Chapter Thirty-Two: Setting Out on the Journey
Upon hearing Wang Xu's praise, Wang Fei smiled brightly and said: "I've only made a slight improvement, but it's actually my third brother's horsemanship that has made significant progress. I recall last time you could only hold on for over a hundred paces, but in just three short months, you can already ride with me for over two hundred paces - truly astonishing!"
But Wang Fei's expression immediately turned serious, and he solemnly reminded: "However, Third Brother, it's best not to fight a master on horseback, it's very dangerous. To be honest, your martial arts skills are much higher than mine, and you can easily defeat me on the ground. But in a life-and-death battle on horseback, as long as I'm willing to pay the price, within dozens of moves, I can hurt you."
Although Wang Fei's words were a bit hurtful, Wang Xu still nodded. How could he not understand? His riding skills were even worse than those of ordinary cavalrymen, so he was at a disadvantage in horse battles. And horse battles weren't just about who had the higher martial arts skills, riding skills were crucial too - only by putting riding skills on an equal footing could one's true martial arts abilities be revealed.
The reason for this result is indeed that his energy is limited, and Wang Xu has had too many things to learn in recent years, and he simply doesn't have much time to practice riding skills. Moreover, without stirrups, controlling the horse is extremely difficult. It may not be felt in daily life, but on the battlefield, a horseback is not ordinary slippery!
According to Wang Xu's observation, even if it were an ordinary cavalryman of this era, his riding skills would be considered top-notch in later generations. So, he was extremely regretful that he had actually forgotten about the stirrups!
After that, the three of them continued to spar and play on the school grounds for a long time. Of course, Wang Xu would never get back on his horse again.
But on the ground, it was his domain, and Wang Fei only got to take a beating. However, Wang Xu also took this opportunity to point out the shortcomings of Wang Fei's gun technique, after all, Wang Fei's royal gun technique was actually taught by Wang Xu.
Time flies by, a night without words...
On the second day, early in the morning, before dawn, Wang Xu got up and washed. By the time he finished everything, the sky was already dimly lit.
Staring blankly at the armor hanging on the wooden frame, Wang Xu suddenly felt an indescribable excitement in his heart. He couldn't help but gently stroke those pieces of armor, the cold iron armor, the chill that touched his hand made his heartbeat accelerate significantly, as if he had already felt that life of gold and steel in an instant...
"I've put on this armor, I don't know if there will be a chance to take it off in this lifetime, sigh!"
He sighed and shook his head, looking at the sky outside which was no longer early. Wang Xu also stopped dawdling, slowly put on his helmet and carried his armor to walk outside.
When she arrived at Xu Shu's room next door, he was struggling to put on his armor. Seeing Wang Xu come in, he immediately complained: "You quickly come and help me put it on, what kind of armor is this! How can it be so hard to wear?"
Looking at Xu Shu's clumsy appearance, Wang Xu couldn't help but laugh and say: "Dear, can you put on your own armor? Armor must be worn with the help of others! Especially in this era." After finishing speaking, he walked over to help her put it on.
"So that's how it is, no wonder I felt something was off."
"Alright, lift up your hands, otherwise I won't be able to put it on you."
The two of them fiddled around for a good half day before they finally managed to dress each other up. Unfortunately, although their demeanor changed after putting on the clothes, they didn't have much of a majestic feel to them. The main reason was that Wang Xu and Xue Shu were both too young, their bodies hadn't fully developed yet, so no matter how you looked at it, they seemed two sizes smaller than a real martial general.
After checking that there was nothing wrong with their equipment, the two of them picked up their iron spears and rushed straight to the training grounds. The soldiers in the manor had also gotten up early and were carrying out their respective tasks.
Not yet arrived at the school field, he ran into Wang Fei, who was directing soldiers to transport grain. Wang Xu immediately asked, "Second Brother, how are the preparations going?"
Wang Fei turned around following the sound and saw the two of them. He immediately walked up to them: "I've been waiting for a long time, just waiting for you guys to arrive."
He finished and frowned, complaining: "Third brother! You still haven't assigned tasks to the three of us. What's going on? At this hour, the vanguard can set out already."
When he said that, Wang Xu suddenly remembered this matter and immediately slapped his forehead, saying: "Ah, I was negligent."
After a moment of silence, he continued: "Second brother, what I mean is that you lead a thousand men as the vanguard to open up the path, while Xu Shu and I will lead the rest of the troops as the main force, and be responsible for escorting the supplies!"
"Alright!" He responded succinctly and immediately said, "Now that the supplies are almost fully loaded, I'll go gather the first thousand men to set off ahead."
"En! Good." He nodded, thinking of Wang Fei's temperament, and Wang Xu again reminded him anxiously: "Second brother must remember not to go too fast, and keep a distance of two miles from the rear team. We are what speed you maintain that kind of marching speed! If any situation arises, send someone to notify first, do not rush in."
Watching Wang Fei nod solemnly, Wang Xu added: "Also, you'd better quickly promote a clever deputy who can temporarily take charge for you. If something big happens and we need to discuss it together, you'll have to come back."
"Alright! I'll keep an eye on it, anything else? If not, I'll take my leave first."
"Go! Be careful on the road."
As soon as Wang Fei left, Wang Xu didn't hesitate and immediately turned around to instruct Xu Shu: "You go notify the second thousand people team to assemble first. This thousand people are the last ones, so get ready now. I'll go check the supplies and we'll meet at the school field later."
"Hmm!"
After the busiest time, the material inventory was completed. Wang Xu allocated 300 people from the third thousand team to the general manager who was in charge of managing materials and let him fully manage all materials.
His name was Wang Wen, one of the five food guests sent by Wang Xu's father to take charge here, and also the general manager of this manor, who had won Wang Yan's trust. The reason why he decided to bring him along was that he said that Wang Yan's original order to him was to follow this army and manage logistics for Wang Xu. Originally, Wang Xu was very suspicious of his father's arrangement, but Wang Wen quickly gave him an explanation.
Originally, this person had the most exceptional talent in logistics management apart from his extraordinary martial arts skills. As one of the five highest-ranking food guests under Wang Yan, he did not have certain command abilities like the other four food guests. Therefore, the other four people had to stay at home to lead the guards and defend against bandits, but there were already enough people at home who could handle logistics.
Wang Xu was also secretly delighted in his heart, after all, what he lacked most now was talent. Moreover, the logistics were extremely complicated, and it would be better to have someone who was good at handling them.
When everything was ready, Wang Xu and Xue Shu also quickly rode on war horses, leading the third thousand people team to escort grain and grass as the central army set out. The second thousand people team was temporarily responsible for escorting the rear under the leadership of Wang Wen. However, in fact, the two thousand people teams walked together, with no interval distance in between.
