Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 737 Desperate Morale

The recruitment drive lasted for about five days, recruiting more than 2,300 veterans. It's not surprising that some people didn't come; either their health had deteriorated and they were idle at home, or they were too burdened by their wives and children to come. But everyone who could come did, and the recruitment plan, which was originally scheduled to last for half a month, was filled in just five days.

Because they were private soldiers, they didn't have a drill ground, so they had to temporarily rent a grain drying ground as a temporary drill ground. When the two thousand-plus people were waiting at the drill ground, the aura of seasoned veterans was overwhelming.

Li Shimin, a military commander, couldn't help but laugh when he saw these relaxed veterans. He turned to Xia Lin and said, "Is this the elite force you're talking about? Look at them, they have no posture, no manners, and they're all dressed in strange and loose clothes. If this were in my Xuanjia Army, even the captain in charge of the main camp would be dragged out and whipped."

Xia Lin said nonchalantly, "Only green recruits are always on high alert."

After saying that, he stood up, picked up the whistle in his hand, and blew it.

The moment the whistle blew, the morale of the soldiers on the entire training ground changed almost seamlessly. All the previous nonchalance was swept away, and everyone switched to a combat stance within a minute.

Although they no longer looked like teenagers, their dark skin, weathered faces, and even protruding bellies told others that these guys were old. But in that instant, they seemed to be telling everyone in their own way that an old tiger is still a tiger.

On the drill ground, these veterans who had been on the battlefield and killed people exuded a murderous aura. Even Li Shimin, who had been in the army for decades, was impressed by them. Whether it was the formation they stood in or the desire for killing in their eyes, everything showed that these people were born killing machines.

Xia Lin straightened his clothes and stepped forward. He walked around the veteran twice, and many people were momentarily reminded of the scene when they first joined the army in Fuliang. Back then, Xia Shuai was still a bit green, but now, although he is still young, his face has already shown the signs of age.

Half a lifetime has passed in the blink of an eye, which inevitably makes one sigh.

"It's been a long time, everyone. I never thought that nearly twenty years would pass before we meet again." Xia Lin said with his hands behind his back, "But it's good. I basically trained you all back then. Later, some of you went to various camps, some died on the battlefield, some became generals, and some went back to farming. But I know your abilities. Now I'm bringing you back for two main reasons."

As Xia Lin finished speaking, everyone stopped in their tracks and stood at attention. It's no exaggeration to say that their expressions changed instantly, and their will to live or die was ignited. This scene made Li Shimin stare in disbelief.

"The first thing is to suppress the bandits. As you have all heard here, the coastline for two thousand miles has been harassed by pirates to varying degrees, including Japanese pirates and local pirates, making life miserable for the surrounding people. We can't do anything about natural disasters, but we shouldn't let man-made disasters happen. Therefore, suppressing the bandits is your top priority."

"The second thing is that you need to readjust. You are no longer soldiers, so you need to adapt to the change in status as soon as possible. But don't think that life will be easier just because you're no longer soldiers. Your conduct manuals remain the same! Do you understand?!"

"understand!"

Xia Lin nodded, then looked around and pointed to Li Shimin and Emperor Jingtai sitting not far away: "The two over there, one is a military advisor, who is good at ambush tactics, cavalry tactics and combined infantry and cavalry tactics, which is something we lack. The other is our sugar daddy, so show him some respect."

After speaking, Xia Lin coughed and said, "Xu Tongcheng, come up and read out the declaration of your acceptance."

The letter of assignment was relatively simple. Although it wasn't a military assignment, it was still done according to the company system, so for these veterans, it was a kind of deep nostalgia.

But I must say, once those deeply ingrained habits are brought out again, the speed at which they adapt is astonishing.

You should know that on their second day of training, some company commanders, battalion commanders, and even captains and generals from the Ningbo Prefecture camp who were on leave came over to watch the old sergeant train from outside the wall.

“That’s my old squad leader.” A captain pointed to a middle-aged man in the training team who was balding and a bit overweight. “Back then, he was the king of soldiers in Fuliang. He was first-rate in reconnaissance, assassination, and breakout. Later, he retired because his mother was seriously ill. Commander Xia gave him ten acres of land so that he could take good care of his mother. I guess his mother has passed away by now, and he has come back.”

At this moment, a lieutenant sniffed and pointed at a middle-aged man next to him who was holding a small notebook, frowning, taking notes, and muttering curses, saying, "He...he's my captain. My legs cramp up whenever I see him..."

"Sigh... it still has to be Commander Xia. He has called back all the old squad leaders from back then. If they were all twenty years old now, these two thousand men could wipe out a camp of thirty thousand men without leaving a single survivor."

Suddenly, a guy in a white cap appeared among them. This most hated guy in the camp was now peering over the wall: "Looks pretty decent. Should I go ask Commander Xia if he needs any more military police here..."

"They could beat you to death and throw you in the river," the lieutenant said irritably. "Just be your innocent little white hat and stop getting involved in this nonsense."

"Hey! I'm not happy with what you're saying. Starting tomorrow, I'll be focusing my efforts on inspecting your battalion."

"I think you've got a death wish!"

Nothing's been done inside yet, but things are already raging outside...

It even startled the seasoned veterans inside. Don't be fooled by the swagger of the onlookers; when the real veterans came out, they were quite well-behaved.

Of course, what made them most desperate was that their fight not only brought out veterans but also the old marshal. "Nonsense!"

Xia Lin went up and kicked each of them, yelling, "Get the hell in here!"

Then, a military police captain and a Shenji Battalion brigade commander each did 500 push-ups plus a 5-kilometer weightlifting exercise.

"Can't you hold out any longer?"

"It's all because of your damn foul mouth!"

"If you like fighting so much, why don't you go and fight the commander-in-chief?"

The two ran as punishment, hurling insults at each other. Although Xia Lin had long since stopped paying attention to them, they dared not bare their teeth at him. If they dared to run away or talk back today, they would soon see Du Fuwei, the highest-ranking military officer in Ningbo Prefecture and also the boss of Ningbo Prefecture, huffing and puffing as he ran in this small training ground.

However, although the entire camp knew that Xia Lin had arrived, there was no news at all among the civilians. Their secrecy regulations made it extremely easy for them to find someone to leak information. If a leak caused any trouble or chaos, the person would be arrested and punished according to military law.

You should know that military law and military medicine are the same; they don't really treat people like human beings.

After spending about half a month reminiscing in Ningbo Prefecture, the real preparations began.

The armaments belonging to their "private army" had already arrived. In terms of firearms, they had short, new-style rifles with a shorter range and lower power than those used by the main force. They were also equipped with shotguns that had been phased out by the main force. The short range and slow rate of fire that were criticized by the armed forces were just right for their security team.

In terms of melee weapons, it was simpler. Usually, they were equipped with a multi-functional dagger, and the rest were simple soft armor to prevent cuts and stabs.

The overall cost is about one-third of that of an ordinary soldier, but it is enough for counterinsurgency operations, since pirates don't have cannons and Japanese pirates don't have powerful crossbows.

After this period of contact, Li Shimin gained a clear understanding of these soldiers. He had only known that the new army was highly capable, but he had not expected it to be this capable, nor had he expected them to be this powerful.

However, it's easy to understand that every copper coin distributed among the soldiers would translate into actual combat power.

These greasy veterans alone possess a variety of skills: hand-to-hand combat, sentry duty, assassination, arson, tracking, reconnaissance, and so on. Moreover, they have a fighting spirit that inspires despair.

Li Shimin's Xuanjia Army was arguably the best army of its time, but he knew that even the Xuanjia Army would face the risk of collapse when its casualty rate reached 30%. However, in the previous training exercises of the new army, when their casualty rate reached 90%, they still had the will to resist and were even able to organize effective resistance.

As a self-made military genius, Li Shimin was not curious about tactics and strategies, but he was curious about how to raise morale and organization to such a level.

He filled a notebook in just a few days, and then discovered the reason why this army was as tough as iron: it was because of the scholars planted in the army.

Xia Lin called these people political commissars. Although he didn’t understand what political commissar meant, their job was to arrange the food, clothing, housing and transportation of soldiers at all levels, and even to comfort those in distress and solve their problems.

They truly treated these soldiers like human beings, teaching them to read, write, and various skills to make a living, not to mention even doing things like matchmaking and boat-pulling.

Could adding just one more position really cause such a big change? Li Shimin was very puzzled, but he also knew that he couldn't find the answer by simply asking. Xia Lin had probably called him here so that he could learn from Xia Lin's teachings.

But he was also worried, because he knew nothing about this area, and the only possibility was to poach Xia Daosheng's men here.

The problem is, if we poach these people, wouldn't the Xuanjia Army be under the Xia family's control within three years? What should we do?

Faced with this dilemma, Li Shimin was extremely conflicted and even wrote a letter to his sister, wanting to ask for her opinion.

However, just as he was waiting for a reply, the first battle of this private army was about to begin.

"Mr. Zhang, according to intelligence and reconnaissance, there will be bandits causing trouble 200 miles south of Ningbo in five days! The number of people is quite large, around 500, which is the largest group of bandits in the past two years. It is not yet clear whether they are Japanese pirates."

Xia Lin frowned after hearing this: "Five days and two hundred li, that's a bit far. Go and give the order: the first, second, and third battalions will march quickly and then disperse to wait; the fourth and fifth battalions will make a detour to cover the rear; the sixth, seventh, and eighth battalions will proceed by water, ensuring that no one escapes; the ninth battalion will provide reinforcements. Set off!"

(End of this chapter)