"Cheers! Cheers!"

  Outside the city gate of Mekong Town, Jingwei Camp's "Han", "Yang" and "Yang" (Yang Youhuai) three flags had more than a thousand people fully armed and ready to depart. In the cold wind, they grasped their long spears and bows with a majestic and refreshing demeanor. Half of Yang Youhuai's troops had already changed into iron armor, which was even more exquisite, making them particularly eye-catching among the many flags.

  At the town gate, Liu Ce stood in front of the three flag arrays, with flags standing behind him, fluttering in the wind. Xu Hui, Qin Mo, Wu Liwen and others under the flags had solemn expressions, standing straight as pens.

  Liu Ce looked up at the sky, today's weather is not bad, although it's cold, but judging from the situation, it shouldn't snow again. With over a thousand people attacking a bandit village of less than five hundred, there shouldn't be any unexpected situations. It's also a good opportunity for Han Feng's archers and Yang Fan's new recruits to gain some experience. In Liu Ce's opinion, this is the best way to train soldiers - one year of hard training at home is not as effective as seeing blood once on the battlefield. War is the fastest way for an ordinary person to grow into a qualified soldier, but the risk and cost are also extremely high...

  "Depart!" Liu Zhan waved his arm and the 100 auxiliary soldiers behind Xu Hui quickly formed up, with the three soldiers in the front row blowing the departure horn.

  "Wooo..."

  A solemn and majestic sound echoed in the ears of the generals, Yang Youhuai's troops led the way onto the main road, while the other two battalions followed closely behind under their respective commanders. One hundred auxiliary soldiers, led by the newly appointed Centurion Wang Cheng, beat the marching drums slowly as they trailed along one side of the army...

  Wu Liwen watched as the army marched further and further away, gradually disappearing from his line of sight. His heart was filled with worry, but seeing Liu Ce, Qin Mo, and Xu Hui's expressions showed no concern, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, yet still wore a worried look on his face.

  Qin Mo saw Wu Liwen's appearance and stepped forward with a fist, saying: "Wu Town Chief, judging from your expression, are you worried about the safety of the soldiers?"

  "Alas..." Wu Liwen sighed, "The veteran soldiers under Jing Wei's command are familiar to me. Even tens of thousands of bandits can be annihilated in the blink of an eye, so attacking a mere hundred or so bandit stronghold is naturally not a problem. However, those new recruits have only been training for over ten days, and if things don't go well in battle, I'm really worried that they'll cause trouble for General Zhuang's troops..."

  Qin Mo smiled and said: "Director Wu, please rest assured. My general would never act without careful consideration. Now that we have some free time, I heard that Director Wu has made a brilliant move in chess, setting up a game in the town for three days, with no one able to defeat him. As it happens, I also have some knowledge of chess. Why don't we take this opportunity to play a game together? It would be a good chance for me to learn from you and also to pass the time until our soldiers return triumphantly."

  "Wu Liwen heard that someone was praising his chess skills and couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his heart, but he still put on a difficult expression."

  Liu Ce saw this and hastily said, "Town Head Wu, since Mr. Qin has asked for guidance, you should reluctantly agree to it. After I finish handling the matters in my hands, I will definitely go to admire Town Head's chess skills..."

  Wu Liwen clasped his hands together: "I'm not worthy of your instruction, but since Mr. Qin has this elegant interest, then let's engage in a little discussion. However, I must say something unpleasant beforehand - the greatest pleasure in my life is playing chess, and everything else can be yielded, but on this chessboard..."

  "Please, Director Wu, you must try your best."

  "Please."

  Wu Liwen took Qin Mo to his own mansion, Liu Ce patted Xu Hui's shoulder, signaling him to gather the troops, then ran towards Feng Yinggao's old ironwork shop...

  For this expedition to attack the bandit lair 15 miles away, not only Liu Ce, but also Qin Mo and Ye Bin thought it was no big deal. Although the two camps were new recruits and had been training for less than half a month, the Jingwei Camp had always fought in formation, with discipline far more important than individual bravery. They would often form a long spear array on the battlefield, daring the bandits to charge, and if they didn't, they would advance with their spears. Who would engage in single combat with them? With Yang Fan and Han Feng's steady temperament, they knew that as long as they followed their usual training methods to face the enemy, they would be completely safe. Moreover, half of the soldiers under Yang's command were veterans, whose mental quality and battlefield reaction had already reached Liu Ce's standard for elite troops. With his troops holding the formation, he could rest easy.

  Liu Ce sent over a thousand men this time to attack the bandit's stronghold, first to train troops and second to hone the coordination between various flag departments. Moreover, after several days of reconnaissance, it was found that not only this attack on the stronghold but also within dozens of miles, there were no decent long-range or defensive weapons among the bandits, making this expedition as easy as going out for a tour...

  But what Liu Ce is most concerned about now is still Chen Qing's cavalry, although with the help of stirrups, it's not easy to train a qualified cavalry. When Chen Qing heard about the plan to suppress the bandits and immediately asked to go to war, Liu Ce didn't even think about it and refused, what a joke! Can riding a horse be considered as being a cavalry? If cavalry were that easy to train, the hundreds of thousands of troops in the Great Zhou would not have been defeated by the Daxia and Hulan people, nor would there have been the Battle of Saiwai where 100,000 soldiers were killed by 7,000 Mongolian iron knights without leaving a single piece of armor.

  Just thinking of Chen Qing's disappointed eyes, Liu Ce also sighed. In fact, he was more anxious than Chen Qing to let his cavalry take shape quickly, but he also understood that one mouthful couldn't make a fat man, and now even the cavalry equipment hadn't been gathered yet...

  "Old Feng, how is it going?" Liu Ce asked as he came to the front of Feng Ying. Although the weather was cold now, the iron shop was still hot and unbearable, Liu Ce looked at a piece of red-hot iron being clamped onto the anvil, then two blacksmiths began to swing their hammers non-stop, striking the iron plate and splashing out sparks...

  Feng Ying wiped the sweat and took a sip of water, saying: "This ring-shaped knife, I and Old Gao and the others need to study it again. According to your method, making the rest is not a problem, but the blade needs to be tempered and ground for a while longer. At most, it will take three to five days to make the finished product. The cavalry armor has already been completed with 43 sets, all made of high-quality iron, weighing 46 pounds per set. Now those women are assembling the armor leaves, and in three to five days, we should be able to deliver them to Chen Qing."

  Liu Ce nodded and continued, "What about the cavalry?"

  "This spear was made according to your instructions, using inferior wood and iron spearheads forged together, however..."

  "Feng Ying paused, 'I and a few craftsmen tried it out, but it was too brittle... the spearhead had just pierced the stone block without much force when the entire spear shaft split... not suitable for cavalry use...'"

  "Uh..." Liu Ce was momentarily speechless, "Could it be due to the materials?"

  Liu Ce had little knowledge of ancient cold weapons, but in his impression, the gun handle used for cavalry charges was absolutely impossible to be made of hardwood, especially when charging at high speed and piercing the opposing cavalry, he estimated that the cavalry's arm would also be disabled or dislocated by the recoil.

  Feng Ying advised: "I think we should follow the traditional method of making long spears, with more practice, at least it can ensure that there are not too many unexpected situations when killing enemies on horseback."

  "Hard point?" Liu Ce muttered to himself, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "Old Feng, can it be done like this? You can use hardwood for the shaft, but can the front end of the spearhead be hollowed out?" Liu Ce remembered that in his previous life, there was a famous iron cavalry - the Polish Winged Hussars, known as the "Lance of God", they used a type of lance that relied on horse power to pierce into the enemy, and the front edge of the shaft would break off cleanly, which was a one-time use, and could effectively prevent wrist and arm injuries caused by recoil.

  "Hmm?" Old Feng's interest was piqued, "This is great! With the front end hollowed out and a spearhead inserted, when charging forward, it will only break if it can't withstand the weight of the object being pierced. This way, we can avoid wrist injuries and prevent cavalrymen from being knocked off their horses. Brilliant! Brilliant!"

  Seeing Feng Ying nodding, Liu Ce let out a sigh of relief that the problem was finally solved, but immediately looked like he wanted to say something but stopped himself.

  "What's wrong? You don't look like your usual self, speak up quickly." In private, Liu Ce and Feng Ying didn't have any superior or inferior relationship, as long as it was a technical issue, they would discuss it on an equal footing.

  "Liu Ce plucked up the courage to say, 'Old Feng, is it really impossible to get those cavalry equipment? Not many, just fifty sets... no, thirty sets, thirty sets will do!'"

  "Pfft~ Cough cough cough~" Feng Ying, who was drinking water, spat it out. He was really speechless. Just a few days ago, he had told him that there was no way to do it now, how could he still not give up?

  "My great general!" Feng Ying's whole body trembled, his scarred face twitching uncontrollably. "Now, don't look at the tens of thousands of jin of fine iron, but what can't be used with iron now? Horse shoes, stirrups, long spears, throwing spears, arrows, armor, waist knives, cavalry lances, and even the ring-headed knife that's being forged right now. What other equipment for the armored cavalry can be made from this fine iron?"

  "Twenty sets!" Liu Ce still didn't give up, trying to haggle with Feng Ying. The surrounding craftsmen couldn't help but laugh and shake their heads. These blacksmiths were of very low status, in the eyes of the aristocracy they were just the lowest level of laborers, barely scraping together a living. But since following Jing Wei's camp, as long as they were willing to work hard to forge the ordered equipment, their treatment wasn't bad at all. Now Liu Ce's payment could let them get through this cold winter safely.

  "Not one, not a single set. With this effort, it's better to give each of the three thousand people an iron armor! Stop messing around!" Feng Ying directly refused, actually he was thinking that he couldn't bear to waste one or two hundred kilograms of fine iron on a horse.

  "Fifteen sets..."

  Feng Ying ignored him and picked up the hammer from the fire rack, took the waist knife that had been burned to a deep red and placed it on the anvil, pounding away. This was a captured weapon that had been re-forged in the furnace and re-crafted by the blacksmith's door.

  "Ten sets! Just ten sets!"

  Feng Ying was annoyed and said, "When you have a mine, then talk! Now? There's no door!"

  Seeing Feng Ying's attitude, Liu Ce could only sigh and instruct everyone to hurry up and make the necessary items, ensuring quality before leaving the blacksmith shop with a frown. The crowd heard that this young general sighed deeply again, some of whom were skilled craftsmen... (To read the full version, please search for "异界烽火录" on Baidu and then search for "异界烽火录" again after entering)