readytorunbook Chapter 674 The Way to Survive
Chapter 674 The Way to Survive
With the arrival of Liu Shan, Guan Xing, and others, the atmosphere in the military camp instantly became much more lively, and the soldiers even worked with more energy.
After all, His Highness the Crown Prince and Marquis Shence have come. If I can become familiar with His Highness the Crown Prince at this time, I might be able to rise in rank and influence after His Highness ascends the throne.
With this in mind, everyone was absolutely welcoming of Liu Shan's arrival.
As for Liu Shan himself, he only did two things when he came to the military camp. When the soldiers were busy, he would sit in the corner and bask in the sun. When the soldiers were idle, he would chat with them and make them feel comfortable. As for doing any real work, that was absolutely out of the question.
However, as the crown prince, it's enough for him to eat, live, and mingle with the soldiers; he doesn't need to worry about anything else.
In contrast, Guan Xing has to consider many more things. He has to prepare lesson plans in advance, plan the class content, assign homework, and then grade the homework. During the grading process, he also has to write comments and suggestions for the students' homework. He is really busy.
Guan Xing stayed up all night by the light of an oil lamp. At dawn, he gathered everyone at the drill ground to start the class. Once everyone was present, he said directly, "We are all soldiers. Our job is to go to the battlefield and win battles. But the prerequisite for winning battles is not to suffer defeats, not to be defeated by the enemy, or to be able to escape capture and survive even if defeated, so that we can accumulate the resources for a counterattack."
"In short, to win, you must first make yourself invincible, survive successfully, and not be defeated by the disadvantageous environment. This is the core element of survival when you are behind enemy lines and the enemy is strong and you are weak."
"So our topic today is survival. First, let me ask you a question: Suppose you are in the wild without water or food and you are injured, how can you escape the enemy's pursuit and survive this most dangerous moment?"
"You have fifteen minutes to think it over. We'll discuss it further after you've finished."
Everyone tilted their heads and fell into deep thought, even Liu Shan sat on the steps of the platform where he was to be appointed general, resting his chin on his hand in deep thought.
Today's lecture is all practical advice, not empty talk that sounds reasonable at first but is completely useless upon closer inspection. So you should think carefully and study it, because it might save your life someday.
A quarter of an hour passed quickly, and Guan Xing said with a smile, "After thinking for so long, even if everyone doesn't have an answer, they've figured out the logic. So let's get straight to the point. Sun Lang, what do you do in this situation?"
Throughout history, thieves have been the ones who get beaten the most. As the leader of the Liangjia bandits, Sun Lang had his glorious moments of drinking wine from large bowls and eating meat in large chunks, but he had also had his life as a fugitive, being chased like a rabbit all over the mountains. His experience in escaping was far richer than anyone else present. Upon hearing this, he immediately stood up, bowed, cleared his throat, and said excitedly:
"Let me tell you a short story first. The first time I led my brothers to ambush a caravan, we ran into a brick wall because we were inexperienced. We didn't scout the terrain or gather intelligence. When we saw the caravan coming, we just charged in like idiots. When we got close, we found that the caravan had more than three times our number of guards. A volley of arrows killed most of my brothers..."
As he recalled the past, Sun Lang felt a bitter smile, while the others around him burst into carefree laughter.
You raid and plunder without even doing basic preparations, do you think you're Xiang Yu, the Hegemon of Chu?
Guan Xing raised his hand to stop everyone's laughter and said, "It's normal to be inexperienced when you're new to the game. If you were in his situation, you probably wouldn't have been any different. Sun Lang, you continue."
Sun Lang said, "After that caravan scattered us, it didn't continue on its way like ordinary caravans. Instead, it abandoned its goods and launched a full-scale pursuit of us, as if it wouldn't stop until it killed us. Later, I learned that it wasn't a caravan at all, but a bandit-suppressing army sent by the prefect. They deliberately disguised themselves as a caravan to lure us into a trap. In their eyes, we were military merits, so how could they let a few merits slip through their fingers?"
Guan Xing expressed his understanding, saying that the biggest problem for the government in suppressing bandits was not that they couldn't defeat them, but that they couldn't find them. Bandits hiding in the mountains were hard to find, but bandits who had already shown themselves could not be let go, otherwise, wouldn't the trip have been in vain?
Guan Xing asked, "So what happened next? How did you manage to escape the pursuit?"
Sun Lang replied, "I led my brothers into Xiong'er Mountain, and then had them run away separately. After escaping the pursuit, we met at the agreed location. Then I hid myself in a secluded cave, covered myself with branches and straw, and hid in the cave for three whole days. When I was really starving, I came out of the cave to find wild fruits to eat. But the government troops were still searching the mountain after three days. I was even shot with an arrow by accident. In the end, I had no choice but to continue hiding, digging up cockroaches and earthworms to eat, and finding herbs to stop the bleeding and heal my wounds. It took seven days of this to wait for the government troops to withdraw."
Upon hearing that cockroaches and earthworms were used to stave off hunger, most of the people present felt nauseous, and some even almost vomited.
Just thinking about that stuff makes me feel nauseous, let alone eating it. How could I possibly bring myself to eat it?
Sun Lang continued, "That was the closest I've ever come to death. After that experience, I always make sure I understand the situation before I start robbing people. If I don't have a clear understanding of the situation, I'd rather not do it than take a risk."
"Therefore, my survival strategy is to run to places with fewer people, preferably into the mountains. Even if there are no mountains to go into, I cannot go into villages or cities to ask for help. In villages, everyone knows each other. If a stranger suddenly enters, he will be easily recognized and then kidnapped to the government to collect the reward. I cannot go into county towns either. There are only tens of thousands of people in county towns in the Central Plains. Even if people do not know each other, they can still become familiar with each other. If a stranger enters rashly, he will also attract the attention of strangers."
Shu Ma Zhong asked, "Captain Sun, if I were originally from a village or county town, there would be nothing wrong with me returning home if I encountered danger, would there?"
Sun Lang replied, "Then you definitely can't go back. To give you the simplest example, if you are a villager from Village A and are wanted by the government for committing a crime, most people's first reaction in such a situation is to go home, because only at home do they feel safe. But don't forget that the government also knows where your house is. If they are lying in wait around your house, wouldn't you be walking into a trap if you went back?"
“Even if the authorities aren’t staking out your house, you can’t go back. The reason is simple: even if your village, Jia, is in a bad state, there are still a dozen or so households with over a hundred people. You can guarantee that your parents and brothers won’t betray you, but can you guarantee that the whole village won’t betray you? If even one person is greedy for the reward money and runs to the authorities to report you, you’re finished.”
"Therefore, the lower you are, the less you should trust or rely on anyone, because your trust and reliance could become a knife that kills you at any time, and this knife is particularly fatal. Once you are stabbed, there will be no chance to turn things around. So my advice is that you can only get through the low period on your own. If you get through it, the sky will be the limit. If you can't get through it, then accept your fate. It is better to accept your fate than to place your hopes on others. During the low period, the only person you can trust is yourself."
"That's why I said to run to a place where there are no people, the fewer people who see you, the better. Then it's about self-preservation. Try everything you can to fill your stomach. Cockroaches, earthworms, grass roots, tree bark, don't be picky about anything edible. Even if it's a poisonous snake, you have to bite it. Make sure you survive first."
"Finally, there's healing. When you have free time, learn about a few healing herbs so you can use them when you're injured. Marquis Shence, that's my experience. That's all I have to say."