Chapter 246: Cheng Xu Organized the Troops
Chapter 246: Cheng Xu Organized the Troops
News of the Guyuan mutiny was quickly brought back to Gaojia Village by Gao Yiye.
Interestingly, the reactions among the people of Gaojia Village, similar to the differences between Liang Shixian and Fang Wushang, were also split between the civil and military groups.
Thirty-Two, Tan Liwen, Zhao Sheng, and others listened with calm expressions: “The rebel band in Guyuan probably won’t come to our Chengcheng County. It’s in the opposite direction.”
But Cheng Xu slammed his fist hard onto the table: “This is bad. Ground Rabbit, go pass on my order right away: the Gaojia Village Militia must assemble immediately.”
A few literati looked bewildered: “Huh? Instructor He, that reaction… will the rebels come?”
Cheng Xu: “How should I know if they’ll come? But war isn’t about drawing straight lines on a map. Troop routes change unpredictably. What if officials set a checkpoint somewhere along the direct path? The rebels might detour around it. Keep detouring, and they could end up at Chengcheng County. Haven’t you forgotten Fan Shanyue? He took a strange route up the eastern slope of Zhengdong Village towards us.”
The literati were startled: “Oh no! That’s awful. Instructor He, prepare quickly. What do you need us to help with?”
Cheng Xu, face dark, ran outside…
Soon after, the Gaojia Village Militia had assembled.
At this point, the Militia was different from a few months earlier, as its numbers had grown significantly.
After the three thousand people from Qingjian County arrived, the Militia selected a large group of strong and determined young men from Qingjian County villagers and enlisted them into the ranks.
This raised the total troop count of the Militia to five hundred.
Actually, for a village of over four thousand people, a five-hundred-man militia was quite small. In those days, typical village militias involved all able-bodied young men joining up. Whenever bandits threatened, every man would grab weapons.
But Gaojia Village did not do this.
Because Li Daoxuan wouldn’t allow it.
Li Daoxuan’s ideas came from a later time, rooted deeply in separating soldiers from peasants. He did not want to mimic the Ming Dynasty’s way with garrison troops, who farmed for centuries and fully became peasants.
Therefore, the Gaojia Village Militia expanded cautiously to ensure the number of professional soldiers stayed small and never depleted all male labor.
The five hundred men stood in five small squares, each with a small squad captain standing out front.
Cheng Xu organized the Militia like the Ming army: ten men formed a small squad led by a small squad captain, and ten small squads made up a large squad under a large squad captain.
Now, the five large squad captains in Gaojia Village were men whose names even Li Daoxuan couldn’t remember. In contrast, the three idiots he always kept “Jian Zai Xian Xin” had no positions; they were just his three Guards, directly under Cheng Xu.
This wasn’t hard to understand. Nobody in all of Gaojia Village complained. If the three idiots became large squad captains, folks would probably object.
Cheng Xu stood before the five hundred men and roared loudly: “You may face the toughest fight of your lives very soon. The Guyuan border army rebelled. Some joined the bandits and might come attacking while mixed in with Bu Zhan Ni’s forces one day. Others are heading straight for Xi’an and could rush here to your doorstep any day.”
The men: “…”
“That is the border army!” Cheng Xu’s voice sounded torn: “That is the damn border army! I’m the instructor with my skills, but against an elite border soldier, I couldn’t handle even two. Think for yourselves—how many do you reckon you could fight?”
The men quick gasped. Even Instructor He couldn’t win two against one? How strong was that border army? Facing them, we’d probably…
Gao Chuwu raised his hand: “I think I can take three!”
Zheng Daniu: “If you can take three, I can also take three.”
Ground Rabbit grinned: “I can take ten.”
The men: “…”
Cheng Xu rolled his eyes: “Ground Rabbit, go run five laps around Gaojia Fortress.”
Ground Rabbit: “Eh? Why am I the only one running? Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu were boasting too. Why aren’t they punished?”
Cheng Xu was furious, “Only you’re such a big windbag.”
Ground Rabbit: “…”
Amid roaring laughter, Ground Rabbit started running.
The briefing continued on this side.
Cheng Xu: “I’ll be brutally honest. With your combat ability is complete shit, even against a border army half your size, you’d be doomed. If you faced one larger than you, you wouldn’t survive half an incense stick’s worth of time.”
Alarm flashed across everyone’s faces.
Cheng Xu: “Thankfully, we have the Deity watching over us.”
Only then did the crowd collectively sigh in relief. Right, right! Instructor He just loves scaring us. We still have the Deity watching over us.
Cheng Xu: “But the Deity is very busy. He occasionally visits other immortals and might not be there to watch over you. If you don’t fight properly, you’ll die.”
Alarm flashed across everyone’s faces again.
Cheng Xu: “That’s right, old me is scaring you for fun. Scaring you serves one damn purpose: protecting the lives of you idiots. War isn’t child’s play. Listen the hell up to my orders! Only charge when I shout charge! When old me damn well shouts retreat, retreat even faster than me, got it? Retreat faster than me and you’ll definitely survive, because my escape skills are top-notch.”
The crowd responded loudly in unison: “Yes, sir!”
After Cheng Xu’s mix of motivational speech, threats, and curses, he finally said, “Check your equipment.”
The militia immediately began inspecting their gear.
All five hundred men already had armor. This was thanks to the increasing number of craftsmen in Gaojia Village. Higher wages attracted more people into the profession, as many commoners willingly joined the artisans’ well as apprentices.
Making armor plates wasn’t particularly difficult, and they could learn it quickly.
As for cotton cloth, the significant increase in the female population of Gaojia Village drastically boosted cloth production. This wasn’t only sufficient for armor-making but also allowed all villagers to buy cotton cloth at very low prices to make clothes.
Thus, the speed of making the cotton armor in Gaojia Village had also considerably increased, fully equipping all five hundred men.
Gaojia Village didn’t just make cotton armor; they also produced higher-grade gear, like the Mountain-patterned Armor Cheng Xu was already wearing. The Mountain-patterned Armor looked handsome and offered decent protection, serving both practical combat and ceremonial purposes, perfectly suited for a “person in authority” like him.
As for those two monsters, Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu, their monstrous physiques allowed them to wear heavier armor. Consequently, these two were almost entirely encased in iron armor. The plates wrapped their entire bodies, making them look like two giant iron men, terrifying beyond measure.
Additionally, all five hundred men were equipped with spears tipped with iron points, hand crossbows, and waist knives. Their gear was remarkably comprehensive.
The most interesting part…
The village also had ten small toys the blacksmiths made while practicing their skills. Li Daoxuan considered them useless, but the villagers saw them as fearsome weapons: Three-Eyed Divine Firearms.
In short, the five-hundred-strong militia of Gaojia Village were armed to the teeth.
Except for the lack of horses, everything else was quite perfect.