In front of the Wan family village, a large flag with a red bottom and black edges stood upright in the center of the field. The pattern on the flag was painted and embroidered by Liu Ce in the style of the Qin and Han dynasties. A giant black bird crouched in the middle of the blood-red background, like a phoenix about to spread its wings and soar into the sky, majestic and solemn. On the edge of the flag, another large flag with a red bottom had the two characters "Jing Wei" written in bold letters.

  More than 800 elite soldiers of the Imperial Guard stood neatly in front of the large banner, wearing leather armor and holding long spears, shields and looking up at the high-standing flag, all feeling a strange sensation in their hearts.

  Liu Ce arrived in front of the soldiers, raised his eyes and looked at them. These refugees who made up the team were all standing upright with their waists straight, compared to a few months ago, they had become much more robust, and there was a hint of determination in their eyes, almost like two different people.

  In the teams procession, each generals flag was unfolded and fluttering in the wind. Feng Qiu Nian, Yang Kai Shan, Yang You Huai, Sun Cheng Li and others stood before their respective flags, their faces unable to conceal their excitement.

  "Cleared his throat, and with a glance at Xu Hui and Qin Mo beside him, he took a deep breath and said loudly: "From today on, the Jingwei Camp is officially established! The relevant military orders have been issued, so I wont say more! Now begins! You are no longer refugees, but true soldiers! What is a soldier? Strict discipline! Obeying orders! Defending ones home! Protecting the people! Giving a head-on blow to the invading enemy! Sweeping away the chaos and bringing peace to the world! This is what it means to be a true soldier! The Jingwei Camp has just been established, and its extremely difficult for us to stand firm in this chaotic world. Everyone, do you have confidence to fight for your own glory and dignity with me? Lets trample on this desolate world and bring peace to the world!"

  "We await your command, General! Let us conquer the chaotic world!" The eight hundred people on the scene spoke in unison, their voices echoing through the clouds, their eyes radiating intense heat.

  Qin Mo, Xu Hui and others were deeply shocked, unable to speak for a long time. Liu Ces military orders, although revised by himself, were still extremely harsh, even more so than the Wang army. For example, after soldiers captured a city, they were prohibited from "plundering" for several days, which broke Qin Mo and Xu Huis understanding of how to maintain morale and relax tense nerves after capturing a city. How could they maintain their fighting spirit if this was forbidden? Wouldnt it even lead to mutiny? Moreover, the cruel system of collective punishment made Sun Cheng and Feng Xue, who had served in the Lei army for many years, feel shocked. In wartime, one person retreated, the whole squad was punished; one squad retreated, the whole company was punished; one company retreated, the whole battalion was punished... What did Liu Ce want to do? Wasnt he being too cruel?

  Of course, the military order is cruel, but the reward clause that comes with it is also very tempting. The spoils of war are divided among the soldiers who go to battle in a ratio of three to one, and strategic materials such as military horses and iron equipment must be handed over first and then settled into other goods and grain for distribution. Soldiers who perform exceptionally well will also receive additional rewards. During training, soldiers are provided with three meals a day, with two liang of meat at noon, but they cannot waste food. Before going to battle or during intense training, additional meat is provided to ensure sufficient physical strength. Now, most people in the village eat from large pots, but the families of soldiers can receive an additional three dou of rice, two liang of salt, and other items every month as a temporary substitute for military pay and welfare. At present, Liu Ces hands are not rich, and since gold and silver have no use for the time being, the soldiers of the Jingwei Camp and the refugees in the village do not want them either. Several thousand liang of silver and over a thousand liang of gold can only be piled up in the corner of the warehouse to gather dust. Liu Ce plans to wait until they arrive at the commercial district before making calculations. As soon as these reward and punishment clauses were announced, more than 600 refugees chose to join the Jingwei Camp. Liu Ce selected over 200 strong and capable men to join the training, causing those who did not join the Jingwei Camp to sigh in dismay. Fortunately, Liu Ce thought that there were many heavy loads that needed to be transported, so he organized them into a logistics team under the management of Ye Bin and Xu Hui. Xu Hui was moved to tears for a moment.

  Liu Ce waved his hand, signaling the shouting crowd to quiet down. After thinking for a moment, he didnt have anything else to say and simply said "Begin training" before falling silent. The soldiers of the Imperial Guard immediately began to continue their drills under the leadership of their respective commanders.

  "Remember this, you bunch of little rabbits! When were on the battlefield, be brave and run with me. If I die before you do, Ill drag your family down with me!" Feng Chouyan repeatedly intimidated his own soldiers, thinking that if he were to die in battle, it would be okay, but if he were to be killed by Liu Ze because his men ran away, it would be too humiliating, and he wouldnt be able to show his face.

  "General Qi, dont worry, Im running away! If I dont run, our flag will be completely disgraced! Of course, General Qi, you must remember that you cant arbitrarily beat and punish us during training anymore. According to military regulations, anyone who recklessly punishes soldiers, regardless of rank, will be flogged. The threatened soldier replied with a smile, as everyone in the village, including women and children, could read, especially these elite guards who could recognize at least several hundred characters, so they were all familiar with the militarys written rules and regulations, making it impossible to deceive them."

  "Alright! Lessons starting now!" Fēng Yóu Nián kicked him in the butt, "Get back to training and find someone who can beat you, quickly! Return to your team!"

  This scene has been happening repeatedly among the various flags, especially Yang Kai knows that relying solely on intimidation is useless, so he "wins over" his soldiers by being kind to them. He often eats with them and occasionally gets up at night to check if they have enough blankets. When he has meat, he shares it with them as much as possible. Gradually, the other flags follow suit, paying attention to their own soldiers daily lives, especially Sun Cheng. Once, during a training exercise, a soldier fainted from exhaustion, and Sun immediately carried him on his back all the way to Ye Bins place, constantly asking if he was cold or needed anything. The entire flag of soldiers were moved to tears and trained even harder afterwards...

  Liu Ce wanted this effect, and only when the soldiers shared honor and shame together could they truly unite, and even in the face of great danger, they could overcome all obstacles.

  "General Liu, the cotton clothes and quilts for winter are still far from enough, food can last another two months, but salt and oil are already insufficient. Moreover, with the intense training of the Jingwei Camp, meat will not last for many days either. Look at these..." Qin Mo and Ye Bin stood behind him, looking together with Liu Ce at Old Man Feng Ying and others using hardwood brought by refugees to make a huge object.

  Liu Ce sighed, the establishment of Jingwei Camp was just a matter of time. The grand words and heroic language were certainly exciting, but the difficulties that came with it were obvious. Not being in charge didnt mean one didnt know the value of food and firewood, now everything needed by Jingwei Camp had to be figured out by himself. This worlds winter was extremely cold, especially in the northern regions where even the warmest winters could drop to -10 degrees Celsius. If they didnt prepare enough essential supplies for the winter, he didnt know how many people would freeze to death. In less than a month, heavy snow would start falling, and if everything wasnt prepared by then, Jingwei Camp would collapse, just thinking about it was laughable.

  "Has Chen Qing and them returned?" Liu Ce asked.

  "Lets calculate the time, its almost there, if nothing unexpected happens, well arrive by this afternoon at the latest."

  As they spoke, a sound of footsteps came, and Chen Qing brought two soldiers to Liu Ces side and saluted with his fists: "General, Im back."

  Liu Ce nodded: "Youve worked hard, go down and rest first, well talk later."

  "No need, Im not tired." Chen Qing refused Liu Ces proposal, with a spirited and refreshed face. Since putting horseshoes on the horses, their strength had improved significantly, and riding them was also more stable. Although they had traveled 400 miles back and forth in two days, Chen Qing still felt full of energy.

  Chen Qing took out a piece of paper from his iron armor and said, "There are over 9,000 bandits in Meihe Town, nearly 1,000 of them are elite soldiers. The main gate is being reinforced at the moment, if we try to take it by force, it will be very difficult..."

  "Who will guard the city?" Liu Ce asked.

  "The leader of the thieves is called Jin Heng. In those years, when the officials and soldiers of Ao County surrounded and defeated the bandits, this guy led the counterattack, resulting in a great defeat for the army. This thief is ruthless and cruel, and his Gold Family Army is notorious for its brutality and violence. Even among the upper echelons of the bandits, they have to show him respect. He is the top elite among the thieves." Chen Qing told Liu Ce everything he knew.

  Liu Ce closed his eyes and remained silent, rapidly calculating the pros and cons in his mind. Qin Mo beside him also lowered his head in contemplation. After all, it was he who had proposed the strategy to attack Meihe Town, but now the bandit armys strength was much greater than he had anticipated, leaving him wondering if this battle was worth fighting.

  Qin Mo slowly spoke: "Ive also heard of Jin Heng, who was born into a military family and learned to wield dual whips from a young age. At 27, he was promoted by the local governor to be the commander of the flag due to his exceptional skills. However, he is arrogant and has always been dissatisfied with the sons of military families who became generals through connections and wealth. This led to the defeat in the campaign against the bandits in Ao County, where he defected and caused a complete loss. Although Jin Hengs reputation is tarnished, he is actually a fearless and ferocious fighter, and his elite soldiers are also extremely bold and daring, not easily intimidated..."

  "Good at fighting?" Liu Ces eyes lit up, "Just how good at fighting is this person?"

  "Whenever there is a battle, he must be the first to rush forward, brave and fierce like a madman..." Qin Mo suddenly stopped, "General, you are saying..."

  Liu Ce hastily waved his hand to interrupt him, and the two of them exchanged a smile, leaving Ye Bin and Chen Qing stunned.

  Qin Mo then worriedly said, "Even so, the county town is over two zhang (4.3 meters) high, and there are many logs and rocks on the city walls, as well as hundreds of archers. Im afraid a strong attack will still be difficult."

  Liu Ce heard this and smiled: "So I instructed Old Feng, and the Out of the World Beacon Fire Record youre reading now, only has a little more than half a chapter on the 33rd expedition to Meihe Town. To read the complete version, please Baidu search: (go in and then search for Out of the World Beacon Fire Record)