Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 2 The Legacy of Military Strategists
The bugle call signaled assembly, the drumbeat signaled advance, the flag waved signaled a change of direction, and the whistling arrow was a death order, demanding that the army lock onto the target and fight to the death.

In the military strategists of the Great Yao Dynasty, a commander who could lead troops into battle was considered a bonus. However, the most basic requirement was to master a series of command systems, including drums, whistles, flags, and signal arrows.

Xuan Chong, quick to draw inferences, immediately thought of the command system of the military in the information age that he had heard about in his previous life.

From top to bottom, how information is relayed from generals to the lowest ranks has always been a technical issue! The troop deployment system that I'm currently working on at Da Yao is the rudimentary form of military command in classical times. At Da Yao, this is called "military strategy."

Currently, the transmission of military strategies varies across different regions.

For example, the peasant-spearmen in southern Xinjiang ate rice cakes instead of the flatbreads of the north. The different characteristics of their provisions led to slight differences in their marching and combat tactics, and their organizational formations also differed due to variations in height and weaponry.

The territory of Da Yao is vast, and the external threats to each border are different, so there are military families stationed there. These military families have their own military manuals for hundreds of years, and the part of the military manuals that involves the transmission of orders in the ranks is the "core technology". It is passed down to sons but not daughters, and to legitimate sons but not illegitimate sons.

Currently, Wu Fei's army is called the "Wu Family Army," and this set of military techniques is an internal skill passed down within the Wu family. As long as the Great Xia Dynasty needs to "guard the borders" in the south, the Wu family essentially lives and dies with the nation. In other words, the warriors say: "Our families have served the court for generations."

…As the strong wind blew, the banners fluttered in all directions, and the 1,500 people practicing martial arts determined their positions…

On the command platform, as a series of orders were proclaimed, a group of flags below began to move.

Each column had a flag bearer, and the number of times the flag swung left and right was the way the central army conveyed orders. Everyone in the column also looked in the direction of the flag to maintain the attack. For example, a column of conscripted peasant spearmen had a total of 120 people, most of whom were old farmers who were conscripted. They just looked at the flag to gather and only knew to follow the majority of the column to charge and form ranks.

Under the system of joint liability in military law, there is also a set of interpersonal relationships among these rank-and-file soldiers. The generals and commanders cannot keep track of them at all times, and can only restrain the troops by appointing flag-bearing officers.

Therefore, each flag unit is the lowest level of the wartime command chain, equivalent to a company. These are the lowest-level personnel that the general can directly control. If any collusion occurs below, it depends on whether the general's personal charisma can withstand it.

Xuan Chong summarized his knowledge from his previous life: After military modernization, a brigade could reach a size of seven or eight thousand men, with the command chain reaching the grassroots "platoon". After informatization, combat groups reached the division level, with the command chain at the lowest level being the "squad". In the era of intelligentization, command is precise down to each individual soldier, and the scale of command spans tens of thousands of people across an entire theater of operations.

Xuan Chong concludes: On the historical timeline, the trend in military development is that the scale of the military is getting larger and the command is becoming more refined.

The current Da Yao Wu family army has a total strength of only 2,500 men per corps, and the commander controls the lower ranks at the centurion level. This is kindergarten level. — But even kindergarten level is not so easy to learn.

After all, in this era, Wu Fei could only rely on himself to mobilize and command troops. If he were to recruit a group of professional staff officers through military academies and establish a command headquarters, well, that would be overstepping his bounds, keeping retainers, and plotting something sinister. The Legalist disciples would come knocking on his door and use the law to punish him.

……

At this moment, on the reviewing stand, under the great banner, Xuan Chong began to issue orders for the military drill. As bamboo decrees transformed into talismanic birds and flew to each formation, the soldiers in each formation, led by their commanders, moved in a chain reaction, like dominoes.

The infantry ranks were rapidly changing formation, forming barricades to protect the center, while the cavalry on both flanks began to maneuver and rotate, looking for an opportunity to charge.

Just as a swordsman must strike the enemy's weak point at the most opportune moment, cavalry is the sword of the army. When to unleash its full power depends on the general's timing in releasing the signal arrow.

During the formation maneuver, Xuan Chong cleverly maneuvered the axemen into the ensuing spearmen's ranks, creating chaos and giving the cavalry an opportunity to charge. The exercise then concluded.

Amidst the swirling dust, each column carried its flag home. Today, they'd cook, adding an extra 20% of pickled vegetables. Wu Fei, meanwhile, returned to his tent, fully armed, to receive his uncle's assessment and feedback.

In the central command tent, the captains of each squad sat on either side, with a bronze cauldron placed in the middle. Each squad leader, according to their assigned order, shared different cuts of meat from the stewed sheep. The cuts of meat on each leader's table were determined by their merits and seniority.

The banquet began as sweet wine was poured into the cups.

As the saying goes, even an emperor doesn't starve his soldiers, let alone a general. After a long day of work, everyone has to treat the battalion commanders to a meal.

Of course, Wu Fei's seat was right next to the general's. This banquet was undoubtedly Wu Hanluan's way of introducing the young general of the Wu family to his subordinates.

……

All combat missions and personnel arrangements within the Wu family army are often decided at this banquet. Therefore, most people at this banquet, besides eating meat, also keep something in mind.

Previously, when Wu Hanluan summoned Wu Fei alone, he had been stern and scolding him, a stark contrast to his current demeanor. He smiled and introduced Wu Fei to the soldiers under his command. Then, seemingly pressuring, he instructed each of these battalions and commanders to offer Wu Fei a toast.

As the gong sounded inside the tent, signaling the approaching curfew, the banquet came to an end. The various teams returned to their camps, leaving only Wu Fei behind.

The rice wine served in the army wasn't very strong; after being diluted with water, it was almost as weak as rice porridge. However, being served it by about twenty squad leaders in turn still made Wu Fei feel a bit strained. Clearly, these officers had been suffering from "alcohol withdrawal" these past few days and harbored resentment, but dared not vent it on Wu Hanluan. They could only take this opportunity to pour it on Xuan Chong.

Looking at his own intoxicated self through the reflection of the weapons in the army, Xuan Chong sighed: What a torment!

……

Seeing Wu Fei stubbornly resisting the effects of the alcohol yet remaining taciturn, Wu Hanluan's opinion of Wu Fei improved slightly. Of course, Wu Fei's previous single-mindedness had initially led to a low score, but the contrast he displayed on the spot made him much more impressive.

He withstood everyone's praise in that scene, without becoming completely arrogant or complacent. Although slightly tipsy, he was not blinded by his own senses. Given time, he could become a great general.

The Wu family has guarded the southern border of Da Yao for four hundred years. The real reason for their enduring strength is not the support of the Taoist sect, nor the favor of the imperial family for generations, but their military power in the southern border. If the Wu family's military lineage had no successor, the Taoist sect would not value "aptitude" when recruiting disciples, and the imperial family would not bestow its favor for generations.

For the nobles, the emperor's reign was marked by a system of "rewarding gold and stripping titles." Families in the Central Plains who had risen to power through the influence of their maternal relatives, once boasting ten noble titles, were quickly stripped of their ranks with each change of emperor. Meanwhile, the military families guarding the southern frontier could use the reward of "beheading barbarian tribes" instead of gold. In fact, the more heads they beheaded, the more gold ingots the emperor would bestow upon them. These imperial gold ingots were never of poor quality, hence the nobles of the Central Plains would purchase them at exorbitant prices.

Everyone in the Wu family army knew that Wu Hanluan was quite helpless about his nephew's insistence on learning Taoist magic.

Military strategists cultivate evil spirits, while immortals nurture spiritual beings!
In the city, the common people do not fight with the officials; in the martial world, the officials do not suppress the heroes. On the bustling path of the mortal world, the spirit does not contend with the evil. However, in places rarely visited by people, the evil energy dissipates too quickly, and only immortal arts can split mountains and sever rivers.

Wu Hanluan once kindly told Wu Fei when he was ten years old: "Your birth chart is too strong, you should take a trip to this mortal world! What kind of immortality are you talking about? Immortals have to eat vegetarian food and observe the precepts, and spend countless years in hardship on the mountain. Can you endure that kind of austerity? You've only heard the storyteller say that 'immortals are carefree.'"

Where in this world can one find true freedom? Over the past thousand years, no fewer than fifty sects have been wiped out by armies for angering the emperor.

…Wu Hanluan was determined to have Wu Fei inherit his mantle, and he told Wu Fei about the unpleasant aspects of cultivating immortality. But Wu Hengyu, the uncle's son and Wu Fei's cousin, described a completely different scene within the sect.

Three years ago, after Wu Hengyu returned home, he first displayed his magical abilities, which Wu Fei greatly envied. Then he began to boast about his knowledge and experience within the sect.

Taking the Southern Qinghua Sect as an example, disciples are divided into three generations according to their cultivation level: those who have formed a core with their magical power are the first generation, those who have condensed their true essence and established a foundation are the second generation, and those who have reached the Qi Refining stage are the third generation.

That year, his cousin recounted their carefree adventures of riding the clouds and thunder on the mountain. This made Wu Fei envious. He then harbored resentment and questioned his elders about why they were imposing such heavy burdens. Afterwards, the elders of the clan gave him a long lecture, explaining the hardships of the immortal sects...
For example, even the most powerful Core Formation cultivators might be able to split mountains and shatter rocks, but when faced with a large army condensing baleful energy, they would be completely unable to use any Dao techniques. Ten years ago, the Qinghua Sect had to send more than a dozen second-generation disciples to the palace to demonstrate alchemy techniques to the emperor because their offering of "spiritual tea" did not meet the amount promised by the imperial family.

As for the story now widely discussed about Fairy Mu wielding her spirit sword to block the pursuit of Marquis Yue's three thousand armored soldiers, this was actually due to the support of a city, where the army and civilians worked together to suppress the earth's veins. Of course, the fairy could only block them; faced with the monstrous heavy cavalry, the "Beacon Fire Pagoda," mobilized by the southeastern generals, the fairy and the entire city's inhabitants had no choice but to flee into the mountains.

Nowadays, if any sect wants to survive, it needs to cooperate with the imperial court in times of peace and with powerful clans in times of chaos.

The path of immortality has always been a minor one. Among those who enter the immortal sect with spiritual roots, only one in ten can refine qi and establish a foundation. And among those who can condense a golden core, there are no more than two people in the world.

The Path of Mortals is the Great Path. Besides emperors, the leaders of the Path of Mortals are the Confucianists, Legalists, and Military Strategists. The Saints of any of these three schools are hundreds of times more powerful than Golden Core cultivators.

Immortal cultivators claim to live in seclusion, but in reality, they cannot escape it, because the spiritual mountains and rivers can only continue to flourish under the coordination of the emperor and the prefects.

Of course, young Wu Fei couldn't listen to it.

Xuan Chong wondered: When exactly did I replace Wu Fei? The timeline of this time travel is very vague…

Now, when reading the "miscellaneous arts and techniques of various schools" in classical texts, Xuan Chong has been able to maintain an objective mindset and has made the following cognitive summary:

Firstly, the "Human Path" is a part of the Heavenly Path and is the foremost of all paths. In other words, the spiritual veins of cultivators can be influenced by the human dynasties, and even their spells can only take effect under the permission of laws and regulations.

Therefore, cultivators who seek to escape the world are forced to engage with it, unable to avoid the mundane world, and thus need kings and nobles to endorse their sects, which is very contradictory.

As for the army, there were Taoist priests accompanying them, carrying the military's warding-off-evil tokens and moving about the ranks. For them, a year of training on the battlefield was equivalent to ten years of training in the mortal world. And for the army, these accompanying Taoist priests were indispensable sorcerers.

For example, the Taoist technique "Sound of Gentle Breeze" can cause the wind and clouds to swirl around the feet of a group of soldiers (the hooves of cavalry), increasing the force of their charge.

……

Inside the tent, Xuan Chong splashed cold water on his face in the changing room to quickly sober up before rushing to Wu Hanluan's headquarters.

Wu Hanluan waited quietly inside the main tent, handed the lamp to Xuan Chong, and opened the silk map he had seen during the day.

This scroll of silk map depicts mountains and rivers, marked with symbols of ships and horses moving between cities. In Wu Fei's vision, the horse symbols appear to be slowly shifting, as do the ships. And if one looks at the cities on the map, one can almost hear the bustling sounds of people within.

Xuan Chong: "Not bad, this map can be considered a 'magical item.' I remember seeing it in some movie, Harry Potter or something?"

The binary deduction of "yin and yang lines" is not only used by Taoists; military strategists, Confucianists, and Legalists all have corresponding "books of change" to assist their own endeavors.

Before Xuan Chong could fully immerse himself in the feeling of having everything under control provided by the geomantic map, Wu Hanluan's finger touched the map. Xuan Chong pulled his mind away from the myriad phenomena of mountains and rivers depicted on the map, and following the general's finger, his gaze locked onto the mountains and rivers. Instantly, his five senses were filled with the scent of grass and trees, the chirping of birds and the fragrance of flowers, and even the sound of snake scales rubbing together.

Xuan Chong took two steps back. After his five senses returned to normal, he looked at the general's finger pointing at the mountains and rivers. On the simple mountain map, the words "Red Serpent Mountain Range" were written.

Wu Hanluan asked Xuan Chong to bring the lamp closer: "The snake people have been causing trouble in the southern border for five years. Our army has been guarding the passes, which has been able to keep the area safe, but it has been difficult to eradicate this scourge."

Xuan Chong looked at the geomantic map and found that several new routes had been opened up. The general nodded upon seeing this: "This is the supply route that my army is preparing to take to Chilian Mountain, and the matter that needs to be entrusted to you is related to this."

At this point, Wu Hanluan stared at the map for a moment, having already determined Wu Fei's mission location.

Wu Fei's expression stiffened as he asked, "Do I have to sign a pledge?"

Wu Hanluan stroked his beard and nodded.

Wu Fei further inquired, "Will you be executed for missing the deadline?"

Wu Hanluan coldly rebuked: You were originally trying to atone for your crimes.

Just as Xuan Chong was considering whether he should get some medicine to avoid catching a cold, his system, which had been dormant for a long time, suddenly appeared.

System: Please take command of this army. The reward is three credits. Note: You can return after accumulating fifteen credits.

Xuan Chong swiped away the system pop-up with great resistance.

However, the system immediately issued a warning: "If you fail the assessment, you will suffer a bloody disaster."

Xuan Chong roared in his mind: "Damn it, you're threatening me."

System: "This is not a threat, it's a classroom warning. Whether you do it or not is up to you! You might as well give it a try."

Xuan Chong suddenly felt short of breath, muttering to himself, "They didn't say I wouldn't accept the mission."

…The dividing line between inner thoughts and the scene…

At this moment, Wu Fei, who was holding the lantern, straightened his expression and showed that he had a duty to do so.

This surprised Wu Hanluan. His nephew, who had always been "rebellious" in the army, seemed to have suddenly changed his ways.

Xuan Chong looked at the map again, this time controlling his mind and being careful not to get caught up in it. He asked his uncle, "Uncle, is our family's southward march in accordance with the court's will?"

Xuan Chong's logic is that since beheadings can replace the tribute money, the Wu family army can simply nurture bandits to maintain its own power, treating the snake people like leeks to be harvested periodically. But now they suddenly want to take the initiative to advance. This is really quite abnormal.

Wu Hanluan paused slightly, then sighed: "Yuan Chang, just lead the troops well. Yuan Lu (another disciple of the clan, born out of wedlock but with strong talent) will take care of matters of the court."

Xuan Chong glanced at his uncle and realized that things had changed on the court's side.

The legendary general is in the initial state.

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(End of this chapter)