Chapter 442: Barbarian-Killing City

The so-called Northern Frontier refers to the border area in the northwest of the Great Lan Dynasty.

From Juping Mountain to Heitu River, the Great Lan Dynasty set up a defense line with a total length of more than six hundred miles on the northwest border, consisting of five major cities and twenty-one military towns.

It is this defense line that has been resisting the Northern Barbarian invasion for hundreds of years, preventing the Northern Barbarians from invading the Central Plains on a large scale.

Those living in the five major cities and twenty-one military towns are basically border army soldiers and their families, as well as logistics personnel. Besides them, there are only merchants coming and going.

Ordinary people would not be willing to live in such a place where war might break out at any time.

On this Northern Frontier defense line, there is an army of one hundred thousand and an Imperial Camp Army on the scale of ten thousand, as well as more than five hundred thousand permanent residents.

These towns and people together constitute the Northern Frontier of the Great Lan Dynasty.

There is no direct train from Lanling City to the Northern Frontier.

Li Fei and the three of them changed trains twice before arriving at Barbarian-Killing City, one of the five cities of the Northern Frontier, from the nearest province.

This is a major city closest to the front line, and also the city with the largest scale, the largest population, and the strongest military force.

The mansion of Prince Qin Qin Shixian is in Barbarian-Killing City.

Li Fei, Miao Miao Yangxia, and Su Jia arrived in Barbarian-Killing City by car and witnessed the grandeur of this city when entering:

The city wall is one hundred meters high, and there is a row of city defense cannons on it, as well as heavy machine guns!

The seventeen Northern Barbarian tribes are still in the cold weapon era, and both their technological level and martial power level are comprehensively behind the Great Lan Dynasty.

Therefore, Barbarian-Killing City has never been breached.

After entering the city, the architectural style of Barbarian-Killing City gave Li Fei the most direct feeling—rough!

There is no trace of being influenced by Western culture at all, no trams, no advertising light boards, no small foreign-style buildings...

Everything here seems to have nothing to do with refinement.

If the imperial capital Lanling City is like a pearl from heaven, then Barbarian-Killing City is like a stone lying across the northwest border of the empire.

On this barbaric and desolate land, it has resisted the Northern Barbarian invasion for the Great Lan Dynasty for more than two hundred years!

After entering the city, Li Fei went straight to the military department set up by the Military Affairs Office here.

He took Miao Miao Yangxia and Su Jia to the front of the military department of Barbarian-Killing City, and a martial general was already waiting here.

The other party was wearing armor, with an aura of slaughter, and observing his aura, he had the cultivation base of a Dao-Foundation martial artist.

"Fang Feng, Assistant Regional Commander of the Barbarian-Killing City military department, greetings to the Jingan Marquis."

The other party placed his right fist on his chest and gave Li Fei a military salute.

Civil officials and military officials are two different systems. Military officials from bottom to top are:

Team Leader, Flag Leader, Battalion Commander, Garrison Commander, Regional Military Commissioner, Assistant Regional Commander, Commander, Regional Commander, Provincial Military Commander.

There are nine ranks in total, each rank is divided into primary and secondary levels, adding up to eighteen levels in total, the same as civil officials.

This Fang Feng who greeted Li Fei outside the military department gate is an Assistant Regional Commander, which is a level 12 military official, equivalent to an imperial official.

Miao Miao Yangxia and Su Jia, who were following Li Fei, looked at each other, feeling that something was tricky.

Given Li Fei's current official position, strength, and reputation, the military department of Barbarian-Killing City should have sent a Commander-level martial official to receive him no matter what, right?

Sending only an Assistant Regional Commander, doesn't it seem too disrespectful?

Li Fei's expression remained unchanged, and he nodded to Fang Feng: "Assistant Regional Commander Fang, lead the way."

"Marquis, please."

Fang Feng turned sideways to guide, and led Li Fei and the three of them into the military department gate.

This military department occupied a huge area. After several people passed through several courtyards and a drill ground, Fang Feng led the three to a pavilion.

"Marquis, this is the command post of the military department."

"Is Prince Qin inside?"

Li Fei asked.

Fang Feng shook his head: "Prince Qin has gone to patrol the border and is not in the city. Now it is Deputy Provincial Military Commissioner Luo Xu who is sitting in the military department."

"Good."

Li Fei nodded and was about to step into the pavilion, but Fang Feng suddenly stopped Miao Miao Yangxia and Su Jia behind him.

Li Fei turned to look at Fang Feng: "What do you mean?"

Fang Feng said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Sorry, Marquis, these two have no official position or job. According to the regulations, they cannot enter the command post at will."

Li Fei smiled and said calmly to Miao Miao Yangxia and Su Jia: "Fine, you two wait for me outside."

"Yes."

Miao Miao Yangxia and Su Jia naturally had no objections.

Subsequently, Fang Feng led Li Fei into the command post and took him straight to the highest fifth floor.

Passing through the corridor, they stopped in front of a room.

"Deputy Provincial Military Commissioner Luo is waiting for you inside."

Fang Feng said to Li Fei, then turned and left.

Li Fei pushed open the door directly. Inside stood a fat man who, looking at his width, could at least hold two Li Feis.

The other party was wearing a blue official robe and was also the only martial official Li Fei had seen so far who was not wearing armor.

Seeing Li Fei, Luo Xu stood up from his seat with some difficulty, like a mountain of meat moving, the fat on his face trembling, squeezing out a smile:

"Long admired the Jingan Marquis's great name, today finally got to see you."

Li Fei bowed to the other party: "Greetings, Deputy Provincial Military Commissioner Luo."

Deputy Provincial Military Commissioner is a level 17 military official. In terms of official position, he is one rank higher than Li Fei.

As for cultivation, Li Fei had understood it before coming. There are only two Grandmasters in the entire Northern Frontier border army.

One is Prince Qin, and the other is the commander of that ten-thousand-person Imperial Camp Army.

The Luo Xu in front of him is at the Martial Arts Master cultivation base, but being able to serve as Deputy Provincial Military Commissioner, the other party must also be a powerhouse among Martial Arts Masters.

"Jingan Marquis, no need for formalities, please sit."

Luo Xu laughed, then asked someone to enter the room and pour tea.

Soon, a cup of steaming tea was placed in front of Li Fei.

He picked it up and took a sip; it was extremely bitter.

Seeing this, Luo Xu also took a sip of tea and laughed:

"The Northern Frontier is bitter and cold, the conditions are a bit poor, Jingan Marquis, please bear with it."

Li Fei put down the teacup with an unchanged expression: "No matter, I am not a person who has been pampered."

"Hahaha, that is, that is."

Luo Xu had a face full of smiles, "The center only said you would come, but didn't say the specific appointment and mission. Jingan Marquis, can you clear up my confusion?"

Li Fei: "The relevant imperial edict should arrive soon."

Luo Xu nodded: "Since that's the case, why don't I arrange for the Jingan Marquis to stay in the city first, and when the imperial edict arrives, we will talk about military affairs?"

Li Fei looked at the other party and was about to speak, when a knock on the door suddenly came from outside.

"What is it?"

Luo Xu asked.

"My lord, there is an imperial edict coming."

The person outside said.

Luo Xu was startled, looked at Li Fei, and opened the door for the person outside to come in.

Although this era already has telegrams and telephones, some orders still need to be conveyed in written form.

For example, imperial edicts.

The Great Lan Dynasty has special flying exotic beasts raised for long-distance communication, and their speed is faster than the current trains.

Li Fei arrived in Barbarian-Killing City, and the imperial edict arrived right after; it was obviously sent at the right time.

The person who came held a wooden box in his hands and handed it to Luo Xu.

Luo Xu took the wooden box with both hands, returned to his seat, and placed the wooden box on the table.

He looked at Li Fei again, then carefully opened the wooden box and took out an imperial edict from it with great caution.

The content of the imperial edict was indeed related to Li Fei; it was his specific appointment for coming to the Northern Frontier this time.

Luo Xu's eyes changed constantly, and it was only after a moment that he finished reading the imperial edict and put it back into the wooden box.

"Deputy Provincial Military Commissioner Luo, is this imperial edict related to me?"

Li Fei asked actively.

Luo Xu laughed: "It is indeed related to you. I have seen the Emperor's arrangements. Jingan Marquis is so young and has gained the Emperor's trust to take on such a heavy responsibility, which really makes me envious!"

Li Fei looked at him: "Deputy Provincial Military Commissioner Luo is joking. You are responsible for guarding the Northern Frontier and managing hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians. Where is the need to envy me?"

The Northern Frontier is different from those provinces of the Great Lan Dynasty. There are no six departments and six courts here. The military department set up by the Military Affairs Office is the highest power organization.

So in terms of real power, Luo Xu, this Northern Frontier Deputy Provincial Military Commissioner, has much more freedom than the regional governors of a province!

"Eh, I am just responsible for assisting Prince Qin in managing the hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians in the Northern Frontier."

Luo Xu waved his hand.

After laughing, he revealed a difficult expression: "Jingan Marquis will serve as the Barbarian-Killing Army Supervisor in the future, which is no problem at all, but the Emperor letting you command the three thousand-plus martial artists recommended by the Blue Patrol Pavilion from various places, this..."

Li Fei looked at him: "How so, is there any problem?"

Luo Xu: "Jingan Marquis, don't misunderstand, of course I am not questioning the Emperor's decision. It's like this, these three thousand-plus new martial artists will follow the army deep into the wilderness in the future, but they have never had relevant combat experience before, so after these people arrived at the Northern Frontier, I arranged for them to be trained uniformly."

Li Fei nodded, this was the proper arrangement.

"In order to better coordinate and command these martial artists, I specially transferred more than three hundred martial officials from the border army to be incorporated into this team, and these martial officials will also join the Barbarian-Killing Army in the future."

Luo Xu continued, "Now these martial officials have been training with the three thousand-plus martial artists for more than a month, and the command system from top to bottom has been built. If Jingan Marquis suddenly wants to withdraw these martial artists now, then the previous training will be in vain."

Li Fei: "This is simple, no need to withdraw, the three hundred-plus martial officials will remain, and they will be under my unified command in the future."

"This..."

Luo Xu looked at him, "Jingan Marquis has no military official position, and has never had the experience of leading troops. Isn't this inappropriate?"

Li Fei looked directly at this Deputy Provincial Military Commissioner, word by word:

"Is Official Luo trying to resist the imperial edict?"

Luo Xu's expression changed slightly, then he laughed: "Hahaha, Jingan Marquis is joking, how would I dare to resist the imperial edict? How about this, those three thousand-plus martial artists are currently training in the wilderness outside the city, I will take you there personally."

Sixty miles outside the north gate of Barbarian-Killing City, in the jungle, more than three thousand martial artists were training uniformly.

The Northern Frontier defense line spans several hundred miles, of course, it is not just those few major cities and those military towns. There are many outposts set up around Barbarian-Killing City, and there are patrolling soldiers.

The scope of patrols also belongs to the defense zone of Barbarian-Killing City.

At this moment, these three thousand-plus martial artists were in the defense zone of Barbarian-Killing City.

Each of them was holding a Tiger-style rifle, carrying a backpack weighing 300 jin, practicing forced marches in the jungle!

The wilderness is a place of poor mountains and evil waters, with primitive jungles. There are many poisonous insects, exotic beasts, harsh weather, and all kinds of poisonous miasma...

If it weren't for the Barbarian tribes who grew up here since childhood, ordinary people walking through it would be almost nine deaths and one life!

This is the reason why the Great Lan Dynasty has not used troops against the Northern Barbarians on a large scale for so many years.

This time the Imperial Court formed the Barbarian-Killing Army to go deep into the wilderness for beheading, the necessary condition is that everyone is a martial artist!

Right now, these three thousand-plus martial artists from various places, after arriving at the Northern Frontier, have received the most training in forced marches in the jungle.

At this moment, they are divided into several parts, taking turns to serve as the vanguard, clearing the way for the main force at the very front.

There is no road in the primitive jungle, so the vanguard responsible for clearing the way needs to pay more physical strength.

These three thousand-plus martial artists, the lowest cultivation base is the Po-Body realm, and their physique far exceeds that of ordinary people.

But at this moment, the vast majority of people are already sweating profusely, panting like cows.

"Faster! Faster!"

A severe voice came from above everyone's heads.

A man wearing a full set of black armor stood in the air, 'standing' above this jungle.

He is a Martial Arts Master and has the ability to fly.

As long as a sorcerer breaks through to the True Spirit realm and becomes a True Person, he will definitely have the ability to fly.

But martial artists are not necessarily so.

Martial Arts Masters with the ability to fly are very rare, and each of them belongs to 'strategic resources'!

This person has a straight posture, eyebrows like knives, wears a crew cut, and has a fierce aura.

He is the chief instructor of these three thousand-plus martial artists. For more than a month, he has been responsible for the training of these people.

At this time, he stood in the air, constantly scolding the people below, letting them speed up.

Whoever fell behind, he would also directly strike a force from the air, hitting these martial artists who fell behind, making them scream in pain.

More than thirty minutes later, all three thousand-plus martial artists ran out of this jungle and returned to the temporarily built camp.

After returning to the camp, the vast majority of people collapsed directly on the ground, panting heavily.

Those who could continue to stand were either Qi-Transformation martial artists or martial officials who had been transferred.

For martial artists in the Po-Body realm, carrying 300 jin and forced marching in the jungle for two full hours had already exceeded the limits of many people.

A figure tore through the sky and landed on the high platform of the camp.

"All stand up for me!"

This chief instructor scolded loudly without any politeness.

Obviously, he had already established prestige in the hearts of this group of martial artists, and everyone did not dare to delay in the slightest, quickly climbed up from the ground, and then under the organization of the martial officials, quickly lined up in front of the high platform.

"A bunch of trash!"

The chief instructor's angry scolding resounded through the entire camp:

"After training for so long, you still can't reach the passing grade. If you were soldiers under my command, you would have been dragged out and shot long ago!"

Among the three thousand-plus martial artists, quite a few showed expressions of resentment, but they dared to be angry but did not dare to speak.

These people, the lowest cultivation base is the Po-Body realm, because this is the lowest requirement recommended by the Blue Patrol Pavilion.

But the highest cultivation base is only the middle stage of Qi-Transformation, and there are not even a few.

Dao-Foundation experts can serve as counselors in the Blue Patrol Pavilion, and they are also important figures in various places, so they will not be recommended at all.

The martial artists below also belong to important combat power in major forces and will not be sent away easily.

So these people recommended to the border army do not have high cultivation bases.

And the person standing on the high platform scolding them as trash at this moment is a Martial Arts Master.

The gap between the two sides is really too big!

No one dared to resist, and no one had the ability to resist.

Just when the chief instructor on the high platform intended to continue lecturing, two cars suddenly drove from afar.

The chief instructor turned his head to look and recognized Luo Xu's exclusive car at a glance.

With the other party's figure, ordinary cars could not fit him at all.

The chief instructor stopped lecturing, waited for the cars to drive into the camp, jumped down from the high platform, and took the initiative to greet them.

Luo Xu got out of his exclusive car, and Li Fei got out of another car.

"Deputy Provincial Military Commissioner!"

The chief instructor bowed to Luo Xu.

Luo Xu nodded and pointed at Li Fei:

"This one you should know, he is the famous Jingan Marquis Li Fei."

This was heard by everyone in the camp, and suddenly there was a commotion, and they all looked over.

The chief instructor was also startled, then looked at Li Fei and bowed:

"So it is the Jingan Marquis, long admired the great name, I am Chen Fei, Assistant Regional Commander of the Qingshuang Army."

The Qingshuang Army is the ten-thousand-person Imperial Camp Army guarding the Northern Frontier.

The Great Lan Dynasty has a total of four ten-thousand-person Imperial Camp Armies:

White Flame, Red Lin, Qingshuang, Heavenly Blue.

The official ranks of martial officials serving in these four Imperial Camp Armies are different from ordinary troops.

Chen Fei is only an Assistant Regional Commander in the Qingshuang Army, commanding at most three thousand people, but his real official rank is Regional Commander, a level 16 military official, on par with Li Fei!

Li Fei returned the bow: "General Chen is too polite."

"Just right, you are all gathered."

Luo Xu looked at the lined-up crowd, then walked toward the high platform, "Come, I have something to announce."

Soon, he, Li Fei, and Chen Fei climbed onto the high platform.

Luo Xu looked at the three thousand-plus martial artists below and said loudly:

"The Emperor has an edict, ordering Jingan Marquis Li Fei to command all martial artists recommended by the Blue Patrol Pavilion!"

This made the crowd below commotion again.

Chen Fei, who was standing beside Luo Xu, changed his expression instantly and turned his head to look at Li Fei fiercely.

Li Fei clearly felt a murderous intent!

"Hehe."

After Luo Xu announced this news, he looked at Li Fei with a smile, "Jingan Marquis, I have brought the news. Next, you and General Chen can do the handover. The military department still has things to deal with, so I will go back first."

After speaking, he walked down the high platform directly and walked toward his exclusive car.

Obviously, he intended to let Li Fei and Chen Fei solve the following problems themselves.

Li Fei did not open his mouth to stop Luo Xu, but stood on the high platform with a calm expression, watching the other party's exclusive car drive out of the camp.

He turned to look at Chen Fei: "General Chen, Deputy Provincial Military Commissioner Luo said that it was you and some martial officials in the army who had been leading these martial artists in training, thank you."

Chen Fei's eyebrows, which were like knife edges, raised upward:

"I trained them because they are my soldiers, so I don't need the Jingan Marquis to thank me!"

Three thousand-plus martial artists, no matter where they are placed, are a 'fragrant bun'.

The Imperial Camp Army is an elite team of all martial artists. Once there are casualties, it is difficult to replenish soldiers.

So after these three thousand-plus martial artists recommended by the Blue Patrol Pavilion arrived at the Northern Frontier, they were targeted by the Qingshuang Army at the first moment.

In the eyes of the Qingshuang Army generals, this is an excellent reserve force!

That's why Chen Fei, an Assistant Regional Commander of the Qingshuang Army, was sent to serve as the chief instructor.

Even if these martial artists were 'divided' by the border army afterward, most of them would eventually belong to the Qingshuang Army.

In Chen Fei's eyes, these three thousand-plus martial artists were already fat meat at the mouth.

As a result, a Li Fei suddenly jumped out and wanted to grab meat from the mouth of the Qingshuang Army!

How could this be agreed to?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 443 =====