"General, when will we set off?" Zhong Shidao asked hurriedly after the old eunuch left.
“Weren’t you all already prepared? There’s no time like the present, let’s do it today,” Wang Han said with a smile.
“General, you must be tired from your journey. Don’t you need to rest for a couple of days? That would be good for establishing military authority and taking over the army,” Zhong Shidao said. They had indeed made preparations long ago, but Wang Han had just arrived today, and the army also needed to be taken over.
“You’re going to come along, aren’t you? I trust General Zhong.” Wang Han said with a smile, “Taking over the army doesn’t have to be so complicated. I’ll give the orders, and you just need to follow them. First, assemble the troops. I have two rules to announce.”
"Yes, General." Zhong Shidao said awkwardly. The General really saw through everything, even realizing that he had been sent to hinder him.
——————————————
Zhong Shidao moved very quickly, or rather, he had been prepared for it. In just one hour, the 200,000 troops on the border, except for those left to guard necessary places, were all gathered in the open fields next to the military camp.
"I am the Divine Might General, as many of you already know. From today onwards, I will lead you." On the high platform that had been erected, Wang Han looked at the Song soldiers lined up below and said, "I won't waste time on empty talk or empty words. I will only announce two things to you. First, the imperial edict has been issued. In response to the invasion of Western Xia, I will lead you to conquer Western Xia and establish the might of our Great Song Dynasty."
"Secondly, since I am in charge of commanding the army and fighting the war, the military merit system will naturally be based on mine. From today onwards, there will be two types of generals in the army: one is a combat general, and the other is a strategist general."
"A general's military merit is based on the number of enemy heads killed. Of course, you can cooperate. The rules and rewards are as follows: Killing ten enemies earns you the title of 'Ten-Man General,' a ninth-rank official; killing fifty earns you the eighth-rank, with ten men under your command, forming a ten-man squad; killing one hundred earns you the title of 'Small Hundred-Man Slayer General,' commanding one hundred men, also a eighth-rank official; killing five hundred earns you the title of 'Large Hundred-Man Slayer General,' a seventh-rank official, with a hundred-man squad under your command; killing one thousand earns you the title of 'Small Thousand-Man Slayer General,' a sixth-rank official; killing five thousand earns you the title of 'Large Thousand-Man Slayer,' a fifth-rank official, commanding one thousand men, forming a thousand-man squad. If any of you are capable of killing ten thousand, you become 'Ten Thousand-Man Butcher,' a 'Ten Thousand-Man General,' commanding ten thousand men, forming a ten-thousand-man brigade, a fourth-rank official. This is the highest rank I can offer you. If you kill even more, I'll personally request higher ranks for you. Actions will be conducted by your respective squads."
"Strategists are the strategists and commanders of their respective units. After all, you wouldn't feel at ease without a skilled warrior in command. Each squad—whether a hundred-man, a thousand-man, or a ten-thousand-man squad—has a strategist in addition to a warrior. A strategist's merits are calculated based on the total number of enemies killed. A ten-man squad needs to kill thirty enemies to be considered a junior strategist, and sixty to be a senior strategist. Killing three hundred enemies earns a junior strategist a hundred-man ...
"To prove military merit and prevent situations like killing innocent people to claim credit or stealing credit, we will use eyeballs as the basis for calculation. During battle, you can even select someone specifically to gouge out eyeballs. A pair of eyeballs counts as one head of merit. The eyeballs of the Western Xia people are different from those of the Song people, so this idea is completely rejected. Those captured by the Western Xia and made into slaves cannot earn military merit, but rescuing one person will count as three heads of merit. Capturing one prisoner will count as one and a half heads. However, please act according to your abilities when capturing prisoners, because you are not fighting alone, nor are you fighting as a squad. To prevent the theft of military merit, we will supervise each other. That is to say, anyone from any other squad can supervise you. If there is a dispute, you should ask your superior for instructions. If you are dissatisfied with your superior, you can apply for the transfer of the entire squad. Individuals are not allowed to be transferred. Each squad is a cohesive unit that supports each other in battle. Anyone who violates military orders will be executed."
"Did you all hear me clearly?" Wang Han finally shouted.
"Listen carefully!" A thunderous voice rang out. This new military merit system meant that many of them could become officials, and even officials with ranks. More importantly, the number of enemies killed did not have to be a huge number. Anyway, they were all risking their lives, but they could see more hope.
Then came a burst of discussion, which Wang Han watched with a smile, giving them time to discuss.
"This system!" Zhong Shidao said with a wry smile. This system would definitely train these soldiers into the most outstanding and fierce soldiers among the most outstanding soldiers, and would also be the nightmare of all enemies. However, if there were no more wars and no more battle merits in the future, these strong soldiers would probably cause trouble.
“Your worries are unnecessary.” Wang Han seemed to see through Zhong Shidao’s thoughts and said confidently. “The military system of the Qin Dynasty when it unified the six kingdoms was very similar to this, except that there was no distinction between warrior generals and strategists. It was this system that laid the foundation for the Qin Dynasty’s hegemonic status. As for the Qin Dynasty’s demise, it was purely an accident. If Qin Shi Huang hadn’t died, or if Fusu hadn’t died, no one would have dared to act like a clown.”
“I’m afraid they’ll become insatiable when they have power in the future!” Zhong Shidao expressed his concern.
"That's not going to happen, because I still have rules to make. Once this war is over, none of them will dare to lay a hand on us," Wang Han said.
"Quiet down!" After about a quarter of an hour, Wang Han called out again, his voice reaching everyone's ears. Instantly, everyone's attention turned to this mighty general who had brought them hope.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
