Chapter 145: First Volume, Chapter 145: Village Gate Brawl

First Volume, Chapter 145: Village Gate Brawl

On the ShiZhen wall, Qin Feng sat comfortably in a Tengyi Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair, a variety of dried fruits lined up on his left, and two small red and blue Signal Flags placed on his right.

Watching Qi Yu easily win the match, Qin Feng, who had been excited moments ago, felt a wave of disappointment: "That's it? It's no different from a village gate brawl—no tactics at all, just brute force. If they took this to the Battlefield, they'd be crushed so badly they'd doubt their own existence."

Standing beside him, clad in Heavy Armor and Armed to the Teeth, Xu Mo sighed helplessly: "Close-quarters combat is just brute force. You can't blame them."

On the other side, Lin Quqi, though unfamiliar with military matters, could see the underlying truth, and spoke with gravity: "Although this City Patrol Bureau ShiZhen is the largest venue in Jingdu, it's still far too small for actual warfare—there's no room to maneuver, so they're forced into direct clashes."

Hearing this, Qin Feng was annoyed. He grabbed a handful of peanut kernels and tossed them into his mouth, snapping: "Warfare? What war? No wonder our Daliang Frontier Army gets pounded by the Di to the north—if everyone's this bad, we might as well tie a few dogs along the Border."

Lin Quqi frowned deeply and scolded: "Brother Qin, mind your status! Too many vulgar words! You're a scholar—don't disgrace literature!"

Qin Feng shrugged: "Literature? Chicken feathers."

Lin Quqi turned beet red with rage but had no way to control Qin Feng—throughout Heaven and Earth, only Qin Tianhu and the young ladies could rein him in.

Xu Mo was also displeased, his voice low and stern: "This match may lack discipline, but it's not as worthless as you claim, Brother Qin. At least our Daliang soldiers are fearless."

Qin Feng scratched his nostril, sneering as he talked, his mouth never stopping even while eating: "Big brother, war isn't a street fight—it's about coordinated group tactics. No matter how brave an individual is, once thrown onto the Battlefield, he gets instantly drowned. Daliang soldiers are brave, sure—they can hold their own one-on-one against Di warriors. So what? Still get crushed so badly their own mothers wouldn't recognize them."

Xu Mo, being a soldier, flushed red and white, wanting to retort but unable to find a counterargument—after all, Daliang's casualties far exceeded those of the Di; that was an undeniable fact. Without the Border Towns to hold, they'd have been overrun long ago.

The second match had begun.

As expected, another brutal, head-on clash—both sides in complete chaos. If it were under a hundred men, chaos might be unavoidable, but with three hundred? Still brawling like this? Aren't they just asking to be cut down by Cavalry?

"Boring. Too boring." Qin Feng instantly lost interest in the match, turned his Tengyi Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair around, and began inspecting the bustling market outside—the young women and newly married wives.

Watching beauties was far more interesting than watching brawls…

Xu Mo and Lin Quqi exchanged glances and sighed in unison—there was nothing to do but laugh bitterly.

An entire Envoy passed before it was finally Xu Mo's turn.

Qin Tianhu's piercing voice echoed across the ShiZhen: "The final match: City Patrol Bureau Colonel Xu Mo versus Ministry of Revenue's appointed Commandant, Cheng Zhang."

Qin Feng finally turned his attention back to the ShiZhen. Watching Xu Mo's troops march in perfect step into Formation Combat, he finally smiled with satisfaction: "After one night of training, there's actually some progress. Poor Xu Mo worked hard."

Lin Quqi stared at Cheng Zhang's troops, feeling immense pressure: "I heard Cheng Zhang trained in the Imperial Guard—he's experienced, and his three hundred are all Elite Troops drawn from the Garrison Army. This next match will be a tough one."

Qin Feng sneered at Lin Quqi's assessment: "If Xu Mo can't beat Cheng Zhang, then the Commandant slot should go to someone else. Imperial Guard training? Garrison Army Elite Troops? Hah! All silk-padded pillows. A bunch of pampered palace soldiers from Jingdu—what tactical advantage do they even have?"

All armies garrisoned in Jingdu were elite among elites—after all, they protected imperial stability—but in Qin Feng's eyes, they were still beneath standard, at least compared to the Border Army, which had been tested in blood and fire. Of course, Battlefields held too many variables to generalize.

Qin Feng stood up and shouted to Xu Mo: "One Cup of Tea Time!"

Meaning: Crush Cheng Zhang's force within one Cup of Tea Time—or you can just withdraw yourself.

This shout drew attention from others.

The Liang Emperor turned his head, spotted Qin Feng, and chuckled: "That brat—how'd he end up on the wall? One Cup of Tea Time? What's he thinking? Trying to decide victory by the time a cup of tea cools? How arrogant!"

Qin Tianhu's face darkened—he thought: This kid's still too young. Two armies clashing, three hundred men each—getting a result within one Incense Stick Time is already hard.

Sitting across, Li Xu teased: "Young Master Qin truly speaks boldly—he thinks he can break Cheng Zhang in one Incense Stick Time? Is he just a naive youth who doesn't know fear, or just wildly overconfident?"

Li Xu was at least eighty percent certain—Garrison Army Elite Troops and City Patrol Bureau guards were incomparable.

The former were legitimate soldiers, Elite Forces; the latter were merely "Local Governance Patrols." How could they fight?

At that moment, heavy, dense footsteps sounded as Xu Mo led his troops onto the field.

The laughter in the crowd died instantly.

Li Xu leapt to his feet, eyes blazing: "Heavy Armor?! This is outrageous! Your Majesty, Qin Feng abused his Ministry of War influence to illegally divert Heavy Armor to the City Patrol Bureau! I beg Your Majesty to punish him!"

The Liang Emperor waved his hand, calm and indifferent: "Cheng Zhang also deployed over a dozen hidden archers in his ranks. It's fine."

Li Xu's face flushed red, and he sullenly sat back down.

At this moment, Xu Mo's soldiers behind him felt immense pressure and whispered among themselves.

"We have the advantage of Heavy Armor, but they're Elite Troops from the Garrison Army—if we fight, we may not hold up."

"Sigh. Even if it sounds like boosting the enemy and dimming our own spirit, the gap in strength is real. Garrison Army faces invading enemies; we face bandits inside the city. Opponents are different—training intensity can't be compared."

"If we lose, how do we explain it to Young Master Qin?"

Hearing the murmurs behind him, Xu Mo's face darkened. He bit his teeth and roared: "Shut up, all of you! Anyone disrupting military morale—executed on the spot!"

The rustling behind him finally fell silent.

Xu Mo himself was under heavy pressure, but for the Commandant position, he could not retreat. He coldly barked: "Hold your formation! Anyone who breaks ranks—I'll peel their skin off after the match!"

The guards scrambled together, shoulders pressed to shoulders, bodies taut.

Seeing Xu Mo's troops so tense, Cheng Zhang sneered: "Hah. With this bunch of useless sacks of rice, he thinks he'll break our formation in one Cup of Tea Time? What a joke!"