Chapter 71: Sharp Soldier Battalion Formed, Foundations Forever Firm

The order for full-scale war preparation is like a huge stone thrown into a calm lake.

In Jiao Tu Zhen, it stirred up wave after wave of ripples.

Panic is inevitable, but more so is a kind of ferocity and unity that bursts out when driven to desperation.

The townspeople know that this enemy is different from before.

One step back and it's a ten-thousand-zhang abyss like Zhang Jia Ao.

The first core order issued by the garrison command.

It is to establish the Sharp Soldier Battalion.

The selection criteria were personally drafted by Chen Wen, almost harsh.

Not only does it require proficiency in archery and horsemanship, but also extraordinary strength.

It also emphasizes resolute character, composure in battle, and absolute loyalty to Jiao Tu Zhen.

Zhang Cheng led the Civil Militia Bureau personnel in conducting layered screening of nearly four hundred eligible young adults across the town.

In the end, only thirty people passed the preliminary selection.

These thirty!

Each is a one-in-a-hundred outstanding talent; they are the essence of Jiao Tu Zhen's military strength.

The Sharp Soldier Battalion's camp is set at the southeast corner of the town.

It is relatively isolated from other areas and directly overseen by Chen Wen.

On the day of its establishment.

Chen Wen stood before the thirty vigorous men, his gaze like lightning.

He swept over each face—some excited, some steady, some slightly tense.

"Do you know why I summoned you?"

Chen Wen's voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"Know! Fight tough battles! Kill the Iron Crows!"

Someone in the ranks shouted.

Chen Wen slowly nodded:

"Not bad."

"But what you will face!"

"It is not an ordinary tough battle, nor an ordinary enemy."

"What is the Iron Crow Army? Some of you have seen it with your own eyes, some have heard of it."

"They are evil ghosts crawling out of hell, mad dogs raised by northern jackals!"

"In single combat, none of you now are a match for them!"

These words were like cold water, making some people's hearts shudder.

"But!"

Chen Wen shifted his tone, his voice suddenly rising.

"Our Jiao Tu Zhen has risen from a wasteland to today."

"It's not luck, but being more ruthless and putting in more effort than others!"

"From today on, I will train you with the most stringent methods!"

"I will give you the best equipment, and also bestow upon you the 'power' I can grant!"

"The purpose is only one!"

"Train you to become evil ghosts, train you to become mad dogs!"

"Merely evil ghosts guarding our homeland, mad dogs tearing apart the enemy!"

"Are you afraid of hardship? Afraid of death?"

"Not afraid!"

The thirty men roared in unison, their voices shaking the wilderness.

Being selected, they already had the resolve.

"Good!"

A flicker of satisfaction passed through Chen Wen's eyes.

"Remember what you said today!"

"The Sharp Soldier Battalion will be Jiao Tu Zhen's sharpest spear and hardest shield!"

"Training, begin!"

The training field instantly turned into purgatory.

The intensity of regular physical training, formations, and martial arts practice doubled.

Weighted cross-country, mud-pit grappling, night raids……

Various items surpassing the norm were introduced by Chen Wen.

He is not only a powerful warrior, but also like a strict master who understands the limits of the human body.

He can always precisely draw out each person's potential.

And in this ultra-high-intensity training.

Chen Wen began to systematically and frequently apply Ability Granting.

During endurance training.

He will grant a broad twofold effect, focusing on physical recovery and endurance.

So that team members can endure longer in extreme states, breaking through physiological bottlenecks.

While practicing complex martial arts and coordination.

He will conduct broad granting with double effect, focusing on neural reflex and muscle memory.

It greatly speeds up team members' learning and mastery of skills, and makes their coordination ever more tacit.

While conducting pressure resistance training.

He then imitates mountain encounters, simulating a faint killing aura environment, combining some special herbs and psychological suggestion.

And apply broad granting with double effect, focusing on mental tenacity.

Helping team members pre-adapt to that icy mental oppression.

Occasionally, during small-scale confrontation drills.

He also selects outstanding performers, conducting concentrated granting with short-term fourfold effect.

Let them experience a higher level of power and speed.

Not only does it greatly motivate himself, it also lets other team members see the goal of struggle.

This method of using the Cow Horse System's power for systematic cultivation of elites has astonishing effect.

The thirty members of the Sharp Soldier Battalion undergo visible transformation almost every day.

Their muscles become more bulging, their eyes sharper.

In their actions, there is a vigorous spirit.

Battlefield tactics and coordination that originally would take months or even years to master.

Under the catalysis of Ability Granting, they become instinct at astonishing speed.

Chen Wen himself also continually deepens his understanding of Ability Granting in this process.

He is no longer simply lending out power.

Instead, he begins to think how to more efficiently match different focus points of granting.

How to fine-tune according to each person's characteristics, and how to, while enhancing the individual,

to better promote the team's overall combat power.

He even attempts to combine the granting's effect with specific tactical actions.

For example, briefly boosting explosive power at the moment of charge, and raising reaction speed at the moment of block.

This fine-tuned operation is not only a forging for the team members,

but also a great test of his own mental control.

He often feels mental fatigue after a day's training ends.

But the steady growth of the 【Growth Progress Bar】 in his mind.

And seeing the team members' rebirth-like progress also fills him with a sense of achievement.

He can feel that.

His own understanding of 'power' is no longer limited to personal bravery.

It extends further to the levels of 'cultivating power' and 'using power'.

Guarding Jiao Tu Zhen requires more than just him being strong alone.

It also requires forging a strong team that can carry out his will.

This weighty sense of responsibility!

And deeper insight into the essence of power drives the progress bar forward steadily.

Meanwhile.

He also 'sees' the Fortune Momentum vortex above the town.

Along with the initial formation of the Sharp Soldier Battalion and the rise of the overall war-preparation atmosphere.

It seems to become more condensed and lively.

This intangible force seemingly also responds to the determination and effort on this land.

One month later.

When Chen Wen looks at the drill field and sees those thirty with eyes like wolves.

When their actions are like tigers, their breath unified, the Sharp Soldier Battalion members' hearts fill with confidence.

This troop, although not many in number, but after undergoing Ability Granting catalysis,

having undergone hellish training forged into elites,

will become an important trump card for him to face future storms.

The foundation of Jiao Tu Zhen, under the threat of war's flames, is being polished to be ever stronger.