether the body can bear it, but also involves the will. The Liaodong Army was able to maintain such high-intensity training, not only because of the continuous help of Cheng Yu and Yu Jin's talents, but also because Cheng Yu and Yu Jin delved deeply into training and made arduous efforts. Inspired by Tian Ze, Cheng Yu summarized and improved five new training programs, namely: ideological education and mission shaping, demonstration by generals and leading by example, collective honor and internal competition, psychological counseling and commendation and motivation, and scientific planning and gradual progress. This can only be maintained if these five aspects are achieved to a certain extent and combined with a nutritious and reasonable diet. If we want to achieve what Tian Ze said, we will probably have to go through another "hard battle". But Cheng Yu has already gotten used to it and enjoys it. For him, it was a great pleasure to be able to personally build an "iron army" that he had never dared to imagine and to verify what he had learned. If the world belongs to Tian Ze in the future, he and Yu Jin may even be able to write books and establish their own school like Sun Tzu and Wu Zi, and their names will go down in history. Tian Ze saw the fighting spirit in Cheng Yu's eyes, then looked at the sweaty soldiers, and couldn't help but sigh. In fact, he didn't want to say so much, but Cheng Yu's appetite had been spoiled by him. If he didn't come up with some original insights, Cheng Yu would pester him and even imagine some of his words and come up with even more terrifying actions. Cheng Yu was ruthless to his enemies and also to his own people. "Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in war." This slogan proposed by Tian Ze to appease the soldiers was regarded as a golden saying by Cheng Yu, who even added another one without any instruction. "As long as you can't practice to death, practice to death." Tian Ze was very worried that these soldiers would not be able to bear it. After all, Cheng Yu would really carry out this sentence to the end. "We still have to proceed step by step. If we add these drills, the intensity and rhythm of other types of training must be adjusted accordingly. We must not train the soldiers to death." Tian Ze couldn't help but remind them again. "Don't worry, my lord. I have an idea in mind. I will first select a group of soldiers to give it a try, and then promote it after finding its limits." Cheng Yu agreed readily. Tian Ze felt a little reluctant when he heard this. He knew that another group of soldiers in the army would retire early.
But Tian Ze understood that Cheng Yu was right to do so. A merciful army is not suitable for commanding troops. The damage now can reduce more casualties in the future. "My lord, in this case, Yu hopes to improve the food treatment and related guarantees of the soldiers as an incentive." "Go discuss it with Gongtai yourself, don't come to me." Tian Ze quickly quickened his pace. Although Liaodong now has a lot of income, its expenditure is also extremely large. All departments and regions have great demands, and the budget of the Ministry of Finance is never enough. It would be extremely difficult to get more money from Chen Gong's Ministry of Finance. Tian Ze doesn't want to face Chen Gong's sad eyes every day, so he lets Cheng Yu have a few quarrels with him. (End of this chapter)