Chapter 295: Military Reform (2)

The night was deep, and everyone should have been sleeping soundly. The candle Baifeng had lit had burned halfway down before a Soldier came rushing toward the training ground, adjusting his armor as he walked. Upon seeing the Tribal Chief's figure in the firelight, he immediately sensed that things might be serious, so he quickly tidied his gear and ran over to stand in formation.

Baifeng merely glanced at him without saying a word. Seeing that he was the first to arrive, the Soldier felt his inner panic settle, and he even felt smug, thinking that even if there were to be punishments, he would definitely not be among them.

As more time passed, the expressions of Baifeng and the others grew uglier. The residential area for all the professional Soldiers was actually not far away; they all lived in the central residential district of the city. Even if they lived somewhat scattered, ten minutes would have been more than enough for each Leader to notify their Soldiers, but now, only a little over half had arrived.

Military reform—it had to be done. The arrow was on the string; it had to be released.

After the candle went out, Baifeng did not light another; he simply had a Torch raised. He then ordered all the Leaders to count the number of people in their teams one by one. Those who had not yet arrived were to be recorded, removed from the team, made to pay a fine, and sent back to farm.

Baifeng then went to the Soldiers who had already formed up and began to lecture them; they still knew the basics of formation.

"Attention! At ease, look to the right, forward march!"

After the set of commands, everyone performed them in a sloppy, scattered manner; the commands might as well not have been given. However, Baifeng did not dwell on this; there would be plenty of time to practice later. As for now, let's start with an appetizer.

"Everyone! Gear up! Armed cross-country run, two laps around the old city wall of the tribe. No falling behind! Even if you can't run, you will run for me. If someone falls, their teammates who can still run must drag them along. If even one person doesn't finish, none of you will eat today. Now, start!"

Baifeng did not know how long the old city wall of the Baifeng Tribe was—maybe ten-plus kilometers? In any case, one lap basically took four or five hours. The New City wall was truly too long, and Baifeng knew they couldn't finish that, so he didn't make that demand. The full gear of the Baifeng Tribe weighed about twenty or thirty jin, with the heaviest part being the Leather Armor on their bodies. Baifeng didn't even require them to fill their water gourds; this was already being lenient enough to them.

As for whether they could finish, it would depend on their willpower. For those who could persist, no matter how poor they were, Baifeng would think about keeping them to train. As for those who wanted to quit halfway, they could forget about ever entering the army again; they could just go back to farming.

However, that was how he put it. Even if they couldn't be professional soldiers, they would have to go when war came. They were also natural-born Soldiers, but Baifeng needed to use the best resources to raise the strongest army.

The army represented high status: no labor required, only the need to persist in daily training. Previously, some people had entered the army relying on their strong bodies, and Baifeng hadn't managed it; as long as the Bow and Blade Team had combat effectiveness, it was fine. Now, Baifeng discovered that this approach still had too many problems.

The Soldiers began to run in teams. All the Leaders also had to follow and run to supervise everyone. However, their privilege was that they could run the inner circle, take shortcuts, and rest for a bit, but what they had to do was supervise every Soldier who was running, ensuring they did not cut corners or abandon their teammates.

Baifeng remained in place, watching the Soldiers who arrived one after another, late.

The Soldiers who arrived later, seeing Baifeng there, began to run from a distance, and upon reaching Baifeng, they pretended they had been running hard the whole way.

But Baifeng did not care: "Take off all your armor and place it here neatly, along with your Weapons. Then, you can go back and continue sleeping."

"Ah, Tribal Chief, is this really okay? Isn't this an emergency assembly? This is just to collect the armor, right? We could have delivered it when it was light out; why must we give it up right now?"

Baifeng looked up and gave them a cold glare: "You know it's an emergency assembly? I thought you didn't know. If another tribe were attacking our tribe today, with your speed, would the tribe still have a chance to survive? I really don't know where that spirit you had when keeping watch during the heavy Snow went. Did you feed it to the dogs?"

Hearing the Tribal Chief's words, the Soldiers generally understood what had happened and what was about to happen. Regardless of whether they were willing or not, they had already made a mistake, so they had to obediently put down the Crocodile Skin Armor they had only just received and put down the Changdao that had accompanied them for many years.

Someone was unwilling and wanted to find an excuse to argue, but was cut off by Baifeng: "I don't have time to listen to your nonsense. Put the things down and get lost immediately."

In the end, these people had no choice but to return in disgrace. As for what awaited them after dawn, they did not know.

The rooster crowed, and the sky brightened. Baifeng estimated the time; they had already finished half the distance. No need to rush.

The tribespeople were diligent; as soon as it was light, they got up to wash and went to do the work they were supposed to do. Those who had just been kicked out of the Soldier team didn't know what they should do now. Go to training? They were no longer Soldiers. Farm? The Agriculture Department and the Household Registration Department hadn't assigned them anything yet, so they could only sit around idly.

When the tribespeople went to work, they saw the Tribal Chief and politely greeted Baifeng. Baifeng returned the greetings kindly. A bold and nosy person asked Baifeng: "Tribal Chief, I heard someone mention words like 'emergency assembly' last night. Did something big happen to the tribe?"

Baifeng smiled and shook his head: "No, it was just training the army. They are too incompetent; how can they protect the tribe in the future, right?"

Everyone praised the Tribal Chief for doing a good job. Over these years, the tribe's life had gotten better and better, but everyone's mindset had also changed. The Soldiers were no longer as brave and warlike as before, especially when they discovered they were not truly old and were still in their prime; they couldn't help but develop a fear of death. They all wanted to live for a few more decades.

After sending off the tribespeople going to work, Baifeng sat in place, thinking about the next steps, especially the problem of everyone living somewhat scattered. These Soldiers had to be arranged in unified housing; otherwise, if there were an emergency, he wouldn't even be able to call a single Soldier. How could the tribe have any possibility of continuing to survive?