The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 73 Temporary Training
As night fell, the Chenqiao Post Station camp was quiet, with no noise from soldiers and horses. Only the orderly footsteps of the patrolling soldiers could be heard, which showed how strict Guo Chongwei was in managing his troops.

Xiao Yi even noticed that some people were hiding inside the shops in the post station.

Although the atmosphere in the Five Dynasties was corrupt, the more elite the troops, the stricter their military discipline, which strengthened his confidence.

"Commander Xiao." Liu Tingrang, holding a torch, escorted him to the camp and said, "You are guest troops, you may remove your armor and rest tonight."

"What if the Southern army launches a night attack?"

"Hehe." Liu Tingrang said, "Don't worry, you've had a long journey. Rest well, and you'll be ready to fight the enemy in the next two days."

"In that case, we can rest and recuperate without worry."

That night, the 20th Battalion, unusually, took off their armor. With Tang Jin joining them, the 48 men were crammed into a single dormitory room, reeking of foul odors.

At first, Xiao Yi felt like his lungs were about to explode, and he wished he could stay in a tent that was cold but well-ventilated. But he gradually got used to it. As the commander-in-chief, eating and sleeping together was the most basic requirement.

He kicked Zhang Mantun and cursed, "You son of a bitch, wash your feet."

"Hehe." Tang Jin said, "You can smell me, I don't smell bad at all, I'm very clean."

"My feet just smell bad, your mouth smells bad."

Zhang Mantun went outside, scooped up some snow, wiped his feet a couple of times, and came back, saying, "This vanguard army only has five commanders, plus the twenty battalions, making a total of six."

"Tch, you think you can count on me?"

"Shut up, both of you! You two talk too much. No talking after lights out!"

Xiao Yi felt much better after learning to swear.

He discovered that talking to these soldiers was useless; only by being stern could he keep them in line.

"Hua Nong, Lao Pan, come here." Xiao Yi beckoned the two men over, walked outside, and said, "We're going to train the soldiers tomorrow, so let's make some preparations..."

That night, I slept soundly amidst the rising and falling snores.

November 15th, at the beginning of the Mao hour (5-7 AM).

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

"Rise and prepare! Assemble at the drill ground at 3:45 AM!"

The shouts of the commanders, accompanied by the sound of war drums, came from other tents.

Xiao Yi sat up, wincing in pain. He had traveled over 1,300 li in ten days, and every muscle in his body ached.

He kicked Guo Xin.

"get up."

"Let me sleep a little longer." Guo Xin turned over and mumbled, "So sleepy."

"rise."

Xiao Yi didn't hold back and dragged him from the dormitory to the ground, but this aggravated the muscles in his back, making him feel a sharp pain.

"Ouch."

"Put on armor, eat, and drill in the training ground."

"Commander, General Guo didn't order our 20th Battalion to drill."

Xiao Yi said coldly, "I'll let you train."

After having breakfast at the mess hall, the 20th Battalion prepared to head to the drill ground.

Tang Jin was still sitting there eating heartily, even deliberately trying to annoy people by letting out a loud burp.

"Burp! Oh, my tummy, I haven't let you down. I'm always full no matter where I go."

Zhang Mantun turned around and spat, "Your stomach has let you down too much; it hasn't given you a single idea."

"Aren't you going to report for duty?!"

Arriving at the drill ground at exactly 3:45 AM, Guo Chongwei was already mustering his troops. He glanced at the 20th Battalion but ignored them, leading a troop of cavalry out of the camp in a flowing stream.

Deputy General Wang Shenqi was in charge of guarding the camp.

Xiao Yi did not receive military orders, so he drilled the 20th Battalion on the training ground.

With a major battle imminent, there was no time to practice swords, spears, and clubs. He thought that the only thing he could improve in the next two days was cohesion.

"Line up!"

"Here!"

"Fan Si, acting as the head of the three capitals; Wu Gouzi, his deputy."

"Here!"

“Xihou, acting as the second-in-command; Hu Deng, his deputy.”

"Here!"

"The Left Commander and the Junior General will be assigned to the Third Command."

"Here."

"Everyone, stand in line!"

The drill ground was quiet for a while.

Xiao Yi stood there, his posture upright and perfect, completely still.

The soldiers stared at him blankly, then gradually came to a stop. Old Pan then stepped forward and adjusted their posture one by one.

"Stand up straight, look at the commander, shoulders level, backs straight. If anyone moves, the whole team will run ten laps together."

Standing at attention is unavoidable.

Half an hour later, all three teams had run around the drill ground and dared not move again, their military bearing was starting to look presentable.

"Tired of standing?" Xiao Yi finally spoke up. "Let's play a game, a name chain game."

"What?"

"..."

"My name is Jin Sanshui, from Zuocheng, Huazhou. I'm a new recruit from Sandu, and I can use a spear and ride a horse. In front of me is Hu Deng, which seems to be from Caozhou?"

"Wrong, Hu Deng is his nickname. What's his real name?"

"Hey, Hu, what was Hu again? I forgot."

“Hu Zhaogu, you idiot, my name comes from Li Bai’s poem, ‘The moon tonight once shone on the ancients,’ do you understand?”

The little monkey was overjoyed and said, "You Hu Deng, how come you have such an elegant name? I didn't know that."

“My grandfather used to have some wealth, of course you can’t see that with your dog eyes, Lady Hou.”

"Tsk, don't call me by my real name. Jin Sanshui, let's continue the word game."

"Alright, my name is Hu Zhaogu, from Yuanju, Caozhou. He is skilled in horsemanship, spearmanship, bowmanship, knifemanship, and ventriloquism."

“My name is Wang Jiu, I’m from Suanzao, Huazhou. I can ride horses, shoot arrows, and… embroider. I used to be a weaver. My name is Jin Sanshui, a fellow Huazhou native. He doesn’t know many skills.”

"..."

Xiao Yi watched silently, trying to understand the soldiers' personalities by observing their attitudes—some were smug, others were ashamed—as they were surrounded by onlookers.

Tang Jin, who had been standing to the side with his arms crossed, couldn't help but interject, "Listen to me! My name is Tang Jin, and I was born in Mayi, Shuozhou. Except for being illiterate, there's nothing I can't do!"

"Dog barbarian, you're not from our 20th Battalion, who has the patience to remember your name?"

"I want you to remember this: 'Go in, go in, go in...'"

"enough!"

Xiao Yi stopped them, ordered everyone to reorganize their ranks and count off, and then spoke again.

"Next game, trust fall."

"What is this again?" "..."

"Commander, can I not fall? I'm too heavy, I'm afraid they won't be able to catch me."

"Trust your comrades!"

"I believe, but I value things."

"Fall!" Xiao Yi snapped. "You don't even dare to fall backward? Are you going to entrust your life to them on the battlefield?!"

As the commander, he was always on the ground catching every trust fall.

"Trust us, come down."

Zhang Mantun stood on the battle platform, his back to the edge, and stealthily glanced back, still hesitating.

Tang Jin laughed loudly and shouted, "You stupid donkey, hahaha, you're too cowardly! In our Congzhiwei, a coward like you can only produce dung."

"You try it, you savage dog."

"Then you have to get down so I can try. Here, I'll catch you."

Finally, Zhang Mantun fell backward.

Xiao Yi and the other four reached out to catch it, only to feel as if a mountain had collapsed, so heavy that he almost stumbled and his whole body ached.

Tang Jin stepped forward and helped pull Zhang Mantun up, mocking, "So heavy, you must have a belly full of shit and haven't pooped yet?"

"what--"

Zhang Mantun roared and let out a long breath.

After that, Tang Jin went up next. Zhang Mantun obviously wanted to say a few sarcastic remarks, but Tang Jin didn't even turn his head and just fell backward without a care in the world.

"Catch him!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

They continued training until almost noon before Xiao Yi ordered a break.

At present, soldiers eat two meals a day, and an extra meal of dry rations is added during wartime. However, Xiao Yi is used to three meals a day, and if he consumes a lot of energy, he will also have a supplementary meal. He specially gave money to the cooks so that he could have his meal at noon, which included hot mutton.

Everyone ate with relish.

"You barbarian, aren't you from the 20th Battalion? How dare you come here with your ugly face to eat our food?"

"Hehe." Tang Jin, who was both flexible and adaptable, sucked on the lamb spine and laughed, "I came all the way with my brothers."

"You're a jerk."

"Commander Xiao, what fun things are planned for this afternoon?"

Xiao Yi asked, "Together?"

"If I were just standing there like an idiot, I wouldn't do that."

"Come on, let me show you how to play 'three-legged race'."

"Haha, you really have a lot of tricks up your sleeve!"

At noon, they returned to the drill ground.

Xiao Yi first tricked Tang Jin into entering the 20th Battalion with a three-legged race game, causing him to fall and get completely disoriented. Then, Xiao Yi began serious training.

"Zijiang, step forward."

"Here!"

Hua Nong stood in front of the formation holding the command flag and shouted loudly, "Next, we will train 'listening to commands'!"

He had five command flags in his hand, red, black, blue, white, and yellow, each with a copper bell at the end of its pole.

"Watch closely! Red flag raised high, wave slowly, advance; black flag drooping, wave up and down, retreat; green flag tilted to the left, wave in a circle, turn left; white flag tilted to the right, wave in a circle, turn right. You must follow the command within three breaths, otherwise the formation will be disrupted, and you will be punished."

Tang Jin shouted, "I can endure hardship, but I can't remember anything. I only remember what the generals are shouting, and they're really loud!"

Xiao Yi shouted decisively, "Remember this, all of you!"

Hua Nong picked up the yellow command flag again.

"This is a tactical flag. The yellow flag is placed over the red flag. It is raised high and swung forward three times to charge the enemy formation. The yellow flag is placed over the black flag. It is raised horizontally and moved to form a formation immediately and hold shields for defense. The yellow flag is placed over the blue flag. It is raised diagonally and waved to circle around to the enemy's side."

These were already difficult for ordinary soldiers to remember, but Xiao Yi still had Xihou bring out his sentry flags and teach everyone to identify them.

The flags of the small monkeys are much smaller, and the words on them are embroidered, making them quite easy to identify.

“Look closely, let me show you illiterate cowards. Victory flag, I raise it when I see the enemy fleeing, and the central army will sound the victory drum; this is the character for ‘reinforcement,’ raising this flag means reinforcements are coming; this is the character for ‘warning,’ the enemy is about to launch a sneak attack.”

"Damn it, I remembered yours, but I forgot the ones before that!"

Xiao Yi wasn't worried that they wouldn't remember it in a short time; it was just a matter of practice.

He divided the 20th Battalion into two teams, with Guo Xin and Lao Pan each leading one team. He had Hua Nong stand on the battle platform waving the flag, constantly advancing, retreating, and charging left and right. The team that made the most mistakes would have to wash the other team's clothes tonight.

Naturally, Zhang Mantun and Tang Jin must be separated.

Every now and then, a small monkey would rush out, waving a "police" flag, testing the team's ability to react quickly.

"Form ranks! Form ranks! The yellow flag is now flying the black flag, lest we lose to that stupid donkey!"

"Stop! Right team wins, left team is penalized tonight."

"Straight bitch!"

"Haha, are you finally done with the training?"

Xiao Yi glanced at the sky and began the last training exercise of the day.

He gestured for everyone to sit on the ground and nodded to Hua Nong.

Hua Nong understood, took out a piece of paper, stepped forward and said, "Sing another song, and then everyone will have dinner. The one who sings well will get an extra piece of meat."

"Haha, one more meal? Sing a song, I know 'The Happy Marriage'."

“I’ve written a military song.” Hua Nong squinted as she unfolded the paper, cleared her throat, and said, “This is the ‘Song of Pacifying the Chaos.’ I was inspired by the commander’s description of the state of the world and by reflecting on my years in the army… cough cough, please excuse my poor writing.”

"Sing it."

Hua Nong licked his lips and finally opened his mouth. At first, his voice was very soft, but he sang very well. Although the tune was simple, it was desolate and ancient.

"The armor is cold against the frosty moon, and the smoke of war rolls across the snow-covered homeland."

“I remember how many families were scattered in the past, and who will take care of the white bones left exposed in the fields?”

"Fathers weep for their sons, wives weep for their husbands, fields lie barren and few men tend them."

"I was originally a farmer, a weaver, but now I don armor and take up arms to go to the battlefield."

"Yesterday we planted millet and wheat on the ridges, today we drive away jackals and wolves on the battlefield."

"Leave rice in the stove for the widow, add firewood under the eaves to keep the mother warm."

"If you ask where my heart is headed, I'll find the lights of ten thousand homes reflecting on my cold window."

"We, the men who have come to fight with spears, are willing to seek peace for the common people."

"Even if I die, I will hear the music of peace and tranquility; what fear is there of being buried in the green hills?"

"..."

Xiao Yi knew the soldiers couldn't understand, but that didn't matter; they could just sing along.

On the second verse, he took the paper from Hua Nong's hand and started singing loudly. He knew he sang terribly, but it didn't matter.

They sang like this again and again, their voices gradually becoming more synchronized, a mixture of accents from all over the country, echoing throughout the drill ground.

Xiao Yi turned around and saw that the setting sun had dyed the sky red; the whole day had passed just like that.

He also noticed that Wang Shenqi, the deputy commander of the vanguard army, was standing in the distance, seemingly watching them for a long time.

(End of this chapter)