Meng Tian stepped onto the high platform, his gaze like lightning sweeping across the densely packed army below.
"Starting today, your drills are over."
His voice was not raised intentionally, yet it clearly entered the ears of every single person.
"From today onward, you are no longer recruits, but true Great Qin Elite Warriors of mine!"
"Roar!"
Thousands of soldiers simultaneously struck the ground with the tails of their halberds, letting out a neat and uniform roar that shook the surrounding wilderness.
There was not the slightest ripple on Meng Tian's face as he continued, "I, Meng Tian, obeying the command of the Great King, have come to reorganize the Yong City Camp. From this moment on, I am your vanguard general!"
Vanguard general!
The aura of war, like a tangible dark cloud, instantly enveloped the entire military exercise ground. The breathing of all the soldiers grew heavy. They knew that the moment to truly go to the battlefield and achieve military merit had arrived!
Wei Zhe gripped the shaft of his halberd, his grip tightening involuntarily. His gaze was more burning than anyone else's.
It's here!
The opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived!
He had no need for those illusory sentiments of home and country; he only needed a battlefield vast enough to slaughter, to plunder, to trample those so-called experts beneath his feet, and then to absorb their strength and make himself stronger!
At that moment, Meng Tian turned around and took the yellow-cloth-wrapped wooden box from his personal guards.
He carefully untied the yellow cloth and took out a roll of black bamboo slips bound with golden thread.
He held the bamboo slips high, his expression solemn, his voice like a great bell.
"The King of Qin issues a royal decree!"
"Clatter—"
A uniform sound of armor plates rubbing together.
Including Wei Zhe, all the officers and men on the exercise ground, regardless of their official position, knelt on one knee in unison, placing their right hands over their chests and lowering their heads.
The entire world seemed to freeze at this moment.
Only Meng Tian's solemn and cold voice remained, echoing between heaven and earth like a divine decree.
"We, inheriting the mandate of heaven and carrying on the unfulfilled ambitions of the former kings. Yet today the realm is fractured, feudal lords carve up the land, warfare continues without end, and the common people are displaced. Across the Central Plains, beacon fires have not ceased for a hundred years. This is not the fault of heaven, but the disaster of man!"
"To unite the four seas, bring peace to the realm, and spare the myriad commoners from the suffering of weapons, We are resolved to raise a thunderous force, sweep the six directions, pacify the eight wastes, and accomplish this feat in a single campaign!"
Meng Tian's voice paused, every single word striking heavily against everyone's heart like a sledgehammer.
Wei Zhe, kneeling on the ground, could even hear the violent pounding of his own heart.
He knew that at this moment, the wheels of history had already begun to surge forward with an unstoppable momentum!
Suddenly, Meng Tian's voice turned full of murderous intent!
"Royal Decree: Order the Yong City Camp to mobilize a full army of two hundred thousand, led overall by High General Wang Jian, to set out eastward this very day, with the sharp edge of our blades pointing toward—"
He abruptly unfolded the bamboo slip and roared out the final two words with all his might!
"Han State!"
Han State!
The final two words were like two giant hammers descending from the heavens, fiercely smashing into the hearts of the three thousand recruits on the exercise ground.
The blood that had just boiled at the name of the "Great Qin Elite Warriors" was instantly replaced by a piercing, bone-chilling cold.
A war of state annihilation!
What they were about to face was no longer minor border skirmishes, but the complete eradication of a state with centuries of heritage from the map!
What did that mean?
It meant endless cities, tens of thousands of enemy troops, mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and a slim chance of survival.
"Gulp."
A young soldier swallowed hard, his palms gripping his halberd slick with cold sweat. He could clearly feel that the body of the fellow townsman who had enlisted with him was trembling uncontrollably.
Fear spread rapidly like an invisible plague among these young men facing a real war for the first time.
Up on the high platform, Meng Tian took in every bit of this. There was not a shred of fluctuation in his falcon-like eyes.
He had seen far too many recruits like this.
"All forces, listen to the order!"
Meng Tian's voice rang out once more, cold and ruthless, instantly suppressing everyone's fear and stray thoughts.
"Break camp and set out in half an hour!"
"Those who disobey the order will be beheaded!"
Half an hour!
This command made the recruits feel even more suffocated than the four words "destroy Han State." They didn't even have time to write a letter home or entrust their comrades with final wishes.
War had arrived in such an unquestion draconian posture, rudely and abruptly.
"General!"
At that moment, a resounding voice rang out.
Chief Instructor Shi Meng strode out of formation and gave a heavy cupped-fist salute to Meng Tian on the high platform.
"These recruits are hearing of war for the first time, and their minds and hearts are shaken. Please, General, grant this subordinate an incense stick of time!"
Meng Tian's gaze fell upon Shi Meng, and after a moment, he nodded.
"Granted."
Shi Meng turned, strode down the high platform, and walked directly into the phalanx of three thousand recruits. His hulking physique carried an intense sense of oppression like a moving small mountain.
He didn't speak; he merely swept his bronze-bell eyes slowly across each young, terrified face.
"What are you afraid of?"
Shi Meng spoke, his voice not loud, yet cracking like a whip against everyone's heart.
"Are you afraid of dying?"
No one answered, but those pale faces explained everything.
"Good! Being afraid is right!" Shi Meng suddenly grinned, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth, smiling somewhat hideously. "Anyone who isn't afraid of death is a fool! Only by fearing death will you think of every possible way to stay alive!"
He pointed to the ferocious scar on his face.
"See this? Back in the Zhao State, I was ambushed by three Zhao cavalrymen and almost lost my head! Was I scared? I was so scared I nearly pissed my pants!"
The recruits stared at him in astonishment, never expecting this devil-like chief instructor to say such words.
"But!" Shi Meng's tone suddenly rose like a thunderclap. "I knew even better that I am a Qin man! Behind me is Yong City! Is Xianyang! Is our fathers, mothers, wives, and children!"
"If I had retreated, they would have to die!"
"So I risked my life and butchered those three motherfuckers! With their blood, I told everyone that anyone who wants to touch my Great Qin must pay with their life!"
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 further.
"It's... it's a feudal state."
"Bullshit!" Shi Meng cursed angrily. "That's a bunch of softies who can barely lift a sword! A pack of stray dogs whose spines have been broken by our Great Qin!"
"Their men only know how to brag in wine shops! Their generals only know how to cower behind women! Men who only know how to play with whores in brothels—their city walls are made of paper!"
"What is this iron armor on your bodies for? Is it for them to hack at with bone knives for fun?"
"What are the halberds in your hands for? Are they meant to be used as firewood?"
"No!"
Someone let out a suppressed roar, though it was unclear who.
"What are you people?" Shi Meng roared.
"Qin men!"
This time, it was the roar of hundreds speaking as one.
"What are we?"
"Great Qin Elite Warriors!"
The voices of three thousand men merged into an overwhelming torrent rushing into the heavens! The fear that had just been suppressed was replaced at this moment by an even more primitive, fanatical emotion.
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