Showdown, my deck is from the East.

Chapter 1279 The Only Heavy Cavalry
After entering the Stellar Era, Lu Cheng anticipates a significant increase in the number of basic combat units on both sides.

However, it was still difficult to predict that the outcome would expand to this extent.

Two million veterans from the garrisons and surrounding areas were conscripted from the capital.

The remnants of the Dongjiang forces that Huanglong gathered, including Shang Kexi's troops, amounted to less than three million.

It is estimated that 20 million young men with spiritual potential will be recruited from Dengzhou to train on Penglai Island.

Including Shen Shikui, the Ming army could muster a total of 30 million men. Before the troops moved, supplies were needed, with the logistics and militia making up two-thirds of the force.

Ten million soldiers, comprising 100 battalions
This has already far exceeded the budget.

After reconnaissance, it was found that the Zerg swarm in Lushun also had a large number of new generation (born after the Super Speed ​​World), but overall it was many times stronger than expected.

Lu Cheng couldn't possibly afford to suffer 60 million casualties.

"01. In the simulation battle, which cards caused the most kills for the enemy?" Lu Cheng tried to find the opponent's strong cards through data. If he could counter them, he could reduce a lot of casualties.

"The Golden-Winged Eight-Winged Sky Rider has an extremely high speed. None of our cards can attack or affect it. It is an absolute aerial executioner. We recommend using the Imperial Guard to gain air superiority."

“No way.” Lu Cheng shook his head: “The Plague Demon Lord is hiding in this dueling arena. It hasn’t shown itself yet. If the Xuanwu is gone, it will definitely launch a central attack on us. The casualties will be far more than ten million.”

"You're right. According to various card data, the Plague Demon Lord's power has been fully unleashed. If it's not dealt with in time, the stats of all the cards on the table will be devastatingly weakened."

Fighting in the atmosphere without an air force is no different from being in prison.

Dengzhou originally had a cavalry force.

They possessed 800 aerial iron wings, but the Nightmare Demon instigated Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming to rebel and defect, which not only greatly weakened Dengzhou's strength but also permanently deprived them of this power.

The Imperial Guards are in Tongzhou, which is too far away and cannot be mobilized. The large number of cavalry camps on the Guan-Ning defense line are also too far away. Moreover, the Emperor's influence is not strong enough at present, so it is also difficult to mobilize them.

Is there really no other way?

Lu Cheng astutely observed that although the Dengzhou cavalry had suffered heavy losses, the cavalry battalion was still intact, which meant that the Xuanwu could still launch and land airborne cavalry.

With some modifications, it would be feasible to form a small-scale Dongjiang cavalry force.

However, the high-speed iron cavalry requires an interstellar heavy industrial zone capable of encapsulating high-energy stellar elixirs. Wanggongchang was transformed from a gunpowder factory into a military factory, but at best it can be considered half an army heavy industry, and it is not yet capable of encapsulating high-energy elixirs.

A few hundred light cavalry can only play a limited role; is it really possible that not even a single heavy cavalry can be deployed at the front?

That's not true.
The Ming Dynasty also had a mobile heavy cavalry unit in Lushun.

This knight is definitely a seasoned veteran.

The Battle of Hulao Pass saw them clash with the Xiliang cavalry.

Slay the Church Paladin, and shoot down the Angel Elisa.

He followed the Qin army out of the pass, and the wolf cavalry routed for a thousand miles under the moonlight.

They drank from the northern desert, and followed Huo Qubing to seal the wolf's lair.

He charged into the burning city of Luoyang alone and killed King Ling.

During the Battle of the South China Sea, the Imperial Guards bombed enemy ships, severely damaging the Thousand-Handed Evil God.

In the battle against the sun, after the sky was covered, the counterattack destroyed four Super Gap Worms.

This legendary warrior had actually died on the battlefield long ago. According to the spiritual laws promulgated by the Tang Dynasty, such a soul would have its human perception greatly weakened, at least to the level of a third-degree disability.

His left hand even damaged his soul, and it has not been fully repaired even after he was listed as an Immortal Venerable.

There was no time to say goodbye to Fana's anxious, pretty face.

Lu Cheng's consciousness slowly sank into the tabletop, and in the game of history, he seemed to have become a card in the fluttering array of cards.

he knows.

It's time again.

We must once again fight alongside the generals in Lushun as Imperial Guards Cavalry!

After thinking it over, I turned to the side.

“Young Miss, it’s a pleasure to meet you, but it may be time for us to part again. I’m leaving Fang Luka and the maintenance of the World Domain to you. I’m going to war.”

Zhu Youxiao sat upright on the dragon throne.

No one knew that the wooden figure had become one with the throne and would never move again.

In Dengzhou, the divine bird Jingwei seemed to awaken from a deep dream and open its eyes.

"Chen Lu." "Here!"

"Put it properly, at the Earth-shaped table."

The cooks were given rations to Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng always participated in battles as an ordinary soldier, which also allowed him to test how well his troops were doing.

In Dongjiang, no one knew him; they only knew he was a cavalryman transferred from the capital by the imperial court.

Lu Cheng looked into the bowl; it contained stewed pork with snow lotus root.

Holding the bowl of food, I found the table with the character "地" (earth) on it and sat down, following the directions of heaven, earth, black, and yellow.

I put down the bowl of meat and poked around with my chopsticks. There were five or six pieces of lotus root and three or four slices of meat. The soup was cloudy, steaming when there were odd numbers of pieces and emitting cold air when there were even numbers.

Snow lotus grows when passing through the cosmic ice zone during a voyage through the Taihang Mountains.

However, due to the scarcity of spiritual energy, the yield is pitifully low, and each section requires spiritual energy to accelerate its growth, making the cost dozens of times that of ordinary lotus roots.

The meat has a coarse texture, so it is most likely not farmed. It is probably some kind of extraterrestrial beast that the quartermaster retrieved from the space hunters and supplied to the army after disease prevention treatment.

Lu Cheng began to eat.

It has a mild flavor.

As for the texture, there were many unmelted ice crystals, but when you bite into the meat, you can feel a slight warmth spreading through your body. Overall, it's not bad.

As for whether it tastes good or not, it would be strange if Lu Cheng, a dead man from the underworld, could taste anything particularly delicious.

In terms of portion size, after Lu Cheng finished eating, he roughly felt that he wasn't full but wouldn't starve either.

Given the meal rations, and considering the soldiers' intense training and cultivation, there's a possibility of insufficient spiritual energy.

But there's really no other way.

Because a fierce and bloody battle was foreseeable, Lu Cheng provided the highest standard of individual soldier rations, even more expensive than those of the Tongzhou soldiers.

The problem is, in this damn world there's nothing to eat and nothing to cook.

In the real world, peach orchards are almost shut down, and this place is even worse off. The Little Ice Age, coupled with disease and the need to guard against phytoplankton, has led Lu Cheng to spend a lot of money experimenting locally, but he can only find a few safe crops.

In addition, Zhou Yongzu was collecting grain everywhere, and Dengzhou also introduced a policy to encourage local hunters and military households to hunt wild game in outer space.

Only then can we serve the soldiers this bowl of food that has meat, vegetables, and spirit.

To prevent officials from embezzling grain, he specifically instructed Guo Shangyou that the troops in Dengzhou were about to fight a tough battle, and the grain transport must not be neglected; he must personally supervise the operation.

The Dengzhou soldiers at the same table as Lu Cheng were eating quite happily.

In the past, soldiers on the frontier during the late Ming Dynasty were not allowed to eat stewed pork with snow lotus root when they were about to die.

Some veterans even brought out homemade grain liquor, chatting and laughing. Of course, some got drunk and started fighting shirtless, which amused the onlookers.

"From the capital?" Someone walked up to Lu Cheng with a bowl in their hand.

"Yes, Chen Lu."

"The capital is great." The man plopped down. "Can't we just stay in the capital? Why come all the way here to fight?"

"To earn some money."

“It won’t be issued.” The man shook his head: “I joined the army in the year of Tianqi, and they still owe me six taels of silver and eight bolts of cloth. Now they keep changing their orders and creating new pretexts. They’re saying the silver is no longer useful and they’re going to convert it into military merits.”

"Aren't military merits useful?" Lu Cheng's face darkened. Someone else had taken all the credit.

"This is somewhat useful; at least it can be exchanged for wine. It's just that they won't give it silver."

Lu Cheng's expression softened.

Silver is of course useless now. With war at hand, military reforms are necessary. The military should be changed from psionic units to aerodynamic units, and silver should not be used as an energy-conducting metal in the military.

"Okay, brother, you eat. Things are good these days, there's fighting, so at least you can eat. I'm going to rest now, I'm going to training later."

The person left.

Lu Cheng breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed the soldiers were satisfied with the rations for the time being.

Next up is the supply battalion.

Lu Cheng wanted to test the military merit system and properly prepare his "battle opportunity".