Chapter 1015: First Volume _ Chapter 1015: The Bears and Tigers of Beixi

First Volume _ Chapter 1015: The Bears and Tigers of Beixi

Li Zhang and Xu Mo's great army, after passing through Ezhou and entering Jingji, did not come directly to join forces with Qin Feng, but instead split into two routes.

Li Zhang led the main force of the great army straight toward Wang Du, while Xu Mo led the Beixi Expeditionary Brigade to Changshui County to rendezvous with Qin Feng.

At noon, Qin Feng stood atop the City Wall, craning his neck in anticipation. Beside him, apart from generals like Ning Hu, even those Officials who had defected followed along one after another at Qin Feng's side.

As time went on, roughly Half a Envoy later, the heavy sound of footsteps came from afar.

Gazing into the distance, a dense, dark mass of soldiers appeared on the horizon.

These soldiers formed an unbroken, winding dragon of men. As the distance closed, the crowd finally got a clear look at their appearance.

The man at the head was none other than Xu Mo!

He rode a tall, sturdy Horse, clad in pitch-black Armor, with a black cloak to match, billowing in the wind. Behind him stretched the mighty Expeditionary Brigade.

The soldiers of the Expeditionary Brigade were outfitted in neat, full array.

The soldiers at the front of the formation were all Heavy Infantry. Their entire bodies were covered in pitch-black armor plates — armed to the Teeth, nearly. Their Helmets enclosed their heads completely, leaving only the eyes exposed for Observation of the outside.

In their hands they gripped step lances; their waists were stuffed full — a short blade on the left, a short-handled small hammer on the right, along with Grain pouches, horns, sundry bags, a quiver of Arrows挂在后腰, and Bow and Arrow on their backs.

A full set of gear like this costs at least several dozen taels of Silver.

And Heavy Infantry of this kind numbered well over a thousand men!

Behind the Heavy Infantry came the Combined Force — both the Logistics Battalion and Bow Infantry.

In the Logistics Battalion, every five men drove one wagon, the wagons loaded to the brim with Materials and Supplies — some brought from Beixi County, some seized along the route through conquest and plunder.

The accompanying thousand-plus Bow Infantry, though called Bow Infantry, were in truth no different from Light Infantry. Apart from being equipped with Light Armor and longbows, they also came standard-issue with long-handled Weapons, and their quivers were larger than those of the Heavy Infantry, holding more Arrows.

At the very rear came the most numerous Light Infantry, tasked with escorting the War Horse. The number of War Horse was nearly equal to that of the Light Infantry.

The remaining Cavalry were deployed on both flanks of the Army.

Even the Cavalry were divided into Light Cavalry and Heavy Cavalry — Light Cavalry in front, Heavy Cavalry behind. Apart from the difference in Armor, they were nearly identical.

The Expeditionary Brigade before their eyes encompassed virtually every known branch of troops, all in formed units, and all superbly equipped.

Watching the mighty Beixi Expeditionary Brigade, the Northern Di Officials present who had accompanied Qin Feng to greet it all let out sighs of admiration.

"This… this is the legendary Beixi Expeditionary Brigade?"

"Elite Troops? These are clearly the Elite Troops among the Elite Troops!"

"Does this mean our army has been fighting this kind of force all along? No wonder Zhuozhou and Ezhou fell so quickly…"

"Under Heaven and Earth, perhaps only the Xiongying Brigade could match them — and only in Open Field Battle."

"Th-that's right. Though the Xiongying Brigade is unmatched in Open Field Battle under Heaven, the Beixi Expeditionary Brigade is clearly capable of every kind of Battle. Look — among their ranks are large numbers of Supply Train troops. They could probably even fight Siege Warfare."

"How could an army like this move so fast?"

"Does that even need thinking? Look how many War Horse are at the rear — they nearly match the number of soldiers. Normally used to haul cargo, but when forced march is needed, the Draft Horse become Warhorse, and even the Infantry ride Horses charging forward."

"Infantry riding Horses? Wouldn't that just make them Cavalry?"

The Officials present were utterly shocked. The composition and ratio of this great army had already exceeded their comprehension.

A Combined Force of over ten thousand men could at any moment become more than ten thousand Cavalry. And according to the Front Line Military Intelligence they possessed, this great army only rode the War Horse while on the march — once in combat, it would immediately revert to its mixed composition.

After all, Pure Cavalry had too great a drawback. These precious War Horse were, to the Beixi Expeditionary Brigade, nothing more than one item among the Military Supplies.

At this moment, the crowd finally understood why some called this Winter War a "Flash Strike Warfare."

And finally understood why this great army, in such a short time, had been able to cut straight through Zhuozhou and Ezhou, unstoppable.

How was this a great army? It was plainly a heap of Silver that could walk!

The crowd cast astonished gazes upon Qin Feng one after another, feeling that Qin Feng not only surpassed the vast majority of generals in military understanding, but was also inconceivably rich. Even if some generals wished to build an army like Qin Feng's, their coffers would fall short from the very start.

What they did not know was that Qin Feng himself was now also fired with热血澎湃.

To forge this Beixi Expeditionary Brigade, Qin Feng had poured nearly his entire fortune into it. Just purchasing those War Horse alone burned through gold by the bucket.

Had he not first built up Beixi County, and even the entire Northern Border, doing business alone could never have sustained an army like this.

It seemed doing trade really only earned small money. To truly raise an army, one still had to rely on collecting taxes.

Just then, the great army had reached a position less than a thousand paces from Changshui County.

At Xu Mo's command, the great army halted on order, ceasing its advance.

Only Xu Mo alone rode his Warhorse forward to the foot of the city.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Xu Mo flipped down from his Horse, dropped to one knee, cupped his fist and shouted up at the City Wall: "Main General Xu Mo of Beixi, come specially to greet Lord Qin!"

Crash-rattle…

In an instant, every gaze converged upon Qin Feng.

Xu Mo, following the gazes, spotted Qin Feng standing among the crowd. His face flushed red with excitement at once, and he called out loudly: "My lord, we've finally met!"

That single call stirred deep feeling in Qin Feng as well. Half a year had passed since their parting in Beixi County.

Now that Comrades had reunited once more, the heart was naturally激动无比.

Qin Feng did not reply, but turned at once and ran down the City Wall, arriving before Xu Mo and pulling him into an embrace.

"Good Comrade!"

"I've finally waited for you!"

Though so many pairs of eyes watched the scene, Qin Feng was still willing to call Xu Mo Comrade. This moved Xu Mo deeply — his eyes even grew moist.

A real man does not weep lightly!

Xu Mo deliberately covered his emotion with a great laugh: "My lord, you've been holding Changshui County all this time — you've been wronged. Now the great army has already advanced into the Northern Di Imperial Court. Your Great Plan is within reach."

Qin Feng released his grip, gave Xu Mo's shoulder a heavy pat, and nodded firmly: "This Great Plan cannot do without the Beixi Comrades risking their lives and shedding their blood."

"Once the Northern Di situation is initially settled, when we return to Beixi County, you and I, Comrades, shall drink till neither can stand."

Xu Mo's eyes lit up, yet his words carried a hint of doubt: "My lord, don't you not drink?"

Qin Feng swept his hand with great boldness: "Normally I don't, for fear of spoiling matters. When it's time to drink, this lord is not the least bit wishy-washy!"