Chapter 2: The Mysterious Black Pearl (4)

  The second update for today has arrived.

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  The shortcomings of the longbow lie in that the user must have a strong physique, superb technique and comprehensive coordination ability. For this reason, soldiers had to undergo years of training and practice.

  The importance of archers is undeniable, and they are also one of the main combat troops of the Sky Bow Empire. Zhou Weiqing's father had once led the Sky Bow Empire's army to a typical victory in an archery battle when he was still the commander of the United Legion. At that time, their opponents were the Kresi Empire, which was mainly cavalry-based and bordered the Sky Bow Empire to the south.

  At that time, General Zhou chose a gentle slope, set up an array, and controlled the only way for the Crusader army to pass through.

  The Tian Gong Empire army had about 2,000 archers, divided into three teams. The left team was covered by a forest and trenches; the right team had a river as a barrier; the rear team was located behind the two teams, led by General Zhou himself. Each team had about 150 heavy cavalrymen on foot holding large tower shields in front of them, forming a phalanx six rows deep, facing enemy cavalry three times their own number, and won the war with the advantage of longbowmen and almost slaughtered, from then on General Zhou became famous overnight and officially stepped onto the stage of the Tian Gong Empire military.

  It was precisely because of this that when Zhou Weiqing grasped the longbow, he couldn't help but feel a surge of hot blood. As the son of a marshal, he had naturally used a longbow before and shot arrows, but holding onto this battle-worn bow felt completely different from those training bows.

  Taking a deep breath, Zhou Weiqing's left hand grasped the bow and his right hand deftly placed his index finger, middle finger, and ring finger on the bowstring. With both arms exerting force, his left hand steadily lifted up while his right hand had already pulled the bowstring into a full moon shape, steadily aiming forward.

  As the longbow was handed to Zhou Weiqing, the soldier's eyes lit up and he praised, "Great! Little brother, you must have played with a longbow before, your movements are quite standard. I just don't know how accurate you are. As long as our archers' accuracy is good enough, they are the strongest existence in the army."

  How could Zhou Weiqing's posture and movements not be standard? You have to know, his family's Zhou Da Yuan Shuai, apart from leading troops and fighting wars, whenever he is at home, his greatest pleasure is to torment him. Although Zhou Weiqing couldn't cultivate Heavenly Energy due to his meridians being blocked, in terms of training, that was absolutely first-rate. Even when Zhou Da Yuan Shuai wasn't at home, he would still assign training tasks to him and inspect them upon returning. If the inspection didn't pass? Hehe...

  That's why Zhou Weiqing not only shoots arrows, but also has a pretty good accuracy, which is also the reason he chose archery after excitement. The Tian Gong Empire is famous for its bows, and in Zhou Da Yuanshuai's training, longbows are used the most.

  He held the bowstring for a while, and then slowly drew back his bow. His face was not red, nor was he panting, and his waist was straight as a pen. After all, he was only thirteen years old, and although his strength was already no weaker than that of an adult, if he pulled the bowstring for too long, his strength would still be somewhat insufficient.

  "Alright. Young brother, from now on, you are a brother of our archery camp. Our archery camp belongs to the Fifth United Team, and among the ten camps of the Fifth United Team, there are four archery camps, we are the third one, remember this well."

  Regardless of whether it's a large or small country, the military organization is roughly the same. Ten people form a squad, ten squads with 100 people form a company, ten companies with 1,000 people form a battalion, and ten battalions with 10,000 people form a brigade, also known as a division. Ten brigades with 100,000 people form an army corps. Of course, in the Tian Gong Empire, there is no such organization as an army corps; the entire empire only has five brigades, totaling 50,000 people.

  "What? Is this already the end of the test?" Zhou Weiqing said in surprise.

  The archer soldier laughed and said, "What? You still think it's that difficult? This is a recruitment, not a selection of son-in-law. As long as you don't have any physical defects and can pull open the longbow, you're naturally qualified. You little guy looks silly, I reckon you're just barely sixteen years old, and you'll still be growing taller, so there's definitely no problem. Moreover, after joining the army, you'll go to the new recruit camp for centralized training for three months. Do you think you can directly go onto the battlefield as soon as you join the army? Go ahead, go over there to receive your equipment, little brother. I'm telling you, being able to join our third battalion is definitely your good fortune. Wait till you see the battalion commander later and you'll understand. Our battalion commander personally hands out equipment." As he spoke, he put a checkmark on Zhou Weiqing's form and handed it back to him.

  The archer pointed to a nearby barracks not far away, which was obviously newly established, with horse-drawn carriages constantly transporting things inside. Now it seems that this should be the military equipment used for recruitment.

  Has he become a soldier just like that? From young to old, being scolded by his father as a useless person countless times, he had never had such a sense of accomplishment as now. Although the test was extremely simple, he had passed it after all, and became a soldier through his own efforts. Zhou Weiqing unconsciously puffed out his chest a little, exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, and walked towards the barracks with large strides.

  Entering the barracks area, the form in his hand was his pass through the sentry post. Under the guidance of the sentry, he easily found the campsite of the third battalion of archers and arrows. In front of a huge barrack door like a warehouse, a sign was inserted, which read: New recruits report here.

  Zhou Weiqing's heart was racing with excitement! He hastily walked towards the barracks and lifted the curtain to enter.

  It just so happened that as he reached out to grab the door curtain, someone was walking out from inside. Now it's summer, and the tent's door curtains are thin, mainly to prevent mosquitoes. Zhou Weiqing, due to his excited mood, made a big movement, and indeed grabbed the curtain, but at the same time also grabbed a round, soft thing with elasticity, along with the curtain being grasped in his hand. Subconsciously, Zhou Weiqing pinched it once, and immediately, a low hum sounded from the curtain side, followed by Zhou Weiqing being kicked out with one foot.

  This kick wasn't very powerful, but it still kicked him back seven or eight steps, almost making him fall to the ground with a thud. The door curtain was lifted with a rustling sound, and someone walked out of the tent.

  She was a bright-eyed and white-toothed girl, looking like she's only sixteen or seventeen years old. She had a slender figure, about 1.7 meters tall, with blue long hair tied up in a ponytail at the back of her head. She wore black military uniform, without armor, but this black military uniform was still recognizable to Wei Qing, it was the standard uniform for battalion commanders, of course, outside they would need to wear full plate armor as part of their complete equipment.

  Princess Tifa is already beautiful enough, but compared to the blue-haired girl in front of her, she falls short by a notch. The girl's skin is as smooth and delicate as cream cheese, with striking features being her extremely beautiful big eyes, which are light blue in color, deep-set, gentle and perfect, exquisitely flawless, always giving off a warm and soothing feeling.

  When he saw the girl, Zhou Weiqing was stunned. He knew this girl, although he had only caught a glimpse of her from afar at first, but his memory of her was exceptionally vivid. The reason was simple: the girl who appeared before him was not only the number one genius of the younger generation in the Heaven's Bow Empire, but also the hope of the empire, and was known as the empire's number one beauty. Her name was Shangguan Xue'er.