Chapter 1417: Chapter 454: Jinyang Establishes the City, Allied Army Planning and Expansion Reform (Part 4)
In a military camp, hardly anyone hides their strength.
So the answer is clear, of the more than a hundred soldiers guarding the gate, over half are stronger than this grandfather and grandson.
You must know, one of them is an 18-maned, the other a 17-maned, with this level of prowess, they could have swaggered through Yinhe Valley. Now, however, theyâre not even as good as the campâs gatekeepers, making them feel not only apprehensive but complex.
But as they walked to the camp gates, Han Pengâs expression relaxed upon seeing a young man dressed like a leader among the gatekeeping soldiers.
"Captain Li, is it your shift today!"
Han Qi was even more direct, going up and greeting the young man.
The armored young man looked up and saw Han Peng and the other two, his face immediately lightened with a smile, and he cupped his hands and said, "Leader Han is back from Xia City..."
After speaking, he glanced at Han Li behind them, smiling and asking: "How did Han Li perform in this yearâs Martial Arts Competition? What rank did he place?"
This young captain on duty was none other than Li Hu, the former Deputy Leader of Jinyang Village.
At the end of the eighth year of Great Xia, Li Hu and Yang Zhong were dispatched by Lu Yang to Jinyang Village to monitor Han Peng, to prevent him from rebelling. When they arrived at Jinyang Village, Han Peng knew they were from Great Xia. As Han Pengâs affiliation with Great Xia deepened, he straightforwardly appointed Li Hu as Deputy Leader.
With the alliesâ station, and Jinyangâs foundation of a city, Li Hu and Yang Zhong finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel and no longer needed to continue hiding. By the end of June, when the allies arrived, Liu Yuan casually found an excuse to incorporate them into the alliesâ First Camp. With 31-maned strength, Li Hu secured a position as Personal Army Captain, leading an Elite Scout Camp.
Han Li is a disciple of Lu Yang, and since the East Ridge days, he has known Li Hu, with quite a good relationship. Hearing his inquiry, he smiled and replied, "Hehe, 79th place, Brother Hu, isnât that good?"
"Impressive, I thought youâd not make it into the top 100!"
Upon hearing Han Liâs rank, Li Hu immediately nodded and praised.
Han Li was taken to Xia City by Lu Yang last year and recognized as official. Subsequently, he stayed in Xia City for half a year and was considered a genuine Great Xia person. With a Holy Pattern, possessing 17-maned strength, entering the top hundred wasnât exaggerated.
"The Commander had already informed me, come with me, Iâll take you directly to the headquarters building to see the Commander..."
Despite being acquaintances, they were spared the interrogation procedure, but Li Hu still had them undergo the routine inspection at the entrance and exit.
So-called routine inspection was a passage smeared with Solidified Fire Oil.
Li Hu led the three through the passage, then took familiar paths around the tents, heading straight for the headquarters building at the campâs center.
.........
In the fourth floorâs central hall of the headquarters building.
Liu Yuan sat in the main seat, below him were six people, respectively: Hou Quan, Yuwen Yong, Zhou Yuan, Hou Tong, Meng Yi, Wang Yuan.
"Cloud Jiao, Long Wu, Longyuan three armies have been inserted into the three camps, their structures untouched. The remaining Beizhao and Xiong Wu armies, with two thousand troops, can only be evenly divided into three groups, scattered into the camps. This time Commander Hou and Commander Meng are somewhat aggrieved..."
Upon Liu Yuanâs words, Hou Tong and Meng Yi both slightly cupped their hands.
"Itâs beyond control with their weak strength; itâs because theyâre usually lackluster."
"Losing the marching competition, what else can be said, itâs deserved that theyâve been scattered."
Upon hearing Hou Tong and Meng Yiâs words, the other four along with Liu Yuan couldnât help but smile.
Whenever they mentioned this matter, the five couldnât help but laugh.
Of course, this laughter contrasted with Meng Yi and Hou Tongâs moodiness.
This time in forming the allies, Great Xia fielded ten armies, five of them were allotted to the Yinhe Valley side.
The alliesâ six camps structure was proposed by the Director of the Military Department Yuwen Dao, including thoroughly disbanding the Nine Towns soldiers, evenly distributing them into the six camps, ensuring Great Xiaâs people are the majority, also Yuwen Daoâs idea.
According to Yuwen Daoâs plan, their five armies, totaling five thousand, must be allotted into alliesâ First to Third Camps, which inevitably requires splitting two armies.
Every Great Xia military unit, since its founding, all soldiers stayed together, why would anyone want to be split up without reason?
Not long ago upon departure from Chui Mountain, the five armies kept bickering, none wished to be split, seeing no resolution Liu Yuan proposed a solution, using a marching competition, the two slowest armies would be split.
Regarding combat strength, naturally, none could compete with Cloud Jiao and Long Wu two armies. But when it came to marching speed thatâs different, from Chui Mountain Town to Jinshan Town, it was unfamiliar terrain for all five armies, furthermore, all soldiers possessed Cold Resistance Level Cultivation, thus no apparent advantage existed.
This was a test of their daily marching training results.
Liu Yuanâs suggestion received unanimous agreement from everyone.
Hence the competition commenced this way.
The final result was Beizhao and Xiong Wu two armies lagged behind.
Thus the current situation arose.
Seeing Meng Yi and Hou Tongâs morose faces, Liu Yuan smiled and said: "No need to be disheartened, hereâs some insider news..."
At this, he paused, observing everyoneâs eyes on him, then continued with a mysterious air: "This April, before the Minister and Director Yuwen Sizheng secluded themselves, I overheard them discussing military expansion and restructuring."
Military expansion and restructuring!
Upon hearing this, Hou Quan and the othersâ expressions shifted drastically, immediately raising their heads towards Liu Yuan, eagerly awaiting more.