Chapter 706: The New Recruits' Trial

Before dawn;

The camp woke up.

Not from waking naturally;

but was jolted awake by the urgent sound of a bronze gong.

"All able-bodied! Gather at the riverbank!"

"Quick!"

Xu Da's voice sounded like a stone thrown onto the ground.

The crowd surged out of the huts;

eyes still heavy with sleep;

but seeing Xu Da and Tang He's grim faces;

no one dared ask further.

On the open riverbank.

Over four hundred able-bodied stood unevenly.

Most held sharpened wooden poles;

a few had broken blades;

and a dozen or so had been given rough iron spearheads freshly polished yesterday.

The spearheads were tied to the wooden shafts;

their cold gleam dull;

but they were iron after all.

Zhu Yue stood on a large rock.

The morning wind was bitterly cold.

"The government troops are coming."

He spoke;

without preamble.

The crowd stirred.

Fear rippled outward like water.

"We don't know how many."

"We don't know when they'll arrive."

"But the time left for us is at most two days."

The commotion turned into a low hum.

Some faces turned pale.

Some hands began to tremble.

"Are you afraid?"

Zhu Yue asked.

No one answered.

But their eyes said it all.

"I'm afraid too."

Zhu Yue said.

He was calm.

"But fear is useless."

"The troops won't turn back just because we're scared."

"They come with swords and bows, seeking our heads for bounty."

He paused.

"One head, five taels of silver."

"My head, fifty taels."

His words were like ice water;

poured over each person's head.

"We have only two options."

"First, abandon everything here and flee into the deep mountains."

"You might starve, be killed by wild beasts, or be caught and hacked down."

"Second, stay here, tighten the fences, sharpen the blades, make them lose a few teeth, and let them know we're not easy prey."

His gaze swept over the crowd.

"Those who choose the first option may leave now; I won't stop you."

"Those who choose the second, stay."

"But if you stay, you must obey orders."

"From now on, there are no men or women—only those who can work and those who can wield a blade."

"The lazy, the reckless, those who disobey orders—"

His voice sank.

"They will face military punishment."

The riverbank fell dead silent.

Only the wind's rustling over the dry grass.

After a few breaths.

A tall, thin youth stepped forward first.

"I'll stay!"

He was one of the artisans who had previously worked in iron smelting.

Immediately after.

The second.

The third.

One after another;

Almost everyone took a step forward.

No one left.

It's not that they aren't afraid.

It's that there's nowhere left to go.

Zhu Yue nodded.

"Good."

"Xu Da;"

"Present!"

"You lead the first team; 120 people; responsible for reinforcing the east and south wooden walls; dig the outer moat three feet deeper; set pointed stakes at the bottom."

"Yes!"

"Tang He;"

"Here!"

"You lead the second team; 150 people; continue drilling. Today practice forming ranks, advancing and retreating to drum signals, and thrusting with spears. Drill until you can't lift your arms."

"Understood!"

"The rest of you; follow me."

Zhu Yue jumped down from the stone.

"We'll take those few furnaces of molten iron and turn them into something that can kill."

The furnaces in the iron-smelting area burned all night without dying out.

The third furnace had already been built halfway.

But Zhu Yue called a halt.

"Don't build a new furnace for now."

"Concentrate the fire; keep the existing two furnaces of molten iron safe; refine them."

He personally monitored the furnace temperature.

The Commander operated the bellows.

Repeatedly remelting the molten iron;

Doing our best to remove impurities.

On the other side;

Several artisans with forging experience had already begun hammering the cooled iron billets.

The clinking hammer strikes fell dense as rain.

They wanted to finish before the enemy arrived;

to produce as many spearheads as possible.

They didn't need to be very refined.

Just hard enough.

Just sharp enough.

As long as they could pierce leather armor.

By afternoon.

The people of the first team working on fortifications ran into trouble.

The riverbank soil was loose;

once dug to a certain depth it began to seep water.

The moat turned into a muddy pond.

"Planks!"

Xu Da shouted.

"Go dismantle those useless huts! Bring the planks over to line the bottom!"

"Quickly!"

Some abandoned huts on the north side of the camp were torn down.

The planks were hauled to the edge of the moat;

laid into the muddy bottom of the ditch.

Then stones were piled on top.

Sharp wooden stakes were nailed one by one into the gaps between the planks;

angled outward.

It was crude.

But it is useful.

The second squad's training is even harder.

These refugees, who yesterday were still scooping mussel shells and digging wild vegetables;

today they must learn to form ranks;

listening to the drumbeat for advance and retreat.

The spears thrust out limp and weak.

Their steps are in utter chaos.

Tang He's voice is hoarse from shouting.

"Grip tight!"

"Keep your arms straight!"

"Engage your waist!"

"You're stabbing people, not tickling them!"

Someone collapsed from exhaustion onto the ground.

He was immediately hauled up by Tang He.

"Get up!"

"Lie down now; tomorrow you'll be a corpse!"

"If you don't want to die, keep training!"

The whole camp is like a rusted machine forced into motion.

Every part is groaning under the strain.

But it is indeed moving.

Inching forward.

Zhu Yue runs back and forth between the smelting area and the worksite.

He checks the quality of the molten iron.

He inspects the depth of the moat.

He adjusts the training details.

The string in his mind is stretched to its limit.

Time.

Every moment is counting down.

Evening.

The first batch of thirty iron spearheads is finished.

Although rough;

but the tips are sharpened to a keen edge.

"Issue them."

Zhu Yue says to Tang He:

"Give them to the thirty who trained the hardest and fear death the least today."

"Tell them; this is the best equipment in the camp."

"When battle comes, they must take the front line."

Tang He nods heavily.

He knows what that means.

The best weapons;

often mean the most dangerous positions.

But there's no choice.

As night falls.

Around the camp, bonfires are lit, twice as many as usual.

The firelight flickers in the deepening night;

casting the silhouettes of patrolling figures on the wooden walls.

and also illuminating the dark, unknown wilderness beyond the walls.

Zhu Yue does not sleep.

He sits beside the stone formation.

A rough sketch of the camp's surroundings lies before him.

He marks possible enemy approaches with charcoal.

Calculating our weak points.

"The east is flat; suitable for a cavalry charge."

"The south has woods; can hide people."

"The west is a river; the north is mountains……"

He mutters to himself.

Xu Da and Tang He walk over.

Their faces are full of fatigue.

"Brother; the wall is nearly done; the moat still lacks a bit; it can be finished tomorrow morning."

"Zhu Yue; we've drilled all day; we have some semblance now; but if we really fight…… it's uncertain."

Zhu Yue didn't lift his head.

"Enough."

"There are walls; there are ditches; there are iron spears."

"It's still better than fighting bare-handed."

He put down the charcoal pencil.

"Go to sleep."

"Tomorrow..."

He looked toward the flickering firelight in the darkness.

"The enemy might have arrived."