The Mythical Version of the Three Kingdoms: The Evil God Arrives

Chapter 517: Qiang people cross the border, and the cavalry goes west

"Do you really think Bo Yuan doesn't know about talent smelting?" Zhang Ji said with a sneer. After all, Zhang Xiu had been in the army for ten years, how could he not know about talent smelting? At most, it was because the internal energy could not be smelted out of the body, so he didn't have a deep understanding of it, but he still knew some basic knowledge.

After hearing what Zhang Ji said, Fan Chou and Li Jue immediately looked at Zhang Xiu, wanting to confirm with him whether what Zhang Ji said was true.

"My two uncles, what my uncle said is indeed true. Although I have some understanding of talent smelting, it is only basic knowledge." Zhang Xiu shook his head. He joined the army after he achieved the state of internal energy leaving the body. The only reason he could understand the knowledge related to talent smelting was because he was in this environment. After all, many veterans within the Xiliang Iron Cavalry had undergone smelting.

"No wonder Old Zhang dared to let you, who had just arrived, serve as a military marquis. None of the 500 men under your command dared to stab anyone." Li Jue said with emotion. He still remembered his original doubts.

You should know that the organizational structure of the Western Liang Iron Cavalry is pyramid-shaped, which means that the higher the rank of the cavalry, the stronger their combat effectiveness. The combat effectiveness of Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou and Zhang Ji is the pinnacle of the Western Liang Iron Cavalry in Guanzhong.

“Bo Yuan is not even thirty years old this year, is he? He has already achieved the state of internal energy leaving his body before he is thirty. He is indeed stronger than us old guys.” Li Jue was surprised that Zhang Xiu had achieved the state of internal energy leaving his body when he was less than twenty years old.

"Boyuan is already thirty-two years old this year. Zhiran, is this how you treat him as an uncle?" Zhang Ji looked at Li Jue with disdain.

"Just tell me whether Bo Yuan achieved the state of internal energy leaving the body before he was 30 years old?" Li Jue was not at all embarrassed, he just emphasized that Zhang Xiu had achieved the state of internal energy leaving the body before he was 30 years old.

Li Jue and his companions had no intention of exploring why Zhang Xiu had not demonstrated his ability to leave his body with internal energy in the past ten years. It was better to pretend to be ignorant about many things. After all, Zhang Ji's doting on Zhang Xiu did not escape their sight.

If they were in the same situation as Zhang Ji, they might do the same thing as Zhang Ji. After all, after all these years, Zhang Ji only had Zhang Xiu as his nephew.

"Bo Yuan, relying on our own smelting levels, we do have the ability to hunt for internal Qi leaving the body under the clouds." Li Jue said with a serious face.

"Even in a one-on-one duel, we can hold our own in a short period of time. Of course, the premise is that we are under the clouds," Fan Chou added.

"And just now, Lao Fan was knocked away during the palm fight with you. Do you know what this means?" Zhang Ji looked at Zhang Xiu seriously.

Because it was Zhang Ji who asked the question, Zhang Xiu subconsciously asked, "What does it mean?"

"It means that our combat effectiveness has seriously declined without reducing the number of smelting layers." Fan Chou's face was gloomy.

"It means that our will has declined, which in turn has led to a serious decline in our combat effectiveness." Li Jue sighed. It also means that they have fallen into the prosperity of Guanzhong.

"We are all at the sixth level of smelting. Theoretically, as long as the smelting level does not drop, our quality will not decline.

Therefore, at this level, the only thing that determines the combat effectiveness is the strength of one's own will. "Zhang Ji slowly told them the current problems.

"This..." Zhang Xiu looked at his uncle. Li You's subsequent letter also explained to them why the Feixiong Army, which was once the pinnacle of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, was defeated by the Xianzhen Army.

The Feixiong Army was the Xiliang cavalry that was closest to Dong Zhuo's will, so after Dong Zhuo fell, most of the Feixiong Army soldiers also fell.

Even though Fei Xiong, as a cavalryman, did not ride a horse when he was defeated by the Xianzhen formation, but as mounted infantry, could the Xiliang Iron Cavalry not fight without horses?
If such a Xiliang Iron Cavalry really appeared, then this Xiliang Iron Cavalry was fake. How could it be that the Xiliang Iron Cavalry couldn't fight on infantry?

The Feixiong Army, as the pinnacle of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, will not lose the basic qualities of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry even if they become the soul of the army. They are the most capable group of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, both in infantry and cavalry combat.

It can only be said that the Feixiong Army had indeed fallen into depravity at that time, otherwise, even if the infantry combat could not defeat the Xianzhen formation, they would not have been completely wiped out by the Xianzhen formation, leaving only the 300 people that the military advisor had sent out of Chang'an in advance.

You know, what the Xiliang Iron Cavalry was most proud of was their defensive ability, but the Feixiong Army was massacred by the Xianzhen Camp.

"Our current situation is similar to that of Fei Xiong back then. Our will has also been corrupted." Zhang Ji said painfully.

Li Jue and Fan Chou did not refute Zhang Ji's statement. As veterans who had undergone six levels of training, they knew very well what their current condition was.

Before, they were just like Fei Xiong before he was killed by the explosion in the trap, they firmly believed that they had not fallen into the prosperity of Guanzhong.

However, the sight of Zhang Xiu sending Fan Chou flying with one palm just now made it impossible for them to deceive themselves. The reality was that they had already fallen, and the willpower of them and their cavalry was no longer as strong as before.

"Perhaps the military advisor asked us to withdraw from Yongliang and go to the Western Regions to guard the border because he noticed this." Zhang Ji said rather desolately.

Looking at the bleak expressions of his uncle and his two uncles, Zhang Xiu opened his mouth and wanted to say that they could not go to the Western Regions, but instead join Liu Bei. After all, Hua Xiong and his uncle Hua were also working under Liu Bei, and even Fei Xiong was under Liu Bei.

"Bo Yuan, there is no way for us to join Lord Xuande's army, but it's different for you." Zhang Ji looked at Zhang Xiu seriously.

"So, after we withdraw from Yongliang, you will take your troops to Luoyang. The military advisor and Lord Xuande will be there." Zhang Ji instructed Zhang Xiu.

Li Jue and Fan Chou remained silent. Li You's letter just now had made it very clear that Liu Bei, as a relative of the Han royal family, could not accept them because of their behavior towards the imperial mausoleum in Luoyang.

However, in view of their contribution to the reopening of the Zhengguo Canal and the saving of millions of lives, they could be allowed to take everything they had and go to the Western Regions to serve as the Wu Ji Cavalry Captains to guard the borders for the Han Empire.

"uncle……"

"Okay, Boyuan." Zhang Ji interrupted Zhang Xiu, "We used to fight against foreign tribes, and now we are just returning to our old ways."

"Besides, when Lord Xuande reorganizes the world, he will definitely start to manage the Western Regions again. If we can make achievements in the Western Regions, then we will have the opportunity to return to the Central Plains."

Zhang Ji was still relatively optimistic about this matter. After all, their military advisor was still there and would not let them stay in the Western Regions to guard the border until they died without returning home.

"Bo Yuan, you have to believe in the ability of the military advisor. As long as we don't give up, the military advisor will not give up on us." Zhang Ji said this very seriously, and made Zhang Xiu realize the importance of Li You to their Xiliang faction. "Okay, we have to prepare for the withdrawal from Yongliang. Bo Yuan, you should also go to organize the army and prepare to go to Luoyang." Li Jue patted Zhang Xiu's shoulder. Zhang Xiu was still young, and he didn't want Zhang Xiu to go to the Western Regions with them.

Moreover, Hua Xiong's Feixiong Army needs a successor, a successor from the Xiliang faction. At least within three generations, the chief general of the Feixiong Army and the political assets left by Hua Xiong under Liu Bei must be inherited by someone from the Xiliang faction.

Otherwise, even if Liu Bei rebuilt the Han Dynasty, those who corrupted their Xiliang Iron Cavalry behind the scenes would not let their Xiliang faction go.

Although Li Jue was only a branch of the Longxi Li family's branch, the aristocratic family was not concerned with the difference between the main branch and the branch.

In the early days, due to Liu Bei's strength, Li You's existence, and the strength of the Three Idiots themselves, those families that had been harmed by the Three Idiots might not take action against the Xiliang faction, but when their generation passed away, those families would have to settle accounts.

……

Three days later, Li Jue wrote to Liu Xie, saying that he was going to the Western Regions to guard the border for the Han Dynasty.

Li Jue wrote a letter saying that he wanted to go to the Western Regions to serve as the Wu Ji Cavalry Captain, which caused an uproar in the court. No one knew what the Western Liang Cavalry was doing.

Although they were shocked by the choice of Li Jue and others, Liu Xie, Fu Wan, Dong Cheng and others believed that this was because the Western Liang Iron Cavalry was afraid of their newly formed Southern Army and Xiyuan headquarters. Apart from this reason, they could not think of what the purpose of the Western Liang Iron Cavalry's withdrawal from Yongliang was.

Although they were surprised that Li Jue and others were fleeing when the Yu Nan Army and Xiyuan headquarters had not yet been rebuilt, they would not stop them since the Xiliang Cavalry retreated on their own initiative, and they could not stop them either.

Under such circumstances, Liu Xie and others agreed to Li Jue's request and appointed Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou and Zhang Ji as Wu Ji colonels and granted them fake imperial seals and axe powers, and ordered them to go to the Western Regions to take up their posts immediately.

"Hey, the rank of Wu Ji Xiaowei with a salary of 600 stones is actually an additional title for the little emperor?" Guo Si sneered while holding the imperial edict in his hand.

“What else can we do?” Li Jue sneered. Except for the rank of Colonel Wu Ji, the other official titles and ranks they possessed were basically spoils of war obtained from Liu Xie. It seemed that the only one who was truly conferred an honor by the Emperor of the Han Dynasty was the rank of Colonel Wu Ji.

"Okay, let's stop talking about these useless things. Let's discuss the matter of going to the Western Regions to take up our post." Zhang Ji said with a headache: "How many troops do we need to take to the Western Regions?"

According to the rules, the soldiers under the command of Captain Wu Ji would not exceed a thousand people. Even if the strength of the four Captains Wu Ji was added together, it would not exceed five thousand people at most. And all the Xiliang Iron Cavalry in Guanzhong added up to about fifty thousand people.

If it was just a problem of the number of officials and troops under their command, Zhang Ji would not have a headache about it. After all, they were the ones who dared to blackmail the young emperor. It was just that the number of troops under their command was overstaffed. It was not a big deal at all.

What's important is whether the Western Regions can afford to support 50,000 elite cavalrymen. Moreover, they will not have any civil officials accompanying them on this trip to the Western Regions, and the young Emperor Liu Xie in Chang'an will definitely not supply them with food and fodder.

In other words, after they arrived in the Western Regions, the few Wu Ji captains could only rely on extorting supplies from the locals, otherwise their 50,000 men would be left with nothing.

"It is impossible for us to take all 50,000 people with us. A single small country in the Western Regions cannot provide supplies for 50,000 cavalrymen, unless we wander around without a fixed base." Zhang Ji slowly told the biggest trouble they would encounter on this trip to the Western Regions.

"Take our four headquarters with you, and let Bo Yuan take the rest to the military advisor in Luoyang." Li Jue said. This was not the first time they had encountered food shortages, whether in Liangzhou or before the Zhengguo Canal was restarted.

"It would be great if Bo Yuan could bring them to Luoyang." Zhang Ji shook his head. "In addition to our headquarters, some of the remaining people were involved in the Luoyang Imperial Mausoleum incident."

"Haven't we already taken responsibility for the crime?" Li Jue frowned. It seemed that they still took the matter too lightly.

"There are too many people, and it's not just about the Luoyang Imperial Mausoleum." Zhang Ji shook his head. If it was just about the Luoyang Imperial Mausoleum, they would just take the responsibility, but there were some things that even these evil people would not be able to help but take action to clean up those people after seeing them.

"Is that so..." Li Jue was silent. It seemed that the degree of depravity of the Guanzhong Xiliang Iron Cavalry was even beyond his imagination.

"Military Advisor, what is your opinion on this matter?" Fan Chou took over the topic and asked. With the help of Zhang Xiu, they have now contacted Li You.

"The military advisor said that some Qiang tribes in Liangzhou have crossed the border." Zhang Ji said expressionlessly.

"The Qiang people have crossed the border..." Fan Chou's voice was a little vague. They had clearly just fought a battle with the Qiang people not long ago, but now it felt like it happened a long time ago.

"Among those people, there should be many who don't want to go to the Western Regions with us, right?" Li Jue suddenly asked.

"Except for our headquarters, there are probably only about 5,000 people willing to follow us to the Western Regions." Zhang Ji looked at Li Jue and said.

"I remember that, Lao Zhang, you transferred 5,000 men from your command to Bo Yuan, right?" Li Jue asked again.

"Yeah." Zhang Ji nodded expressionlessly.

"Haha, it seems that among us, your men, Old Zhang, are the most determined. They are able to allocate 5,000 men to Bo Yuan." Fan Chou laughed. What Zhang Ji said just now was in addition to their headquarters.

There were probably over 50,000 Xiliang cavalrymen in Guanzhong, each of whom was commanded by four of them with over 10,000 men. However, their headquarters also had 5,000 men, and the remaining 5,000 were commanded by their deputy generals. Zhang Ji's deputy general was Zhang Xiu.

"You still underestimate the means of those aristocratic families. According to your will, this should not be the case." Zhang Ji shook his head. Especially Li Jue, he had some relationship with the Longxi Li family, but he was still corrupted by the aristocratic families.

Li Jue, Guo Si, and Fan Chou were silent. Li Jue said, "No wonder you didn't want to stay in the Northern Army camp before, but instead wanted to go to Hongnong to camp."

"Unfortunately, even if I wanted to remind you before, you probably wouldn't listen to me." Zhang Ji sighed. Before the Zhengguo Canal was restarted, the relationship between them was very tense.

(End of this chapter)