Chapter 289

Many forces try to win over Bai Lang, after all a general who shakes the world is indeed a sharp blade— the main point is that he has shown no independent trend; to contend for the world relying on light corvée and a few hundred soldiers? In that case, this peerless warrior would be the type with little ambition, merely seeking orthodox loyalty. Isn't that a peerless fine blade?

So Bai Lang not only has to face the overtures from the Flying Horse Ranch—this is just huddling together for warmth in chaotic times, after all, because Shang Xiu Xuan is still wary of her so‑called best friend, the Li family maiden. Li Xiu Ning perhaps doesn't intend to do anything to the merchant lord, but the Li clan absolutely wants to swallow the Flying Horse Ranch. Buying a hundred horses is actually nothing much; Bai Lang is merely preparing to gradually form a cavalry, and in his view everyone will be equipped with mail armor, shields and horse swords, horse lances, of course also bows and crossbows, and the horses will also be fitted with leather and woven horse armor.

Basically they can also be used as second‑rate armored cavalry; finally each man gets at least two spare horses, plus a wagon to haul supplies, and these few hundred cavalry are enough to sweep the world. Following Bai Lang in taking heads, Bai Lang feels quite impressive: "Anciently there was Gao Shun's assault camp, the Cao family tiger‑leopard cavalry; now I have this White Tiger Strike Cavalry, not bad either!" Bai Lang calculated, outfitting these five or six hundred men—indeed Bai Lang thought seven hundred was still too many, so he still had to weed out some.

Equipping these five or six hundred men costs no small sum—swords, shields, bows, crossbows and horse lances are fine enough, mail armor and laminated armor are also acceptable; all together each person costs about one or two hundred strings of cash, which already adds up to several hundred thousand strings. Then there are the horses as consumables...... that's the biggest expense. Horses are a delicate animal; they often die without warning, and to keep them alive you have to tend to them like a father....

The battle chargers eat fine fodder—rice, wheat, beans, even eggs, probably better than what people eat. So a horse can easily cost over a hundred strings, and daily it needs dozens to hundreds of cash worth of feed; in battle it consumes hundreds of cash per day, and if things go badly a campaign can ruin the horse, forcing a replacement. "Think about it, war really is a loss‑making business……" Bai Lang muttered. Outfitting this group runs at least several hundred thousand strings, and cavalry is just that money‑hungry.

Of course one can also conscript nomads—this hardly costs anything; beyond the borders one can draft herdsmen, who even bring their own horses, so little money is needed. However combat effectiveness? That's another matter compared with a standing army....

Bai Lang never voiced this idea to anyone, and facing Zhen Zhen and Shang Xiu Xuan he had no intention of speaking—what's the point? Is it useful? Whether this can succeed is hard to say. In this attack on the Waga stronghold, the spoils gathered from Luo City and the defeated Waga army amounted to nearly two hundred thousand strings for Bai Lang—in fact it was just the looting of Luo City. With that money one could almost fully equip the force, but those hundred warhorses can only be called training consumables.

These militia troops should now learn to ride, and Bai Lang will impart practical martial arts and qigong techniques, shaping them into the strike cavalry he envisions. Bai Lang has read many online novels, which mention the modern cavalry's wall‑like charge; coincidentally the heavy cavalry charge of these armored troops is much the same, so Bai Lang thinks training them to form a wall and launch a charge is a promising undertaking.

"What should I teach them? Rather, I should distill from the Thirteen Guardians' horizontal training a method to sustain strength with long breath, preferably a way for man and horse to circulate true qi together." Bai Lang pondered this, while Zhen Zhen went to entertain Shang Xiu Xuan, leaving him alone to think slowly. As for the martial arts, it's simple: the sword technique is just the present straight‑blade thrust, slash and chop—no frills, just great power and speed; a single blow, aided by the horse's momentum, can cleave even armor.

Bai Lang even thought of having them carry bone flails—straight blades suit infantry against unarmored or lightly armored foes, but bone flails can take down heavy infantry. Then there's the cavalry shield—overall the best is an iron‑covered round shield strapped to the arm with a leather belt. Horse lances need no explanation; as for bows and crossbows, Bai Lang prefers to bring a bow—because loading a crossbow on horseback is inconvenient, and any that can be loaded are light crossbows.

The power of a horsebow, though not equal to a footbow, is still better than a crossbow that can fire only a single bolt. So it's simple: Bai Lang will teach killing swordsmanship, the shield‑sword technique combined with shields, the use of bone flails can be mixed in, plus empty‑hand drills—this is close‑quarters martial arts; then there's horseback sword, shield, lance and mounted archery, and it looks like we may also need to teach them how to use the lance in infantry combat.

Thinking about it, that's also rather interesting—Bai Lang feels he probably can't teach bow and crossbow skills, since he's quite average in that area, but as for the eighteen weapons, he's confident his level is enough to instruct.

Bai Lang possesses the Butterfly‑Goose Double Kill manual, researched for dual‑wield weapons; of course single‑handed and two‑handed long weapons are also gathered therein. It was originally produced by a generation‑strong figure who embraced all streams, and in Bai Lang's hands it can still be renewed according to what he sees and hears—this is a school of techniques and martial arts that can never be fully practiced or studied. From it he can distill a set of long and short weapons plus bare‑handed skills, which in Bai Lang's view is even simpler than the manual he once gave to the Twin Dragons.

Just as Bai Lang was thinking about buying arms, someone from the Eastern Abyss Sect showed up at the door...... the visitor was a middle‑aged man surnamed Shang, who first presented a case of Ming glittering daggers. Bai Lang opened the case, gazing at the cloud‑like patterns on the blades—these markings are visible only at a specific angle in the light—he picked up a dagger and a chill washed over him. "Indeed a fine blade." Bai Lang praised it, and he also admired the Eastern Abyss Sect's commercial savvy.

Is this valuable? Yes, it's precious—exquisitely crafted daggers are never cheap, let alone a whole case holding at least thirty‑odd blades. But compared with Bai Lang's possible order, it's actually just putting the profit back in; the truly valuable thing is probably Bai Lang himself. Since they took the initiative to come forward and show goodwill, Bai Lang wasn't shy about stating his demands one by one, and he paid half the cost.

The middle‑aged Shang Long nodded and agreed to each request, and the price he quoted seemed very favorable to Bai Lang, but he offhandedly asked, "Has General Bai himself ever owned armor worthy of his bravery?" Bai Lang was taken aback; his armor was studded with arrow‑piercing bolts—if you pulled out the heads, the plates were already riddled with holes, and the helmet had a big tear—indeed it was no longer fit to wear.

Whether Bai Lang actually had armor or not didn't really matter, but a general's eye‑catching armor is absolutely the focus of everyone's gaze and the army's morale; a general wearing dazzling, splendid armor proves his valor and exalted status. So Bai Lang still needs a set of armor, and is there anyone in this world better at weapon forging than the Eastern Abyss Sect? Actually there is...... but where is Lu Miaozi? Bai Lang also doesn't want to disturb this recluse.

Anyway, his armor isn't meant for protection; all he wants is something splendid and eye‑catching.