The news of the great victory at Eagle Beak Cliff, where Wei Zhe personally beheaded an enemy general and burned the grain camp, spread like wildfire across the entire northern defense line.
Overnight, the name Wei Zhe transformed from an obscure new recruit into a legend eagerly discussed on the lips of countless Qin Army Elite Warriors.
Three days later, Eagle Beak Cliff Fortress held a grand-scale ceremony to reward merits and bestow honors.
When High General Meng Wu personally announced the promotion of Wei Zhe to Centurion, conferring upon him the peerage of Fifth Rank Official, the gazes of several thousand soldiers on the drill ground all converged upon the seventeen-year-old youth with his upright posture.
Envy, jealousy, awe, and admiration... All these complex emotions intertwined, ultimately transforming into an absolute acknowledgment of the strong.
"Tiger and Wolf Army!"
Meng Wu personally bestowed the name upon Wei Zhe's new unit, presenting a brand-new military flag embroidered with the totem of a ferocious black tiger and a fierce wolf.
"May the troops under your command be as fierce as tigers and as vicious as wolf packs, carving out territory and sweeping away all before you for our Great Qin!"
"This subordinate obeys the command!"
Wei Zhe received the heavy military flag with both hands, grand and soaring ambition surging in his heart.
Starting today, he was no longer alone; he possessed a force that truly belonged to him.
Once the assembly ended, Wei Zhe immediately summoned his hundred-man unit.
Aside from his original twenty brothers, the remaining eighty men were elite veteran soldiers transferred from various parts of the Vanguard Camp. Most of them looked at this new commander, who was far younger than themselves, with gazes carrying scrutiny and a trace of defiance.
Wei Zhe uttered no superfluous nonsense.
The very first thing he did was to have the ten thousand gold cash rewarded to him by Meng Wu carried out before everyone's eyes.
The glittering gold flashed with dazzling brilliance under the sunlight, causing the breathing of all the soldiers to stall for a moment.
"These are the rewards from the High General." Wei Zhe's voice was not loud, yet it clearly traveled across the entire field. "I, Wei Zhe, am not a man who eats alone. Today, every single brother in the Tiger and Wolf Army shall have a share!"
He had Qian Hu distribute it on the spot, and every soldier was allotted ten gold cash. This sum of money was enough for them to purchase a fine residential courtyard within the city of Xianyang.
"In addition," Wei Zhe continued, "for all officers and men of my Tiger and Wolf Army who die in battle, their families shall be provided for by me! For those who are disabled, everything needed after retirement shall be entirely borne by me! I, Wei Zhe, mean what I say."
He spoke no grand principles, merely offering the most practical promise.
Those eighty veteran soldiers, who had initially harbored reservations, slowly watched the defiance on their faces fade after receiving the heavy gold and hearing these words, replaced by shock and deep emotion.
They had been soldiers their entire lives, yet they had never witnessed a commander so generous and so considerate of his subordinates.
"Squad Leader... No, Centurion!" A veteran soldier stepped forward, bowing deeply toward Wei Zhe. "This old Zhou has a worthless life, and starting today, I sell it to you!"
"We are all willing to lay down our lives for the Centurion!"
The rest of the soldiers likewise chimed in, their voices shaking the heavens.
Whether buying hearts or showing genuine sincerity, at this very moment, Wei Zhe used the most direct and effective method to firmly grasp this temporarily cobbled-together hundred-man unit in his own hands.
That night, Wei Zhe wrote a family letter.
He handed over the majority of the bounty he had obtained, along with a batch of top-grade Purple River Grass purchased at great expense through an intermediary, to an original squad brother who had suffered a wounded arm in battle and needed to return home for rest and recuperation.
"Tell Jiang Bo that he no longer needs to worry about money. Tell Ling'er to set her mind at ease and recover from her illness, and wait for my return."
Wei Zhe watched the retreating figure of that brother, and the heavy stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.
Only by resolving his worries in the rear could he continue to climb without distraction on this battlefield of blood and fire.
Over the next few days, although the northern defense line remained peaceful, Wei Zhe was busier than ever before.
Holding Meng Wu's warrant, he practically turned the Military Arms Department of Eagle Beak Cliff into his own home.
What he needed to do was forge the Tiger and Wolf Army into an iron-clad army of conquest equipped entirely with fine quality gear!
He dismantled and simplified the blueprints of the Fish Scale Armor, designing a new style of breastplate and shoulder armor that was easier to produce yet lost not a shred of defensive capability.
Holding the hammer himself, he imparted the most crucial forging techniques without reservation to the two veteran blacksmiths of the Military Arms Department, as well as to a few higher-comprehension veterans like Qian Hu and Hu Lei.
Under his leadership, the smelting furnaces of the entire Military Arms Department never went out day or night, and the rhythmic ringing of hammers resounded through the clouds.
Plates of Fish Scale Armor glowing with a dark luster were produced in a steady stream.
Meanwhile, Wei Zhe did not slacken his training of the troops.
He simplified the essentials of the Wind Piercing Spear Technique into a few of the most practical combo movements of thrusting, parrying, deflecting, and sweeping, having all the soldiers practice them repeatedly.
He also devised a defensive and counter-offensive formation known as the Three Talents Iron Bucket Formation, based on the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. This formation used groups of three as a basic squad, balancing offense and defense with countless variations, making it especially suited for fighting against superior numbers in chaotic melee.
A mere ten days passed.
The appearance of the Tiger and Wolf Army took on a completely new look.
When one hundred soldiers, clad in brand-new black fish-scale armor and holding fine long halberds personally calibrated by Wei Zhe, lined up in formation on the drill ground, that soaring murderous intent and oppressive force resembling an iron flood caused all the visiting officers to look sideways in astonishment.
"Is... is this still the unit we know?"
"It is simply an army of heavy armor elite warriors! Look at this momentum, ordinary thousand-man units are probably no match for them!"
Shi Meng stood upon the high platform, gazing at the elite force below that he had entirely crafted with his own hands, his eyes filled with pride and gratification.
Yet, peaceful days were ultimately short-lived.
On the fifteenth day after the Tiger and Wolf Army was formed.
A fast-galloping horse charged into Eagle Beak Cliff like a madman from the direction of the northern grasslands.
"Emergency military intelligence! The Xiongnu... the Xiongnu Shanyu's Court has dispatched the Royal Guard, the Vulture known as the Eagle of the Steppe, who is leading three thousand elite cavalry straight toward our Eagle Beak Cliff! They call out by name to claim... to claim the head of Centurion Wei Zhe!"
The scout finished speaking, then collapsed and died of exhaustion.
As the news arrived, the entire Eagle Beak Cliff once again plunged into a deathly silence.
The Royal Guard! The Eagle of the Steppe Vulture!
That was a terrifying moniker across the entire northern frontier sufficient to stop small children from crying!
Every gaze involuntarily cast itself toward that young centurion standing in the center of the drill ground, maintaining his calm expression.
A storm of vengeance, coming specifically for him, had already descended.
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