Chapter 519: Nine Years
The establishment of the Great Han Royal Military Academy finally gave Lü Bu and the other top military generals a place to put their abilities to use. No longer did they spend their days idle because there were no battles to fight.
The academy adopted the same system as the Imperial Academy, with Four Major Subjects: military strategy and tactics, martial skills and equipment, formation coordination, and logistical management.
These Four Major Subjects had been jointly established by the generals and advisers.
Each represented an ability that an outstanding general had to possess.
Military strategy and tactics primarily covered strategic and tactical theory, with the core objective of developing an overall perspective and the ability to make strategic decisions.
Students first had to study such classics as Sun Tzu's Art of War, Six Secret Teachings, Three Strategies, and Wu Zi in depth, mastering core ideas such as "attacking the heart is best" and "know yourself and know your enemy."
Next, they had to simulate classic battles and review historical campaigns, such as the Battle of Julu and the Battle of Red Cliffs, analyzing the keys to victory and defeat and learning to adapt flexibly.
Third, they had to study the design of stratagems, mastering the planning and countering of tactics such as fire attacks, naval warfare, ambushes, and sieges, as well as techniques for psychological warfare and manipulating public opinion.
Practical exercises included sand-table simulations, offensive and defensive debates, and the analysis of urgent military intelligence reports.
As for martial skills and equipment, this concerned individual fighting strength and the use of equipment. Simply put, its purpose was to improve individual combat ability and proficiency with weapons.
The main content included horsemanship and mounted archery, techniques for using and countering weapons such as spears, sabers, swords,