The Prodigal Son

After three days and nights of continuous selection, 35,000 prisoners were finally chosen.

After finishing this task, Zhu Songlan and the others were almost exhausted.

However, selecting the right people is just the beginning.

There's still a lot to come.

The most important thing is to win these people's hearts and minds.

After three days of hard work, Qin Yu had also drafted a preliminary list of the generals and commanders of each department.

Based on some issues that arose during the fierce battle with the Flying Fang Cavalry, he reduced the size of the Wudang Flying Army from 24,000 to 18,000.

Each battalion consists of 3,000 men.

Each battalion was staffed with one lieutenant general and three commanders.

Liang Hongqiao and Yuan Dingguo each led three battalions of men.

Han Chong selected three thousand elite troops to form a separate battalion.

Qin Yu was too lazy to think of a name, so he temporarily settled on the name White Robe Army.

He wanted Han Chong to temporarily lead the White Robe Army, and then Xiong Quhu would take over from Han Chong once Xiong Quhu recovered from his injuries.

The White-Robed Army is meant to charge into battle, so Xiong Quhu is a more suitable leader.

The 30,000 infantrymen were divided into three units.

Each unit consists of 9,000 regular infantrymen, plus 1,000 elite infantrymen.

As for the names of the elite soldiers in each unit, let them figure that out themselves.

It is tentatively decided that Du Fan, Yue Hanshan, and Yang Qiao will lead the infantry.

Originally, Qin Yu wanted to recruit Si Rong and put him in charge of the 30,000 infantrymen as a figurehead.

Unfortunately, Si Rong preferred death to surrender.

Left with no other choice, Qin Yu had to select a group of surrendered generals from the Yan army to serve as commanders of thousands and hundreds.

However, most of the lower and middle-ranking officers in the army were still from Ning County.

Although the list has been finalized, Qin Yu has not yet announced it to the public.

After putting the list away, Qin Yu rubbed his head and walked out of the room.

"Thirteenth Young Master, are you done with your work?"

Qi Dachui stood up from the doorway.

"What are you doing here?"

Qin Yu glared at Qi Dachui with wide eyes, "Go find Qiao Ye then!"

This is an opportunity!

He doesn't cherish the opportunity that's presented to him right in front of him?

Qi Dachui shook his head, "Qiao Ye is busy too! I wouldn't dare to bother her."

"Then go help!"

Qin Yu looked helpless. "Now that you want to pursue her, you have to take the initiative!"

"No, no!"

Qi Dachui waved his hands repeatedly, "Qiao Ye and I have already agreed that we'll be friends and brothers!"

brother?

Has he figured it out, or has he given up?

Or should we respect Liang Hongqiao's choice?

Qin Yu was slightly surprised and asked, "When did this happen?"

"We agreed on this back in Panyang."

Qi Dachui grinned, "I think it's pretty good to be friends and brothers with Qiao Ye! Just like she is with Sao Jigong and the others."

He hadn't told me about this before!

It seems he's come to his senses.

"Are you really decided?"

Qin Yu asked with a smile, "Won't you try again? Although I'm not familiar with Qiao Ye, from what I know, her character is impeccable."

"It's decided."

Qi Dachui nodded seriously, "She's right, we're better off as friends and brothers."

"OK!"

Now that Qi Dachui had made his decision, Qin Yu didn't say anything more and instead asked, "Where's Que'er?"

Qi Dachui replied, "Lu Si obtained a batch of cotton-padded clothes made of snow-soft cotton from Lord Shangguan, and asked her to go over and help our people choose them."

Qin Yu was surprised.

Lü Si is quite righteous!

"Then let's just ignore her."

Qin Yu called out to Qi Dachui, "Let's go, come with me to Qiao Ye's place!"

"what?"

Qi Dachui was stunned for a moment, then quickly shook his head: "Thirteenth Young Master, I really don't care about Qiao Ye anymore, you don't need to..."

"What utter nonsense!"

Qin Yu gently patted Qi Dachui's head, "You thought I took you to see Qiao Ye specifically? I'm going to check on their situation!"

He wasn't too worried about the other departments.

But he was still somewhat worried about the Wudang Flying Army.

Although the Wudang Flying Army has all the personnel, there will definitely be many problems.

The loyalty of the surrendered soldiers, especially those selected from the Flying Riders, is a problem.

He didn't want those surrendered soldiers to betray their comrades on the battlefield.

After understanding Qin Yu's meaning, Qi Dachui scratched his head sheepishly.

Soon, Qin Yu led Qi Dachui to the cavalry camp in the east of the city.

When they arrived, Liang Hongqiao and Yuan Dingguo were both training their respective cavalry units.

Some people specialize in riding skills training, while others specialize in trust training.

Qin Yu did not have anyone notify them. After observing silently for a while, he ordered someone to summon the two of them.

"Greetings, Commander Qin!"

The two stepped forward and bowed.

Qin Yu gestured for the two to sit down and asked with a smile, "How are you feeling?"

Liang Hong smiled bitterly but did not reply, her gaze fixed on Yuan Dingguo.

Yuan Dingguo also smiled wryly and sighed, "The task is arduous and the road ahead is long..."

They have many problems.

The soldiers selected from the Flying Fang Cavalry were fine in terms of horsemanship and strength, but their attitude was problematic. Many of them, though they didn't say it, harbored resentment.

The 5,000 selected from the 14,000 had a good attitude and were very enthusiastic about training, but their riding skills were really lacking.

Letting them ride on horseback or charge forward with their lances would be no problem.

But asking them to shoot arrows on horseback, or to deal with complex battle situations, would be a bit too much for them.

Many of the original soldiers of the Wudang Flying Army had died at the hands of the Flying Raiders, so they were quite hostile to the surrendered soldiers of the Flying Raiders.

There were quite a few verbal conflicts between the two sides.

If it weren't for Yuan Dingguo and his men keeping things under control, the two sides would have already started fighting.

It was precisely for this reason that Yuan Dingguo and Liang Hongqiao conducted targeted training based on the different problems of these soldiers.

Given the current condition of these soldiers, it is impossible to conduct unified training.

Yuan Dingguo has absolutely no confidence in the task Xue Chengdao has given them.

"I've also noticed that there are some problems on your end."

Qin Yu nodded slightly. "Riding skills and mounted combat are easy to train, but a lack of unity is a major problem!"

"Your trust training is having some effect, but it will take a long time to gel!"

"Commander Xue has given us limited time; we need to use drastic measures to cure this stubborn problem!"

A strong medicine?

Yuan Dingguo and Liang Hongqiao both looked at Qin Yu with anticipation.

They also knew that training like this was not a solution.

But they couldn't think of a better way.

If Qin Yu had a potent medicine, that would be wonderful.

Meeting their expectant gazes, Qin Yu smiled and said, "Continue your current training methods for the next two days!"

"As the saying goes, it's better to guide than to block. Since both sides are going to fight, let them fight; don't interfere!"

"Even if they don't make a move, you must secretly instigate them to do so!"

"It would be best to let the two sides engage in a chaotic free-for-all!"

"But remember, you must stop it immediately to prevent anyone from dying!"

Hearing Qin Yu's words, the two of them were completely bewildered.

At this point, why incite the soldiers to engage in a melee?

Yuan Dingguo frowned, worriedly saying, "General Qin, this is going to cause trouble!"

"nonsense!"

Qin Yu glared at Yuan Dingguo with a smile: "That's why I told you to stop it in time!"