Chapter Twelve: Building the Army

  "Hahaha...…", Yang Chengfeng burst out laughing in the Wuwei Taishou Fu, originally cruel in battle but somehow inexplicably won, until now Yang Chengfeng still thought he was dreaming.

  "Your Highness, wise and powerful, with one move you killed the great general of Mongolia, He Lian Tie Shu, won the victory of Wu Wei's offensive and defensive battle, created a victory that our Great Qin has not had in decades, it is truly a joyous occasion!" Lei Meng smiled and congratulated Yang Chengfeng.

  "It's all thanks to the soldiers' sacrifice, it's all thanks to the soldiers' sacrifice." Yang Chengfeng smiled and turned his head to ask Kong Zhaowen: "Has the pursuing army returned?"

  "Your Highness, according to the scouts' report, the 10,000-strong pursuing troops have marched towards Lingyuan City, and General Wang Zuwei is preparing to capture Lingyuan City in one fell swoop." Kong Zhao said. After the battle of Wuwei ended, Wang Zuwei led the 10,000 Iron Cavalry of the Imperial Guard to pursue westward.

  "Kong Jiang, you said we have defeated Helian Tietou's 800,000 Iron Cavalry, so will the tens of thousands of Mongolian Iron Cavalry in the Lanzhou area march east?" Yang Chengfeng asked.

  "This, this is also uncertain, Helian Tiemu as the great general of Mongolia, now he died at the hands of the emperor, according to reason, the Mongolian iron cavalry in Lanzhou will march east." Kong Zhao thought and said.

  "It turns out that we have occupied Lingyuan City, but it's useless. Now we need to prepare for the tens of thousands of Mongolian iron cavalry in Lanzhou to march east before the Mongolians are ready, so as not to be caught off guard." Yang Chengfeng nodded and said.

  "Yes, I'll go arrange it right away."

  "What about the tens of thousands of Mongolian captives now? We can't afford to feed them in Wuwei." Yang Chengfeng asked.

  "Your Highness, as is customary, after a battle, the Mongols will send someone to ransom them," replied Lei Meng.

  "Should they be allowed to eat and drink for free? Humph, is there such a good thing in the world?" Yang Chengfeng snorted, "Isn't the moat of Wuwei City filled by them? Now let these Mongolian captives clean up the moat they filled. If they resist, kill them without mercy."

  Lei Meng trembled all over, cold sweat bursting forth, "Yes."

  "In addition, organize civilians to clean up the battlefield and rescue the wounded. All soldiers return to camp to rest and recharge for the next battle."

  "Yes."

  Yang Chengfeng turned to Kong Zhaojun and said, "Also, General Kong, before the Mongols arrive, I want to reorganize the troops in Wuwei. There are still many deficiencies in this battle that need to be improved urgently."

  "Yes." Kong Zhao Wen replied.

  Lei Meng gazed at Yang Chengfeng with a thoughtful expression. As the governor of Wuwei, he was not as rough and ignorant of court affairs like Kong Zhao Wen. On the contrary, he had a deep understanding of imperial matters. The emperor had been on the throne for many years without appointing an heir, causing officials to be embroiled in the struggle for the position of crown prince. Currently, the top contenders were the eldest son Yang Zun and the second son Yang Yu. However, Yang Chengfeng, the timid fourth son, had suddenly risen to prominence, introducing unknown variables into the competition. Now, Yang Chengfeng wanted to reorganize the Wuwei army, merely aiming to control it for his own purposes. Moreover, in Wuwei, due to Yang Chengfeng's killing of He Lian Tieshu, he was revered by the soldiers as a god-like figure. Thus, with minimal effort, Yang Chengfeng could command the loyalty of tens of thousands of soldiers. It was only now that Lei Meng realized how formidable Yang Chengfeng truly was - having endured humiliation for over a decade, making everyone believe he was just a weak prince, before emerging at the critical moment in the northwest border crisis. Now, as the regional guardian with military power in his grasp, he had successfully accumulated the necessary resources to contend for the position of crown prince.

  Yang Chengfeng did not expect that Weiwei Taishou Lei Meng would have so many thoughts at this moment. Now he only thinks about how to reorganize the Weiwang army, although before the battle, a simple reorganization was carried out for the Blue Feather Army and the Northwestern Border Army. However, through this battle, Yang Chengfeng found that the previous reorganization was not successful at all. The Blue Feather Army and the Northwestern Border Army originally belonged to two different factions. Although they were reorganized, during the battle, they did not know how to cooperate with each other, and often made various mistakes.

  In addition to the Blue Feather Legion and the Northwestern Border Army, there is also the garrison of Wuwei. As a major stronghold in the northwest, the Wuwei garrison has a strength of 20,000 troops, and being located on the border, they have been through numerous battles, sharing the same nature as the Northwestern Border Army. However, they look down upon the Blue Feather Legion, especially after their great defeat at Lingyuan City against the Mongols, they think even more that the Blue Feather Legion, the regular army of the empire's northwestern frontier, is nothing special, and that the 100,000-strong Blue Feather Legion was easily annihilated by the Mongols.

  Finally, it was the Imperial Forest Army that he brought from Luoyang. The Imperial Forest Army, as the emperor's personal guard, had always been arrogant and looked down on other armies in the empire. Although the Imperial Forest Army was the emperor's personal guard, Yang Chengfeng managed to bring this army out, so there was no reason to return it to the emperor. The Imperial Forest Army was indeed one of the most elite troops of the Great Qin Empire, with excellent equipment and rigorous training. The ten thousand cavalry horses were all high-quality Dawan horses, which were strong and powerful, extremely spirited, and not inferior to the best border army horses, and even surpassed them.

  The contradictions between the Blue Feather Legion, Northwest Border Army, Wuwei Guard and Imperial Forest Army have not been intensified for the time being, but the arrival of this day will not be too long. This is also what Yang Chengfeng least wants to see, although he has thought about reorganizing the Blue Feather Legion, Northwest Border Army, Wuwei Guard and Imperial Forest Army at this time.

  The Great Qin Empire is vast, and there are ten regular legions like the Blue Feather Legion. Now that the Blue Feather Legion has been destroyed, Yang Chengfeng can reorganize it as the Grand Marshal of the Wuwei Army. However, since the Blue Feather Legion has already been destroyed, it no longer exists, so he wants to rebuild a new legion.

  From the second day, Yang Chengfeng relied on his prestige in the army to reorganize the Blue Feather Army, Northwest Border Army, Wuwei Garrison and Imperial Forest Army. After the Battle of Wuwei, the 23,000-strong Blue Feather Army and Northwest Border Army were reduced to 18,000 men, while the 15,000-strong Wuwei Garrison was reduced to 11,000 men, and the 10,000-strong Imperial Forest Army cavalry was reduced to 7,000. Therefore, the total strength of Wuwei is now 35,000 men, including 10,000 cavalry.

  Through reorganization, Yang Chengfeng established the Tianlang Army, with the howling giant wolf as its military flag. The newly formed Tianlang Army had a total of 35,000 soldiers, including 10,000 light infantry, 5,000 heavy infantry, 5,000 archers, 5,000 long spearmen, and 10,000 cavalrymen. According to the regular army system of the Great Qin Empire, it was divided into ten-based units, with positions such as squad leader, company commander, and battalion commander. In the Tianlang Army, Yang Chengfeng heavily promoted those who had made contributions in the Battle of Wuwei, letting them take on roles such as squad leaders, company commanders, and battalion commanders.

  In the Heavenly Wolf Legion, Yang Chengfeng valued cavalry the most. Wuwei City was located in the northwest and faced the Mongol Empire, which originated from nomadic tribes. Therefore, for a period of time, the main enemy of the Heavenly Wolf Legion was the Mongols, and the best way to deal with them was through cavalry.

  For this, 2,000 men were selected from the original Blue Feather Army, Northwest Border Army and Wuwei Garrison to form a full-strength cavalry of 10,000 with 8,000 cavalrymen from the Imperial Forest Army, and the commander of this cavalry was Wang Zuowei, the original commander of the Imperial Forest Army.

  Apart from the Heavenly Wolf Troop, Yang Chengfeng also selected a thousand seasoned and elite warriors in the army to form his personal bodyguard, led by his guard Shen Yuehua.

  According to the regular legionary organization, the full strength of the Tianlang Legion should be 100,000, but now the finances of Wuwei City are tight and cannot afford to supply the military expenses of 100,000 troops. Moreover, in Yang Chengfeng's view, it is impossible to get the military expenses of the Tianlang Legion from the imperial court. In addition, without the permission of the imperial court, privately building the Tianlang Legion has already touched the taboos of those factions in the imperial court, and it is unknown what actions they will take after learning that he has built the Tianlang Legion.

  But now these things are not what he is worried about. Now what he has to do is to conduct strict training for his Wolf Troop, so as to cope with the revenge of the Mongols.