Du Zhongxiao stood up, stretched, and walked out of the room to take a breath.

Liu Ji was in charge of the war on the southern front, and due to the changes in the situation caused by the war on the southern front, Du Zhongxiao had to be clear and respond. Where are the Fanhu who fled to the party, what they did after the war, the response of the surrounding party and state troops, the impact on the adjacent Linfu Road, and so on, are not the responsibilities of the front-line commander, but Du Zhongxiao has to understand, predict and deal with them.

In the room next to him, Du Zhongxiao was divided into several cases, each responsible for several items, and summarized and sorted out. This is the practice of case work, which many officials hate, but is actually very important. Han Qi didn't have Du Zhongxiao's patience and asked about everything.

Han Qi was watching the staff officers carry out the work on the map with great interest, and when he saw Du Zhongxiao coming out, he said, "It's a little hard. ”

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand: "A war, a thousand things, hard work should be, if it is not hard, it will be wrong." The weather is fine, go out and sit down. ”

After speaking, he walked out of the official hall and went to the courtyard. There is a stone table under the jujube tree in the courtyard, and several stone benches next to it. Du Zhongxiao sat down and asked the soldier to make a pot of tea. Tea is the fermented tea produced by the Xinyang Army in recent years, some are loose tea, and some are pressed into tea bricks, which is extremely popular in the north. Du Zhongxiao didn't know if it was black tea, white tea, black tea, or the famous Pu'er tea in his memory, anyway, he drank it catchy.

Today the sun is just right, there are white clouds in the sky, the breeze is blowing, and there is not a trace of chill.

After a while, Han Qi walked out of the official hall, sat down opposite the stone table, and said, "It's very comfortable." ”

Du Zhongxiao poured tea for Han Qi and said, "Dulunzhai won the first battle, and there will be no big war in the future, so you can put half of your heart down." ”

Han Qi nodded: "Jingluo is right, there are many party soldiers and horses in that area. The rest of the stockades, most of them were one or two hundred soldiers, and the few were only twenty or thirty, and there were no more big battles. By the way, after a while, if the party rescues, where will it gather troops? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Most of them are in Xiazhou and Yinzhou. If the Ministry of Hiding is in that area, and if there is no Hidden Treasure, Pang has a deep foundation, so he will naturally make extra efforts to save his own property. Moreover, the party Hengshan soldiers are hard-working and hard-working, and they are the most capable of fighting, and they must use people there every time there is a big war. ”

"yes, that's what I thought, too. The soldiers came out of Hengshan, not Xingqing Mansion, and had to be prepared. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Originally, it was best to let Linyan Road send troops to echo, so that the Hengshan Party soldiers did not dare to go north." It's just that it belongs to Shaanxi Road, and Lin Yanshuai Xia is not familiar with it, so he has to give up. ”

Du Zhongxiao and Xia Zhu are friends on official business, knowing Du Zhongxiao's character, Xia Zhu does not have much personal contact with him. Xia Anqi is the son of Xia Zhu, at this time, he is a slight envoy of Yanlu, and he is not a good talker, Hedong Road just informed, and did not let him cooperate.

Han Qi nodded and did not speak. His relationship with Xia Zhu was not good, so there was no reason to contact Xia An.

After taking a sip of tea, Du Zhongxiao said: "But Xianggong doesn't have to worry, there is nothing to gather troops and horses in Hengshan." By the time they send out their troops, our army will have already returned to the Jinsu army. If the party goes north to attack the Jinsu army and the Heqing army, then the Linfu road will be behind it. Attacking the Linfu Road, our South Route Army will attack its flanks. This dynasty occupies several states of Hequ, which is different from before, and is connected with Linfu Road, and the party is not dispatched to send a large army, and the strength of the country is powerless, and it is unable to attack me a little. The Yokoyama soldiers came, and there was no major threat. Moreover, the walled fort has been burned and there is no place to stay, how can you live for a long time? ”

Han Qi said: "The truth is so, but every time the party enters the Kou in a big way, it will shake China and foreign countries, and it has to be guarded against." ”

Du Zhongxiao poured tea for Han Qi again, and said, "Xianggong, the truth is so, then it should be so." Whichever one is messy, find it. ”

Every time the party entered the army, the Song Dynasty suffered heavy losses, and almost everything happened to the Song generals. Either they were careless and were ambushed by the party, or they were cowardly and fled without a fight. Not to mention that everyone uses their lives, as long as the guards play normally, most of the party items will be in vain.

This has almost become an incurable disease of the Song army, no matter how the generals are selected, every time there is a big battle, there is a chain dropped. Han Qi used to be a strategic envoy to Linyan Road, so he naturally had a deep understanding of this. The defense of the walled fort in the Hengshan area is a whole, and if there is a problem, the party will open a gap, and I don't know how many times it will take to plug the loophole.

Speaking of this, it came to the command system of the army, especially Han Qi who had just seen how Du Zhongxiao commanded the war.

Han Qi said: "When it comes to the military, it is nothing more than that the soldiers are sufficient, the money and food are worry-free, the military discipline is extended, and everyone uses their lives. But the battalion and field army, with all due respect, the soldiers are not elite soldiers, and the generals are not good generals, but after arriving in Tanglong Town, they have won successive battles, and they are all invincible, or even flee from the wind, what is the reason? ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled and thought for a while before saying, "Xianggong, what kind of soldier is an elite soldier?" What kind of good will be? ”

Han Qi said: "Just like the forbidden army in the capital, the soldiers are all selected by thousands of people, with sufficient money and food, and well-trained, so they are naturally elite soldiers." Although he was lazy and ineffective in the capital, after arriving in the northwest, he experienced several battles, which were not comparable to others. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "But now in the northwest roads, most of the elite soldiers are Tibetan soldiers, and even the cavalry is almost all lost, so what to do?" ”

Han Qi said: "They are different. Born and raised there, raised on the back of a pony, familiar with bows and arrows. is familiar with geography and bow horses, and is naturally an elite soldier. There is a shortage of horses in this dynasty, even in the forbidden army, there are many horse soldiers who have been without horses for several years, how can they be good cavalry? That is to say, there is no shortage of horses in this year, and the cavalry of the forbidden army in the capital is not stronger than before? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Xianggong, but I don't think so. I think that elite soldiers, first of all, are familiar with the army and adapt to the army. Not only are they familiar with the environment of the barracks and obey the discipline of the army, they themselves are part of the military environment. Skilled in martial arts, just like the forbidden army in the capital, the barracks are already chaotic, and the so-called elite soldiers become lazy people, which is a harm to the locality. If this is the case in the locality, how can you fight in the army? ”

Han Qi said: "The meaning of the strategy is that there must be discipline in the army? Military discipline is indeed important. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "I have been training soldiers for so many years, and now that I think about it, it is still superficial to say that discipline." Discipline is really only a part of the army, a superficial thing. For soldiers who are really well trained, discipline is their instinct, and there is no such thing as abiding by it. As soon as they arrive in the barracks environment, they are naturally disciplined. Not only is discipline observed, every word and deed, every move is integrated with the environment of the barracks. Such soldiers are the real elite soldiers. In the barracks, no matter what they are asked to do, they will do it wholeheartedly, and they don't have to watch with a whip. It is not like a puppet at the mercy of others, but under the conditions allowed, find a way to complete it with the fastest speed and the best way. When they arrive on the battlefield, as long as they clearly issue combat missions, they will use their brains to accomplish combat missions in accordance with the battlefield norms formed in peacetime. With such elite soldiers, fighting a war is much simpler. As seen by the public, each has its own responsibility, and various battle plans are formulated here, and the front-line generals lead the troops to complete them, and there are few accidents. ”

I remembered that in the past, when I saw soldiers in military uniforms on the streets, if I could walk in a natural way of two people and three people, and all the soldiers looked neat, it was almost certain that this was from a strong army. If the soldiers laugh and scold and have no rules, the combat effectiveness of the army can be imagined. Discipline is not a characteristic of the army, it is just a stepping stone, starting from strict discipline and forming the instinct of a soldier is the sign of a truly elite soldier.

As for the use of disciplined forces as a banner, they are just migrant workers, which just means that they are not the army.

Han Qi heard this statement for the first time, and asked with great interest: "In this way, the Yingtian Xiang Army is such an elite soldier?" ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "It's far from it." It's just that the party members opposite us are even more unbearable, and it seems that they are capable. I didn't think deeply about it before, but I was able to train the troops little by little, and I was able to only train the battalion and the field. If you practice it now, it will naturally be different. ”

has just won the battle, and the one he has seen in the past few days has opened a door for Han Qi, and he is in a good mood. After listening to Du Zhongxiao's words, he said: "Since I have leisure today, it is better to talk about how to train elite soldiers." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "When we learn poetry, we often say that the work is outside the poem"

Hearing this, Han Qi's brows furrowed, but he didn't say anything. Du Zhongxiao didn't care, this sentence didn't appear at this time, and he hadn't heard a common saying that made Han Qi feel strange. This kind of thing has happened a lot, and Du Zhongxiao has long been unfazed.

"Military training is like a classmate's poem, in fact, it is also work on the outside, from the outside to the inside. First of all, there is plenty of money and food. What if there is not enough money and food? If you don't have money, can't you fight? On the other side of the party, military rations can only be used as horse fodder here for us, how many times have we beaten them? The famous generals of the ancients shared weal and woe with the soldiers, and there were no unusual dishes in the barracks. As for Wu Qi, he shared food and clothing with the soldiers, wrapped himself to win food, and even sucked for the soldiers, and everyone was willing to use it. There is a way to suffer from inequality, lack of money and food, and lack of money and food. Of course, now that the world is rich, using these methods as a disguise, the gentleman will not take it. When the soldiers are fed and clothed, they have no worries about food and clothing, and then they can train the soldiers. You can't let the horse run without giving it grass. ”

Han Qi said: "Wu Qi is a general, and there is nothing wrong with eating and clothing with the soldiers, but killing his wife and begging for the generals and sucking for the soldiers does not show his hypocrisy? ”

Du Zhongxiao poured tea for Han Qi: "Xianggong, it's one thing to kill your wife and ask for a general, and it's another thing to suck for a soldier, you can't put it together." Killing his wife and begging for a general shows that he is very profitable and has weak human feelings, and this general lacks human flavor. Sucking is to do this kind of thing that is not possible for ordinary people to do for the sake of winning the hearts of soldiers. Is sucking pseudo or not? I think so, so what? Even if everyone knows that it is false, and the soldiers know that it is buying people's hearts, what about it? Wu Qi really did it, not for a while, as long as he is in the army, he is like this, what's the point of saying that he is fake! It's not shameful to kill my wife and beg for me, but it's not necessary to say that his sucking is hypocritical, how many people can get the approval of the soldiers who attack him at this point? ”

Han Qi nodded slowly: "What Jing Luo said also makes sense. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Therefore, in the camp and the army, from the beginning of the selection and training, they have always had enough food and clothing, and tried to let them eat and dress well. Compared with the surrounding countries, whether it is the Khitan or the party, our Great Song Dynasty is much richer. Of course, the army must use the best weapons, eat the best military rations, and wear the best armor and clothing. After having enough food and clothing, in the army, there were two camps and fields. One officer and soldier are the same, the other is clearly classified, and the two are the inside and outside of each other. The officers and men are the same, they are the daily commanders of the army, all the officers below the head of the capital, eat and live with the non-commissioned officers, they eat the same daily meal, do not open a separate group, live in the same barracks, do not set up a separate official house. There is a clear distinction between classes, from soldiers to utility to officers, and different classes have different benefits and courtesies, and they must not be confused. In all affairs in the army, the subordinates are subordinate to the superiors, and they cannot be overstepped, let alone shirked. ”

Han Qi smiled and shook his head: "If you eat and live together, there will be no majesty, how can you maintain the class?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are ready-made examples. Captain Di Tai, who conquered the south, ate and lived with the soldiers in the army, who dared to surpass his class? Military law only. ”

Di Qing can be supported by soldiers, and it is one of the reasons why he is not special in the army. can endure hardships, eat the same food as the soldiers in the barracks, live in the same military tent, and give all the rewards to others, and do not keep them for themselves. This is the quality of a good general that has been popular since ancient times, and there are still some generals in the entire Song Dynasty, including this era, who can do it. Of course, Di Qing was not as majestic as Du Zhongxiao said, and the soldiers were close to him and were not afraid.

The uniformity of officers and soldiers in the battalion does not mean that they are treated the same, let alone that officers and soldiers are equal, and it is simply impossible to do so in this era. It is said that the commander and the non-commissioned officer eat and live together, eat the same meal, and live in the same house in the barracks. There are private rooms, there are retinues, but the conditions are the same. The first is to get closer to the soldiers and soldiers, and it is also a measure to prevent them from deducting food and wages. Let the soldiers eat badly, and they themselves will not eat well first.

In the army, it is necessary to give strict orders and have a clear distinction between classes. Different classes have different statuses, different duties, and likewise different treatments. Up to now, the battalion field army is basically divided into three categories, officers, utility and soldiers, corresponding to the officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of later generations.

The demarcation point for officers is the battalion commander, and those above are middle and senior officers, and those below are junior officers.