In the fifth year of Yongjia, in May, a news that shocked the world spread that Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea who had been in charge of the government for several years, died of illness in Yecheng.

Sima Yue's death marked the arrival of a new political pattern in the Western Jin Dynasty, and the local separatist forces represented by the princes and kings in the past gradually withdrew from the game of competing for the world.

Instead, the separatist forces represented by the Hu nationality and local Haoqiang gradually stepped onto the stage of history......

Among them, Li Xiong, a member of the Di people, seized Shuzhong, Zhang Liang, the assassin of Liangzhou, retired to Hexi, the Xiongnu Han invaded most of Hedong and the Central Plains, and the king of Youzhou occupied Youzhou, and the Xianbei people ruled the entire Liaodong and the grasslands of Mobei and the south of the desert, while the king of Langya stole Jiangdong......

Along with a new round of change of power, it will inevitably lead to more intense conflicts between various forces.

Wei Shuo, who was training in Xuzhou, also felt the growing tension, especially after Sima Yue's death, and more and more Xuzhou people realized the threat of the Hu people at hand. Even Pei Dun has inspected the training of recruits one after another in the recent period. The commanders of several battalions of the new army are under tremendous pressure for this.

In order to avoid punishment, several commanders began to train their subordinates desperately. Wei Shuo is no exception, after more than half a month of training, the three thousand recruits finally have the appearance of soldiers. Next, Wei Shuo focused on spear assassination, because the logistics could keep up, and the sword and shield soldiers he had imagined before were also obtained.

The training of spearmen is good, after all, he had a lot of experience in Laoshan before, but he was a little blind to sword and shield soldiers. In order to train the sword and shield soldiers, Wei Shuo specially asked people to find a few low-level officers who were good at making swords.

"My lord, the people you are looking for are here, what else do you have to order?"

"Oh? Are you looking for it? I happen to have time now, I'll take a look. "Wei Shuo has been so worried about the sword and shield soldiers that he can't eat and sleep for the past few days, and finally looks forward to the 'coach'.

When he came to the school field, Wei Shuo saw five big men standing there majestically, with a ring-headed knife about one meter long on their waists. Since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the ring head knife began to replace the sword as the standard weapon of the Han army.

After the Three Kingdoms, the Huanshou knife became a classic and legend that spanned nearly 300 years until the middle of the Tang Dynasty. Ring-headed, narrow-body, long-bladed, and straight-backed, this series of characteristic ring-headed knives played a leading role in the most brilliant millennium of Chinese martial arts.

"See your lord!"

"Everyone, please come over today, the main reason is that the official wants to ask you about the issues related to the sword technique, and I hope you can speak freely and give advice."

"Your Excellency is polite, thanks to your lordship, we should know everything and say everything."

"Good! As long as you pass the assessment of your own officer, you will be the head of the 600 sword and shield soldiers in the future, and you will be responsible for teaching soldiers swordsmanship, and you will be treated the same as the military marquis. ”

Several low-level officers couldn't help but be overjoyed when they heard this, originally they were just low-level officers of the rank of chief, but they didn't expect to be promoted several levels in a row and become middle-level officers like military marquis.

"Don't be too happy, you have to pass my assessment next, now please take out all the things at the bottom of your box, and let the official and the people present see what you are capable of."

The five of them were elated when they heard Wei Shuo's words, and they were ready to do a big job. Soon the venue was cleared, surrounded by soldiers watching the excitement, and Wei Shuo sat on the stage with a few guards. After a little preparation, the five people appeared on the stage in turn in the order determined by the draw.

However, Wei Shuo frowned after looking at it for a while, as if everyone had distorted his true intentions. Everyone on the stage did their best to dance the ring head knife in their hands, as if it was not enough to show that they were powerful.

But Wei Shuo knew at a glance that this action could not be performed on the battlefield at all, and it would be good for ordinary soldiers to be able to perform three or five actions on the battlefield, and I am afraid that no matter how much they were, they would not be able to master it.

"Stop, stop, stop! Don't practice, stop first. ”

The crowd who was cheering loudly suddenly heard Lord Bing Cao stop, and couldn't help but look at each other, and the five low-level officers who participated in the display didn't know what they had done wrong, and stood silent.

Wei Shuo stood up, walked up to a big man, and asked gently, "What's your name?" ”

"Lord Qiyu, his subordinate is called Li Ran, and he is from Pengcheng." Dahan replied.

"Li Ran, well, yes, what you played just now is quite good-looking, but this official wants to ask, how many of the actions you showed just now can be used on the battlefield?"

"This, this, this ......" Li Ran was silent.

Wei Shuo was not embarrassed by Li Ran, but turned to the others and continued to ask: "You all tell me, if you go to the battlefield, what is the chance of using the sword technique you showed just now?" ”

In fact, how could these veterans not know the truth in it, it's just that just now they were just thinking about currying favor with their bosses, and they completely forgot the real purpose of this trip. Wei Shuo didn't come to them to see who could play well, but to find a knife coach. On the battlefield, the simpler and more direct the trick, the easier it is, and it's best not to pull a knife or something like that.

"I'll tell you straight, I invited you here in the hope that you can pass on the moves and experience you have learned on the battlefield to other recruits. It doesn't need to be fancy, the simpler and more straightforward, the better. It is best for you to confirm each other, and learn from each other's strengths, and it is best to make up a set of standard knife techniques suitable for our army. ”

After listening to Wei Shuo's words, several low-level officers were thoughtful, only to see Li Ran step forward and say: "The subordinates have already understood what the adults mean, so go back and think about it, and then give it to the adults when they are ready." ”

Three or five days later, Li Ran and the five of them came to the school field again in full gear, this time it was obviously different from the first time, especially the extra weapon in each person's hand.

"What do you have in your hands?"

"Lord Qiyu, this is a hook and shield! It is a composite weapon that combines hooks and shields, with hooks up and down, and a small iron shield with a handle in the middle; There are protruding points in front of the shield; Two hooks connect the shield rear handle; The shield is used to push and block, and the hook is used to hook the bundle. ”

"Because this kind of weapon has the functions of defense, hook and push, the hook of the left hand is generally used to hook the enemy's long weapon during the battle, and at the same time, the ring head knife of the right hand slashes the enemy, so it is often the standard equipment of the imperial court sword and shield soldiers."

Wei Shuo picked up the so-called hook shield and observed it carefully, and always felt that the upper and lower hooks were a little redundant, and they also increased the weight of the shield, which made the soldiers speed up their physical exertion. It's not as good as the Scottish round shield he saw on the Internet.

Moreover, the main body of the Scottish round shield is two layers of wood, which is much cheaper than the iron hook-inlaid shield, and at the same time, it is much lighter, which is conducive to the grasp of soldiers. Although it is not good at defending against heavy weapons such as maces, it is enough to deal with ordinary swords, guns, swords, and halberds.

"Since it's standard equipment, then you can demonstrate it to the official."

"No!"

The five big men held a hook-inlaid shield in their left hand and a ring-headed knife in their right hand, and they seemed to be vigorous and sharp in their knife skills between the left and right. Wei Shuo looked at it slightly, this was the knife technique he wanted. It's just still a bit cumbersome, and it's best to whittle it down to five or eight moves. It is said that the sword technique of the famous 29th Army broadsword team during the Anti-Japanese War also had only eight strokes, which was called the Eight Swords of Breaking Blade.

"Well, good, good, good!" Seeing the five of them standing up, Wei Shuo couldn't help but stand up and applaud loudly.

"Good! Wonderful! The others applauded.

Bringing these five people to his room, Wei Shuo said kindly: "Well, I am very satisfied with your performance today, however, I hope you will continue to work hard, it is best to reduce one or two on this basis, and it is best to reduce the sword technique to five to eight moves, so that it is conducive to promotion in the army." ”

"Subordinates obey orders!"

"From today on, you are the head of the sword skills instructor in our military camp, and you are responsible for teaching the sword and shield soldiers sword and shield training, and strive to make these six hundred sword and shield soldiers become an army as soon as possible."

"Subordinates will live up to the trust of adults."

After getting the knife coach, Wei Shuo found a carpenter and made a decent Scottish round shield according to the pattern he had drawn. After several tests, the Round Shield quickly became the shield of choice for the Swordmen and Shieldmen, and became the standard weapon for the Swordmen along with the Ringhead Sword.