Warring States Odyssey

  After finishing lunch, Du Yi ordered the soldiers to assemble and start their afternoon training, while Gao Yuan watched from the side, observing how ancient soldiers trained.

  Because the afternoon was for personal quality training, it was basically conducted on this empty land in the camp. First, they did weight-bearing, running, strength and endurance training to improve their physical fitness. Then, they practiced sword, spear, halberd, bow and crossbow techniques. To conserve horse power, cavalrymen trained on wooden horses, so the soldiers' shouts and the sound of weapons clashing filled the air, and for a time, the training was intense and lively.

  Although they were laughing and chatting during lunch, Du Yi's expression changed as soon as training began. His face was stern, his language severe, and he didn't hesitate to lash out at soldiers who didn't meet expectations or tried to slack off, hitting them with a few swift blows that left them crying out in pain. The beaten soldiers didn't dare complain, they could only listen quietly.

  The plateau has been watching the training of Zhao Jun's soldiers all along. Although the plateau is a special agent, it has also received several years of training in the military camp, so it is not unfamiliar with military training. Compared to Zhao Jun and his own past training experience, although Zhao Jun's training methods are very primitive in the eyes of the plateau, the training attitude and spiritual outlook of the Zhao soldiers are all good, and the overall morale of the army is also relatively high, so from a general point of view, the quality of Zhao Jun's soldiers is not bad.

  Gao Yuan knew that in the last fifty years of the Warring States period, Qin and Zhao were in the first and second strongest positions. Among the six countries, only the Zhao army could independently confront the Qin army, so during this period, most of the wars took place between Qin and Zhao. The two sides had five large-scale battles, with Zhao winning three and losing two, slightly gaining the upper hand. Moreover, every time the six nations formed an alliance to resist Qin, the Zhao army played a leading role. From the current training situation and spiritual outlook of the Zhao army, it is indeed reasonable.

  Although the military strength of Zhao and Qin were not far apart, the comprehensive national strength of the two countries differed greatly. A defeat or two for Qin would not affect the overall situation, but a single loss for Zhao would be devastating. Moreover, Zhao lacked strategic vision and a plan for national development, so its downfall was already predetermined. Even with Li Mu in command, it would have been impossible to change Zhao's fate; at most, he could only have delayed its destruction by a few years.

  The afternoon training lasted for about two hours, every soldier was sweating profusely and panting, but all were very serious, no one was lazy. As soon as Du Yi ordered the dismissal, the soldiers dispersed to rest and drink water. At this time, Gao Yuan estimated that it was around 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon, could it be that today's training had ended? But there were still two or three hours before dinner, what to do?

  Du Yi took off his helmet and came before Gao, saying: "Mr. Gao, what do you think of the training of our Zhao army?"

  Gao Yuan nodded and said, "Very good, I see that the soldiers' morale and combat spirit are very good, and their training is also very serious. Every single one of them has excellent individual combat capabilities."

  Although some words were unfamiliar to Du Yi, he could also make out the meaning. The implication was that Gao was praising Zhao Jun, and it wasn't just a casual compliment, so he smiled and said: "Mr. Gao is overpraising."

  "Is today's training over? What are you going to do next?"

  Du Yi nodded and said: "The training is all done, the next time is..."

  Just then, a war horse came galloping over, its front legs raised high in the air, and after taking a few more strides forward, it finally stopped. And on the back of the horse sat none other than Li Mu's adopted daughter, Li Yinghong.

  She still didn't wear a helmet, wearing a suit of leather armor, with two precious swords hanging from her waist, and on her head were still the two semi-circular hair buns, looking spirited and heroic. "Du Yi, is your training finished today?"

  Du Yi hastily went forward and said: "Young lady, it's all over."

  Li Yinghong said, "Alright, you guys hurry up and get ready. I'll go change my clothes and wait for you at the big drill ground. Today we must try a bit harder, we definitely have to defeat the Front Army Camp." After finishing speaking, he lightly kicked his horse's belly and immediately galloped away.

  Du Yi immediately said to the other soldiers, "Did you all hear that? Quickly go and change your clothes. Today we must win honor for our young lady, defeat the vanguard camp, do you understand?"

  The other soldiers heard this and immediately went into their tents to change clothes. Gao Yuan was also curious, what were they going to do? Fight? However, in the military camp, fighting among soldiers is a common thing. Gao Yuan had not fought less when he was in the military camp. But looking at Li Yinghong and Du Yi's appearance, it seemed like they were going to fight in groups, so he asked: "Du Yi, what are you going to do later?"

  Du Yi smiled and said: "Gao Sheng, wait a moment and come with us to take a look. We're going to compete in cuju with the vanguard camp."

  "Cuju!" Gao Yuan listened and immediately became excited, because he knew that Cuju was actually the ancient Chinese name for football. It originated in the Warring States period and the Qin and Han dynasties, and was popularized in the military as a sport that combined training and entertainment. It wasn't until the Tang and Song dynasties that it spread to the general population. Gao Yuan had been a soccer fan in the past and often played with his team during his free time. He never thought he would see ancient football in Li Mu's camp, and of course, he wouldn't miss this opportunity. He nodded and said, "Great, I'd love to go take a look."

  Du Yidao said: "Mr. Gao, wait a minute, I'll go change clothes." He also crawled into his own account.

  At this time, several soldiers who had changed their clothes came out of the tent, and they had already taken off their armor and put on tight-fitting narrow-sleeved shirts and pants, wearing soft boots. They also carried out a large basket, inside which were more than ten ball-shaped objects, roughly like cuju balls.

  There were several soldiers who took out the ball and kicked it back and forth among two or three people, and it was a mid-air kick-off that didn't touch the ground. It seemed to be a bit like playing hacky sack. Gaoyuan thought to himself, "Is this what playing cuju is all about?" Then there were several soldiers who put the ball on the ground and competed for it, which finally looked a bit like playing football. However, the skills of these soldiers weren't very good. Generally, after the ball was kicked back and forth in mid-air four or five times, it would fall to the ground. When competing for the ball, there wasn't much technique involved, mainly just relying on physical strength to push and shove. In Gaoyuan's eyes, it looked like a group of middle school students kicking the ball around wildly, resulting in the ball flying all over the place.

  At this moment, among the soldiers scrambling for the ball, someone kicked it to Gaoyuan's feet. Gaoyuan lifted his leg and stepped on the ball, only then did he see clearly that the ball was slightly smaller than a football, made of leather stitching, with unknown filling inside, but its elasticity was far inferior to modern footballs, and even basic movements were not affected much.

  A soldier ran over, wanting to kick the ball away from the plateau's foot, but just as he did, the plateau's foot on the ball suddenly pulled back. The soldier kicked an empty space. The plateau immediately turned around and made a beautiful Marseille turn. Before the soldier could understand what was happening, the plateau had already dribbled past him.

  Several other soldiers also looked dizzy, no one saw the movement of the high plain clearly, but it was clear that the high plain wanted to kick the ball with them. Immediately, two more soldiers rushed forward and backward towards the high plain to grab the ball. The high plain didn't care at all, controlling the ball with both feet in turn, shaking left and right, using an "S"-shaped curve to easily shake off the two soldiers.

  In addition, three or four soldiers also rushed up to the plateau. Although the plateau's football level can only be considered amateur, his football skills have been developed over hundreds of years, with the most reasonable and effective techniques, which in this era can be considered Maradona-level. With his legs left spinning and right carrying, he dodged and weaved through the crowd, coming and going, and still seemed to be in control despite being surrounded by five or six soldiers.

  At this time, the other soldiers also stopped and stared at Gao Yuan, who was surrounded by five or six people, still able to control the ball firmly under his feet. The surrounding soldiers were busy running around in circles, with a few people falling down due to sudden changes in direction, which also brought out bursts of laughter.

  After playing for a while, Gao Yuan finally stopped his movements and stepped on the shuttlecock, while those soldiers were already dizzy from his moves. Du Yi rushed to Gao Yuan's front in several steps, surprised and delightedly saying: "Mr. Gao, I didn't expect you to be good at playing cuju too! You're really skilled, let's play together!"

  Those soldiers also surrounded him and said in unison: "Yes, Mr. Gao kicked it too well, just now I didn't see Mr. Gao's movements clearly."

  "Mr. Gao kicked it, and the shuttlecock seemed to be stuck to his foot."

  "Yes, I'm also dizzy from watching, can't even see his movements clearly."

  "If Mr. Gao joins us this time, we will definitely win the championship."

  "Alright, alright, let's hurry to the big school grounds now. The young lady is still waiting for us there. Mr. Gao, you come with us too."

  Gao Yuan nodded and smiled: "Okay, I was going to go anyway."

  Then everyone gathered around Gao Yuan and came together to the big playground.

  Zhao Jun's large training ground was located right in front of the main gate of the camp, covering a vast area, with both its length and width exceeding 200 meters. In the middle, there was also a platform over two meters high, on which were erected the flags of Zhao Jun and Li Mu. At this moment, Li Yinghong, who had changed into a short jacket and trousers, was standing at the edge of the platform, looking in this direction.

  When Du Yi and others arrived, Li Yinghong immediately jumped down from the high platform and went forward to greet them, saying: "How come you're just arriving now? I've been waiting for a long time."

  Du Yi hastily said: "Big sister, there's a piece of good news. Mr. Gao is also skilled at cuju and plays exceptionally well. The ball seems to be stuck to his feet. Five or six of us can't even get the better of him alone. If we let Mr. Gao play today, we'll definitely win against the Front Army Camp."

  Li Yinghong looked at Gao Yuan and asked with some doubt: "Can you kick a shuttlecock?"

  Gao Yuan nodded and said, "I understand a bit."

  Li Yinghong was about to speak again when someone laughed and said, "Yinghong, are you guys ready this time? Our vanguard camp doesn't want to win too easily."