The Grand War Meeting (2)

"Think about it clearly. If an average of 30,000 troops can hold back the repeated attacks of a million strong army on average. What do you think we'd need this size of an army for?" Lei Jin said, raising his hands up.

"Good, good. Then there…" Wu Kuang said, stopping after he finished processing the information. 

"Jin'er, what exactly is it that we are about to fight?" Azure Heart asked, with a serious tone. 

"I've already said before that there were reasons for training so many soldiers. But right now, there is no need to worry about the overwhelming numbers of the Ink Clan. The vast majority of their strength is being locked behind something. The ancestors were not as weak as some may think." Lei Jin explained. "But I suppose that won't be enough of an explanation. So I'll say this… I have the feeling that the progenitor was sealed away by the first 10 great experts. I know not how they did it. But this is the only explanation for what happened. And I intend to take a trip deep into the Ink Clan Hinterlands to find this seal." He finished. 

"I see, so inside the seal there must be a large number of Ink Clan. Just waiting to pounce into the world. And with the power of the Ink Giant Spirit God as a viable threat on the enemies side. It's no wonder you'd want as many 9th ranks as possible. And now that 10th rank open heaven exists… It will be even easier." Liang Changming proposed. 

"Indeed, If the balance is broken, I will intervene personally. However, with so many 10th rank and Celestial Realms… I doubt there will be much meat left for me to chew. Let's destroy Ink's hope of such a grim future for life." Lei Jin laughed. 

"Good! Then we will divide the Armies now. And round robin assortment for any new lastminute additions that find themselves in the Army." Azure Heart said. "Oh, Jin'er, do you mind if I go to the Azure Void war zone? I'm quite eager to see your master. I promise that so long as I'm there no harm will come to the people there." She asked. 

"I only care about the deployment to the Great Evolution Pass. All others I will not use my authority to manipulate any choices. Though I do think that the Celestial Realm Ancient Divine Spirits should be assigned to every other location. They have a small natural advantage. This would give them the edge in wrapping things up quickly. Battlefields that do not receive an assigned Celestial Realm will be given an additional 20 9th ranks. 5 9th ranks using the Five Directions Array, can fight well enough to hold back one Ink Giant Spirit God. So it is good to have back up plans." Lei Jin said, crossing his arms. 

"Good, and then for each additional Celestial Realm we can simply reassign the 20 9th ranks. Split them up among other Battalions." Azure Heart said. "Now then, let's begin the assignments. Once everyone is given their assignments, the Battalions can start working on Army maneuvers and tactics. We won't just earn a victory over the Ink Clan. But we will totally annihilate them." She added. 

The meeting continued and soldiers were assigned to Battalions. The 10th ranks were the first to be assigned. With over 500 of them it was easy to put 5 into each of the 107 battlefields. Those that were left out were designated as a special team. Their mission was to search the Ink Battlefield for High level Ink Clan and destroy them. This team reported directly to Lei Jin. Which meant their orders were relaxed and clear. "Search and Destroy. And lend aid to the battalions in the event they need it." Were these orders. Other than that it was quite easy to say they were going to be the ones having the most fun. 

After the assignment of the 10th ranks and Celestial Realm Ancient Divine Spirits, came the long task of assigning the 9th ranks. Prioritizing the ones who would have the least likely chance of breaking through to the 10th rank. This way there are no counting Chickens before the egg hatches scenarios. That selection took years to finish properly and the 8th rank's assignments took even longer. 

In the end it took a total of 20 years to finish assigning the troops to their respective battalions. And an additional 30 years to further subdivide the 15 million troops into sub categories. Wood, Fire, Earth, Gold and finally Water. The five elements were the names of the sub-divisions. The name had nothing to do with their practiced Dao. It was merely a symbol of unity in all things. All 5 Sub-divisions combined to form the Great Army's Battalions. 

There were further divisions with specially chosen individuals to command each of the smaller divisions. With an Army as massive as 15 million strong It was basically required for this to happen. Otherwise it would be nearly impossible to act given the information at hand. All Team level level leaders were in charge of 50 Soldiers including themselves. And at this level they order, "Respond to the situation accordingly,". 

With this order, the army had more freedom to operate, and was thus flexible. Being allowed to deviate from original orders based on the situation at hand was an incalculably valuable skill. And is why only those with this skill were chosen to be Team Leaders, and commanders of any level. 

The Battalions began performing practices and even tested techniques in war games with each other. Quickly finding any weaknesses and then making up the difference in some way. It was the final step in the Army's training. Every single soldier of this grand alliance army was painstakingly trained. And now the time to test their skills is rapidly approaching. That look in their eyes was fierce and primed for combat. 

This training went on for 500 years until. "From now on. No more Direct 6th rank Open Heaven breakthroughs and below will be accepted into the army as a fighter. Should they still choose to come out and help, then they must be willing to help with logistics." Lei Jin's Voice rang Out through the Void. His decree was solid and unmoving. 500 years was indeed still enough time. But only barely. So it was the right call.