Chapter 948 Heavy Armored Cavalry!

Si Niang fetched a hot towel, and Zheng Fan took it, first wiping his face and then his hands.

There were several piles of memorials in front of him.

Fortunately, with the help of Si Niang and the Blind Man, logistical military affairs could be completely delegated to them. Zheng Fan only needed to be responsible for the military aspects.

In the past, whenever the army went on an expedition, two demon kings had to be left at home to guard it. Now, there was no need for that. A group of "second echelon" officials, led by Sun Ying, Chen Daole, and He Chunlai, had grown up and could take on important responsibilities. Xiong Liqing and Yue Xin could also be responsible for supervision.

Xu Wenzu in the distance would continuously provide various needs from Jinzhong, Jinxi, and Yandi to Jindong. The home front could also make arrangements for receiving and distributing supplies.

In short, he could free up his hands as much as possible to face and cope with the upcoming war.

The carriage continued to move forward, and the royal flag fluttered above.

At this moment, on the land of Jindong, hundreds of thousands of people, whether regular soldiers, laborers, or auxiliary soldiers, were gathering and being deployed under the call of this banner.

And this,

was only the first wave.

"I heard that Tian Tian killed a young one from the Hailan family?" Zheng Fan asked casually.

The Blind Man responded, "Yes."

"Is it as stated in the memorial?" Zheng Fan asked.

"Yes," the Blind Man confirmed.

This matter was not small. After all, that Hailande from the Hailan family also had an official position, although he wasn't like his two older brothers who had served in the royal guards; there was a bit of a gap like the difference between Zheng Fan's former Merchant Protector Commandant and the Zhenbei Army Commandant.

But to "execute him according to military law" like that, reports from all sides were essential.

There were a total of four reports.

One was from Chen Xianba, after all, he was the general in charge of receiving this group of wild men as auxiliary soldiers, and also the highest-ranking general present at the time. Chen Xianba's account affirmed Tian Tian's actions.

One was from Tian Tian himself. The report mainly described the cause of the incident and his reasons for immediately killing Hailande.

One was from the Jinyi (Brocade-Clad) personal guards who were present at the time. Over the years, the Jinyi personal guards had long since been more than just the prince's personal guards. Although it wasn't obvious on the surface, they were actually undertaking the duties of the "Jinyi Wei" (imperial secret police).

The last one was from the Hailan tribe, personally submitted by the Hailan tribe leader, Hailan Yanggu.

Well, as the aggrieved party, Hailan Yanggu was here, fiercely cursing his slain youngest son as being absurd, hateful, and utterly heinous, deserving of death to uphold military law and appease the army!

He said it was a good kill, a wonderful kill, as if even if Tian Tian hadn't killed him, he would have been impatient to kill this youngest son himself.

The Hailan tribe's reaction was normal.

To put it bluntly, what was Tian Tian's identity? What was the identity of the deceased Hailande? Even, what did your Hailan tribe amount to, compared to Tian Tian?

Let alone killing him according to military law,

even if it was purely venting personal anger,

what qualifications did you have to complain in front of the prince?

Zheng Fan laughed and said, "At first, I thought Hailan Zhong was playing some trick of borrowing a knife to kill someone."

Hailan Yanggu had three sons. The eldest and second sons had both been sent to Zheng Fan's side early on to serve as Jinyi personal guards and were given the names Hailan Zhong and Hailan Cheng.

Hailan Cheng was still working in Fengxin City. Due to some health problems later, he was basically no longer in the military but had transferred to civil service. The Standard Household Office had to place one or two officials from wild man backgrounds inside, and he was one of them.

Hailan Zhong, on the other hand, had been sent back to the snowy plains two years ago and was basically the designated successor of the Hailan tribe.

The reason Zheng Fan had this suspicion was that the rule on the snowy plains should be that the youngest son guards the family business, while the other elder sons are sent out to continue fighting for the development of the tribe and to expand their living space.

As Hailan Yanggu's health worsened, Hailan Zhong sent this obstructive younger brother over and then used some means to "borrow a knife to kill someone." It seemed reasonable.

Mainly, Zheng Fan had become accustomed to conspiracy theories and liked to ponder things in this way; it had become a fixed mindset.

The Blind Man laughed and said:

"There shouldn't be any hidden secrets. Hailan Zhong is, after all, someone who has stayed by your side, my lord, and has also been warned by your subordinate. Let alone the fact that he already has great power in the Hailan tribe and has almost hollowed out his father's authority, even if he wanted to borrow a knife to kill someone, he wouldn't dare to borrow the knife of our Prince's Mansion.

If that were the case, it would be better to write a letter over here, proactively explaining the situation and asking the Prince's Mansion to help him deal with the burdens of the tribe."

Zheng Fan nodded and said, "I was overthinking it. It's really a bit unusual.

For such a simple...idiot to appear in the memorials."

So stupid and real, so stupid and pure,

even,

stupid and a little pitiful;

As a young master of the tribe, he died for a few steamed buns, even if they were steamed buns with filling, it was really a bit...incomprehensible.

"My lord, no matter when, in this world, the people who understand how to advance and retreat, recognize the times, and understand the big picture are always in the minority. Idiots will always be the majority.

Moreover, with your current identity and status, my lord, those who can come into contact with you and those you can come into contact with are all dragons and phoenixes among men. Ordinary idiots rarely have the opportunity to show their faces in front of you.

Moreover, it wasn't that he wanted those few steamed buns. It's just that those at the top have become accustomed to being at the top. Even if the entire Hailan tribe is also a dog tied to the snowy plains by our Prince's Mansion, the Hailan tribe is already one of the largest tribes on the snowy plains.

The steamed buns are secondary; the main thing is his arrogance, which crossed the bottom line, but he himself didn't have the qualifications to cross the bottom line."

"Blind Man, does your remark seem to be mocking me?"

"This subordinate wouldn't dare. Back then, we were arrogant, but before our strength matured, you knelt down quite a few times, my lord. Back then, when we did things, we didn't dare to overstep the boundaries."

If someone else were to expose the shortcomings in front of a superior, the consequences would probably be bad.

Just like those fellow villagers who came to join Chen Sheng and Wu Guang after their uprising and told stories of their days together as commoners.

But the Blind Man was different. Chatting about these things could only be called reminiscing about the past glorious years.

"To put it bluntly, people like the Empress's maternal family, who know their place and know the boundaries, are still in the minority. Most people, when suddenly raised to a high position, still find it difficult not to be arrogant.

This time, it's quite appropriate. Someone took the initiative to send their head to be sacrificed, which saved us the trouble of finding one."

Zheng Fan rubbed his brows and said;

"Hailan Yanggu is old, and Hailan Zhong is still young. Do you think we might raise another wild man king?"

"My lord, do you not have confidence in Xianba, or do you not have confidence in Tian Tian?

To take a step back,

there's still our Lin'er."

"Hehe, yes, yes, yes, the next generation has grown up, and we can let go and have some fun."

Zheng Fan and the demon kings had never really considered anything about lasting forever;

But the foundation they had built was too much of a waste if it were to be scattered after their deaths. After all, there was some emotional investment.

Fortunately, the growth and succession of the next generation were extremely strong, so there was no need to worry about the issue of successors at all.

Chen Xianba was a person of great courage. To a certain extent, he was actually another replica of the Jingnan Prince.

In the prophecy, he led his troops to defeat the Qian Kingdom, turning the Great Qian into Southern Qian, and then fought to the death for the Yan Kingdom;

Now, he had been raised by his side for so many years, and there was no problem with his character.

As for Tian Tian, there was even less of a chance of there being a problem.

And his own cub,

Although he, as a father, liked daughters more than sons, it was undeniable that his own son was definitely not someone who was willing to suffer losses.

The carriage stopped at this moment,

Zheng Fan got up, got out of the carriage, opened the curtain, and came outside.

On the side of the road,

Hailan Yanggu and Hailan Zhong were kneeling there;

Hailan Yanggu was ill, and he was now almost leaning on his son's side to maintain some balance. Hailan Zhong's lips were pale and chapped, obviously having knelt for a while.

Seeing the prince come out, Hailan Yanggu immediately knelt upright and kowtowed.

"Your Highness...This slave failed to educate his son properly, please punish me, Your Highness."

Hailan Zhong then punched his own chest:

"Your Highness, this subordinate is willing to demote himself to a convict soldier and be a vanguard for Your Highness!"

Looking at this pair of father and son, Zheng Fan didn't really feel much pity in his heart. He slowly tidied his sleeves and said;

"Alright, go do what you need to do. I'm not that idle, and I'm too lazy to nag with you here.

Hailan Yanggu."

"This slave is here."

"Go back and take care of your illness. Don't simply die of illness on the road just to see me. I don't care if the snowy plains will develop any feelings of rabbit-dies-fox-grieves-over-its-kind; I don't want to feel uncomfortable in my own heart."

"This slave understands, this slave will definitely take care of his body."

"Hailan Zhong."

"This subordinate is here!"

"Go back and manage your Hailan tribe properly. Next, I will continue to transfer snow plains auxiliary soldiers to the pass to fight. If anything goes wrong again, bring your head to see me."

"This subordinate obeys!"

Zheng Fan waved his hand.

"This slave takes his leave!"

"This subordinate takes his leave."

After sending away the Hailan family, Zheng Fan instructed those around him:

"Let's go directly to Zhennan Pass. Don't delay."

"Understood!"

...

The troops under Tan Dayong were already deployed in the area of Zhennan Pass. He didn't know that not far from here, his two younger brothers had recently experienced something.

There were too many people in the army. Unless your status and position reached a certain level, it was difficult to find someone.

The adjutant general ordered the soldiers to gather, mount their horses, and form a formation.

Rumor in the army had it that the prince had arrived at Zhennan Pass.

Tan Dayong took a deep breath. The gathering in the past few days and the marching in these days had completely immersed him in his current role.

In the area in front of them was a high platform, with three large flags standing on it.

They were the Great Yan Black Dragon Flag, the Jindong Two-Headed Eagle Flag, and the Royal Flag.

"All of you, buck up! Don't embarrass our southwestern region!"

"Buck up! Order! Order! Order!"

"Did you hear that? Stand up straight and let the prince see our demeanor!"

There were no factions in the Jindong army, especially with the implementation of the Standard Household system, which weakened the possibility of generals regarding soldiers as their private troops as much as possible. Five years ago, the prince personally went to Xuehai Pass and directly took down General Ke Yandongge of Xuehai Pass, which was the best example;

Over the years, with the improvement of various systems, it could be said that the power in the army had been further centralized. Standard Households were loyal to the Prince's Mansion, and Standard Household soldiers were naturally also loyal to the Prince's Mansion;

But even without the factions of "main generals," the Standard Households themselves actually had a sense of regional belonging. It wasn't purely distinguished by ethnic characteristics, because during allocation, ethnic components had long been broken up. Which family didn't have wild man households? Which family didn't have barbarian households? Not to mention Yan people, Jin people, and Chu people.

Therefore, everyone talked about regions.

Xuehai Pass and Zhennan Pass had to become districts on their own, the area near Fengxin City became a district, and the left and right generals each became districts. In addition, the four largest districts were actually the four-way reclamation system area centered on Fengxin City.

In essence, it was considered to have broken away from ethnic boundaries and formed an internal reintegration in the name of the collective.

Everyone actually understood that this posture was obviously going to be a martial arts demonstration and military parade.

The commandants began to shout loudly and scold their subordinates, adjusting their state to the best, after all, they would receive an inspection from the prince next.

"Pay attention, everyone. This isn't a training exercise, this isn't a training exercise, we're really going to war. If anyone is a coward, they can only go to the flanks at that time. Our southwestern region wants to grab the main attack!"

Tan Dayong's father had said that when he attended meetings in Fengxin City, he felt that they were going to fight;

After Tan Dayong joined the army and saw so many troops, so many military flags, and then saw the logistics, the continuously gathering laborers, and the large-scale transportation of food, grass, and military equipment;

He was also sure that they were going to fight, and not the kind of gathering a part of the troops for training, or going to the snowy plains to fight unruly wild tribes, going to the Tianduan Mountains to suppress bandits, or going to Mengshan for drills;

Such a big battle,

They were going to fight a big one!

The reason was very simple. With so many people and so many supplies being transported, it was impossible to get to this point unless they were really going to fight a big one, otherwise, the cost would be too high.

"Rise!"

The adjutant general raised the knife in his hand, ordering the adjutant to immediately convey the order downwards. The commandants of each unit also began to issue orders in stages, and the centurions further divided the order. In the end, even the squad leaders had to issue instructions clearly and loudly to their subordinates around them.

This wasn't troublesome, nor was it formalism. The more complete the basic establishment of an army, the more powerful combat effectiveness it could exert in a real war.

Why were the Qian Kingdom's armies so poor in the early stages? Because basically the main general took his own family soldiers to charge, and the other soldiers followed. Once a weakness was exposed at the front, the family soldier team would retreat, and others would naturally retreat with them;

During the Second Wangjiang Battle, the Jingnan Prince led the elite iron cavalry of the Great Yan to divide the wild man army led by the Wild Man King on the main battlefield. What collapsed first was actually the command system of the wild man army. At that time, the morale of the wild men was high, and they were aroused by Gou Moli to howl and demand a bloody battle. However, once they fell into a state of confusion on the battlefield, everything was in vain.

On the main battlefield, when casualties reached about 20-30%, it was almost time for a collapse to end. Whoever could grit their teeth and hold on for a while longer would have a much greater chance of winning. A real bloody battle to the annihilation of the entire army could only be a special battle case caused by special terrain conditions.

Tan Dayong began to move. They galloped past the open space in front of the high platform in as orderly and solemn a manner as possible. His eyes glanced at the high platform. Although he shouldn't be able to see anything, because the dust was flying and it was far away, the majestic figure standing under the royal flag on the high platform suddenly appeared in his mind.

After one lap, the team returned to the formation.

Tan Dayong felt that his side had performed very well,

until,

He saw a troop of soldiers marching past them.

That troop of soldiers was carrying the military flag of "General Wei."

The three great general titles of Jindong,

Jin Shuke, General Wei;

Li Chenghui, General of Chariots and Cavalry;

Liang Cheng, Great General.

These three could be said to be the three giants of the Jindong military at present.

Actually, Li Chenghui's side was being considered because he was an outsider, and after he was transferred to Jindong, he was very cooperative and proactive in his attitude. Based on this, the Prince's Mansion naturally couldn't treat him unfairly.

Most importantly, after they had gone to the trouble of bringing people from far away, it wouldn't be appropriate if you didn't arrange things well for them.

Jin Shuke's troop was truly well-trained. After they passed by, Tan Dayong admitted that his side was inferior to the troops under General Wei.

Immediately afterward,

Troops with the flag of "General of Chariots and Cavalry" appeared. This troop was inherited from the Zhenbei Army's military town. Although it had been subjected to Standard Household treatment, in order to maintain its combat power, it was also retained to the greatest extent possible.

It could be said that the average age of this troop should be the highest among all the troops, but no one dared to underestimate them. After all, on the battlefield, the most terrifying thing was the veteran soldiers.

When they marched, they didn't deliberately pursue absolute uniformity in the ranks. Instead, they presented a somewhat casual appearance, but the baleful aura that radiated from them was so strong.

No one wanted to face such an opponent on the main battlefield. They would very skillfully cut you into pieces, divide you up, and eat you away. Even if you wanted to find an opportunity to exchange your life, you would have to see if you had the luck.

Tan Dayong subconsciously swallowed his saliva, because he was in the front row, so he could see the expression on his adjutant general's face, which was somewhat gloomy.

This was the frustration of being outdone.

"Long live! Long live! Long live!"

At this time,

Three loud shouts came from behind.

Tan Dayong subconsciously turned his head to look. As long as they maintained their formation as much as possible, they weren't required to remain motionless, so the sound immediately attracted the attention of many military formations.

He saw the flag of "Great General" hanging high above;

Tan Dayong knew that the number one figure in the Jindong army, below the prince, was this Great General. Legend had it that he had followed the prince very early on and had obtained the prince's true inheritance of military strategy.

In front,

A person riding a pixiu (mythical wild beast) raised a long knife and slashed it down.

"Jindong Iron Cavalry, rise!"

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

The next moment,

A roar that made the earth tremble struck.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A troop of heavy armored cavalry, under the guidance of the general flag, began to accelerate in accordance with the frequency.

The magnificent and oppressive atmosphere, accompanied by the appearance of this heavy armored cavalry, made everyone present feel what was meant by suffocating despair!

Tan Dayong's hand even began to tremble uncontrollably.

On the battlefield,

Who could face such a heavy armor?

There was no doubt that anything that dared to stand in front of it would be crushed to powder in an instant.

...

On the high platform;

The Blind Man took a step forward and leaned close to Zheng Fan, whispering:

"My lord, this is the three thousand heavy armored cavalry that A Cheng personally created."

Si Niang, who was beside him, dressed in gorgeous attire and accompanied the prince as the princess to inspect the troops, laughed and said:

"Very expensive."

Not to mention the specially made armor for the men, the specially made armor for the horses, special weapons, logistical proportions, and the selection of soldiers,

Just looking at the fact that there were so many pixiu among those mounts, one could feel what it meant to use real gold and silver...no, and the relationship with the imperial court. This was truly the elite of the elite, created with a true investment, the battlefield's killing machine in this era!

Even Sha Tuo Que Shi at his peak, if he had encountered such an iron cavalry in front of the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion, he would probably have asked for death and gotten it in an instant.

Liang Cheng faced forward with his blade:

"Charge!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The thunderous sound of horses' hooves suddenly accelerated, and the terrifying heavy armored torrent revealed its true ferocity!

Standing on the high platform, the prince had sharp eyes,

He seemed to see that,

Equally ferocious, should also be A Cheng's face, which should have been cold and unwavering.

That's right,

When the other demon kings followed him to the capital, A Cheng was training soldiers;

When the other demon kings followed him to travel and play, A Cheng was training soldiers;

When the other demon kings followed him to level up, A Cheng was still training soldiers;

If he compared what he had seen, heard, felt, and realized since he woke up in this life to a scroll, then in this scroll, A Cheng had far too many blank spaces.

The prince interrupted the complaints of his two "housekeepers" about A Cheng's money-burning,

and said;

"Alas, be nicer to A Cheng."