After the first day of training at the Imperial Guard Camp, officers from various regions, including Huangfu Song, Lü Bu, Dong Zhuo, and Gao Shun, were gathered in a training room.
On the podium in the classroom, Xi Zhicai was holding a political textbook and giving political education to the officers of these border troops.
Xi Zhicai looked at the assembled generals and asked with a smile, "Do you all know what a soldier is?"
Li Jue was the first to speak: "His Majesty has said: Soldiers are those who protect their homes and country and safeguard their region!"
Xi Zhicai nodded: "Then what are your ideals?"
After a moment of silence, everyone shouted in unison, "Expand our territory and build a great dynasty that will last for generations!"
These were the words Liu Hong had spoken when he summoned them, and they had kept them deeply in their minds ever since.
"Alright! Do you all know why we expand our territory? Is it simply to make a name for ourselves in history...?"
"this....."
Everyone fell silent, all looking at Xi Zhicai in quiet contemplation.
"Then let me explain it to you all properly!"
Xi Zhicai smiled slightly and then took out a statistical table.
"Our lineage of Yan and Huang, from the Five Emperors who established the borders, passed down to Xia Qi. In the early Xia Dynasty, the population was two million, and their living area was only in the area of the Yellow River."
The merchant population is four million, and the territory has already expanded.
The Zhou dynasty had a population of six million, and its territory extended south of the Yangtze River.
After the unification under the Qin Dynasty, the population reached 30 million, and its territory expanded to the present-day Jiangdong region.
During the reign of Emperor Xiaohe of this dynasty, the population had already reached fifty million!
As Xi Zhicai reported the data one by one, Huangfu Song, Lü Bu, Dong Zhuo and others couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Huangfu Song said in a deep voice, "What Mr. Zhicai just said is to tell us that if our Yanhuang lineage wants to multiply and grow stronger, the only way is to expand our territory?"
"good!!"
Xi Zhicai said loudly, "Now the territory of our Great Han is just enough to support 50 million people. If we want more, we can't!"
Our ancestors laid out a land large enough for us to live on, and we should naturally also lay out a land large enough for our descendants to live on…
"For the sake of future generations, only by continuously expanding our territory can we ensure that the lineage of the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor will last for thousands of years and never be extinguished..."
By the end, Xi Zhicai's face was flushed, and his voice was hoarse.
Although Lu Bu and the others had heard what Xi Zhicai said before, the data he presented gave them a more direct understanding of territorial expansion.
For a moment, everyone felt as if the blood in their chests was burning.
Xi Zhicai's explanation was simple and easy to understand, emphasizing the honor of soldiers and elevating everyone's ideals.
As the speech ended, Lü Bu, Dong Zhuo, and the others felt an unprecedented calm. Only now did they truly understand the Emperor's purpose in drawing that map.
In addition to the officers of these border troops, the instructors of the Military and Political Department also gave the new cadets the same political education.
Besides loyalty education, the main focus of their education was to teach them what a soldier is, why soldiers are born and why they fight, and that all wars fought by the Han Dynasty were just.
In the following days, the trainees trained during the day and received political education in the evenings.
Under the dual emphasis on military and political training, the mindset of these border troops and the new recruits has undergone a dramatic transformation, with everyone striving towards the same goal.
As a result, these new trainees trained even harder and more diligently, and injuries became commonplace for them, which made the medical school staff extremely happy.
With the help of these trainees, various surgical emergency techniques have been further developed and improved.
On the tenth day of the tenth month, after ten days of training, these border troops officers had adapted to the training life of the Imperial Guard and began to teach and train the first batch of veteran students based on their combat experience.
On this day, the first batch of trainees gathered at the training ground, each leading their own horse.
In the northern part of the training ground, there were archery targets and scarecrows.
Lu Bu, Dong Zhuo, Zhang Xiu, and others also came before the crowd, each carrying their own weapons.
Cao Cao, Dian Wei, Yuan Shao, and others, as veterans of the first cohort, had undergone a year and a half of basic training and were essentially qualified.
Therefore, their physical training has now shifted from basic horsemanship to training in horseback sprinting, slashing, archery, and other skills.
As the spearmanship instructor of the Imperial Guard, Zhang Xiu was the first to step forward and conduct sprint training for Cao Cao and others.
He first explained to everyone the key points and precautions for charging with guns on the spot.
"Watch carefully, and I will demonstrate it for you!"
After saying this, Zhang Xiu picked up a standard military rifle, then mounted his horse and charged towards the pile of scarecrows, while everyone watched intently.
On horseback, Zhang Xiu held the reins in his left hand, constantly adjusting the horse's position as it charged, while his right hand gripped his spear, the tip aimed at the chosen target.
When the target was close, Zhang Xiu released the reins with his left hand and gripped the gun barrel tightly with both hands, then leaned forward.
"die!!"
With a sharp shout, Zhang Xiu, riding on the momentum of his charging horse, gripped the spear shaft tightly with both hands and thrust it forcefully towards the target. With a soft thud, the spear pierced straight through the target.
The moment the spear pierced the target, Zhang Xiu immediately flicked it away. He continued his movements without stopping, thrusting, stabbing, and flicking with his spear, the tip gleaming silver. In just a short while, five or six scarecrows were overturned and smashed by Zhang Xiu.
"sharp!!"
Cao Cao, Sun Jian, and others watched Zhang Xiu's unwavering charge and couldn't help but admire him.
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