Training the Refugees
Shen Jingchuan sat to the side watching, seeing these people eat the meat broth with rice until it was completely gone, wolfing it down. He wondered to himself, "It's just that they put some salt, soy sauce, and sugar in the stew, what's so delicious about it?"
What he didn't know was that in this world, refined salt was a rare commodity, and ordinary people ate bitter coarse salt all year round, which they had to use sparingly.
Soy sauce and sugar were condiments that people at the bottom of society had never even seen. When they cooked, they only sprinkled some coarse salt on their food, and there was no other flavor to their dishes.
Furthermore, these refugees had been fleeing famine for so long that they couldn't remember the last time they had tasted meat. Such flavorful braised pork was something they had never even dared to dream of before, let alone eat. Many of them chewed the meat, and tears streamed down their faces as they ate.
On the morning of the fourth day, Shen Jingchuan arrived with another batch of cement and building materials, and told people to unload the goods first.
He called Hu Tieniu over:
"The house construction can be done by some able-bodied men, craftsmen, and a mix of the elderly, women, and children. Gather all the young men together and pick out 50 of the strongest ones."
Hu Tieniu didn't ask any more questions and turned around to gather everyone together. After eating their fill for several days in a row, with rice, salt, and even meat at every meal, the group of refugees no longer had the sallow complexion they had when they first arrived. They had gained some weight, their eyes were brighter, and they looked much more energetic standing in a row.
The two of them went through them one by one, picked out 56 of the strongest men, and sent the rest back to the construction site to continue building houses.
Shen Jingchuan led the people to a tent and took out a steel pipe to demonstrate on the spot: sharpen one end to make a gun head, wrap the gun body with a layer of electrical tape to prevent slipping, then tightly wrap it with a piece of kraft rope, and finally singe the end with a windproof lighter to make it stick tightly. A handy long gun is then made.
Everyone immediately understood; they were being given weapons. They each took steel pipes, duct tape, and sinew rope, and squatted down beside the tent to get to work.
These people were in a daze for a while before they finally shifted their attention from the windproof lighter to the gun barrel. It was amazing; it lit up as soon as you pressed it and couldn't be blown out.
Shen Jingchuan watched from the side, correcting any mistakes. It looked like a simple task, but some people were clumsy and wrapped the ropes loosely, almost burning their hands in the fire. It took more than an hour before all 56 guns were wrapped properly.
Shen Jingchuan sent them to the river to find stones to sharpen their spear tips, and to come back when they were sharp.
It wasn't until lunchtime that the group gradually returned, carrying their guns.
Shen Jingchuan casually picked up a spear, weighed it in his hand, turned around and thrust it into a tree trunk about the size of a bowl. With a "thud," the spear tip pierced the trunk an inch deep, and when he pulled it out, the tip was completely undamaged.
"Not bad." He nodded, turned around and had someone bring over the stab-proof vests, then showed them how to wear them on the spot, inserting steel plates one by one into the layers on the front and back of their chests.
"Come on, take the gun and stab him."
The crowd looked at each other, none daring to make a move, afraid of actually injuring the person.
Shen Jingchuan repeated himself, and finally a man gritted his teeth, gripped his gun, and gently thrust it forward—the tip struck the man's chest with a muffled thud, the gun barrel slid to the side, leaving only a faint white mark on his stab-proof vest. The man stood motionless, not even feeling the pain.
Those who witnessed it stared wide-eyed. Gradually, some dared to increase their strength, and in the end, even when they stabbed with all their might, there was only a crisp "clang." The spear tip couldn't penetrate the steel plate at all, and it couldn't even hurt the cotton-padded clothes inside.
Shen Jingchuan turned and went into the warehouse tent, picked up a fiberglass helmet, and casually threw it on the ground.
"Take the gun and stab it here." He gestured with his chin towards Hu Tieniu.
Hu Tieniu looked at the smooth, sturdy helmet and hesitated to touch it.
"Young master, it would be such a waste to break something so good."
"Just stab me when I tell you to, stop talking nonsense."
Without further hesitation, Hu Tieniu gripped the gun barrel tightly, veins bulging on his arms, and with all his might, stabbed it down hard into the helmet.
With a crisp "clang," the gun tip struck the curved surface of the helmet, sliding away along the curve and leaving only a shallow white mark on the smooth surface. The helmet remained firmly on the ground, not even leaving a dent, let alone a puncture.
Shen Jingchuan glanced at everyone and, seeing that they were all wearing stab-proof vests and helmets, asked, "You all understand what I meant after those two demonstrations, right?"
The people below were already excited, and when asked this question, even the most naive among them realized what was going on. Immediately, one of the men shouted at the top of his lungs, "Young master! We're invulnerable to swords and spears!"
These words immediately caused an uproar among the crowd, who echoed each other, saying that with this equipment on their backs, their lives would be much safer in any fight.
Shen Jingchuan raised his hand to lower his voice. "Don't overthink it. Arms and legs, those unprotected areas, can still get injured if hit, so we can't be careless. But this gear is enough to save your lives most of the time."
He paused, his tone hardening. "Stand still, all of you. From today onward, I'll be training you. Food and shelter aren't enough. As our lives improve, many will be envious and try to steal our things, to take away the wealth we've built. You must develop fighting capabilities to protect your homes and our little bit of property."
Shen Jingchuan didn't know any proper military training methods; he only had the basics from university military training, which was nothing more than teaching everyone how to stand in formation and practice marching.
But he knew that this was a key method for training obedience to orders. First, the rules had to be ingrained in their very being, ensuring that orders were obeyed without question, so that the team could be effectively led.
After two days of practice, some learned quickly and some slowly, but at least the overall formation looked like a queue. He picked out a few people with the most standard postures and had them lead the others in practice. As soon as the queue was formed, he began teaching basic spear thrusting techniques.
These past few days, he had already researched a lot of information about the era of cold weapons online and concluded that the so-called fierce generals, in essence, only had three things: great strength, good armor, and heavy weapons. People like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, I have never heard of them practicing any exquisite martial arts, so how did they become famous generals? It was just that they were tall and strong, could wield heavy weapons, and had a set of sturdy armor and a good horse, which made them a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.
He even specifically researched the Wei Martial Soldiers, which was the pinnacle of ancient infantry. Essentially, they were heavily armored infantry who relied on their heavy armor to fight head-on, making them an almost overwhelming force on the battlefield.
Although his team wasn't exactly a proper heavy infantry unit—their faces, necks, arms, and legs weren't protected—their protection for vital areas like the chest and abdomen, with stab-proof vests and embedded steel plates, was in no way inferior to that of ancient heavy infantry. Shen Jingchuan felt that this level of protection was more than enough for the current initial stage.