Bai Ang's main job is the Minister of War.

When it comes to reviewing troops, even if Bai Ang is not an expert, he is definitely not a layman.

Although the army of the Daliang Empire did not practice standing at attention or marching in formation, and Lin Hai did not want to explain how such training would improve the army's combat effectiveness, Bai Ang still saw some clues.

"Even if Qinghebo's army doesn't do anything else, it's at least commendable for its discipline. With such a well-trained army, equipped with the equipment Qinghebo has given them, it's not impossible for Qinghebo to penetrate the heart of Cambodia, let alone Mengyang City."

Bai Ang stroked his beard as he spoke, feeling as if he was giving orders on Lin Hai's territory.

"Master Bai, please forgive me for laughing. These soldiers don't even know how to train. They are just a bunch of showpieces that look good."

Lin Hai did not want to talk more about this topic. He did hope that the imperial high-ranking officials would pay attention to Qinghe's combat effectiveness, at least in this way they would not easily attack Qinghe. But he also did not want the high-ranking officials to pay too much attention to Qinghe, otherwise what might await him was an all-out attack from the empire without any regard for the outcome.

"Besides, I am only a nobleman stationed in a small part of the empire. It is my duty to respond to emergencies, defend and counterattack, repel the invading enemy, and then advance a little. However, I cannot penetrate too far into enemy territory and arbitrarily expand the war. I can still control this."

Lin Hai put forward his point of view seemingly nonchalantly. Of course, anyone with a little sensitivity to politics could hear that this sentence was actually Lin Hai emphasizing his right to "adapt to circumstances" and "defend and counterattack", and even hoped to make a "slight" progress.

In other words, as long as a fight breaks out, no matter who strikes first, and no matter whether they are stupid or not, Lin Hai will answer in the official explanation as: "Acting on the situation, defending and counterattacking, and advancing slightly." As for whether it has already advanced to the enemy's capital, these are not important, and are all considered part of "slightly."

Bai Ang did not respond to Lin Hai's words.

He knew that at this moment, no matter what he said, even if he immediately stood up and loudly refuted Lin Hai's "nonsense", if something went wrong later, Lin Hai would say: "I reported this to the Minister of War, Bai Angbai, and he agreed. How could you do this?"

Of course, he underestimated Lin Hai's shamelessness.

As long as he dared to enter Qinghe, what he said would no longer be decided by him.

After all, before he entered Qinghe, documents such as "Minutes of the Symposium with Lord Bai Ang, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War", "Lord Bai Ang's Instructions after Visiting the Phoenix Mountain Military Camp", and "Lord Bai Ang's Instructions on the Cambodian Issue" had already been compiled. As soon as Bai Ang left Qinghe, they would be published and distributed immediately.

"Qinghe Bo, this procession and standing at attention is indeed a good way to train soldiers. I just wonder how long it would take to achieve the current level of training."

Bai Ang thought about it again and again, and finally raised the question that he was most concerned about.

"If you're just practicing marching and standing at attention, along with other things like housekeeping, three months will be enough." Lin Hai looked at Bai Ang and said with a smile, "Of course, other basic tactical movements can also be interspersed with training at this time. There's no conflict. After three months, Master Bai will clearly see the transformation from farmer to soldier."

"Three months..." Bai Ang shook his head and said, "According to the Imperial Military Manual, soldiers should train every three days. These three months are more than enough to train the farmers into auxiliary soldiers who can barely go into battle. If the war is urgent, these auxiliary soldiers can fight in a few battles and become elite combat soldiers. Qinghebo's method is good, but it's too slow."

"Three days of exercise? Sir Bai, are you kidding me?" Lin Hai looked at Bai Ang jokingly. "In Qinghe, even a pig wouldn't dare to rest like that. Sir Bai, what do you think Qinghe relied on to develop from a ruin to what it is today in just a few years? Is it because they work one day and rest two days?"

"Oh? Then please give me some advice, Lord Qinghe." Seeing that Lin Hai seemed to be about to say something practical, Bai Ang didn't care at all about the disrespect in Lin Hai's words.

"In Qinghe, everyone rests once every fourteen days, and two days a month. This group of soldiers also trains every day, from sunrise to sunset, without stopping. In the evening, there are cultural classes or night drills. It takes three months to become a soldier, six months to form an army, and a year to be considered elite."

Lin Hai said, "Master Bai's training method is fast because the empire has a large population and can withstand the abuse of the lords. But my Qinghe County is not populous, so I dare only use the elite route, preferring quality over quantity. Otherwise, after a few wars, Qinghe County may be empty."

"What Qinghebo said makes sense, but unfortunately it's not entirely correct." Bai Ang was not angry. He said, "The art of elite soldiers has existed since ancient times. It wasn't invented by Qinghebo. However, the fact that the entire army follows the tradition of elite soldiers is indeed unique to Qinghebo."

Bai Ang continued, "The way of war is to rely on numbers to win. Since ancient times, a single general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of men. War is always mortal. A large number of simply trained soldiers attack the enemy's position. Once the enemy's position is weakened, the commander leads his elite personal troops to deliver the decisive blow. This is also the most commonly used method of war."

Bai Ang turned his head and looked at Lin Hai. "Let's put it another way. If the enemy rains arrows, almost everyone will die if they are hit by one arrow. The elite troops of the Earl of Qinghe are the same as my auxiliary troops. It's just that the Earl of Qinghe is the one who is short of troops in the end."

Bai Ang was very serious in explaining to Lin Hai the war philosophy of the ruling class of this world: "Besides, elite iron-clad troops are naturally invincible in a battle in the wild. But if I rely on a strong city to defend, I'm afraid Qinghe Bo won't want these ten thousand elite iron-clad troops. Instead, tens of thousands of auxiliary troops and one or two thousand elite troops will be enough.

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