Chapter 47

  Regardless of whether the ten centurions of the Second Legion accepted Tang Yin's idea, no one wanted to bear the crime of dereliction of duty. The training for new recruits was extremely harsh, almost devilish.

  In the morning, they exercise physically, in the afternoon, they train in combat skills, and by the evening, they also practice riding or archery training. Even at night, they still have to undergo formation training and tactical drills. Almost the entire day is spent in strict and bitter training. With such a high intensity, how can new recruits endure it?

  In three days, about 40% of the new recruits dropped out, leaving only six thousand people to persist. Each chiliarch reported the situation to Tang Yin, who was no exception. His principle was survival of the fittest, and since some couldn't take it, he wouldn't force them either. He found Wu Mei and asked her for new recruits. The latter naturally agreed.

  Supplemented with new soldiers, after another three days, there were still 2,000 people who dropped out. Tang Yin went to find Wu Mei again to ask for new soldiers to fill the vacancies. This time, Wu Mei was also puzzled, not knowing what Tang Yin was doing, why the soldiers under his command would drop out so much and so quickly.

  But she understood Tang Yan's temperament and didn't ask any more questions, and assigned two thousand new soldiers to him.

  But in two days, Tang Yin came again, this time to fill the vacancies with 800 new soldiers.

  It went on like this until Mei's feelings became numb. As soon as she saw Tang Yin coming to look for her, without him saying a word, she would take the initiative to ask if he had come to take someone away again.

  It wasn't until half a month later that the situation showed some slight improvement.

  Tang Yin was fairly satisfied with the results of this half-month training. He spent the whole day observing the new recruits' training, although he didn't say anything out loud, but in his heart, he had already memorized the entire training process and considered whether there were any inappropriate places.

  That night, he again summoned the ten centurions to his residence, first expressing his satisfaction with their efforts, and then presenting his own demands.

  "On the battlefield, speed is crucial. Our troops are infantry, and whether it's a long march or a sudden ambush, we have to rely on our two legs, so physical strength is essential. Just doing physical training in the morning isn't enough," he said, looking at Qiu Zhen and asking, "I see there's a mountain near the North City barracks, what's its name?"

  Qiu Zhen replied: "Wuyang Mountain is about fifteen miles away from the main camp."

  "Alright!" Tang Yin nodded and said, "From now on, for physical training, let the new recruits do a forced march to Wuyang Mountain, back and forth thirty miles, complete within one hour. Also, they can't go into battle lightly equipped, they must wear full armor and carry all their weapons, and add another twenty pounds of weight."

  Pfft! The ten thousand-man squad leader almost vomited blood. Thirty miles, twenty kilograms of load-bearing, completed within an hour, it's a bit too difficult for ordinary soldiers who haven't cultivated spiritual martial arts. Now the new recruits' formation has just stabilized, if they train like this, I'm afraid another large batch won't be able to hold on.

  "Is that... isn't it a bit too severe?" The ten centurions didn't dare to speak, and they all cast their eyes on Qiu Zhen, who was the closest to Tang Yin. Qiu Zhen understood the crowd's concerns, so he leaned forward and asked tentatively.

  "It's a bitter truth that has stood the test of time: one must suffer bitterness to become a superior being." Tang Yin said, "The Second Infantry Battalion wants to be the strongest in Fengguo. Do you think the title will fall from the sky if we just sit at home and do nothing?"

  As he spoke, he stood up tall and looked around at the crowd, saying in a deep voice: "People move upwards, water flows downwards. When people live in the world, they must have ambition. Brothers, I hope our battalion can become the best and strongest in Feng Guo and even the entire empire. Can't you just be content with the status quo and not want to climb higher? Since we chose to join the army, it's equivalent to giving up a life of mediocrity. If there is no momentum, no driving force forward, then what is the significance of our existence in the military?"

  Everyone who heard this was moved, looked at each other, nodded deeply, then stood up in unison and said loudly: "General Tang's teachings are what we will strive to do with all our might!"

  Perhaps at the beginning, Deng Mingyang, Lu Bing, Zhang Jiu and Li Feipeng looked down on Tang Yan, thinking that he was relying on his connections to get ahead, but now they have a greatly changed impression of him, at least he is not the kind of person who muddles along in the army just going through the motions.

  "Great!" Tang Yin looked at the crowd and said: "As long as we have done our best, even if we haven't achieved the best results, even if we haven't surpassed others, at least we can be at peace with ourselves and won't have any regrets or remorse."

  "Yes, General Tang!"

  "Everyone has been working hard for half a month, let's take a rest tomorrow!"

  This is great news for everyone, after half a month of hard work, the new recruits are exhausted, and they too are delighted to have a day off. Everyone's face lit up with joy, and the atmosphere in the hall also relaxed.

  "That's all I have to say, everyone can leave if there's nothing else."

  "General Tang, I bid you farewell!"

  The crowd left one after another with a pleasant mood, but Qiu Zhen didn't leave. Instead, her eyes sparkled with unusual colors as she smiled and gazed at Tang Yin.

  He raised an eyebrow in puzzlement and asked, "What are you looking at? Has a flower bloomed on my nose?"

  "That's not it, I just think you're becoming more and more suitable for your current position, even better than I imagined." Qiu Zhen said what was truly on her mind.

  Tang Yin smiled and said: "Are you praising me?"

  Qiu Zhen nodded and said, "Of course."

  "Do I still need your praise?" Tang Yin looked up and down at Qiu Zhen, his tone suddenly changing as he said: "You, this deputy battalion commander, seem to be quite idle!"

  Qiu Zhen had a premonition that he was going to be taken advantage of, and hastily said: "What's that? I have many things to do too."

  "Really?!" Tang Yin's eyes rolled around and he said: "I reckon this training session has started again, and many soldiers won't be able to take it and will quit. From now on, the matter of asking Wu Mei for new recruits will be handed over to you. Also, I think the soldiers' equipment is not very complete, you count what's lacking and go ask the quartermaster for it. In the future, matters like this, you can just take care of them yourself, no need to come find me."

  "Me..." Qiu Zhen couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, shaking his head in resignation.

  Gave his subordinates a day off, Tang Yin thought it would be an easy day with nothing to worry about, but the things that happened on this day were the most troublesome.

  In the morning, Tang Yin got up, washed and dressed, then followed his usual routine to practice boxing in the courtyard to exercise his muscles. After finishing breakfast, he began reading books in his room.

  He has read more books in this period of time than he has in his entire life. Firstly, he is eager to understand the world and the knowledge gained from his strict memory is really limited. Secondly, since he has joined the army, he must be familiar with various military strategies, tactics and techniques, even if he thinks that the things in the book are not very useful, at least he should have a rough idea of them.

  At noon, Qiu Zhen, Gu Yue and Le Tian came together in a group of three.

  Now they all have their own homes and no longer need to live in Tang Yin's place, but as long as they have time, they still like to run to Tang Yin's place.

  Qiu Zhenlai, simply for the sake of chatting or discussing military matters, had no relatives or friends in Yancheng, and the only person he could talk to was Tang Yin. The literati were arrogant, this was a fact, and there were only a few people who could catch Qiu's eye.

  While Gu Yue and Le Tian had other purposes.

  The two of them inadvertently saw Tang Yan practicing his fist and footwork, initially thinking it was very novel, but only after truly coming into contact with it did they discover the subtlety and power within.

  Both of them hoped to learn some simple and practical moves or techniques from Tang Yin, which could not only enhance their own strength but also teach the soldiers under their command, thereby improving the combat effectiveness of the troops.

  Tang Yin wouldn't go around boasting about his kung fu, but he also wouldn't keep it private. Gu Yue and Le Tian both had a foundation in Lingwu, were physically fit, and had a solid base, making it easy for them to learn kung fu. Tang Yin taught the two of them quite a bit of what he knew.

  When they are together, they also sharpen each other and don't use Ling Wu, simply competing with their fists and feet.

  Today was no exception. As usual, Gu Yue and Le Tian joined forces to beat Tang Yin, while Qiu Zhen watched the excitement on the side.

  Against the other two, Tang Yin was very relaxed, with his hands behind his back, relying solely on his agile movements to dodge left and right, causing Gu and Yue to pant heavily.

  After a long time, even his clothes didn't get stuck together, Gu Yue and Le Tian both gave up, sitting on the stone bench in the courtyard, panting heavily.

  Looking at Tang Yin's relaxed face, Gu Yue couldn't help but ask: "Tang big brother, how did you practice your body method?"

  As he gradually became familiar with Tang Yin, Gu Yue, Le Tian and Qiu Zhen also called him Brother Tang in private, while Tang Yin did not have a sense of hierarchy and was not very concerned about how others addressed him.

  "It's really painful to practice." Tang Yin shrugged and smiled.

  "Huh?" Gu and Le didn't understand what he meant.

  Tang Yin sat down, his eyes gradually deepening as he said: "When I was young, I lived in the depths of the mountains and forests. Every day, I had to go up the mountain to gather firewood, but there were too many branches in the mountains that would often get caught on my clothes. Since I didn't have any extra clothes to change into, if I wanted to stay warm and not freeze to death in the mountains, I could only try to avoid those branches. After a long time, my reactions and speed all became quicker."

  "It turned out to be like this!" Gu Yue and Le Tian were secretly shocked, really didn't think that Tang Yin, who looked so clean and white, actually came from such a poor background.

  If they knew that Tang Yin had a master who would reward him with a beating whenever he found his clothes damaged, the two of them would surely be even more astonished.

  The hardships of his childhood made Tang Yin's personality twisted, making him resentful and cynical. It wasn't until he came to this world that he slowly became more human-like, learning to feel joy, anger, and attachment, rather than being the cold-blooded killing machine he once was.