Lin's explanations were meticulous, simple, and clear. The officers below listened with trepidation, fearing they might miss a single character uttered by Lin. Many of them had noticed that among the death row prisoners nailed to the execution racks, several were the Seventh Legion soldiers who had violated military orders yesterday. Their general was a woman of her word; whoever defied her orders, a soldier yesterday, was a death row prisoner used as a teaching tool today.
After all the death row prisoners on the dozen or so execution racks had perished, Lin waved her hand. Servicemen in pairs ran up to take the dead prisoners down from the execution racks. During this time, Lin addressed her officers:
"I am imparting these killing techniques and essentials to you so that in subsequent training, you will pass them on from one to ten, and ten to a hundred, teaching these techniques to every soldier. Anyone can kill with a knife or sword; even a child can do it. But no matter what, weapons are ultimately external objects. No one can guarantee that they will always have a weapon in their hand, or that they can always use it at will. Therefore, mastering the essentials of unarmed killing is extremely important in the current era of warfare, which primarily involves close-quarters combat."
After a brief pause, Lin continued:
"Merely striking surface vital points—these skills are only the most basic part. Furthermore, there are techniques for striking the body's 'dead' acupoints to cause death."
At this point, another dozen living death row prisoners were locked onto the execution racks.
"I don't know how much you knew about acupoints before, but now you must remember that there are approximately 52 single acupoints, 300 double acupoints, and 50 extraordinary acupoints around the human body, totaling 720 acupoints. Among these, there are 108 vital acupoints, 72 of which are generally not fatal when struck, while the remaining 36 are fatal acupoints, collectively known as 'dead' acupoints."
At this moment, Lin took out a roll of silver needles, and with the needles stuck in it, she lightly pricked the skin at the 36 dead acupoint locations on the death row prisoner behind her. The silver needles were fixed on the prisoner's body but did not actually stimulate the dead acupoints.
"There are 9 vital acupoints in the head and neck: Baihui, Shenting, Taiyang, Ermen, Jingming, Renzhong, Yamen, Fengchi, Renying. There are 14 vital acupoints in the chest and abdomen: Danzhong, Juque, Shenque, Qihai, Guanyuan, Zhongji, Qugu, Yingchuang, Rugen, Qimen, Zhangmen, Shangqu, Feishu, Jueyinshu, Xinshu, Shenshu, Mingmen, Zhishi, Qihaishu! Weilu acupoints. There are 5 vital acupoints in the upper and lower limbs: Jianjing, Taiyuan, Zusanli, Sanyinjiao, Yongquan."
"The above 36 vital acupoints, if struck, pose a risk to life. Initially, the injury might not feel significant, but the consequences are severe. Perhaps you cannot remember all of them, but you must at least remember a few extremely crucial major vital acupoints. This is extremely important whether for fighting enemies or protecting yourself. Do not be completely unaware and get pressed or struck in a dead acupoint, dying in a muddled state."
Lin seriously explained to her subordinates, no matter what, this was a matter of life and death for friend and foe, and no one dared to be careless.
"The fundamental point of our army's campaigns is actually the same as that of the Imperial Assassination Squad: to strive for a single blow to kill the enemy. If we can kill the enemy in one blow, there's no need for a second. Therefore, mastering vital points is especially important. For the next month, the soldiers' training will focus on military combat techniques, adaptability to the enemy, and psychological resilience."
"Now that the Death Row Prison has just been cleansed, for the first ten days, you will specifically teach the soldiers military combat techniques and knowledge of vital points."
"Regarding combat techniques, I have already organized them. At this stage, the Imperial Army's combat techniques can be said to be completely unformed, with obvious traces of copying the Fist of the King Temple's martial arts. It can be said that they are not very practical on the battlefield. Afterwards, I will teach you a whole new set of military combat techniques suitable for the battlefield. I am only responsible for teaching you; whether you can teach the soldiers is your responsibility."
Compared to other martial arts, the combat philosophy of military combat techniques is unique. Strictly speaking, it is not actually a martial art, nor is it purely a bare-handed combat technique. Military combat techniques emphasize the purest and most powerful lethality against the enemy, aiming for every move and every stance to contain the immense power of striking the enemy dead in one blow.
Lin's martial arts naturally need no elaboration. Infinite Martial Cultivation represents the undisputed pinnacle of martial arts; there is no martial art technique that Lin cannot perform.
Simply put, the military combat technique Lin taught the officers was the famous One-Inch Punch, even in the 2d world.
"Within an inch, its power can split mountains."
As early as ancient China, the One-Inch Punch was a close-quarters combat technique for military training, an unfailingly lethal boxing art. It was guided by instinctive reactions and the maximum exertion of potential, characterized by its simplicity, agility, power, and ferocity! It emphasized delivering a punch quickly over a short distance, unleashing all of one's explosive power to knock down the enemy, meaning the greatest power erupted within the shortest distance.
The One-Inch Punch is less a boxing art and more a technique for generating force, an unparalleled instantaneous explosive power. On a rapidly changing battlefield with close-quarters combat, this combat technique is perfectly suited. A single punch hitting the opponent's vital point requires no second strike; it either kills or cripples.
"There's no need for superfluous talk. In ten days, I want to see every soldier of the Seventh Legion truly master this boxing technique and be able to genuinely use it in actual combat. How you teach it is your business. In ten days, if anyone's subordinates haven't learned it, that person will be held accountable. In ten days, actual combat training will begin directly. There's no need to say more about hopeless wastes; they only have one path: to get out. Understood?!"
"Understood!!!"
The second month of training would still not be easy for the soldiers. Compared to the first month's physical training, which was purely about physical and mental endurance, the second month's killing techniques required even more insight and intelligence. An army that couldn't think had no future, so Lin had no need for soldiers who couldn't comprehend and master these killing arts.
Ten days later, the training in killing essentials and combat techniques again weeded out a group of people. These individuals had mostly developed muscles in their brains, unable to remember or grasp knowledge and key points; in short, they were single-minded. Such people are quite common in the military, and thus, over a thousand more were eliminated.
Lin sat in her seat, leisurely holding a teacup, sipping the finest wild mountain tea brought back from the depths of the Forest of Dangerous Species. In one hand, she held a personal letter from the General, just delivered by a flying dragon messenger from the Imperial Military Department. The letter bore the Imperial Military Department's emblem, and its content was clearly a letter of accountability, questioning Lin about the large number of casualties among the Seventh Legion soldiers in the past month.
Lin had long expected such a thing. After all, even with a tenfold casualty quota, nearly half of it had been used up in one month, with close to 500 deaths. General Black must have been furious.
However, as long as the death toll didn't exceed the limit, no one could hold Lin accountable, right? The General's letter of accountability was mainly a warning and a reminder, cautioning Lin not to mess around, and that the army was not her toy to manipulate as she pleased. That was probably the gist of it.
"I understand the General's and the Military Department's intentions. Thank you for traveling all this way."
While speaking to the messenger who had come from the Imperial Capital, Lin folded a written letter into an envelope, handed it to Zhi Feng, who then sealed it with a fire wax stamp before giving it to the messenger.
"Please deliver this reply to the General. This desolate and wild place has nothing good to offer, so I won't keep you. I wish you a smooth journey."
Without even offering a glass of water, Lin directly dismissed the messenger. She had no patience for the Imperial Military Department's envoys. Today a warning, tomorrow an accountability, and the day after, they might directly interfere with her legion's affairs. It could be said that no one in the entire Military Department saw Lin favorably, yet they couldn't do anything to her. Want to pick a fight with her? Fine. Lin would quit. Would you lead this basically paralyzed Seventh Legion? If it can't hold the front line four years from now, you can prepare to retire and live out your golden years at your ancestral grave.
When Zhi Feng escorted the messenger to the dragon field and watched him leave the legion's garrison, Zhi Feng returned to Lin's side to report:
"General, the Military Department's messenger has left."
"Left… never mind, let him go. Zhi Feng, today should be when the first battalion begins actual combat training, right?"
"That's right."
"I see. I wonder how many will be left in the end…"
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