First Battle, Decisive Battle!

Meng Tian strode onto the high platform, his gaze like lightning as it swept over the densely packed army below.

"From today onwards, your training is complete."

His voice, without any deliberate amplification, clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

"From today, you are no longer recruits, but the true Elite Warriors of Great Qin!"

"Roar!"

Thousands of soldiers slammed the butts of their spears and halberds onto the ground in unison, letting out a unified roar that shook the heavens and earth.

Meng Tian's expression remained impassive. He continued, "I, Meng Tian, by order of the King, have come to reorganize the Yong City camp. From this moment on, I am your vanguard commander!"

Vanguard commander!

The scent of war, like a tangible dark cloud, instantly enveloped the entire training ground. Every soldier's breathing grew heavy. They knew the time had come to truly fight on the battlefield and achieve glory!

Wei Zhe's grip on his halberd tightened involuntarily. His eyes burned hotter than anyone else's.

It's here!

The opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived!

He didn't need those vague sentiments of patriotism and love for country. All he needed was a sufficiently vast battlefield to kill, to plunder, to trample those so-called strong individuals underfoot, and then, to absorb their power and become stronger himself!

Just then, Meng Tian turned and took a wooden box wrapped in yellow cloth from a guard.

He carefully unwrapped the yellow cloth and took out a scroll of black bamboo slips bound with golden thread.

He raised the bamboo slips high, his expression solemn, his voice like a booming bell.

"By Royal Decree of the King of Qin!"

"Clang—"

A crisp sound of armor plates rubbing together.

Including Wei Zhe, all the soldiers on the training ground, regardless of rank, knelt on one knee simultaneously, right hands placed over their chests, lowering their heads.

The entire world seemed to freeze at that moment.

Only Meng Tian's solemn and cold voice remained, echoing between heaven and earth like a divine edict.

"I, bearing the Mandate of Heaven, inherit the will of the former kings. Yet today, the realm is fractured, the feudal lords are in contention, and war is incessant, leaving the people displaced. The Central Plains have not seen peace for a hundred years. This is not heaven's fault, but man's calamity!"

"To unify the four seas, bring peace to the world, and spare the myriad people the suffering of war, I have decided to raise a thunderous army, sweep across the six directions, pacify the eight wildernesses, and achieve this feat in one decisive campaign!"

Meng Tian paused, each word striking everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

Wei Zhe, kneeling on the ground, could even hear his own heart pounding violently.

He knew that the wheels of history had, at this very moment, begun to roll forward with unstoppable force!

Then, Meng Tian's voice suddenly turned murderous!

"Royal Decree: The Yong City camp is ordered to mobilize its entire army of two hundred thousand, under the overall command of High General Wang Jian, to march east immediately. The blade's edge points towards—"

He suddenly unfurled the bamboo slips, roaring the last two words with all his might!

"Han State!"

Han State!

The last two words, like two colossal hammers descending from the heavens, struck the hearts of the three thousand recruits on the training ground.

The hot blood that had been boiling just moments before at the mention of "Great Qin Elite Warriors" was instantly replaced by a bone-chilling cold.

A war to destroy a nation!

What they would face was no longer minor skirmishes on the border, but the complete annihilation of a nation that had existed for hundreds of years!

What did that mean?

It meant endless cities, tens of thousands of enemy soldiers, mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and a near-certain death.

"Gulp."

A young soldier swallowed with difficulty, his palms instantly slick with cold sweat as he gripped his spear. He could clearly feel the man next to him, his fellow enlistee, trembling uncontrollably.

Fear, like an invisible plague, rapidly spread among these young men facing true war for the first time.

On the high platform, Meng Tian took it all in. There was not the slightest ripple in his hawk-like eyes.

He had seen too many recruits like this.

"All troops, heed my order!"

Meng Tian's voice rang out again, cold and merciless, instantly suppressing all fear and distractions.

"We march out in half an hour!"

"Disobey, and you will be beheaded!"

Half an hour!

This order was more suffocating to the recruits than the words "destroy Han State." They didn't even have time to write a letter home, no time to make arrangements with their comrades.

War had arrived, brutally and without question.

"General!"

Just then, a loud voice rang out.

The Chief Instructor, Shi Meng, strode forward and clasped his fists heavily towards Meng Tian on the high platform.

"These new recruits are shaken by the news of battle. Please grant me the time it takes for one stick of incense, General!"

Meng Tian's gaze fell upon Shi Meng. After a moment, he nodded.

"Granted."

Shi Meng turned and strode down from the high platform, directly into the formation of the three thousand new recruits. His burly physique was like a moving small mountain, exuding an intense sense of pressure.

He didn't speak, merely using his bell-like eyes to slowly scan across the young, frightened faces.

"What are you afraid of?"

Shi Meng spoke, his voice not loud, but like a whip lashing at everyone's hearts.

"Afraid of death?"

No one answered, but those pale faces said it all.

"Good! It's right to be afraid!" Shi Meng suddenly grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, his smile somewhat ferocious. "Those who aren't afraid of death are fools! Only when you fear death will you find every way to survive!"

He pointed to the hideous scar on his face.

"See this? Back in Zhao State, I was surrounded by three Zhao cavalrymen and nearly lost my head! Was I afraid? I was so scared I almost peed myself!"

The new recruits stared at him in astonishment, not expecting the devilish Chief Instructor to say such things.

"But!" Shi Meng's tone suddenly rose, like a thunderclap. "I know even better that I am a Qin man! Behind me is Yong City! It's Xianyang! It's our parents, wives, and children!"

"If I retreat, they will die!"

"So, I fought with all my might and killed those three sons of bitches! Using their blood, I told everyone that anyone who dares to touch my Great Qin must pay with their lives!"

His gaze swept across the entire assembly once more.

"Now, tell me, who are we going to fight?"

"Han State!" a soldier answered instinctively.

"What is Han State?" Shi Meng pressed.

"It's... it's a vassal state."

"Nonsense!" Shi Meng cursed loudly. "They are a bunch of weaklings who can barely lift a sword! A pack of stray dogs whose spines have been broken by our Great Qin!"

"Their men only brag in taverns! Their generals only hide behind women and tremble! Men who only play with prostitutes in brothels, their city walls are made of paper!"

"What is this iron armor you wear for? For them to hack at with bone knives for fun?"

"What are the halberds and spears in your hands for? To use as firewood?"

"No!"

Someone, who knows who, let out a suppressed roar.

"Who are you people?" Shi Meng roared.

"Qin people!"

This time, it was the roar of hundreds of people in unison.

"Who are we?"

"Great Qin Elite Warriors!"

The voices of three thousand men merged into a sky-soaring torrent! The fear that had just been suppressed was, at this moment, replaced by a more primal, more fanatical emotion!

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