The men, including the one in the blue robe, instantly lost their feigned smiles, replaced by expressions full of resentment, and reached into their robes to pull out their weapons.
But how could Lü Tu and his men give them a chance? After day after day of training, the soldiers were able to obey Lü Tu's orders decisively without the slightest hesitation.
Before they could even draw their weapons, they were riddled with holes by soldiers from all sides, falling to the ground with desperate and resentful eyes.
At this moment, the other people in Ge'an Village also stopped pretending and took out their weapons, charging forward fearlessly.
Lu Tu roared, "Well done! This is more like it!" With that, he took the lead and prepared to charge forward.
"My lord, wait a moment! Let us go!" Liu Hong, Nie Yun, and the others rushed forward even faster than him. After a slight hesitation, they leaped ahead and charged into the White Lotus Sect's ranks.
Seeing the high morale of his soldiers, Lü Tu simply reined in the horses and continued to watch over them with his bow and arrow.
The essence of military training lies in the word "training." Only through rigorous training can one become truly strong; only through the baptism of blood and sand can one be reborn as a true veteran.
They practiced the Ten Forms of Battlefield Swordsmanship taught by Lü Tu, which focused on killing with a single blow, without any fancy moves; every strike resulted in either death or serious injury.
These 200 soldiers have already become elite troops. Each of them can deal with the attack of two or three villagers as easily as playing with children. They often finish the battle in just a few moves, not to mention that they have an absolute advantage in numbers.
This time, the entire village of Ge'an was wiped out in the time it takes for three incense sticks to burn. There were even arguments among the soldiers who wanted to take heads.
Upon seeing this, Nie Yun cursed, "Are you all courting death? Who gave you permission to fight amongst yourselves?"
The two arguing soldiers immediately knelt down on one knee: "Reporting to the platoon leader, he stole my head."
"I was the one who spotted the thief first!"
Nie Yun glanced at Lü Tu in the distance, and seeing that Lü Tu seemed to be looking at him casually, Nie Yun's tone suddenly rose: "If you're not united on the battlefield, you'll each get 10 lashes when you get back tonight!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Even though the two were unwilling, they could only agree with flushed faces.
After reprimanding the two men, Nie Yun dismounted and knelt before Lü Tu: "Nie Yun has failed in his command, causing infighting among the soldiers. I beg my elder brother to give me ten lashes with the military whip!"
Lu Tu nodded secretly at Nie Yun's actions. Leading an army to fight requires strict military discipline and clear rewards and punishments. However, Lu Tu did not give Nie Yun the authority to distribute rewards.
This was also Lu Tu's own little scheme. He had to keep the morale of the entire army in his own hands. Anyone could play the villain, but the power to distribute rewards had to be in his own hands.
But Nie Yun used his own methods to dispel the soldiers' grievances against him, which was a very clever move.
Lu Tu stared at Nie Yun and said, "Granted!"
"Thank you, Brother Xie!"
The two soldiers who witnessed this scene were filled with remorse. They stepped forward to help Nie Yun up and whispered, "We're sorry, platoon leader. It's all our fault for getting you into this mess."
Nie Yun's face was solemn: "You have not wronged me, but you have wronged Lord Lü! Without Lord Lü, I would have starved and frozen on the roadside long ago. Anyone who dares to disobey Lord Lü's orders is an enemy of me, Nie Yun!"
Everyone fell silent upon hearing this: "Yes, sir!"
Seeing that Nie Yun still knew to pass the message over, it showed that he was very tactful and did not turn his soldiers into his own. He kept emphasizing that they were Lu Tu's soldiers. It seems that he has indeed grown a lot during this period.
Lu Tu said loudly, "I have always been fair in rewarding and punishing. Those of you who deserve military lashes, go back and receive your punishment yourselves. I have recorded the number of bandits each of you killed today. For each bandit killed, you will be rewarded with 10 taels of silver, with no upper limit!"
These words instantly dispelled the previous gloom, and all the soldiers excitedly clasped their fists and roared, "Thank you for your reward, sir!"
Lu Tu waved his hand and said, "Search! Dig three feet into the ground, but don't let any thief escape!"
With the generous reward, everyone's enthusiasm was obviously higher. After two consecutive battles, the soldiers, who were already somewhat exhausted, were now full of energy as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
This is the benefit of receiving positive feedback. No matter how difficult something is, as long as it brings them positive benefits, it will generate intrinsic motivation and make them believe that they are doing the right thing.
In his previous life, Lu Tu loved reading history books. Looking back over thousands of years of Chinese history, he had never seen a stingy person achieve anything.
Among these successful people, Lü Tu was most impressed by Emperor Gaozu of Han. He was able to enter Xianyang from a poor background, defeat Xiang Yu, and seize the country. The most important reason for this was that he was very open-minded.
This is also related to the fact that his idol was Lord Xinling, one of the Four Lords of the Warring States period. It is said that Lord Xinling treated his retainers extremely well.
If someone provides you with good food and drink, takes care of your family, and visits you frequently without showing the slightest disrespect, and continues to provide for you day after day for ten years...
He asks you to help him kill someone. Would you go or not?
He didn't know about others, but if it were Lu Tu, he would definitely go.
So what he hates most in his life are those people who only make empty promises; what a bunch of scoundrels they are!
Liu Hong led his men to search, and Nie Yun seized the opportunity to approach Lü Tu, whispering, "Brother, did I do something wrong just now? I..."
Lu Tu raised his hand to stop him from saying anything more: "You did very well just now. That's what a general should be like. While maintaining strict military discipline, you should also get along well with your brothers."
Nie Yun was still quite insecure and desperately needed Lü Tu's approval. Lü Tu was well aware of this, and he had witnessed Nie Yun's growth firsthand.
Based on Lü Tu's understanding of Nie Yun, although Nie Yun was capable and ambitious, he lacked a broad perspective and magnanimity. He was better suited to be a general than a commander. Therefore, Lü Tu intentionally cultivated him into a general.
"Thank you, Brother Xie! I will continue to work hard!"
Lu Tu nodded: "It's getting late. After we finish searching, have the brothers start a fire and cook a meal on the spot."
"Aren't we going to continue the encirclement and suppression? Wouldn't it be better to launch a night raid on the bandits' lair?"
Lu Tu shook his head: "The brothers are too tired, there's no need to be so tense. Later, have someone take the corpses to a distance and burn them. We'll rest here tonight and set off at dawn tomorrow!"
"Yes, sir!"
After half an hour of searching, Liu Hong excitedly came over carrying an exquisite wooden box and reported, "Brother, no gold or silver was found in the entire Ge'an Village. Apart from this wooden box, there is only a large amount of grain left!"
Lu Tu curiously took the wooden box, and before he could even open it to check, he casually asked, "A lot of grain? How much?"
"10,000 jin of millet, 3,000 jin of wheat flour, and 100,000 jin of wheat bran!"
Lu Tu was so shocked he almost dropped the wooden box: "Snatch the young master?"
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