Chapter 11: Selection of Personal Soldiers

Dust swirled on the Drill Ground, yet it could not mask the clamor of the crowd; the Soldiers under the Commandant's command had all been summoned here early today to line up and await orders.

Chen Mo also stood in the ranks alongside several other Horse Officials; the formation was naturally not very orderly, with whispering and aimless movement everywhere.

This was already after the Commandant's Personal Soldiers had straightened it out several times; otherwise, it would likely have been even more chaotic.

"Brother Mo, I reckon the people responsible for testing us will be here in a moment." Although Ma Cai's voice was low, his tone could not hide his excitement.

He had waited so long just for this opportunity, and now it had finally arrived.

"Mm." Chen Mo nodded in response, not wasting any extra breath.

His injuries had long since fully recovered, and some time ago he had secretly tested his own strength; he might not have had a thousand catties of force, but he definitely had five or six hundred, perhaps even more.

There was no help for it; he had no opportunity to access equipment to test his strength in his daily life, so the judgment he had made of himself was only a rough estimate and not accurate.

Even so, his strength was far superior to the vast majority of people; it would be no exaggeration to call it Divine Power.

Not long after the two finished speaking, rolling dust came from the north, and three Soldiers wearing leather armor and long sabers at their waists rode their horses straight into the Drill Ground.

"Those are fine horses!" He Maguan could not help but whisper in admiration upon seeing those steeds.

Mo Hu reined in his horse, his gaze sweeping over the many Soldiers below with contempt.

Logically speaking, a Ninth Grade Commandant should have at least four hundred and fifty Soldiers under his command, but no matter how one looked at it, there were at most no more than three hundred here.

Local garrison troops were different from the Border Army after all; the embezzlement of military pay was far too severe.

"May I ask if those who have come are from under General Sun's command?" Wang Xiaowei took the initiative to go and welcome them with his Personal Soldiers.

Although the few who had come did not have specific official ranks, as the saying goes, a Seventh Rank Official at the prime minister's gate.

Those who could come to select Personal Soldiers must be highly regarded by General Sun.

If one were to carefully weigh their status, it might not be inferior to his own as a Commandant.

If he were to slight them now, and they happened to go back and complain a few words in front of General Sun, then his time as Commandant would be at an end.

"Indeed, we are here at the General's command to test this military camp." Mo Hu replied with a cold face.

"I have already ordered my men to assemble in advance, and the testing can begin at any time. Wine and food have also been prepared; since you have traveled from afar, why not rest for a while?" Wang Xiaowei's plump face was piled with smiles, and he appeared very happy.

Even if General Sun were to pull men directly from his command, it would count as poaching his corner, and poaching the most elite ones at that.

But a higher official crushes those below, not to mention that General Sun was more than one rank higher than him.

Therefore, no matter how unwilling he was inside, he still had to pretend on the surface that he had absolutely no objections.

Moreover, General Sun could not poach his own Personal Soldiers; after all, his nephew could not possibly abandon his own uncle to follow a stranger he did not know.

So he only felt a little unhappy about this in his heart and had no major objections.

"No need, we had better complete the General's orders first." Mo Hu seemed impervious to reason.

"In addition, I have prepared some gifts in the tent for General Sun and you all; why don't you go take a look first?" Wang Xiaowei suggested with a smile.

Ever since he learned that General Sun had been transferred here, he had been pondering how to find an opportunity to give gifts, and now was the perfect chance.

Giving this gift might not lead to a promotion, and General Sun might not necessarily remember him, but if he did not give it, General Sun would certainly remember him.

In order to sit securely in his position and continue to drink the blood of the soldiers and embezzle their pay, this gift had to be given no matter what!

"Oh! Then let's go take a look first!" Mo Hu immediately became interested, and the expression on his face changed.

"Good, good, good, please follow me." Wang Xiaowei smiled extremely happily.

Originally, he thought the other party was upright and incorruptible, which would have been truly difficult to handle. But now it seemed they were no different from him.

The group walked into the barracks while chatting and laughing, leaving the assembled Soldiers standing where they were.

These Soldiers had not received any training to begin with, and now that they were left waiting here, their hearts quickly became restless.

However, they were still wary of the few Personal Soldiers of the Commandant, so the ranks barely managed not to scatter.

A full hour later, Wang Xiaowei finally walked out of the barracks laughing and chatting with the few Personal Soldiers of General Sun.

"Quiet!" Seeing such a noisy scene, the smile on Wang Xiaowei's face came to an abrupt halt.

He knew his Soldiers had no military discipline, but losing face in front of outsiders at this moment still made him angry, though he could not vent it directly in front of them.

"Damn it, behave yourselves!" The Personal Soldiers shouted sternly, raising their whips and striking several ordinary Soldiers.

With this deterrent, the ranks quickly quieted down and slowly straightened out amidst the chaos.

Mo Hu was not very surprised as he looked at the chaos before him.

Having traveled all the way from the border to Xingyuan Prefecture, he had long understood the military discipline of the local garrison troops, and he was completely unsurprised by the situation before him.

He could only pray in his heart that there wouldn't be too many among these people who could meet the selection criteria, otherwise, just training them would be the most headache-inducing thing.

"Today, I come on behalf of General Sun to select Personal Soldiers from among you." Mo Hu's voice was very loud and high-pitched; one could tell at a listen that his strength was immense.

"Anyone who can lift a two-hundred-catty stone may enter General Sun's camp for training; those who pass the training may enter the Personal Soldier camp. Those who can lift a three-hundred-catty stone may enter the Personal Soldier camp directly."

He announced the standards for this assessment and selection to the crowd; as long as they could lift the two-hundred-catty stone wheel, they would be selected, but they would still have to undergo other training before having the chance to become Personal Soldiers.

And those who could lift a three-hundred-catty stone would require no further assessment and could enter the Personal Soldier camp directly.

A two-hundred-catty stone wheel could be lifted by many sturdy adult men, so it was not particularly difficult.

Meeting this standard meant there were no major issues with their physique, so taking them into the military camp for further training would not be a waste.

But a three-hundred-catty stone wheel was not something an ordinary person could easily lift; one either had to be naturally strong with strength superior to the average person, or have practiced martial arts.

Such talent, even if lacking in other areas, had to be absorbed into the Personal Soldier camp first.

As his voice fell, someone pushed out a stone wheel that had been gathering dust in the camp for a long time.

The so-called stone wheel was actually not much different from a barbell, merely with the iron plates replaced by stones.

As the stone wheel was pushed out, one Soldier after another stepped forward to test their strength, but most could not even lift the two-hundred-catty stone wheel.

Many Soldiers could not even get enough to eat on a daily basis, let alone have undergone any training, so how could they have the strength to lift this two-hundred-catty stone wheel now?

One by one they tried, and one by one they left dejectedly.

They all knew that if they could be selected as General Sun's new soldiers, it would be a life-changing opportunity for them, these bottom-tier foot soldiers, to turn their fortunes around and become masters of their own fate.

But a two-hundred-catty stone was not something they could lift just by gritting their teeth and trying hard right now.

However, there were still some soldiers who usually put in more effort, and though they might not get enough to eat on a daily basis, they still had some brute strength and could lift these two-hundred-catty stones.

Chen Mo was also considering how heavy a stone wheel he should lift; without hesitating for too long, he made his decision.

That was to directly lift the three-hundred-catty stone wheel!

(End of this chapter)