Seeing Yuan Xi looking at him with contempt, Guo Jia smiled and said, "I am just reminding you to be careful, lest you kill this person indiscriminately when you meet him in the future. That would be a pity."
He then asked curiously, "There is one thing I don't understand. Although I admire Liu Ye very much, he is not well-known in Jizhou. How come you seem to agree with me? Have you met him?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed dryly and said, "I said I can observe the stars. Do you believe me, sir?"
Guo Jia looked like he was kidding, "Sir, tell me, how old is Jia?"
Yuan Xi choked.
When Guo Jia saw this, he laughed and turned away.
In the blacksmith shop of Jicheng, new weapons were forged and delivered to the hands of the soldiers.
In the military camp, Zhao Yun and Tian Yu were leading the soldiers to practice a new formation.
This was Yuan Xi's evolution of Qi Jiguang's idea of the Mandarin Duck Formation. Taking into account that the more types of soldiers there were, the more difficult it would be to train and coordinate them. Finally, after consultation with Zhao Yun and others, Yuan Xi streamlined the soldiers into three types, with five people in each team.
The two sword and shield soldiers in the front hold a shield or hook in one hand and a ring-handled sword in the other.
Not to mention the shield, which is an important means of protection against hacking and bows and arrows, and the hook shield is a composite weapon composed of a hook and shield, which is specifically used to deal with long weapons with hooks such as halberds and spears.
It has hooks on the top and bottom, an iron shield with a handle in the middle and spikes on the surface. It has three functions: defense, hooking and pushing. It is a perfect match with the ring-handled sword.
When encountering an enemy, you can use it to hook the enemy's long weapon. It is very effective against weapons with small branches such as halberds, and is extremely effective against cavalry infantry using long halberds.
It was far more popular than the spear at that time, because it not only had the function of stabbing, but also could use its length advantage to hook the enemy's body or weapon with the weapon's horizontal branch, making it extremely difficult to deal with.
It was first used to target weapons like the halberd. It could hook the enemy's halberd and, by taking advantage of the close point of force, make it impossible for the enemy to pull back the weapon, forcing them to let go.
After the appearance of the hook-shaped spear, the halberd-spear quickly disappeared from the battlefield and was completely replaced by the spear. After the halberd-spear disappeared, the hook-shaped spear had no place to use and disappeared as well, being completely replaced by the shield.
Therefore, there is no distinction between superior and inferior weapons on the battlefield. There is only mutual restraint, cooperation with each other, and adaptation to the times. Through the elimination of one war after another, only the most suitable weapons are retained.
The reason why Yuan Xi trained soldiers to cooperate with each other was to find the most efficient and least loss-making way to kill the enemy in the complex environment of Montenegro.
Behind the sword and shield soldiers were two spearmen. Unlike the ordinary spears with a spear head less than half a foot long, the iron spear heads of Yuan Xi's spearmen were nearly two feet long. This weapon, purchased at no cost, showed the benefits of Yuan Xi's occupation of several iron mines in Youzhou.
This type of spear was originally only used for cavalry charges, but now it is equipped to infantry. Not only is its lethality greatly enhanced, but the front end of the spear also has a longer iron part, which makes it less likely to be cut off by the enemy.
The people who fill in behind the spearmen are the crossbowmen.
It is equipped with a small one-handed crossbow that can load arrows very quickly. It is responsible for sneak attacks from behind the crowd, and is also equipped with a ring-handled sword.
This position has extremely high requirements. Not only does one have to coordinate in the center, but one must also not accidentally injure one's own people with bows and crossbows in the melee. It requires a very high level of battlefield awareness, and is usually held by the squad leader among the five men.
Jizhou's powerful bows and crossbows are very famous. On that day, Qu Yi was the first to defeat the Baima Yicong with a powerful crossbow. Now Yuan Xi imitated a small crossbow with a range of dozens of steps, which is quite easy.
Unfortunately for Yuan Xi, he did not have the method to manufacture a repeating crossbow. Otherwise, if he had two more crossbowmen, he could have inflicted great harm on the unarmored enemy in one encounter.
Zhao Yun commanded the soldiers on the field to fight in groups, and said to Tian Yu: "The soldiers have become more and more proficient in cooperation in the past few days. After a few more days of training, they will be able to adapt to mountain melee."
Tian Yu said: "The cooperation between these soldiers has improved much faster than I thought."
"In the past, it was common for soldiers to not know what to do after half a year of training. The progress now is simply unbelievable."
Zhao Yun listened and agreed with what he said. "Sir, you are right. If we enlighten the people, everything we do will be twice as effective with half the effort."
They all saw that the reason why the soldiers made more progress than expected was because Yuan Xi required them to set aside an hour every day to learn to read, discuss tactics, and exchange information about everyone's family situations.
At first, everyone from the sergeant to the squad leader to the privates didn't understand. Soldiers are used to fight in wars, so why should they learn these nonsense?
As a result, after a month, many soldiers who were previously confused gradually understood the purpose of the orders and began to cooperate actively.
Moreover, through communicating with their relatives and their own ideas, everyone found that their relationship with each other had become better, and they were able to understand each other's difficulties and realize that life is not easy for everyone.
Later on, Zhao Yun and Tian Yu were surprised to find that the soldiers were becoming more and more proactive and enthusiastic. They would take the initiative to fill in the gaps in time when their teammates made mistakes without being ordered. This was unimaginable before!
Tian Yu sighed, "At first I thought that since you are still young, your achievements were mostly due to your father, but now I realize I was totally wrong."
"These seemingly unorthodox ideas are actually the essence of military training and should not be underestimated."
"But the only thing I don't quite understand is why you care so much about the cleanliness of your tent when setting up camp."
At that time, when the soldiers set up camp, they would take out linen to prop it up and secure it, then spread a bundle of straw on the ground, cover themselves with clothes, and lie down to sleep.
As a result, after some consideration, Yuan Xi decided to take the internal affairs of the account as an important part of military training and made it a serious decision.
It also included where and how to place weapons and armor when sleeping, which would have been fine, but it actually also included clothes and shoes, and there were corresponding requirements, which made Tian Yu a little puzzled.
Fighting and marching are tiring enough, so why do we need to do all this?
Zhao Yun thought for a while and said, "I can think of it more clearly."
"We need to stay alert at night. If the enemy launches a surprise attack, whether we can quickly find clothes and armor to put on and pick up weapons to leave the camp in the dark will determine the outcome."
Tian Yu listened and nodded, "I can understand it a little bit, but just remember the general location. Why do they have to be placed so neatly, even the direction cannot be wrong?"
Zhao Yun said, "My lord, you once told me why we should do this."
"By doing this, you are not only doing it for yourself, but also for others to see."
"If the clothes and armor are placed exactly as they should be, it will give others a hint that this person will do what he says and will be meticulous. If he follows orders, there will be no deviation."
"Such a partner will surely be deeply trusted on the battlefield."
"On the contrary, if the shoes are crooked and the clothes are scattered everywhere, other people will wonder if this person is like this in daily life. Will he make mistakes when following orders on the battlefield?"
"This will invisibly plant the seeds of doubt in people's hearts."
"You know, these people are from the same group. On the battlefield, some are responsible for the rear and some are responsible for the flanks. If the person behind you is someone who doesn't work seriously on weekdays, will you often feel weak behind him?"
"If you hold on to this idea and have to be on guard against the enemy behind you at all times, how much of your combat power can you exert against the enemy in front of you?"
"The young master finally said that the way to train soldiers is not only on the drill ground, but also in the tent."
"The purpose is to make everyone work together, trust each other, and cooperate like one person, to unleash the strongest combat power."
After hearing this, Tian Yu suddenly realized, "So that's it!"
"I always thought that military training was just about training martial arts, but I didn't expect that it also involves training the mind. I'm too narrow-minded!"
Zhao Yun smiled and said, "It's the same for me. There is no end to learning. There are still many things to understand in this world. No one dares to say that he can understand everything, especially on the battlefield."
Tian Yu felt that Zhao Yun's words seemed to have a hidden meaning and seemed to be thinking about something.
At this time, Zhao Yun was thinking about the secret mission assigned to him by Yuan Xi.
After the training was completed, the army set out and headed directly towards Changshan Zhending, eliminated the Black Mountain Army's forward camp in Zhending, and entered the northern pass of the Black Mountain Pass.
At this time, Zhao Yun did not enter the heart of Montenegro with the main army, but led the most elite soldiers and went directly south into Hanoi!
This mission is extremely dangerous because Lu Bu's attitude in Hanoi is unclear and Zhao Yun may be attacked by him at any time!
Although Chen Gui went to Hanoi to negotiate with Lu Bu, the success or failure of the negotiations had nothing to do with Zhao Yun, because the most important part of this plan was that no matter what happened, Zhao Yun had to meet Emperor Liu Xie and find a way to eliminate the Baibo Army!
By then, no one will be able to help Zhao Yun, and he will have to rely on his soldiers to fight alone.
Of course, this idea was not yet mature, and Yuan Xi was also hesitant, because Lu Bu's power was indeed a huge variable. He and Guo Jia discussed it several times, but they could not make up their minds completely.
In Huaicheng, the capital of Henei, Lu Bu summoned his men and argued endlessly about the visit of the special envoy from Youzhou.
Seeing that everyone had been talking for a long time but still had no clue, Lu Bu became annoyed and slammed his fist on the table, shouting, "We didn't have a choice before, but now we have more choices and we don't know how to choose?"
Chen Gong smiled bitterly and said, "Marquis Wen is right. When we were in Yanzhou, we were surrounded by enemies everywhere. I didn't expect that after arriving in Hanoi, more people would want to join forces with Marquis Wen."
After hearing this, Lü Bu's expression eased a little, and he pointed at Qu Yi and said, "Dezhou, that Hidden Tiger is really quite capable. After I came here, not only did Zhang Yang help me, but even Yuan Shu and Yuan Xi came to befriend me. His stargazing technique is still so accurate."
Chen Gong heard this and coughed, "You can't have your cake and eat it too. Marquis Wen must choose between the two Yuans."
After hearing this, Wei Xu said, "What's the point of choosing? Yuan Gonglu occupies three states, while Yuan Xi only has half a state. How can he help Wen Hou?"
"Besides, Yuan Xi's friendship with Marquis Wen must have been concealed from Yuan Shao. We are now at odds with Jizhou, so how can we know if Youzhou will turn against us in the future?"
After hearing this, all the generals nodded slightly, except Gao Shun, who remained silent.
He was in a complicated mood. He was a member of the Gao family, a relative of Yuan Shao's wife. Because of this relationship, he was feared by Lu Bu and was never reused.
So in his heart he actually secretly hoped that Lu Bu and Yuan Shao would become friends. After all, if the two sides continued to fight like this, his own situation would become more and more embarrassing.
Qu Yi saw it, smiled slightly, and did not answer. He sat and watched the generals under Lu Bu fighting.
Song Xian said, "How should we deal with Chen Gui's visit?"
"If we intend to break off relations with Yuan Shao, we naturally don't have to be nice to Yuan Xi. Why don't we just chop off Chen Gui's head and send it directly to Yuan Shu?"