This is what an immortal should be like

Chapter 277 Military Formations
In the sky somewhere in the Taihang Mountains, sunlight cast a golden glow through the clouds, and a figure watched the battle below. The fierce fighting and the murderous aura of the battlefield almost eroded half of the sky.

To the average person, the sky appears blue with white clouds, but to the figure of the Buddha's light, the sky and the ground below are all blood-red.

The two swallows had fought each other more than once, but this was the first time that the people of Fo Guang Shan had truly looked at them.

"Amitabha Buddha, this is how mortals are, destined to be tormented in the sea of ​​suffering life after life, beyond redemption. Only by believing in Buddha can they find a way out, end their worldly ties, and ascend to the Pure Land!"

As he muttered to himself, the person in the Buddha's light looked towards the other side of the two armies. Murong Yong's army was retreating in defeat, and where Murong Chui was, a dragon aura was faintly stirring up the wind and clouds.

"It seems that this Murong of Zhongshan has the aura of an emperor. If his destiny is fulfilled, Buddhist teachings will surely dispel his malevolent energy!"

That being said, the person in the Buddha's light looked down, the bloodstains radiating a murderous aura, and his eyes revealed a clear disdain.

The fighting below continued, but the Buddha's light had already disappeared into the horizon.

Murong Yong was defeated and retreated. Murong Chui was overjoyed and shouted for pursuit, then led his army forward.

After a fierce battle, it was clear that Murong Chui's side had won. As the emperor, he regained his confidence and hurriedly ordered his soldiers to pursue the enemy.

Zhu Shengcai and his entourage were eager to see the warriors of the Trapped Camp.

The commander of the Trapped Camp was also clever. When the battle was halfway through, the Trapped Camp slowed down its charge and then retreated to rest, seemingly due to exhaustion and heavy losses. At this moment, it could not keep up with the fastest cavalry at the front of the battlefield, nor could it keep up with the other infantry charging forward.

Zhu Shengcai rode over with several generals from the Great Yan Army and rushed to the Trapped Camp. He saw that everyone was covered in blood and they couldn't tell if they were enemies or themselves. It was a very miserable sight.

"Oh dear, oh dear, what are we going to do? My Zhu family spent a fortune training a battalion of elite warriors, and now they've all been wiped out in this battle!"

The Xianbei noble general on the side was also full of admiration for the troops in front of him, but seeing that few of them could stand up, they were obviously useless.

"Brother, you have accomplished a great feat this time, so don't worry!"

"Alas, I am a businessman. What use are military merits to me? Is anyone still standing? Retreat! Retreat!"

Zhu Shengcai looked extremely distressed, as if he had suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly faced the people around him on horseback.

"General, I'm not talking about deserting in the face of battle. Now that our army has won, it shouldn't be a problem for me to leave with my family and soldiers, right?"

"Oh, that's true, but these military merits haven't been tallied yet."

"What's the point of military merit? Sigh, this deal is a loss."

As Zhu Shengcai spoke, he called to the men he had brought, and then laborers came with carts and some old horses, leading the Trapped Camp to withdraw from the battlefield first.

The Xianbei nobles who witnessed this scene beamed with joy, for this was a voluntary relinquishment of military merit.

In battles where victory has already been secured, the next step is to seize the credit. Everyone else is eager for the defeated troops to retreat, and they even leave without tallying their military achievements, to which no one objects.

Even the Xianbei general who had a good relationship with Zhu Shengcai couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

He's just an ignorant merchant, a greedy and opportunistic person. If it weren't for his good mother, he wouldn't have amounted to anything.

The upper class in Zhongshan City now knows that although the mother of the wealthy merchant Zhu Shengcai, Madam Kuang, is a woman, she is exceptionally intelligent and not to be underestimated.

The battle was not over yet, but the Trapped Battalion retreated quite quickly and soon reached their own camp.

Zhu Shengcai was genuinely anxious; the start of the battle was frightening, and everyone feared heavy casualties.

However, once they arrived at the camp, the 800 elite soldiers all recovered.

"It's okay, everything's fine now!"

"Stop pretending!"

"You can get off now!"

Someone shouted this, and then some of the soldiers who were lying on the carts and seemed to be dead got off one by one.

Seeing this, Zhu Shengcai and several agents from the Special Investigation Bureau felt much more at ease.

People got off the carts one after another, and some even took out cloths to wipe their faces.

"No one was left behind, right? Take a count of casualties—"

The officer gave the order, and officers of all ranks in the vicinity immediately gathered the soldiers under their command, and within just a few minutes, the casualty situation was tallied.

There were only wounds, no deaths; it was just a matter of the severity of the injuries. Most of the blood on their bodies was from the enemy.

This was actually expected, because the eight hundred people lived, ate, and trained together, were comrades-in-arms who shared life and death, and had a very high degree of cooperation.

Killing the enemy is secondary; protecting one's own people is the top priority. Therefore, no soldier can face the enemy alone; there will always be comrades providing cover.

Moreover, everyone's physical fitness far exceeded that of ordinary soldiers, and more importantly, it was backed by the exquisite forging techniques of later generations.

The armor of the eight hundred men looked ordinary, but any one of them alone would make any general of this era envious, if that general knew the details of their equipment.

Each person's armor is made of titanium alloy and connected with Kevlar material, based on ancient armor-making techniques, making it lightweight while also being flexible, resilient, and defensive.

Therefore, no one died. The most seriously injured and unlucky ones were wounded in the gaps and blind spots where they were hit by stray arrows from powerful bows and crossbows.

However, all the warriors looked rather grim, as this was quite different from dealing with bandits and thieves who had committed countless evil deeds.

It was many days later when Murong Chui's army returned victorious, having clearly dealt a heavy blow to Murong Yong's forces. Of course, Murong Chui had not forgotten the Zhu family; their elite Trapped Camp had left a deep impression on him.

For this reason, Zhu Shengcai even entered the Great Yan Imperial Palace once.

Although Zhu Shengcai was an official in name only, he rarely attended court.

It was early morning, and all the high-ranking officials of the Yan Kingdom's royal palace had gathered.

Although the Yan Kingdom's palace was small, the main hall still had a certain grandeur. Zhu Shengcai stood in the ranks of officials, observing everything while shouting "Long live the Emperor!" along with them.

Murong Chui, who had been worried for the past few months, now sat on the throne in high spirits. After surveying the assembled officials, he immediately spotted Zhu Shengcai.

"My dear minister, step forward!"

Zhu Shengcai quickly stepped forward to pay his respects.

"Your Majesty, I am here!"

"Minister Zhu, the elite infantry battalion trained by your Zhu family is unparalleled in bravery and has made great contributions. Although they did not follow up afterward, I have seen it all. Where are they now?"

Zhu Shengcai wore a mournful face, revealing an ugly expression.

"Your Majesty, the Trapped Camp has suffered heavy losses, with less than one-tenth remaining, and most of the survivors are crippled."

"what?"

Murong Chui was startled, but Zhu Shengcai continued talking, or rather, complaining.

"It has been no easy feat for the Zhu family to train this force. Eight hundred elite soldiers! Eight hundred elite soldiers! Do you know how difficult it was to train them? Do you know how precious they are? I had hoped to show my face... uh, I had hoped to share His Majesty's burdens, but who knew the battlefield would be so cruel?"

"Huh? Is that really true?"

When Murong Chui asked the question, a Xianbei general stepped forward and answered.

"Your Majesty, Lord Zhu's words are true. The Trapped Camp fought too bravely. Most of them were still alive when they returned to camp, but the casualties were too great, and they died one after another. The corpses alone filled dozens of carts, and now there are not many left."

"Hey"

The loss of eight hundred loyal and devoted warriors in one fell swoop was undoubtedly a severe blow.

Not to mention Zhu Shengcai, all the Xianbei nobles present could understand the magnitude of the loss, and Murong Chui felt the pain along with them.

Looking at Zhu Shengcai at this moment, even the more greedy Xianbei nobles felt some sympathy; this army was priceless.

Even Murong Chui felt a little sorry for him.

"Minister Zhu, I remember the merits of your Zhu family. From now on, when my Yan Kingdom opens up trade, the Zhu family will enjoy the privilege of being granted priority access, and will not be subject to inspection by officials. Taxes will be reduced by half for all categories of goods!"

Zhu Shengcai's face was like a mask; he wiped away his tears and immediately broke into a smile, his surprised expression perfectly portraying the appearance of a businessman who was eager for profit.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! However, my mother said that merchants and the country should prosper together. It is good that there is convenience, but it is a path to death to take an inch and then a mile. I have a preliminary order that is sufficient, without the need to halve the taxes. Please grant me your permission, Your Majesty!"

Murong Chui's mood improved immediately. Although Zhu Shengcai was greedy, he was willing to share profits. The key was that a large portion of the profits were earned by them, and they were more trustworthy than many Xianbei nobles!

"That's right!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"

Zhu Shengcai hurriedly expressed his gratitude. He gave the impression of being driven by profit and money, and he was also quite outspoken. Everyone knew that he was actually very shrewd, but he didn't seem scheming.

"Your Majesty, this great victory has also caused immense suffering and loss of life. We should build more Buddhist temples to appease the souls of the dead, thereby mitigating Your Majesty's sins and demonstrating Your Majesty's benevolent heart!"

Zhu Shengcai, who had just stepped back, glanced at a certain spot, which was naturally the monk strategist of the Great Yan.

After contacting the high-ranking officials of the Great Yan, I realized that the Great Yan was more complicated than I had imagined. The Shamen faith was actually a national policy, and it would be very difficult to eradicate it here.

Moreover, Emperor Murong Chui possessed dragon blood.

"That's only right."

Murong Chui readily agreed.

Zhu Shengcai then muttered a few words to himself.

"In the lands of Yan and Liang, there are many Buddhist temples, and many places have built temples. The Buddhist temples amass wealth, stealing business from inns and restaurants, and even failing to pay taxes. They also acquire vast amounts of land. Aren't all the money going to them?"

Several Xianbei nobles nearby heard Zhu Shengcai's mutterings and looked at him. The latter seemed to realize something and quickly smiled awkwardly, putting his hands together and chanting "Amitabha".
-
At the same time, the Trapped Camp, which Murong Chui had mentioned, had already changed its attire and appeared in modern Shennongjia.

However, in addition to taking a temporary rest, the soldiers still have to get back to work.

On the one hand, they become trainees to further their studies and learn more knowledge; on the other hand, they become instructors to share their experiences. This is how Da Yan's relevant training has come about in the past two years.

But we still don't have enough manpower!
Because ordinary soldiers also have a role to play, not just in worldly matters, but also in the ability of truly well-trained soldiers to cooperate and deploy troops.

A military formation, especially a well-trained and bloodthirsty army, should not be underestimated when it is arrayed in formation; the more soldiers there are, the stronger they become.

So even though the Great Yan now has a considerable number of soldiers with relevant experience, it is still not enough overall!

In addition, some materials would occasionally flow out of Hidden Immortal Valley to the modern world, establishing bases or special places where spiritual roots were planted, so that warriors could receive better adaptive training and develop their physical limits!
(End of this chapter)