Chapter 49: Three Iron Rules for Soldiers

"There is no such concept as 'before the birth of the universe', or it is something we can never reach," Ma Shao said. "When you stand at the birth of the universe, no matter which way you go, it is after the birth of the universe, not before... Just like when you stand at the North Pole, no matter which way you go, you can only go south, not north."

Everyone seemed to understand what he said, so Ma Shao gave a few more examples.

When someone understood, another question was naturally raised: "Teacher, this is different from the story we heard before! My mother told me that everything in the world was woven by heaven and earth through weaving."

"Those are just stories, and these are the truth." Ma Shao wrote the word truth on the blackboard, which was also a word he had just coined recently.

After turning around, he continued: "Stories always have an ending, but the truth never ends, so I will tell you more next."

"Where is our great spirit?" asked a shaman.

Ma Shao was silent for two seconds: "If we must set up a being before the birth of the universe, then it's fine to call it 'the Great Spirit'."

The beliefs of the Indians are very diverse, and sometimes the beliefs within the same tribe can vary greatly, but almost all Indian tribes have a concept similar to the "Great Spirit", a supreme god with a very light personal color, almost like nature itself.

Ma Shao knew that it was impossible to completely eliminate religion, so he did not shave the big spirit directly, but left it a little living space.

After all, no matter how you put it, compared to the various monotheistic religions in the West, the Great Spirit, a supreme god with a very faint personality, is still a relatively gentle and friendly existence.

It is obviously unreasonable to kill all the moderates while the extremists are still alive and well.

The class went on without much questioning.

As a professional physics teacher, Ma Shao knows how to show the charm of truth, which is a natural persuasiveness.

Even the ignorant Indians, after listening to his story, would feel the sense of harmony naturally emanating from the laws of physics.

"That's all for today's class." Ma Shao brushed off the dust from his low-quality homemade chalk. "Please familiarize yourself with these words on the blackboard. I'll check them in the writing class."

Just like on the battlefield, after teaching cultural courses, the next step is to train the troops.

The Mianxiong clan currently has an armed force of more than 200 people, half of whom are equipped with revolvers, and the rest are mainly equipped with bows and rifles.

Ma Shao had previously arranged for the sergeant to train those soldiers who had not received training in charging, lying down, etc. What he was going to train or teach now was another important content.

In the long run, this may even be the most important content.

"Soldiers, today I will tell you the 'Three Iron Rules for Soldiers.'" Ma Shao stood in front of more than two hundred soldiers.

In the entire Mianxiong clan, the soldiers who respect Ma Shao the most are the ones. They listen quietly and almost always accept all the requests made by Ma Shao unconditionally.

"The first iron rule: All actions must be carried out under command!" Ma Shao shouted word by word, "Obeying orders is a soldier's first duty. The squad leader must obey my orders, and the soldiers must obey the squad leader's orders!"

"The second iron rule: All captured items must be returned to the public!"

"You are soldiers, not bandits. Everything you seize on the battlefield, whether it is a rifle, a war horse, a piece of clothing, a pair of shoes, or even a captured enemy, belongs to the clan and may not be kept privately. Of course, the captured spoils will also be rewarded by the clan."

"There is also a third iron rule: Do not abuse those who cannot fight back!"

"The honor of a soldier is not to bully the weak. We must not abuse, rape, or molest prisoners, women, and children who are powerless to fight back."

These three iron rules are actually the three major disciplines and eight points of attention, but they have been simplified.

After all, the current Indian army is in a completely different environment from that of the People's Liberation Army in the future.

For example, regarding the sentence "Don't take a single needle or thread from the masses", Ma Shao thought about it and found that Indians currently do not have the concept of "masses", and it is difficult to create a special word to express it.

Is the clan the mass?

No, they were relatives. A clan of just a thousand people was basically all related, so it was obviously not appropriate to describe them as the masses, and no soldier would seize the things of the clan members.

What about other Indians outside the tribe?

It's not suitable, the relationship is distant, and some are even enemies.

Not to mention white people.

Perhaps it will have to wait until the Indians form a nation, or at least a city-state, before concepts like the masses will make sense.

As for the more detailed disciplines, Ma Shao felt that they were not necessary for the time being. If the Indians could strictly implement these three iron rules, they would be a first-class strict army and a righteous army of this era.

"...Violation of the three iron rules will be severely punished! Even the lightest violation will be recorded in the book. People with such records will basically say goodbye to military officer positions such as sergeant and centurion." Ma Shao said.

"What is a centurion?" Some recruits, who were not yet accustomed to military discipline, could not help but interrupt.

His squad leader immediately shouted, "Shut up!"

Ma Shao explained: "A centurion is an officer who manages a hundred soldiers. Of course, no one has obtained this position yet. In the next period of training, the squad leader who performs well may be appointed as a centurion by me."

Hearing this, the squad leaders' eyes suddenly lit up, and many of them secretly made up their minds to become centurions.

"You must memorize these three rules word for word, just like remembering your own name," Ma Shao emphasized again.

In terms of personal bravery, the Indians were still very good. They were all excellent warriors and knights, but their organization, discipline and tactics were quite problematic.

Ma Shao hopes that this army can have strict military discipline as soon as possible and that all members can master some basic tactics so that he can carry out further training.

There is a tactic that he is obsessed with. If the Indians can master it, they will become a world-class team.

By then, as long as his equipment was not too backward, Ma Shao believed that even the US federal army would not be willing to provoke him.

Then we just need to wait for the right time, and when the Civil War comes, we can tear a big piece of meat off the United States!

Ma Shao continued to train the soldiers.

…

About fifty kilometers southeast of the Sleeping Bear clan, a group of more than a dozen Indians were riding slowly forward on horseback. They were the Comanches.

"We're almost there." The Comanches were led by an old man, the chief of the Twin Wolf Clan. He looked at his people behind him and said, "When you come into contact with the white people, be careful, but don't be too nervous."

"Yes, Chief."

After walking for a while, they saw a white town in front of them, and the residents of the town soon noticed the visiting Comanches.

Soon a group of white people came out of the town with weapons, led by a man in his thirties, of medium build, wearing a cowboy hat, with a beard and a cigarette in his mouth, looking a bit nonchalant.

"Ah, long time no see, my friend." He waved his hand, and then an Indian dressed in white clothes came over from behind, "Ask him to translate."

The Indian dressed in white clothes walked between the two sides and looked at Chief Twin Wolf, but he seemed a little afraid to look him in the eye.

He said in fluent Comanche: "Mayor Thomas sends his greetings to you, friends from the Twin Wolf Clan."