"This is the Martial Wing New Army?" Yuan Shikai got off his horse and was attracted by the oncoming group of new troops wearing tweed uniforms and carrying rifles that were significantly shorter than Mauser 88.

"Hui Marshal, this is the first standard of the town in the new army of Wuyi, but these soldiers behind may be from their independent heavy artillery battalion, you see that the piping of their collar badge is brown, this is the identification mark of artillery." Cao Laosan carefully explained to Yuan Datou.

"Oh, are the artillerymen going to run too?"

"yes, it's not just running, they're all equipped with rifles, and they shoot once a week." Cao Laosan said a little sourly, after all, his step mark only hit a live target once a month, and it was not as diligent as the artillery practice of the Wuyi New Army. However, what Cao Laosan didn't know was that the foot mark of the Wuyi New Army was to practice live ammunition target shooting three times a week, and it was not a fixed target, what three positions shooting 100-meter swimming head target, 200-meter swimming half-body target, 300-meter swimming full-body target, 400-meter fixed half-body target, and so on. If you can't hit 70 rings with 10 bullets, you will be punished for running laps, and you will continue to fight after running, but you will continue to run if you can't beat them, and some recruits will vomit while running, and if you can't hold on, you will be eliminated. As for missing the target, it was even worse, the punishment was to wash the socks of the whole post for a week, or to wash the socks at lunchtime, and the dishes were almost eaten up after washing, so I could only order soup and eat dry rice. The most unfortunate thing is that if this one whistle falls to the bottom of the whole standard, it is the voluntary work of cleaning the toilets for everyone every morning, and even breakfast is not guaranteed. This kind of training method was considered very reasonable and effective by the Japanese instructors, and they all felt that if they had received this kind of training in those years, the 21st Wing would have been the leader of the Japanese army a long time ago, how could they be sent to China to suffer the crime?

Under this kind of almost rigorous training and the annual per capita ammunition consumption of 1,000 rounds, the infantry of the Wuyi New Army maintained a high elimination rate of 10 percent, and the remaining elite soldiers were enough to serve as Cao Commander in the Standing Division according to the standards of Japanese instructors. Although the artillery does not have such a high standard and strict target training, it can still achieve 80 rings in a 200-meter lying position, which is much more accurate than most infantry in Beiyang.

"Report, Zhang Chongwen, the staff officer of the first infantry standard in Zhongzhen of the Wuyi New Army, reports to duty, please instruct the commander." Under the instruction of Yuan Datou, Cao Laosan asked his guard captain to find the officer of the Wuyi New Army who led the drill today. This young officer in his early twenties wears an iron-gray large-brimmed hat, an iron-gray suit-style military uniform, and a Y-shaped dark green canvas armed belt, and in the holster on his right waist is a Browning 1900 automatic pistol commonly used by the new military academy officers of Wuyi, and a short sword hangs from the left armed belt, and at his feet are three-joint leather shoes produced by the Jinguang Shoe Factory of the Shandong Chamber of Commerce. The sweat of the Wuyi New Army officer who trotted all the way down his sideburns flowed down his sideburns, but he didn't shake at all, his chest was straightened and his abdomen was tucked in, his arms were close to his body, his feet were standing still, and his military posture was upright, so that Yuan Datou and Cao Laosan, who had been training all year round, couldn't help but secretly praise "I want it."

"Staff Officer Zhang, can you tell us why your department goes out for a run early in the morning?" Cao Kun saw that Yuan Datou didn't speak, so he asked first.

"Report to the sir, in accordance with the regulations on the work and rest of soldiers, our department gets up at six o'clock every day, and goes out for a run after finishing housekeeping at half past six. Every morning, I run at a fixed speed of 1,000 meters, followed by military posture exercises. These are the daily arrangements of our department, and if there is any inappropriateness, please correct it. ”

"Oh, do you run every day? Did the artillery also participate? ”

"Report to the commander, the daily drill of our department is stipulated by the regulations, all soldiers in the battalion, regardless of official position and military branch, must participate, and those who do not show up without permission or leave will be subject to military discipline."

"Oh, what punishment will it be?"

"A soldier should be confined for one day, and the officer should have a demerit in addition to being confined for one day, and if it is an officer at or above the school level, he must be reviewed in public in front of the officers and soldiers of the whole battalion, and punished."

"In this way, the higher the military rank, the heavier the punishment, so what about you Lord Wu Chenxuan Wu, if he doesn't go out of his exercises, will he be punished?"

"Report to the chief, the first officer of our department to have a demerit of a fine is the head of the seat himself, I remember that the head of the department saw off a group of instructors that day, drank too much, and delayed the morning exercise for a quarter of an hour the next day, and at noon on the same day, he called all the officers and soldiers to review in public, paid the quartermaster's salary for the month as a punishment, and imposed a day of abstinence from eating and drinking."

"Ao, can't you see that this Wu Chenxuan is still an expert in governing the army? He is going to be Zhou Yafu of the Qing Dynasty. Yuan Shikai smiled slightly. Have you ever made an exception to the new army? ”

"Report sir, no."

At this moment, a column of soldiers of the new army of the Armed Forces had entered the northeast corner of the playground under the leadership of the captain and the sentry commander and began to form a group, shouting slogans of one, two, three, and four in a neat and high-pitched manner, covering up the conversations of several people.

"Sure enough, it's an elite division, I want to observe the daily drills of your department first." Yuan Shikai was already a little interested in this new army of Wuyi, which was no longer familiar, "I don't know if your department is convenient?" ”

"Report to the chief, my minister has instructed that during the autumn exercise of our department, all military affairs will be open to all colleagues in Beiyang, and you are welcome to visit and guide your predecessors in Beiyang and leave valuable opinions for our department." This Zhang Chongwen official major can be regarded as a middle-level officer, so he naturally knows about the arrangements for the autumn exercises. "Our unit and the 1st Heavy Artillery Battalion are conducting military posture training, please move closer and watch."

So a group of gray-blue uniformed Beiyang soldiers followed the young staff officer to the northeast corner of the training ground, and stood still in front of the iron-gray more than 3,000 soldiers.

"Report to the duty officer, the first infantry battalion of the first standard of our department should be six hundred and twenty-two, but it is actually six hundred and twenty-one, and one person has taken leave due to illness and did not participate in the morning exercise, please instruct." Seeing that the senior generals of the Beiyang Army came to visit, the officers of each battalion sorted out their ranks and began to report the numbers. Soon, an officer with the rank of major, also a major, ran forward to salute and report.

"Roger, please be in the queue." After the two saluted each other, the battalion officer turned around without any pause, raised his fist to his waist, trotted back into the ranks, and after a while of the command to stand upright, the entire first battalion was already lined up in column according to their respective whistles, standing with their hands behind their backs and legs apart waiting for instructions.

After the other battalions reported for duty, Zhang Chongwen, as the officer on duty, first shouted a password to the queue, "Stand up." In the sound of footsteps rubbing behind him, he turned to Yuan Shikai and reported: "Report sir, our department should be 3,741 people, but it is 3,734 people, four people did not participate in the morning exercise due to business, and three people did not participate in the morning exercise due to illness, please instruct." ”

"Okay, got it. Please let your ministry practice according to your usual rules. "Yuan Datou is now full of interest, wanting to see if these martial arts new troops are real materials or shelf goods.

"Yes, sir." Major Zhang Chongwen opened the pocket of his military uniform, took out a small notebook, looked through it, and began to give orders to several teams.

Soon a group of infantry began to practice in formation, a group of infantry practiced aiming in three positions, the guys of the artillery team carried ammunition boxes and spare parts and began to run in circles around the field, and the most peculiar was the other group of infantry, who stood in place in an evacuation formation and maintained an upright position, but put their large-brimmed hats on their heads and stood motionless in a corner of the field.

"Dare to ask this little brother, what is this training?" Cao Laosan approached the Major Zhang and asked very shamelessly.

"Report to the sir, the 3rd Infantry Team of the First Standard of our department is undergoing training in a standing military posture, please instruct." The Major Zhang turned to the right on the spot, stood up and saluted, and replied in a loud voice. Yuan Shikai, who was not far away, also nodded, thinking that this set of answers was very in line with the style of the army, rigorous and concise, well, I might as well arrange Zhiquan to study it when I go back and promote it in the whole army. Thinking of Duan Zhiquan, Lao Yuan's heart was also inexplicably moved, alas, a good arm is cheaper than Wu Chenxuan, a thief, and this matter has to trouble Hua Fu and Pingqing. Cao Laosan is still digging into the roots.

"Standing motionless in this military posture? Are there any criteria? ”

"Report to the chief, in accordance with the requirements of the regulations, the training in the military posture is half an hour, and no superfluous movements are allowed during the period.

"Oh, this is a way to hone the will of a soldier. Zhong Shan, let your guards try it too. Yuan Shikai also felt that this method was simple and easy, of course, after watching the performance of the little brother of the Wuyi New Army, he always felt that although his Beiyang New Army was elite, it seemed that there was always some inappropriate slackness. So I can't help but have the heart to win.

Cao Laosan's guard is a pistol soldier in a shed, and the gray cotton uniform is not as good as the tweed military uniform, although the untrained guards can stand still, but after a long time, the inexperienced guards will be timid, either someone is privately buckling and scratching, or the big brimmed hat on the head falls to the ground. Half an hour later, when the new army of Wuyi finished training and trotted out of the playground, Cao Laosan looked at his staggered guards with a dark face, and only three hats were still comically upside down on his head, and the proud smirk under the hats looked like a wonderful irony.

"This new army of martial arts is really elite, it is not the appearance of soldiers they picked out from the whole army." Wang Yingkai interjected, as if he was talking to himself, but it was more like he was making excuses, which made Yuan Shikai's frowning brows even tighter. is not afraid of the opponent's toughness, but is afraid that his own people will be like an ostrich and turn a blind eye to the opponent's advantages, from this moment on, Lao Yuan has already moved his mind to adjust the second town.

Cao Laosan on the side saw it clearly, and he couldn't help shaking his head with a simple face, Lao Wang could be regarded as ruining his future, alas, if he was not good at training below, maybe he would have to be accompanied by Wang Yingkai.

At the beginning of the autumn breeze, the soldiers and horses of Hejian Mansion gathered, the drums of war suddenly rose, and a military exercise that played a pivotal role in China's modern military history was about to kick off on the Jizhong Plain.