In the Qi family army barracks.

"The selection of soldiers is important!" Qi Jiguang said in a deep voice, "Especially now that the world is one, the number of soldiers is limited, and the salary is limited. The only way is to be selective."

"Oh?" Zhao Hao's eyes lit up when he heard that, and he whispered, "Yiwu miners?"

"That's right." General Qi sighed with a lingering fear on his face and said, "Since the doctor knows me very well, he should know what happened to me in the battle of Longshan."

"I know." Zhao Hao nodded and said, "The Marshal was the Lieutenant General of Ningshaotai at the time. He led 10,000 troops to ambush 1,000 Japanese pirates. As a result, the army collapsed at the first blow and fled, leaving the Marshal behind."

As he spoke, he said with admiration: "Fortunately, the commander remained calm in the face of danger, climbed up high and shot three pirate leaders with three arrows, which threw the pirates into disarray."

"I was just guessing." General Qi waved his hand modestly and said with a wry smile, "But no matter what, the Japanese pirates were completely in chaos at the time, so I called my subordinates and asked them to launch a counterattack."

"Did they listen?" Zhao Hao asked.

"Fortunately, I usually give strict orders, and they were afraid that I would settle accounts with them later, so they finally turned around and started chasing them." After many years, when Qi Jiguang recalled the scene of that year, he still shook his head and said:

"What was even more surprising was that they only chased us for less than two miles before turning back on their own. I stopped a soldier and asked him why he didn't chase the fleeing enemy. He told me that since the Japanese pirates couldn't be killed one after another, we just chased them away and there was no need to waste our efforts."

"This is very..." Zhao Hao resisted the urge to complain.

"I trained all these troops in the same way and did not relax my requirements on them. They were disciplined and well-organized in normal times, but their true colors were revealed once they entered the battlefield." Qi Jiguang sighed and said, "The reason is that they are too impatient and regard being a soldier and fighting as a job, so they naturally cherish their strength and their lives."

"So I made a rule that when recruiting soldiers, the first thing to avoid is to use those who are slick in the city. Those with pale faces, uncertain expressions, and slick tongues are not allowed at all." Then General Qi proudly concluded:

"I only recruit honest country folk who are dark, big, strong, and have strong hands and flesh, and look like the color of earth. They must be able to endure hardships and work hard. They are the best choice for soldiers."

Zhao Hao suddenly realized what was going on when he heard this, and thought to himself that no wonder all the Qi family army officers and soldiers he had seen, from Gao Wu to Hu Shouren to Wu Weizhong, were the stupid and rough type.

It turned out to be General Qi’s unique aesthetic... Oh no, it was due to his demands.

I thought that General Qi chose some burly men as a foil in order to highlight his own elegance and refinement.

Well, that is a dirty thought that only Young Master Zhao has.

~~

Unlike that day when he was reserved and taciturn at Zhang Juzheng's house, Qi Jiguang was very talkative today.

Moreover, unlike other casual and agile military geniuses, Qi Jiguang was very methodical and logical, and focused on induction and summary.

He can break down the complex situations in the army into the simplest points, allowing you to grasp the tricks immediately and follow them simply.

This is a military theorist who only appears once in a thousand years! It is such a waste to put him on the front line to lead the troops. He should be allowed to build a military system in the rear and train military talents!

Zhao Hao was already imagining where to build a Qi Jiguang Military Academy in the future...

Of course, this is just a fantasy at the moment.

Master Zhao quickly wiped his saliva and took the opportunity to ask Qi Jiguang about various issues regarding selecting, training and leading troops.

While Qi Jiguang patiently answered his questions, he could not help but wonder, "Doctor, you are asking so carefully, do you want to form an army as well?"

"Uh... isn't my father going to be sent out?" Zhao Hao laughed dryly and evaded the question, "In case we run into any bandits in the area, we'll know how to train the militia."

"Is that so?" Qi Jiguang nodded and stopped dwelling on this issue.

~~

After visiting the military camp, Qi Jiguang took Zhao Hao and his apprentice to the playground.

It was morning at this time, and except for the soldiers patrolling the camp, everyone in the Shenji Camp was training.

In the huge military training ground, four to five thousand soldiers were divided into cavalry, infantry, and charioteers, and trained separately.

Qi Jiguang led Zhao Hao onto the platform, and then gave an order to the officer beside him.

The lieutenant held up a red flag and waved it towards the soldiers who were training.

The officer immediately ordered all the cavalry in the battalion to march in a line of six horses in parallel around the training ground. When they arrived at the original place, the infantry and chariot soldiers had also completed their formation.

The soldiers of the three armed forces began complex mobile training to the sound of gongs and drums.

Qi Jiguang told Zhao Hao that this was a formation used to practice defending against, repelling and pursuing the enemy.

Although Mr. Zhao knew nothing about this and could only watch the fun, he was still very shocked.

The soldiers of the Shenji Camp dispersed like a tide, and then mixed into more than a dozen battle lines.

At this time, a sharp whistle sounded, indicating that the imaginary enemy had entered the artillery range. The halberd-handlers on the third level would launch rockets from the halberds, and then fire the tiger squat cannon.

When the enemy got closer, layers of soldiers began to coordinate and shoot with bird guns.

Qi Jiguang broke down the complicated shooting steps such as loading powder, loading bullets, and igniting the gun. Each soldier only completed one step before passing the musket to the soldier in front.

By the time it was passed to the elite shooter at the front of the row, the bird gun was already fired.

Those elite archers only needed to aim and shoot, then pass the musket back with one hand and take another loaded musket with the other hand so that they could immediately make the next shot.

Zhao Haomo counted and found that using this assembly line shooting method, the front row shooter could fire seven shots in one minute.

One shot in less than ten seconds completely refreshed his understanding of the matchlock gun.

Qi Jiguang told him that the shooting speed could actually be improved, but he required that every shot must be accurate, so after repeated attempts, this speed was the most suitable.

~~

At this moment, the sharp whistle sounded again.

Qi Jiguang told Zhao Hao that this meant the enemy had advanced within thirty steps.

The soldiers immediately put away their firearms and bows and arrows, picked up their short weapons, formed the famous Mandarin Duck Formation, and prepared to start hand-to-hand combat!

Zhao Hao's eyes widened immediately. He finally saw the invincible Mandarin Duck Formation! And it was Qi Jiguang who personally directed the drill!

This is a dream that is high on his bucket list...

God, how can I praise you!

Young Master Zhao wiped the wet corners of his eyes with his sleeve and opened his eyes wide to avoid missing any details.

The originally neat and tidy formation that looked like a thousand-layer cake had turned into a chain formation that was independent of each other yet closely connected.

In each independent mandarin duck formation, the wolf-whip soldiers are on the first layer, the swords and sticks are on the second layer, the big clubs are on the third layer, the quick guns are on the fourth layer, and the elite archers are on the fifth layer, holding long swords to check for omissions and fill in the gaps.

The cavalry on the sixth layer, armed with guns, protected the infantry on both wings.

At this time, the inspiring drum beats sounded, and the infantrymen followed the drum beats and marched forward slowly in formation!

The beating of drums became more and more frequent, the soldiers gradually accelerated, and those shouting rushed towards the enemy!

The cavalry also urged their horses and charged into the enemy formation from both wings!

Although it was just an exercise, Zhao Hao was so excited that his hair stood on end!

He clearly saw the magnificent scene of this legendary iron army charging into the Japanese pirates’ camp, slaughtering the enemy soldiers, and trampling them into mud...

This is the undisputed number one army in the world!

ps. Fifth update, please give me monthly votes and recommendation tickets~~~~