Volume 1, Chapter 23: Military Formation

As he returned the sword to Shen Gongbao, Xiahou looked at his peculiar expression and asked in a low voice, "Why did you help me?"

Shen Gongbao casually fastened the sword to his belt and smiled at Xiahou for a long moment before turning to leave. "If you die, Anyi will be far too peaceful."

"Hey!" Xiahou couldn't fathom what Shen Gongbao was thinking, so he just frowned as he watched him stride away with his clansmen. Rubbing his chin, Xiahou muttered, "Could it be that I didn't beat his clansmen hard enough earlier? Does he want me to turn some of them into eunuchs to satisfy him? Strange. Frustrating. If only I were as perceptive and cunning as Zhuque, then I'd be better at guessing people's thoughts."

Shaking his head, Xiahou walked shirtless and empty-handed towards Xingtian Chao. Looking at the chaotic barracks around him, Xiahou felt rather innocent. Not only had he been slashed, but it seemed that the damage to the barracks might also be blamed on him. Why was this happening? Assessing his current finances, Xiahou realized he didn't have enough money to rebuild even a single barracks.

Seeing Xiahou approach, Xingtian Chao pointed at the disgruntled Shen Gonglingzhi and yelled, "No matter what, the new barracks must be built before nightfall, or you'll be violating military orders, and I'll have the right to cut off your head! Shen Gonglingzhi, you wouldn't give me that chance, would you? Now, go and supervise the work! What, do you really intend to defy orders?" Shen Gonglingzhi, still swollen and bruised, opened his mouth, seething with anger but not daring to say anything, and stomped off to curse the armory soldiers.

Xingtian Chao strode up to Xiahou, slapped him hard on the shoulder and chest, and shouted, "Good brother, you actually killed four ninth-rank Wu warriors. Great! As long as you don't run into any Grand Wu, you can hold your own on the battlefield. No Hai or Dongyi officer can match you."

Tilting his head in thought, Xingtian Chao suddenly called Shen Gonglingzhi back, "This is Chi Hu Dushe. You saw the fight just now, right? He's a brave man, so I want armor and weapons worthy of him. As for the custom fees, ask our big brother, Xingtian Dafeng. Chi Hu will be joining the Hei Yan Army."

After a pause, Xingtian Chao leaned in menacingly towards the unlucky Shen Gonglingzhi and threatened, "Prepare a set of armor for Chi Hu according to the officer's standards. Don't try to fool me with the scrap metal meant for slave soldiers, or I'll skin you alive! Don't think that just because you're from the Shen Gong family I won't dare touch you! I can break your leg on any pretext, believe it or not!"

Shen Gonglingzhi only managed a few dry responses before running off without daring to look at Xiahou.

Xiahou felt that Xingtian Chao was going a bit too far and softly suggested, "Commander, we are all comrades. Aren't we being a little too harsh?"

Xingtian Chao was quite pleased with Xiahou's use of "we" and laughed heartily. Rising on his tiptoes, he patted Xiahou's shoulder with some difficulty, saying, "I've been picking on him more than once or twice. He doesn't mind. The head of the Shen Gong family is the Chief Minister, and their family controls all the armories in Anyi. My brothers and I have been trying to get this guy out of the Bear Camp for a while, but we haven't succeeded."

He laughed again, "Don't be fooled by my harshness. This guy is from a collateral branch of the Shen Gong family, and he won't resist. Even if I really punish him, it won't be a big deal."

Xingtian Chao shrugged and gave Xiahou another hard pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Chi Hu. You need to learn the ways of Anyi. A child without strong shamanic power isn't worth much. Didn't you see how I pressured him, and he didn't say a word? What can he do?"

Xiahou smiled and nodded, thinking to himself, "I hope I can adapt to this social system. Dividing social classes by strength has its drawbacks, but in this world, it might be the most ideal."

All around, armory soldiers were busy like ants, carrying heavy logs, chanting slogans, digging foundations, and building new barracks. The common soldiers wore rough cloth uniforms, while the slave soldiers only had a black cloth wrapped around their waists. Their foreheads and shoulder blades were branded with black marks, signifying their slave status.

Numerous new soldiers from Camp One lounged on large rocks and tree branches, enjoying fresh fruits, roasted meat, and fine wine they had somehow acquired. They pointed and bet copper bear coins on which barracks would be finished first. Occasionally, a new soldier would shout, "Hey, slaves, work faster! If your barracks are finished first, we'll treat you to meat and wine."

The common soldiers laughed heartily and sped up a bit, while the slave soldiers remained numb and dazed, working slowly as if they hadn't heard the shouts.

Xiahou shook his head, but Xingtian Chao, full of joy, explained, "In our new camp, we train formations from dawn to noon. From afternoon until nightfall, the soldiers can do whatever they want. So, Chi Hu, find a place to relax and come back for dinner before nightfall."

He noticed the edge of a tortoiseshell protruding from Xiahou's pouch and laughed, "Is that the shamanic manual our big brother picked for you? Train well; in the army, strength is everything." With that, he pushed Xiahou towards a shady area where members of the Xingtian family were gathered. Xingtian Chao then spat on the ground, formed a whip with his shamanic power, and lashed at a passing slave, cursing a few times before striding away with several high-ranking officers.

Xingtian Bei was sitting on a blanket under the shade, holding a stone bowl of wine. Seeing Xiahou looking lost, he called out, "Chi Hu, over here! Ah, in this new camp, there's only work before noon. Every afternoon is for fun. Why are you standing in the sun? Come, come, the wine here was specially sent by my family's servants."

Xiahou chuckled a few times, shaking his head in confusion, and walked towards Xingtian Bei and the others. As he walked, he thought to himself, "So, I'm an officer now? But where are my soldiers? And who is my superior officer? Damn, the Daxia military is so disorganized. They only train in the morning?" Suddenly, it all made sense to him—the chaotic formations on the training ground in the morning.

That night, after a lavish dinner, Xiahou was pulled by the enthusiastic Xingtian Bei to join a group of Xingtian family members in a newly built barrack, where they gambled until the early hours. Xiahou was lucky enough to win over thirty copper bear coins before everyone collapsed onto their beds. Despite gambling all night, no officers came to check on them. Lying on his mat, Xiahou instinctively made a cross on his chest. "God, what is this kind of army called in my past life? A bunch of hooligans!"

The next morning, after drinking a fragrant and smooth green millet porridge and gnawing on a large rib bone, Xiahou devoured enough food for six people. Patting his satisfied belly, he joined Xingtian Bei and the others, who were all slightly twitching their facial muscles, and headed to Camp One's training ground.

The highest commander was a Lingzhi, overseeing over 9,800 new soldiers. Normally, a Lingzhi would command 15,000 men, but Camp One was full of major family scions, and no one dared to assign other new soldiers here, hence the lower numbers.

Following Xingtian Bei, who was also an officer, Xiahou finally met their superior, a distant relative of the Xingtian clan, technically Xingtian Bei's clan uncle. This superior commanded three officers, including Xiahou, Xingtian Bei, and another officer from the Xiangliu family.

Xiahou couldn't figure out how this new military camp trained its soldiers. It seemed chaotic and disorganized, to say the least.

In the same camp, two commanders had a large number of bows and arrows and encouraged their soldiers to 'play' with them—those were their exact words. Another commander took all his soldiers into the woods behind the camp, shouting and hunting wild beasts in a street thug-like brawl, with no organization or cooperation, relying solely on individual strength. They were unlucky enough to encounter a pack of hunting winged tigers. The uncoordinated new soldiers were picked off one by one by the beasts. The commander had to bring a group of armory slaves up the hill to carry back over a hundred severely injured soldiers.

Some officers, either lazy or clueless about training soldiers, simply had their men sit in the sun to practice shamanic power. Unfortunately, some of the new soldiers had high-level fire shamanic powers, absorbing the sun's energy, making themselves comfortable but scorching their nearby comrades. Several soldiers were badly burned and collapsed.

Xiahou and his group's superior was more serious, demanding they stand in formation under the blazing sun, each carrying a huge shield like a tortoise shell. This was to train them to withstand the Dongyi archers and teach them the 'Iron Wall Formation,' the most common tactic used by the Daxia army in conflicts with the Dongyi. Clearly, the most crucial aspect of this formation was the lineup.

So, carrying their iron shields, Xiahou and his comrades were ordered to stand in a thirty-by-ten grid, perfectly aligned.

Xiahou nodded silently, thinking, "Hmm, this feels a bit more like a proper army. At least they understand the importance of formations."

Problems quickly arose when the commander realized the formation was never quite right. There was always an extra soldier on the left or at the back, making it impossible to form the perfect square he desired. Furious, he cursed loudly, rearranging the unlucky soldiers as if they were wooden stakes, until he identified the issue.

Xiahou's physique was simply too unusual.

As an officer, Daxia's regulations required him to stand in the center of the formation. Dutifully, Xiahou took his place in the middle, but his shoulders were half again as broad as an average person's. When he shifted slightly to the left, the soldiers on his left had to move several steps away; when he swayed to the right, the soldier on the far right was immediately knocked out of the formation. Furthermore, his robust training in the Xuanwu True Technique had developed his chest and back muscles to twice the thickness of a normal person's. Any small movement he made caused five to eight soldiers around him to be pushed and shoved, making it impossible to maintain order.

Enraged, the commander pulled Xiahou out of the formation. With Xiahou removed, the formation finally looked somewhat acceptable, though to Xiahou, it still seemed crooked like a wall built by a blind mason. Nevertheless, it was at least somewhat aligned.

Xingtian Bei was tasked with leading the new soldiers on a slow jog around the training ground, requiring them to maintain formation while occasionally raising their shields on command. As they ran, Xiahou could hear the disorganized thumping of over a hundred footsteps. When Xingtian Bei ordered, "Raise your shields," three hundred soldiers lifted their shields in unison. Yet, with a collective cry of pain, over two hundred of them were struck by their comrades' iron shields on their legs, buttocks, foreheads, or the back of their heads. A dozen weaker soldiers were knocked to the ground.

Unable to hold it in, Xiahou clutched his stomach and burst out laughing, gasping for breath between laughs, "God, please don't send me to battle with these guys. I'd have a higher chance of being killed by them than by the enemy."

The commander, arms crossed, circled Xiahou several times, studying his long arms carefully. Finally, he nodded in satisfaction.

"Chi Hu, you're not suited for the formation. Look, with you here, we can't form a proper line! So, I think the best role for you is the army's standard bearer! From now on, you'll be responsible for carrying our camp's banner! With your physique and strength, there's no one better."

Growing more excited, the commander practically shouted, spitting as he spoke, "Look, our banner pole is six zhang tall. Only someone as mighty as you can handle it. With your strength, having killed four ninth-rank Wu warriors alone, the banner will be safe with you. Your 100 soldiers will be the flag guard. That solves everything."

Xiahou blinked in surprise, staring at the enthusiastic commander, speechless for a long moment.

Finally, he sighed and accepted his new duty with resignation. "Carrying the banner isn't so bad. But I have to say, it's not that I'm useless; it's just that the Daxia army is too bizarre. Even if I brought the top elite units from my previous life, they wouldn't be able to form a proper square with your soldiers."

In the distance, Xingtian Bei was directing a formation as they jogged around several flagpoles at the training ground's edge. Suddenly, a soldier tripped over his own foot, tumbling down and causing a chain reaction as dozens of soldiers fell over each other. The commander roared in fury and rushed over, while Xiahou, already doubled over in laughter, finally collapsed to the ground in hysterics.