Chapter Fourteen: Desire is Greater than Three People Asking Questions

  Ma Chao and Zhang Yang arrived at the drill ground, where their soldiers had already assembled and were waiting for them.

  "Meng Qi brothers, I had them all gathered together long ago, just waiting for you to arrive!"

  Then Zhang Yang loudly said to the soldiers below: "Brothers, today everyone is gathered here, mainly because there is an important matter that needs to be announced to everyone!"

  "From today on, Meng Qi brothers will be my deputy commander, replacing me to lead everyone in training! You all heard me say before that once our camp has 200 people, we will train together for a month and then select some people to have a mock battle with the Trapped Array Camp. This is related to the face of our elite camp, so from now on, follow Meng Qi brothers well in training, don't embarrass us when the time comes, got it?"

  "I understand!" The soldiers below responded in unison.

  "Didn't you guys eat anything this morning? Speak louder!" Zhang Yang shouted.

  "We understand!" The soldiers' shouts were deafening this time.

  "Alright, let's start from now on. We'll see who's the winner in a month! If any of you don't accept Mengqi brothers' challenge, come find me!" After saying that, Zhang Yang left the training ground, leaving Ma Chao alone to respond.

  "Everyone, from now on I'll be leading the daily training. Some of you know me, but many don't. Let me introduce myself: my surname is Ma, my name is Chao, and my courtesy name is Mengqi. I'm from Lixian, Liangzhou. Previously, our training was three hours a day, but now it's been changed to four hours a day, with two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. I hope you all understand and don't complain. I believe no one thinks they're worse than the enemy camp, so after a month, we'll have to show our strength and prove ourselves to our opponents. Do you have confidence?" Ma Chao asked loudly.

  "We have confidence! We have confidence!" The soldiers shouted in unison.

  "Sun Yee out!"

  "Descendants are here!" Sun Yi stepped forward from the first row of soldiers.

  "From now on, you will continue to be your commander, leading your old troops!"

  "Yes! I obey your orders!"

  Because Sun Yi was the best in martial arts among the hundred people, Ma Chao naturally appointed him. As for the rules of competition, they would not change, and anyone who disagreed could challenge him at will, but for now, the selection of the hundred leaders still had to be announced first.

  "If anyone has objections, speak up now; otherwise, let's start training!"

  "Someone from below has something to say!" Another soldier stepped forward from the front row.

  Ma Chao raised an eyebrow, this person was none other than another hundred-long, named Wang Da. Normally they trained separately and didn't interfere with each other. But Ma Chao knew that Wang Da had never been convinced by him, because same-level cultivators couldn't challenge each other, so there was nothing Wang Da could do about his lack of conviction towards Ma Chao.

  Now Ma Chao has become his superior, he thinks his chance has come, so he boldly stood out.

  "Ah? I wonder what Wang Baichang wants to say?" Ma Chao asked.

  "Subordinates want to take orders in person, please instruct Vice General Ma!" It was said to be a request for instruction, but everyone understood what it meant.

  The soldiers below heard the words and immediately boosted their morale. This is not a bad encounter, it's considered good entertainment to watch. Let's fight, let's fight, otherwise every day would be too boring, the soldiers thought.

  Ma Chao raised an eyebrow, "What instructions does Wang Baichuan have? I'll accompany him to the end!"

  "His subordinate only wanted to cross swords with Deputy General Ma for a bit, I wonder what Deputy General Ma thinks?"

  "Alright, Wang Bailong invites! Hao Yang, go get me my sword!"

  "Alright!" Xiao Haozi ran into Ma Chao's tent to fetch his sword, while Wang Baichuan also prepared his own ring-headed knife.

  Before long, Little Swallow returned, but he came back with a knife in his arms. Forty kilograms was no light weight for him.

  Ma Chao took Snow Slasher and drew it out, holding it in one hand while making a "please" gesture with the other.

  "King Baichang, come!"

  "Please!" Wang Da stepped onto the stage and came before Ma Chao.

  Actually, when Wang Da saw Ma Chao's momentum, he suddenly felt a little regretful. Although he often saw Ma Chao, he didn't know how great his skills were at all. Not to mention him, even Zhang Yang didn't know how great Ma Chao's skills were and still thought Ma Chao was of third-rate level.

  This didn't stop Zhang Yang from hearing about Ma Chao and Wang Da's contest, so he returned to the training grounds. He didn't wish for this, but also understood that there was no way for him to intervene in this matter, and could only be a spectator.

  Wang Da is also from Bianzhou, and it turns out that he and Sun Yi are fellow villagers, both from Yanmen. Logically speaking, fellow villagers should take care of each other, but for some reason, the two of them didn't get along at all, and they both looked down on each other.

  Sun Yi had previously lost to Ma Chao, the two were not familiar with each other until they fought, and got along well. Wang Da also looked down on Ma Chao, because Ma Chao's relationship with Sun Yi was good, and he became a hundred officials at such a young age, Wang Da hated and envied him. Today, Ma Chao's official position surpassed his own again, and he finally couldn't bear it. However, when he saw Ma Chao's sword and Ma Chao's posture, he suddenly felt that he might not be Ma Chao's opponent, and before the battle began, he was already half defeated.

  Both men held knives in their right hands and stared at each other, neither making the first move.

  Wang Da was afraid and didn't dare, while Ma Chao thought Wang Da was interesting and wondered if he should play with him some more. As a result, the two men harbored different thoughts and ended up in a stalemate.

  In about half a minute, Wang Da couldn't help but make the first move. As a result, Ma Chao took one look and knew that he was better than an average soldier, but in his eyes, it was still not worth looking at, with many flaws, and Ma Chao didn't even want to compare with him.

  The two were evenly matched, but Ma Chao was bullying him. Wang Da's first move was to use his sword to directly stab at Ma Chao's chest. Seeing the sword rushing towards him, Ma Chao was neither slow nor hurried, and just as the sword was about to pierce his chest, he dodged it with a flash of movement.

  Wang Da saw that the first knife was easily dodged by Ma Chao, so he quickly changed his move and used the blade to sweep horizontally across Ma Chao's chest. If this sweep hit its mark, it would definitely cause injury.

  Ma Chao took a step back, opening up his knife. He looked at the situation and thought it was better to end it quickly. Before Wang Da could react and make another move, Ma Chao took a big step forward, his left hand grasping Wang Da's right wrist. With a slight exertion of force, Wang Da's ring-headed knife slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground. At the same time, Ma Chao's right hand, holding the Snow Drinking Knife, was already pointed at Wang Da's throat.

  The sudden change left Wang Da with no time to react, he closed his eyes and waited for Ma Chao's next move, but of course Ma Chao wouldn't be able to make another move.

  "I concede!" Ma Chao sheathed his sword and bowed his fist in respect to Wang Da.

  "I've lost, and I'm thoroughly convinced of it!" With that, Wang Da picked up the hiltless sword from the ground, his face flushed red as he returned to the military formation, while a thunderous applause erupted from the crowd below.

  "Vice General Ma is mighty, Vice General Ma is mighty!" The soldiers below shouted. Ma Chao stretched out his right palm upwards and the whole scene fell silent instantly. "Brothers, from now on, we will begin a month of arduous training. But I guarantee that our efforts today will not be in vain. In future drills, trials, and battles, you will understand what I say today!"

  "Yes! Everything will be arranged by Vice General!" From then on, Ma Chao began a month of devil training for the soldiers.

  Ma Chao's training was arranged in this way: every day, one hour of running, all with weapons, around the valley inside and outside, half an hour each. Then there were daily gun and knife exercises, also half an hour each, Ma Chao really spent a lot of thought on this.

  Finally, each afternoon and morning was used to simulate battles. In the camp, excluding Zhang Yang and Ma Chao, there were two hundred people in total. Zhang Yang and Ma Chao led one hundred men each to simulate battles. Fortunately, the mountain valley was large enough to accommodate three or four thousand people, so it wouldn't be too small even with eight hundred soldiers from the Trap Array Camp.

  Ma Chao had the two teams of soldiers fight in the mountain valley, sometimes directly confronting each other head-on, and sometimes using ambush tactics. Fortunately, the valley was large enough for them to do as they pleased. However, the daily battles of one hour each morning and afternoon, combined with running and martial arts training, left the soldiers exhausted every day. Zhang Yang and Ma Chao understood this, but it had to be done. Only through rigorous training could they lay a solid foundation for future battles, so the two men were indeed determined.

  In this way, a month's time quickly arrived. On the seventh day of August in the first year of Guangyuan, just yesterday, they had been training for exactly one month. Today was the day when the elite camp and the phalanx camp would engage in a trial exercise. It is said that Flying General Lü Bu will also come to watch the trial exercises of the two camps today.

  To say that Lü Bu has only come twice, the people in the trapped camp have all seen him, but many of the elite camp have not seen him. So many of the elite camp are very excited, it can be seen that Lü Bu is indeed an idol for many people in the Pingzhou army.

  Lü Bu had actually arrived yesterday, but he didn't show up. Now he is talking with Gao Shun and Zhang Yang in Gao Shun's big tent.

  As for the content of today's rehearsal, they had all discussed and decided yesterday and had already informed the two camps, so that the two camps could make preparations. This rehearsal is a best-of-three format, with each side presenting one question from three people.

  The first question was asked by Lü Bu, who was a fierce warrior. Each camp's deputy general would compete to show off their horsemanship skills, and three people would pass through together, thinking that this was not bad, and could test the deputy generals' martial arts.

  The second question is the battle array, which was initiated by Gao Shun. Each main general selects 100 people from his own camp to form an array and attack each other. These three also passed unanimously, which is to examine the array method of each camp and the command coordination between the main general and the troops.

  However, the question from Gao Shun's family was naturally no problem. But Zhang Yang had a bit of a bitter face, his coordination with his subordinates was not very good, let alone any formations.

  The last third question was of course made by Zhang Yang, actually it was Ma Chao who asked him, and they were competing in martial arts. The content is that two battalions rushed to grab the military flag, Lü Bu inserted a military flag in any place in the deep mountain valley, then each battalion selected 20 ordinary soldiers, led by a hundred generals, holding long guns, with bows and arrows on their backs.

  Of course, the heads of the long guns were wrapped in several layers of cloth, and the surface was covered with white powder. The arrowheads of the bows and arrows were also cut off and wrapped in cloth, covered with white powder. The rules were that if you were hit by a gun or arrow in a vital area, you would die, and the soldiers would automatically exit the trial. If you were hit five times or more on non-vital areas of your body, you would also have to exit the trial. If your legs were injured three times or more, you would also have to exit the trial. If you didn't exit but were reported and discovered, you would be dealt with by military law.

  No matter what methods the two camps use, the side that finally captures the military flag wins. However, there is a time limit, and it must be done within the time of one incense stick; otherwise, it counts as a loss.

  This is even more consistent, especially for Gao Shun, who thinks this trial is particularly good. It can test the combat effectiveness of individual soldiers and the coordination between Bai Lang and his subordinates. There are also strategies to consider. Last night, all three topics were announced to the two battalions, and the soldiers were eager to try them out.

  "Shouldn't you be ready by now?" a tall and powerful young man in the tent said to Gao Shun and Zhang Yang.

  "It should be about right." Zhang Yang replied.

  "Offering sacrifices first, what's the hurry? Isn't it still early?" Gao Shun said to the young man.

  It seems that the young man is indeed Lü Bu, a native of Nine Valleys in Wuyuan County. This Lü Bu is majestic and awe-inspiring, with an air of grandeur about him. If Ma Chao were here, he would surely exclaim in his heart, "What a handsome guy!" Indeed, Lü Bu's appearance is as if chiseled from the finest jade, and it's no wonder they call him the "Peerless Lü Bu". The term "Peerless Lü Bu" not only refers to his exceptional martial arts skills but also his dashing good looks and masculine charm.

  Lü Bu's height was nearly nine feet, over 1.9 meters, a giant of a man, a true bear-like general at first glance. His voice was like thunder, almost deafening.

  "Come on, I'm really anxious! Both of your camps have been training for two years now, and today is also the time to test the results of these two years. I can't wait!" Lv Bu said with a big laugh, indeed having a heroic air about him.

  "It's almost time, let's go to the school grounds first, it's better to go early!" Zhang Yang said.

  "Alright! Let's follow Uncle Chi, Fuyi, let's go!"

  The three of them left the military tent together and headed to the drill ground. Before long, they arrived at the largest drill ground where the Trapping Array Camp and the Elite Camp gathered together, which could accommodate a thousand people with plenty of room to spare.

  When they entered the school grounds, the match time had not yet arrived, but everyone was already gathered at the school grounds, all waiting for the arrival of the three of them.

  Three men walked onto the stage, and all that could be heard from below were the soldiers holding their weapons and shouting loudly: "Flying General! Flying General! Flying General!" Although there were a thousand people divided into two camps below, the shouts were so uniform, of course not arranged in advance, it can be seen that the two camps still have some tacit understanding.

  Lü Bu was very pleased with the soldiers, he stretched out his palms upwards and the whole scene fell silent. Lü Bu shouted loudly, "Brothers, today I, Lü Fengxian, have come to see you all!" His voice was loud and clear, echoing throughout the scene.

  Many of the soldiers were excitedly looking at Lü Bu, with a frenzy like that of a star fan, it seems that there are also star chasers in ancient times.

  "It's been two years, two whole years! I know everyone has worked hard for two years. Today, our two battalions will hold a drill competition to test the results of your efforts over the past two years! I know you won't let me down, right? Answer me loudly!"

  "Yes, yes! We won't let the general down!" The soldiers replied in unison.

  "You are all hot-blooded men in my army, let me see your splendor today!" Lü Bu continued to shout.

  "Good! Everything will be arranged by General!" The soldiers below shouted in unison again.

  "Good! You are indeed a worthy son of Pingzhou Army! I declare that the military camp's martial arts competition, the first round of the General's Challenge, begins!"

  As soon as Lü Bu's voice fell, Ma Chao rode out from the ranks of the elite troops, and a deputy general also rode out from the trapped camp.

  The middle ground had long been vacated by the two camps, and now all eyes were focused on the two of them.