Yuan Shu Deploys Troops, Secret Weapon

In the fourth month of the second year of Jian'an, after two months of brewing, the Central Plains were once again stirred by winds and clouds.

It began when Yuan Shu, having declared himself emperor, dispatched Han Yin as an envoy to seek an alliance with Lu Bu.

Lu Bu had initially agreed, but under the counsel of Chen Gui, he eventually recalled his daughter and had Chen Deng escort Han Yin to Xuchang.

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao was naturally delighted; he immediately had Han Yin executed and met with Chen Deng in person.

Chen Deng then used this pretext to secretly report various matters to Cao Cao, further mentioning that Lu Bu desired the position of Governor of Xuzhou.

Cao Cao did not commit to this, merely appointing Chen Deng as the Administrator of Guangling and granting Chen Gui a salary rank equivalent to two thousand shi.

Having received these rewards, Chen Deng set off on his return journey toward Xuzhou.

However, news of these events reached the ears of Yuan Shu via Runan.

Yuan Shu had been emperor for over a month, and having engaged in grand construction projects, lived in decadent luxury, and imposed harsh levies, he had grown increasingly arrogant; upon hearing this news, he was naturally incensed.

Fearing the strength of Cao Cao's forces, he vented all his rage upon Lu Bu, ordering his generals Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui, along with Han Xian and Yang Feng, to combine their forces and lead tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry to attack Lu Bu.

Seeing this, Lu Bu was thrown into a panic; recalling the previous letter from Liu Bei, he wrote a personal missive and sent a messenger to Xiaopei to beg for reinforcements.

Yu Province, Pei County.

It is said that ever since Liu Bei had gained the services of Qin Tian, he had begun to recruit soldiers, purchase horses, and stockpile grain and fodder, relying on his strategies.

Liu Bei's army already possessed fierce generals such as Guan and Zhang.

Not to mention Zhang Fei, but Guan Yu was an exceptional hand at training troops.

Now, with the addition of Xu Shu and Qin Tian, the army was governed by strict discipline, where orders were executed without hesitation.

However, although the troops were well-drilled, they lacked real combat experience, and their actual fighting strength remained a concern.

Thus, Qin Tian directly proposed a strategy to Liu Bei: to replace formal training with active campaigns.

In simple terms, he meant taking these raw recruits who had never seen blood and throwing them straight into battle.

Naturally, this did not mean attacking the cities of others, but rather starting with bandits.

Because Pei County was situated on a major thoroughfare and the northeast was mountainous, it was frequently plagued by bandits, mountain brigands, and remnants of the Yellow Turbans.

These bandits were not highly skilled in combat, but they were vicious and wicked, and thus they became the targets Qin Tian used to train the troops.

He spent his days ordering the generals to dispatch troops in all directions to conduct constant sweeps.

After a month, they had captured or annihilated over ten groups of bandits and Yellow Turban remnants, seizing tens of thousands in coin, thousands of shi of grain, and taking over two thousand prisoners.

The ringleaders were all executed, while the rest were incorporated into the army.

In a short time, Liu Bei's army had not only elevated its combat effectiveness by a level but had also gained a significant supplement of wealth and provisions.

After spending time together, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had gradually come to acknowledge Qin Tian as their strategist.

Guan Yu was fine with it, but Zhang Fei still held a grudge and was unwilling to bow his head.

Beyond the changes in the army, Liu Bei had other gains over these two months.

The most significant was that, hearing of his recruitment efforts, many men of ambition came to offer their services.

The leader among them was named Chen Dao, courtesy name Shuzhi, a native of Runan who had left his home specifically to join Liu Bei out of admiration for his reputation for benevolence.

Seeing that this man possessed great martial skill, a rigorous character, and an understanding of troop training, Liu Bei appointed him as the commander of his personal guards, responsible for training his own retinue.

In addition, there was a scholar named Liu Yan, courtesy name Weishuo.

He was a renowned scholar from Lu State, possessed an excellent demeanor and appearance, was skilled in conversation, and shared the same surname as Liu Bei, for which he was highly valued by him.

Lacking personnel under his command, Liu Bei appointed him as an Attendant for the Promotion of Learning.

With these two men, Liu Bei's wings grew fuller, and he spent his days full of ambition, looking forward to accomplishing a great cause!

On this day, having no pressing matters in the manor, he went to the camp for a long-overdue inspection.

Hearing of his arrival, Xu Shu came out to welcome him.

As the two walked into the camp, they saw soldiers moving to and fro in an orderly fashion, already displaying the appearance of an elite force.

Hearing the bursts of battle cries coming from the camp, Liu Bei remarked with emotion:

"That our army can have such an appearance today is thanks to the help of Yuanzhi!"

"I can see that Yuanzhi has been working hard lately and has grown increasingly thin; I truly cannot bear to see it!"

If one were to speak of Xu Shu, he had originally been a handsome young man known throughout the region, with a fair face and a short beard, possessing a refined air; yet, ever since he entered service, he had grown quite dark.

Thus, as Liu Bei looked at him, he felt a sense of guilt in his heart.

However, upon hearing this, Xu Shu shook his head and smiled:

"My Lord need not say such things; how can there be talk of hardship when serving the state!"

"As for our army having such a state today, it is all due to the efforts of the generals and the strategist; how could I dare to speak of hardship!"

Seeing Xu Shu's humility, Liu Bei laughed:

"Yuanzhi is excellent in every way, save for one point: he is far too modest!"

"Very well, since Yuanzhi does not mind the hardship, I shall say no more!"

As he spoke, he looked toward the distance and said:

"Come to think of it, have my second and third brothers offended the military advisor recently?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Shu felt a wave of amusement:

"I knew the Lord did not come to inspect the camp, but rather to inquire about this matter!"

"However, the Lord may rest assured. Since Zixuan took office, the two generals have caused no trouble. Although Zixuan is strict in enforcing the law, he has always been impartial."

"Over the past month, although the two generals have said nothing, they have secretly come to accept him in their hearts."

"Especially the Third General; he has stopped grumbling all day long during this period, which shows he is no longer as dissatisfied as he once was!"

"If things continue this way, it will not be long before the generals and ministers are in harmony!"

"That is good, that is very good indeed!"

Hearing this, Liu Bei finally set his mind at ease.

What he feared most right now was discord between his generals and ministers, which would prevent Qin Tian from exerting his full potential!

Now that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei could live in harmony with Qin Tian, he naturally let go of many of his worries.

Just as he was about to speak, he heard the rhythmic chant of "one, two, one" approaching from afar.

Raising his eyes, he saw a young general leading a squad of soldiers in a jog around the camp gate.

Seeing this, Liu Bei's expression shifted as he asked:

"Yuanzhi, what are Tanzhi and the others doing?"

Tanzhi was the courtesy name of Guan Ping, the young general leading the squad.

Unlike in the romances, Guan Ping was Guan Yu's own son, only seventeen years old this year.

Seeing Liu Bei's inquiry, Xu Shu turned back and smiled:

"The Lord may not know, but Tanzhi is currently leading the soldiers in practicing marching drills!"

"Marching requires practice?"

Liu Bei was instantly bewildered. He had been in the military for over a decade and had never heard of marching as a drill; at most, one practiced military formations!

But seeing this, Xu Shu grinned:

"The Lord is unaware, but this is a method taught by the military advisor. If it were ordinary training, there would naturally be no need to practice marching."

"But the method taught by the military advisor requires everything from walking to assembling and advancing to be drilled!"

"Oh? Even walking requires practice?"

Liu Bei became interested at once and hurriedly asked:

"I wonder what the use of such practice is?"

"The Lord does not know, but this method has great utility!"

Xu Shu smiled and gestured for Liu Bei to follow:

"Lord, please come with me!"

With that, he strode toward the drill ground, and Liu Bei hurried to keep up.

Before long, the two arrived at the drill ground, where they saw squads of soldiers marching in formation across the field.

Officers stood at the front of the lines, shouting:

"Attention, stand at ease, dress right!"

Under their commands, the soldiers moved in unison, their actions perfectly synchronized!

Watching this scene, Liu Bei was delighted and said:

"Could these soldiers all be veterans of our army?"

The reason he judged so was that only veterans could be this orderly; it would take ages to teach raw recruits to form such ranks.

Yet, even if these were veterans, it was enough to make Liu Bei overjoyed!

People of later generations watch too much television and often think that when two armies clashed in this era, they simply charged in and fought chaotically.

In reality, that is not the case!

Warfare in this era, except in special circumstances, was mostly a confrontation of formations—a confrontation of the whole!

Obedience to orders and prohibitions was the only standard for elite troops in this era!

When two armies fought, whoever could keep their formation from breaking would achieve final victory!

Therefore, seeing his own troops in such orderly ranks, Old Liu was naturally pleasantly surprised!

However, hearing this, Xu Shu's smile widened as he said:

"You are mistaken, Lord. These are the newly recruited troops of our army!"

"The men on the field have been in our army for less than half a month at the very least!"

"They have achieved this effect after only half a month in our army?"

Liu Bei was truly shocked for a moment!

According to the training methods of this era, it was already no small feat to form a cohesive formation in two months!

To be this orderly in just half a month?

If they were to train for a year or half a year, where in the world could they not go?

Seeing Liu Bei's astonishment, Xu Shu also sighed in admiration:

"This is the brilliance of the strategist's method. Using this approach, a basic structure can be formed in a few days, and drill formations can begin within half a month!"

"After that, by conducting combat drills, a battle-ready force can be forged in three months!"

"Furthermore, with this training method, orders are executed and prohibitions are observed. Once the order is given to form up, the formation is completed within ten breaths!"

"In terms of training methods, from ancient times to the present, there has never been such efficiency!"

Listening to this, Liu Bei nodded repeatedly and said:

"The strategist's method of training is truly unheard of!"

He looked at the formation on the field and couldn't help but ask:

"Does this mean our army now has the strength to fight?"

Xu Shu smiled:

"If it were only the training, they would not yet be ready for battle."

"But now, combined with the strategist's policy of training through campaigns, even the new recruits in our army no longer fear the sight of blood."

"They only need to fight one or two hard battles to be considered elites!"

Hearing this, Liu Bei couldn't help but marvel at how well Qin Tian understood these things.

On the battlefield, the reason new recruits have low combat effectiveness is twofold.

First, they scatter easily once the fighting starts; second, they have never seen blood and are gripped by fear!

By combining these two methods, Qin Tian had essentially solved the biggest problems facing new recruits.

They only needed to fight one real battle to immediately transform into veterans.

It had to be said that this training method was extremely effective and astonishingly efficient.

Thinking of this, he asked with some confusion:

"It is strange, though. If the strategist's method is so miraculous, why was it not implemented in the Cao army?"

Xu Shu knew Liu Bei would ask this, so he could only shake his head and sigh:

"How could Zixuan not have wanted to implement it? However, in the beginning, he was burdened with heavy responsibilities—devising strategies and handling military affairs—and was not in command of troops."

"Later, after subduing the Yellow Turbans, Zixuan was busy settling the displaced people and implementing the agricultural colony system."

"By the time he finally led an army and intended to implement this, Chen Gong had already rebelled. After Zixuan quelled the chaos, Lord Cao refused to let him lead troops again."

"That is why this method has only seen the light of day now!"

"Fortunately, it turned out this way, otherwise this Liu would surely be unable to eat or sleep in peace!"

Compared to Xu Shu's lament, Liu Bei felt secretly relieved.

It was fortunate that Old Cao did not use Qin Tian to train his troops; otherwise, with the forces Old Cao already possessed, he could have directly crushed all the warlords under heaven!

As for why Cao Cao did not let Qin Tian lead troops, he did not want to pry too deeply.

It was nothing more than the fear that Qin Tian might rebel just like Chen Gong!

The damage caused by Chen Gong's rebellion alone had been severe enough.

If Qin Tian were to rebel, no one dared to imagine the consequences!

After all, Qin Tian had no ties to a great family; he could take his wife and children and rebel whenever he pleased!

However, while Cao Cao feared this, he, Liu Bei, did not, because he believed in his own judgment!

In his eyes, Qin Tian was a benevolent and honorable gentleman!

If Qin Tian were to rebel, the cause would likely lie with him, not with Qin Tian!

He, Liu Bei, had no other virtues, but he believed in those he employed. He was not worried about giving Qin Tian full authority.

Thinking this, he felt even more fortunate to have picked up such a bargain, and he asked:

"Speaking of which, I have not seen the strategist in the camp today. Do you know where he is?"

As soon as he asked, Xu Shu shook his head with a bitter smile:

"Do not speak of the lord, even I have not seen him!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei's heart tightened:

"Then does Yuanzhi know where the strategist has gone?"

Seeing this, Xu Shu knew Liu Bei was concerned for Qin Tian's safety and quickly said:

"Lord, do not worry. Zixuan should be in the city. Recently, he has been spending all his time at the Forge, seemingly supervising the creation of a sharp weapon."

Hearing that Qin Tian was not missing, Old Liu breathed a sigh of relief, but then asked curiously:

"What kind of powerful weapon is the Military Advisor overseeing the construction of?"

"I do not know either!"

Xu Shu shook his head and said:

"He only said it was a secret weapon. As for what it is or what purpose it serves, he has said nothing at all!"

"A secret weapon?"

Liu Bei muttered to himself, then quickly looked up and said:

"Yuanzhi, let us go and take a look!"

Seeing Liu Bei like this, Xu Shu laughed:

"That is exactly my wish. With the Lord present, I imagine Zixuan will find it difficult to keep it hidden!"

With that, he led Liu Bei toward the interior of the city.