Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

Early the next morning, Liu Ye arrived at the training ground.

This time, all the troops from Baoding Town arrived early. There was no other way; the scene yesterday was too shocking! Over twenty generals, both great and small, were beaten half to death by the new military commander, stripped of their positions, and the two most pitiful ones even had their heads chopped off. This wasn't just killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, it was killing a monkey to scare the monkeys. That was a lieutenant colonel and a captain!

At this critical juncture, no one dared to go against the general. Nothing was more important than saving their own heads.

Liu Ye stood on the reviewing platform and looked at the teams of soldiers below. Baoding Town was known as a military stronghold, and the Green Camp soldiers were also very powerful. At least among the 600,000 Green Camp soldiers, they were considered a first-class force. However, in Liu Ye's eyes, they were still like chickens and dogs. Such an army had no vitality at all. Although they had deliberately performed well today, they still looked disheveled and their morale was low. After all, they had not received their salaries for two consecutive months.

The most important thing is that among the more than 3,000 people, there are many old, weak, sick and disabled people. Some of them must have sneaked in with connections. The combat effectiveness of such an army cannot be guaranteed. The most hateful thing is that there is a group of people yawning and standing unsteadily, which is obviously a sign of excessive opium smoking!

Liu Ye's face was a little gloomy. He looked at Zuo Baogui beside him and said, "Guan Ting, issue my order. The entire army will stand here for two hours until noon."

Zuo Baogui was shocked. Standing for two hours was a long time. Most soldiers might not be able to hold on for that.

"General, standing for such a long time? I'm afraid some people will not be able to hold on!"

Liu Ye said calmly: "Give the order!"

"twitter!"

Zuo Baogui felt helpless and gave the order. Immediately, all the Qing troops in the camp began to complain bitterly. This general was too tiring. Who could stand standing for two hours?

Time passed little by little, two hours, that is four hours! Standing for four hours is not so easy!

After the first hour, some people began to be unable to hold on and could only support themselves with the help of weapons. Some of the elderly, weak and disabled even sat down on the ground to rest for a while. After the second hour, some old soldiers who were used to being lax also began to not care anymore. Now that the military leader had left, why bother with so many things? Just take a break!

After the third hour, even some of the young and strong soldiers began to be unable to hold on. They were too tired. After three hours of fighting, their whole bodies ached!

The entire military camp was in chaos. Currently, there were only about two thousand people who could still stay in the camp. The rest either sat on the ground or found a place in the sun to bask in the sun. What's more, some old veterans even took out dry food and old wine and started drinking!

When the fourth hour was almost over, Liu Ye walked over leisurely and asked Zuo Baogui, "Guan Ting, how is it? What's the situation in the army?"

Zuo Baogui smiled bitterly and said, "Sir, didn't you see that? Even if the superiors came to inspect these soldiers, they could only hold out for half an hour at most. As soon as the superiors left, they would immediately scatter like birds and beasts. You've made them stand for almost two hours today. How can they still bear it? Now, there are only about a thousand of them who can maintain their condition!"

Liu Ye looked back and asked, "Did you record everything?"

Gao Qi and the others were not idle. They had been patrolling the army to check the situation. When they saw Liu Ye asking, they quickly replied, "Sir, we have written it down!"

Liu Ye replied calmly, "From today on, first of all, all soldiers who fell in the first hour will be discharged. If they can't even hold out for an hour, how can we expect them to fight? Secondly, all veterans who have left the formation, not a single one, will be discharged. I want to reorganize Baoding Town!"

Zuo Baogui was genuinely frightened and shouted, "General, you've just arrived in Baoding and haven't established your authority yet. Expelling so many soldiers from the barracks all at once will cause chaos, maybe even a mutiny! If the court blames us, we can't afford to bear the consequences!"

Liu Ye sneered, "Guanting, no matter what happens, this army will naturally take the full responsibility. What are you worried about? Look at these old, weak, sick and disabled people. Can they still fight? They should have been retired from the army long ago and enjoy their retirement. Look at those old soldiers who are just drinking, chatting and gossiping. They don't even have the most basic military discipline. Can you expect them to win the battle? And those who foam at the mouth are obviously overdosing on opium. Since I took charge of the army, no matter who it is, as long as they dare to touch opium, I will never keep them by my side. Even if the monk king and the prince Gong come forward to plead for them, it will be useless!"

Zuo Baogui's heart pounded as he heard this. He replied, "General, I think what you said is sound advice, but acute illnesses require changing the medicine gradually. If you act so hastily, I'm afraid there will be chaos. This isn't your firearms camp, where you can do whatever you want. The people here are so interconnected that they can all be connected to the Governor-General, and even to the Imperial Court. I'm just a captain, and two days ago I was just a captain. At the very least, I'm done with this job. You're a general now, and you can't afford to fall flat on your face!"

Liu Ye was actually a little touched. Zuo Baogui was a truly honest man. He would be a valuable helper in the future...

Liu Ye sighed and said, "Guanting, haven't you noticed that we are now facing internal and external troubles. There are foreigners outside and the Taiping Nian bandits inside. We are running out of time. We never know when Baoding Town will be dragged into a battle. If we let these people go to the front line, what's the difference between that and letting them die? It's absolutely not worth it to sacrifice their lives in vain and cause us to suffer a great defeat. Therefore, I must do my best to reorganize Baoding Town. There is no time to lose. I might as well tell you the truth. I only plan to leave 2,500 people in Baoding Town and reorganize them into five battalions, four infantry battalions and one cavalry battalion. This will be the foundation of our survival. In the future, if you want to be a feudal lord, you may have to rely on them!"

Zuo Baogui took a deep breath. If he didn't follow a general like him, who else could he follow? He was compassionate, full of passion, and lived in the remoteness of the martial arts world, not wasting his time in danger. He was lucky, lucky to have met such a superior!

Zuo Baogui said in a deep voice, "Okay, sir, since you've made up your mind, even if I die of exhaustion, I'm willing to reorganize Baoding Town for you. I can't say anything else, but every one of my men is a skilled fighter. As long as we follow his example and keep working hard, Baoding Town's combat effectiveness will definitely increase significantly!"