The Name of the Tiger and Wolf

The news of the great victory at Eagle Beak Cliff, Wei Zhe slaying the enemy general and burning the supply camp, spread like wildfire across the entire Northern Frontier defense line.

Overnight, the name "Wei Zhe" transformed from that of an unknown recruit into a legend spoken of with admiration by countless Qin Army Elite Warriors.

Three days later, Eagle Beak Cliff Fortress held a grand ceremony to award merits and rewards.

When General Meng Wu personally announced Wei Zhe's promotion to Centurion and his enfeoffment as a Fifth Rank Official, the gazes of thousands of soldiers in the training grounds converged on the seventeen-year-old youth standing tall and straight.

Envy, jealousy, awe, worship... a complex mix of emotions intertwined, ultimately resolving into absolute recognition of strength.

"Tiger and Wolf Army!"

Meng Wu personally bestowed the name upon Wei Zhe's new unit and presented him with a brand-new military banner embroidered with the ferocious images of a black tiger and a wolf.

"May your army be as fierce as the tiger and as numerous as the wolf pack, expanding our Great Qin's territory and crushing all opposition!"

"Your subordinate accepts the command!"

Wei Zhe received the heavy military banner with both hands, his heart filled with soaring ambition.

From this day forward, he was no longer alone; he had a unit truly his own.

After the ceremony, Wei Zhe immediately summoned his hundred-man company.

Besides his original twenty brothers, the remaining eighty were elite veterans transferred from various parts of the Vanguard Camp. They regarded their new commander, who was much younger than them, with scrutiny and a hint of defiance in their eyes.

Wei Zhe wasted no words.

The first thing he did was bring out the thousand yi of gold awarded to him by Meng Wu, in front of everyone.

The brilliant gold gleamed dazzlingly in the sunlight, causing every soldier's breath to catch.

"This is the High General's reward," Wei Zhe's voice was not loud, but it carried clearly across the field. "I, Wei Zhe, am not one to hoard. Today, every brother in the Tiger and Wolf Army will receive a share!"

He instructed Qian Hu to distribute it on the spot, with each soldier receiving ten yi of gold. This sum was enough to purchase a decent residence in Xianyang City.

"Furthermore," Wei Zhe continued, "any soldier of the Tiger and Wolf Army who falls in battle will have their family supported by me! For those who are injured or disabled, all their needs upon retirement will be fully covered by me! I, Wei Zhe, stand by my word!"

He didn't deliver grand speeches, only offered the most practical of promises.

Those eighty veterans who had harbored reservations, upon receiving the heavy gold and hearing his words, gradually let go of their defiance, replaced by shock and emotion.

They had served as soldiers their entire lives and had never encountered a commander so generous, so considerate of his subordinates.

"Squad Leader... no, Centurion!" an old soldier stepped forward and bowed deeply to Wei Zhe. "My old life is cheap, Centurion, but from today on, I sell it to you!"

"We are willing to die for the Centurion!"

The other soldiers echoed his sentiments, their voices rising like thunder.

Whether it was a calculated move to win hearts or genuine sincerity, at that moment, Wei Zhe had, in the most direct and effective way, firmly secured this hastily assembled hundred-man company.

That evening, Wei Zhe wrote a letter home.

He entrusted the majority of his spoils of war, along with a batch of high-quality Purple River Grass purchased at great expense, to one of his former squad brothers whose arm had been injured in battle and required recuperation back home.

"Tell Jiang Bo he doesn't need to worry about money anymore. Tell Ling'er to focus on her recovery and wait for my return."

Wei Zhe watched the departing figure of his subordinate, and a great weight finally lifted from his heart.

With his worries at home resolved, he could now dedicate himself wholeheartedly to climbing the ranks on this battlefield of blood and fire.

In the following days, although the Northern Frontier defense line remained quiet, Wei Zhe was busier than ever.

Armed with Meng Wu's order, he practically made the Military Arms Department of Eagle Beak Cliff his second home.

His goal was to forge the Tiger and Wolf Army into an armored force equipped with "Fine Quality" gear for every soldier!

He deconstructed and simplified the schematics of the Fish Scale Armor, designing a new type of chest and shoulder armor that was easier to produce without compromising protection.

He personally wielded the hammer, imparting the most crucial forging techniques without reservation to the two old blacksmiths in the Military Arms Department, as well as to Qian Hu, Hu Lei, and a few other quick-witted veterans.

Under his leadership, the furnaces of the entire Military Arms Department burned day and night, the rhythmic clang of hammers echoing to the heavens.

Sheets of "Fine Quality" armor, gleaming with a dark luster, were produced in an endless stream.

Simultaneously, Wei Zhe did not neglect the training of his troops.

He distilled the essence of the Wind Piercing Spear Technique into a few essential thrusting, parrying, and sweeping movements, having all the soldiers practice them repeatedly.

He also designed a defensive counter-attack formation called the "Three Talents Iron Bucket Formation," based on the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. This formation, with three men as a unit, was versatile in both offense and defense, particularly effective in outnumbered melee combat.

In just ten days.

The Tiger and Wolf Army's appearance was completely transformed.

When one hundred soldiers, clad in brand-new black Fish Scale Armor and wielding fine glaives personally calibrated by Wei Zhe, lined up on the training grounds, the palpable aura of killing intent and the oppressive pressure akin to a tidal wave of steel caught the attention of all the observing officers.

"This... is this still the same unit we knew?"

"They're like a unit of heavy-armored Elite Warriors! Judging by their momentum, an ordinary thousand-man unit probably wouldn't be their match!"

Shi Meng stood on the elevated platform, gazing at the elite force he had personally forged below, his eyes filled with pride and satisfaction.

However, peaceful days were, after all, fleeting.

On the fifteenth day after the formation of the Tiger and Wolf Army.

A lone rider on a swift horse charged into Eagle Beak Cliff like a madman, coming from the direction of the northern steppes.

"Urgent military intelligence! The Xiongnu... the Xiongnu Chieftain's court has dispatched the 'Royal Guard,' led by the 'Eagle of the Steppe,' Vulture, with three thousand cavalry, heading straight for our Eagle Beak Cliff! They specifically named Centurion Wei Zhe, demanding... demanding his head!"

After the scout finished speaking, he collapsed, dead from exhaustion.

As the news spread, the entire Eagle Beak Cliff fell into a deathly silence once more.

The Royal Guard! The 'Eagle of the Steppe,' Vulture!

These were terrifying titles, enough to make children in the entire Northern Frontier cry themselves to sleep!

Everyone's gaze subconsciously shifted towards the young centurion standing in the center of the training grounds, his expression still calm.

A storm of vengeance, coming specifically for him, had already descended.