At the workshop, after Wei Zhe personally taught the Thousand Refinement Force technique and provided nearly limitless coking coal and iron, productivity was squeezed to the absolute limit. Sun He, Qian Hu, and Hu Lei acted like they had been injected with chicken blood, driving several hundred blacksmiths and auxiliary soldiers to forge day and night.
Now, the first batch of one hundred sets of brand-new fish scale armor, along with matching new-style long halberds and armor-piercing awls, had officially been issued.
And the ones receiving this equipment were precisely the most core, most elite hundred veteran soldiers under Wei Zhe's command.
At this moment, these one hundred elite warriors stood quietly and solemnly in the center of the drill ground.
They wore pitch-black fish scale armor, the plates flashing with a chilling metallic luster in the sunlight, resembling a group of demon gods stepping out of hell. They tightly grasped newly styled, fiercely crafted long halberds, the blades sharp and sending a chilling aura of menace.
Just standing there, a tragic and killing atmosphere rushed toward the face, causing the surrounding ordinary soldiers who were still training to unconsciously hold their breath.
Be reborn!
This was a true rebirth!
Wei Zhe stood before them, wearing the same black armor. His figure was not the most robust among these stalwart soldiers, but that towering, immovable demeanor made him the center of everyone's line of sight.
His position as a Chieftain had long been as steady as Mount Tai. In this military camp, his words were decree.
"Look at yourselves, and then look at the tools in your hands!"
Wei Zhe's voice was not loud, yet it clearly traveled into everyone's ears.
"In the past half month, the meat you ate was more than what you ate in the past entire year! The medicine you used was something generals outside couldn't afford to use! The armor you wear on your bodies right now, if taken outside, could trade for a mansion! This halberd in your hand can trade for ten slaves!"
"I, Wei Zhe, have never shortchanged you!"
The chests of the hundred elite warriors puffed out even higher unconsciously.
Wei Zhe's gaze swept across each of their resolute faces.
"Now, the time has come for you to repay me."
His tone abruptly shifted, becoming cold and sharp.
"The imperial court's orders have already come down. We are going to war."
"Not small skirmishes with the Xiongnu, but a war of state annihilation!"
War of state annihilation!
These four words struck like a giant boulder, smashing into everyone's hearts. Most of them had fought wars their entire lives, yet had never participated in a conflict of this magnitude.
Their breathing instantly grew heavy, and within their gazes lay tension, excitement, but more than anything, a bloodthirsty yearning!
"I don't know who our enemy is, nor do I know where the battlefield is."
"But I know that our Tiger and Wolf Army will be the first force to charge into the enemy's territory! We will be the first sharp blade hanging above the enemy's head!"
"This means we will face the most ferocious enemy and the most dangerous predicament! Many of you might die! Dying soundlessly without even leaving your names behind!"
Not half a sentence of Wei Zhe's words offered encouragement; they were entirely naked reality.
On the drill ground, dead silence reigned.
Only the increasingly heavy panting of the soldiers remained.
Wei Zhe looked at them and slowly drew the armor-piercing awl from his waist, its tri-faceted blade reflecting a dazzling cold light in the sunlight.
"But!"
He abruptly raised his volume, his voice like a thunderclap!
"I promise you!"
"When charging, I, Wei Zhe, will charge first before all of you!"
"The enemy's blade will strike my armor first!"
"The enemy's arrow will shoot toward my shield first!"
"If I retreat a single step, you may sever my head on the spot!"
He paused, sweeping his gaze across those one hundred pairs of eyes that were beginning to turn red, his voice becoming incomparably impassioned.
"And you need only follow me!"
"Follow me to seize everything you desire!"
"Do you want to secure honors for your wives and children? Do you want to bring glory to your ancestors? Do you want hundreds of mu of fertile fields and houses full of gold?"
"Then use the halberds in your hands to take them from the corpses of the enemy!"
"Those who render meritorious service, I shall personally submit requests for your rewards! Those who fall in battle, I, Wei Zhe, will provide for your families for the rest of their lives!"
"Now, tell me!"
He raised the armor-piercing awl in his hand high, pointing straight toward the firmament!
"Do you dare to follow me and fight to the death?!"
"Roar!!!"
Responding to him were no words.
It was the roar of a hundred elite warriors, using every ounce of strength in their bodies, bursting forth like beasts!
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"
With the long halberds in their hands, they frantically struck the armor plates on their chests, producing a deafening din of clashing metal!
That sound converged into a monstrous torrent, as though it would tear the entire sky apart!
"Death!"
"To the death!!"
"Death to the last!!!"
Using the simplest and most direct two words, they declared their resolve.
Within their gazes, fear existed no longer, leaving only a yearning for war and a fanatical adoration and following for the man before them.
Wei Zhe looked at this group of war machines forged by his own hands, feeling that fighting spirit fierce enough to burn everything, and he smiled.
His tigers and wolves had already sharpened their claws and fangs.
Three days later, Tiger and Wolf Army main camp, martial arts drill ground.
Several thousand soldiers who had cast off their rookie uniforms and donned standard-issue iron armor stood solemnly on the vast yellow earth like a black forest. They were all the new recruits who had enlisted at the same time as Wei Zhe.
Months of rigorous drilling had long since swept away the childishness and sluggishness from their bodies, replacing them with the composure and murderous solemnity belonging to soldiers.
Yet within this black forest, a small area appeared exceptionally distinct.
It was one hundred elite warriors clad in pitch-black fish scale armor and wielding new-style long halberds. Like drops of black ink falling into clear water, they appeared unusually glaring within the phalanx of several thousand men. Standing ramrod straight with steady breathing, the fierce and blood-soaked intensity radiating from their very bones caused their surrounding comrades to unconsciously maintain a trace of distance from them.
Envy, jealousy, and incomprehension—all sorts of complex gazes were cast toward this special hundred-man unit.
They were likewise cast toward the young Chieftain standing at the very front of the formation, who was likewise clad in black armor.
"Header, the looks these guys are giving us aren't very friendly," Qian Hu said, standing behind Wei Zhe and lowering his voice.
Wei Zhe's gaze swept across the entire field, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold laugh.
"Pay them no mind. Once we reach the battlefield, they'll understand that this equipment is bought with lives. They'll also cry and beg me to trade them for some."
Standing to the side and watching these several thousand soldiers arrayed in full battle gear, Sun He felt a myriad of emotions in his heart. In just a few short months, Wei Zhe had not only forged the Tiger and Wolf Army into an elite force, but had also established unparalleled prestige throughout this entire new recruit camp.
Right at that moment, the desolate sound of a horn suddenly echoed from the main camp's watchtower.
"Woo—woo—woo—"
Three long blasts spread across the surrounding wilderness.
On the martial arts drill ground, all clamor vanished instantly, and the gazes of several thousand soldiers turned in unison toward the direction of the main camp gate.
This was the highest-level alert signal, signifying that a major figure was about to arrive.
The heavy sound of hooves rumbled like rolling thunder, moving from afar to near.
A troop of cavalry clad in silver armor and bearing the black royal banners of Great Qin escorted a magnificent war chariot as it drove into the drill ground. The leading general, around thirty years of age, possessed a heroic countenance and a physique as upright as a mountain. He wore no helmet, his black hair bound by a jade crown, and his gaze was as sharp as an eagle's as he swept it across the entire field.
Merely sitting atop his horse, the majestic demeanor of one veteran to battle and holding heavy military authority pressed down upon the several thousand people present so they could scarcely draw breath.
Camp Chief Instructor Shi Meng and several military Chieftains immediately strode forward and knelt on one knee.
"We subordinates pay respects to the High General!"
High General!
These two words caused a wave of gasps drawing in cold air to ripple across the entire martial arts drill ground.
Wei Zhe's heart also beat violently. Staring fixedly at that general on horseback, a thunderous name instantly welled up from the depths of his memories.
Meng Tian!
The man who struck northward against the Xiongnu for over seven hundred li, recovered the Hetao region, constructed the Great Wall, and was hailed as the "first warrior of China"!
It was actually him!
Wei Zhe felt his blood begin to boil. Coming to this world, he felt for the first time so tangibly that he was situated in a magnificent era where heroes emerged in droves. And the man before him was precisely one of the most dazzling military stars of this era.
He was no longer a mere spectator; he was about to jointly stir up an era-sweeping tempest alongside these historical figures!
Meng Tian's gaze lingered briefly on Shi Meng and the others before he dismounted in a fluid motion, his voice steady and powerful.
"Rise, all of you."
He strode toward the high platform in the center of the drill ground, followed closely behind by two personal guards carrying a wooden box wrapped in yellow cloth.
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