Beheaded at 5:30

  "It wasn't him, it was me! I'm the one who took it!" Hua Xiong suddenly walked out of the ranks and stood in front of Pang De, using his tall body to block Pang De's view, saying with a straight face.

  "No! It was me, milord. This has nothing to do with them, I took it!" Zhou Cang also suddenly stood out.

  This was a great surprise to Gao Fei, he smiled coldly and swept his gaze over the entire team before asking in a very cold tone: "Is there anyone else who wants to stand out?"

  As soon as the words fell, Liao Hua and Guan Hai stood out, and then several soldiers also stood out, and in a short moment, seven more people appeared.

  Zhao Yun stood behind Gao Fei and saw this scene, then walked to Gao Fei's side, slowly saying: "Master, what should we do now?"

  Gao Fei smiled and said: "Alright! Lu Heng, come out!"

  Lu Heng stepped out of the team and came to the front of the crowd, saluted Gao Fei with a military salute, and said: "What does the master call me for?"

  Gao Fei said: "When you were checking your belongings, did you find anything extra?"

  Lu Heng shook his head and said: "Report to the master, I have checked three times in a row, and found nothing extra!"

  Gao Fei furrowed his brow, he had thought that the several dozen kilograms of gold that had gone missing from the treasury would be found on Wu Yue Mountain, perhaps taken out by some careless soldier trying to get some benefits for their unit. But when he heard Lu Heng's answer, he realized the severity of the situation - this was a serious case of looting, if it had been handed over to Lu Heng, there might have been some excuse, but now that the gold was neither in the Chen Cang treasury nor with Lu Heng, it meant that the gold had fallen into private hands.

  He looked at the standing officers again, saw that there was not a trace of fear on their faces, thought carefully for a moment, and asked loudly: "Since you all said that you took something that shouldn't be taken, who can tell me what exactly is in Chen Cang's treasury?"

  Pang De, Hua Xiong, Zhou Cang, Liao Hua, Guan Yu and others all stuttered and couldn't answer, their faces also showed a trace of embarrassment.

  "Alright, you've all stepped forward. You're doing this because you're afraid of implicating your fellow soldiers. It seems that you have already formed a bond of camaraderie among yourselves, which I find heartening. However, the result of your actions is equivalent to letting the truly guilty person go...” Gaofei's gaze had been sweeping across every single person in the troop without stopping, but when he saw Fei An, his words came to an abrupt halt, and his gaze became even more piercing, tightly fixed on Fei An.

  Fei An stood in the ranks, feeling Gao Fei's piercing gaze, his heart racing, his back chilled, his eyes darting about, not daring to meet Gao Fei's gaze directly, his expression also looking anxious.

  "It's you! Get out of here!"

  Fei An heard Gao Fei's loud roar, and his tense nerves immediately relaxed. He was anxious in his heart, and saw that his legs had gone soft, and he suddenly knelt on the ground, constantly kowtowing to Gao Fei, shouting loudly: "Master, I know I'm wrong, please spare me this time! I won't dare next time!"

  Everyone in the team was shocked, no one could have thought that Fei An, who had been promoted by Gao Fei with one hand, would do such a thing. In addition to being shocked, people's faces also felt a hint of anger, because of Fei An alone, they almost all received punishment, although nothing was said on the surface, but in their hearts, they all cursed this troublemaker!

  "What's next? You still have a next?" Gaofei asked sternly, "Speak, how did you steal the gold?"

  Fei An immediately spoke out, last night he was the last one to push the cart away, when he saw the pile of glittering gold in the treasury, his heart had a bad idea, taking advantage of everyone's inattention, he casually took away dozens of pounds of gold and put it on the cart. When he returned to Wu Yue Mountain, he took advantage of everyone's unpreparedness, borrowed urine to hold the gold and leave, and then hid the gold in the accumulated snow in the forest. He thought that since the treasury had lost so many things, missing a little gold wouldn't matter, but he didn't expect Gao Fei to investigate thoroughly.

  When Gao Fei was counting, he originally wanted to stand out, but seeing Pang De take a step ahead and then having so many people willing to take the blame, he had a lucky mentality and didn't want to stand out again until Gao Fei discovered his unusual expression and took the initiative to admit his mistake.

  Gao Fei felt a sense of regret and disappointment after hearing what Fei An had to say. He had promoted Fei An due to his lack of trusted advisors at the beginning, and from Julu to Sanfu, he had treated him with favor along the way. Unexpectedly, Fei An not only disobeyed his orders but also did not take the initiative to acknowledge his mistake.

  "Fei An, I didn't treat you unfairly, but what you did has disappointed me greatly. For just a little bit of gold, you ruined your own promising future. It's really not worth it. I gave you an opportunity before, but you refused to stand up for yourself and lost the chance to save your life. Now I have no choice but to uphold justice. If our laws are not strict, everyone will be like you, and we'll just be a bunch of loose sand, unable to become an elite troop no matter what. Zhao Yun, take Fei An away and execute him publicly!"

  "Ah? Master... spare my life this time, I won't dare again, I really won't dare again, master, please spare me..." Fei An was so scared when he heard that he would be beheaded, his soul flew away and he cried out with a nose full of snot and tears.

  "Fei An! Are you still a man? A real man would rather die than be afraid. What's there to fear, it's just a head, and even if it's cut off, it's only a bowl-sized scar. Master gave you an opportunity, but you didn't cherish it, so don't blame others!" Pang De finally couldn't bear it anymore and shouted loudly.

  Lu Heng took a step forward, cupped his hands and said to Gao Fei: "Master, Fei An is the person I recommended to you. Since something like this has happened, I also bear some responsibility. I would like to ask Master to hand over Fei An to me, so that I can personally execute him and bring this matter to a close!"

  Gao Fei nodded and waved his hand at Lu Heng, saying: "I'll leave it to you!"

  Lu Heng thanked Gao Fei and then drew out the sword at his waist, walked straight to Fei An's face, pulled up Fei An who was crying and took him to the edge of the cliff. He said to Fei An: "You brought this upon yourself, you can't blame others for it. The ancient saying goes 'Victory or defeat, all because of Xiao He', today I'll be Xiao He once. Don't worry, I'll make it quick and won't let you suffer!"

  As the voice fell, Lu Heng raised the long sword in his hand and cut off the heads of several Fei An who were about to resist. The head fell down the cliff, but the corpse fell into a pool of blood.

  After killing Fei An, Lu Heng returned to report. Gao Feng let Lu Heng return to the team and had people dig up the gold that Fei An had stolen, rewarding it to Pang De, Hua Xiong and others who did not want to involve soldiers, showing his clear reward and punishment.

  Fei An, as a military marquis, still had 200 people under his command. To fill the vacant position, Gao Fei let Zhao Yun temporarily take over as military marquis and stay on the mountain to train with others. The incident of Fei An was just a small episode, but it reminded all the Flying Feather troops and made Gao Fei strict in discipline, leaving a deep impression on everyone's mind.

  Afterwards, two thousand soldiers began to undergo physical training, while Gao Fei summoned ten military officials and a chief clerk together, instructing them to shift from physical training to combat training in the following days. At this time, infantry training was the main focus, as there was not enough space for large-scale cavalry combat training. Cavalry warfare was also familiar to everyone, and they would conduct unified large-scale cavalry combat training when they had more space later on. Gao Fei extended the Roman legion's combat method and explained it in detail, causing Zhao Yun, Pang De, Hua Xiong, and others to have an epiphany. Therefore, Gao Fei ordered them to train the soldiers' collective coordinated combat capabilities according to this pattern.

  When he came down from the mountain, Gao Fei did not take anyone with him. He returned to Chen Cang alone and left the officers to unfold their training.

  In the following days, Gaofei left early and returned late every day, mysterious and unpredictable. He would leave for Wuyue Mountain in the morning and return from Wuyue Mountain at night, traveling a hundred miles back and forth each day. Later on, he simply stayed on the mountain for two days at a time, not only training soldiers personally but also explaining to them how to coordinate battles, making the phalanx formation more powerful, and how the phalanx should adapt in various situations.

  In the phalanx, there were long gunners, archers, knife shield soldiers, strong crossbowmen, and light cavalry. It was a mixed formation of phalanx. Gaofei did not completely adopt the combat method of the Roman legion. Based on the actual situation of existing war preparations and personnel, he combined the advantages of the Western Roman Legion and the Great Qin Empire's army, made changes, and formulated a more flexible and practical combat phalanx. He was preparing to let his Feiyu troops and this combat method be tested in the suppression of the Liangzhou rebellion, so he strengthened the intensity of training, and he also personally came to command.

  Chen Cang City was indeed as Ge Xuan had predicted, Dong Zhuo and Bao Hong really made Chen Cang unbearable, two officials with the same rank as Zhonglang General refused to give in to each other, both self-righteously thinking they had merit, and began to look down on each other. On the other hand, Huangfu Song's army also arrived, temporarily staying in Chang'an, waiting for the arrival of grain and supplies, and regarding the theft of Chen Cang City's treasury, Huangfu Song did not investigate, but ordered Fu Shuo to strictly guard the treasury.

  For ten consecutive days, Gao Fei was training soldiers in Wu Yue Mountain and only occasionally returned to Chen Cang. He didn't want to see Dong Zhuo and Bao Hong's endless quarrels, and when he was with Dong Zhuo, he always felt uncomfortable. Fu Shou and Ge Xun also didn't ask about Gao Fei's situation because now in Chen Cang City, the people Gao Fei could mobilize were only Ma Jiu and those twenty bailiffs, and all military power had been handed over to Huangfu Song.

  In the span of ten days, Fei Yu's troops made slight progress in their rigorous training, managing to achieve a state of fluid offense and defense. After all, the two thousand soldiers under his command were handpicked from Liangzhou, possessing superior physical abilities and combat skills that set them apart from others.

  The weather is getting colder and colder, fortunately, there are enough grain and grass on Wu Yue Mountain, and the Fei Yu army has made significant improvements in morale and discipline compared to before the assassination of Fei An. This also makes the soldiers appear enthusiastic and energetic in this severe winter. Killing a chicken to scare the monkey, sometimes it works, and can achieve unexpected effects.

  Before long, it was the end of October. Heavy snow fell for several days in a row, and the accumulated snow on the ground could bury people's knees. The Fei Yu troops on Wu Yue Mountain were not affected by wind or snow, and they insisted on training every day.

  That day, Gao Fei was on the mountain watching the Flying Feather Troop's training. Seeing the soldiers divided into five parts under their respective leaders' command and coordinating tacitly, he revealed a satisfied smile. In order to let these two thousand soldiers experience the coordination of each type of soldier, he made them switch roles in the battle array every now and then, truly achieving that everyone could operate various weapons and be familiar with the key points of combat for each part.

  "Great! That's it, you're doing extremely well, keep up the effort!" Gaofei exclaimed with joy as he heard the soldiers' cheers and watched their actions.

  After a while, Ma Jiu climbed up from the foot of the mountain. As soon as he exposed his head and saw this army, he was stunned. He only knew that Gao Fei had trained a private army in Wu Yue Mountain, but he had never been there before and didn't know what the army was like. Moreover, Gao Fei had also said that unless absolutely necessary, Ma Jiu would not be allowed to come to Wu Yue Mountain.

  "Wow......" Ma Jiu was stunned, seeing the two thousand mixed phalanx composed of five branches of troops, he couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise.

  Gao Fei heard the voice and turned his head, seeing that it was Ma Jiu. He hastily walked to Ma Jiu's side and asked: "How did you come here? Didn't I tell you to stay in Chen Cang City and not to come unless absolutely necessary?"

  "Your Lordship, this matter has already reached a point of no return; I have no choice but to come."

  "What? Did something happen to Chen Cang?" Gao Fei asked hastily.

  Ma Jiu shook his head and said slowly, "The Lord has been away from the city for a long time. Mr. Fu and Mr. Gai have asked me several times about your whereabouts. I told them according to your instructions that you went to Liangzhou to gather military intelligence. But today, I had no choice but to come. The General of Chariots and Cavalry, Huangfu Song, has arrived with a large army and is already in Huairi. He also sent someone to inform the Lord to meet him in Huairi tomorrow."

  "Huangfu Song? Last time I went back, wasn't Fu Shuo saying that he was going to stay in Chang'an and wait for the severe winter to pass before heading to Liangzhou to quell the rebellion? How could he have arrived so suddenly?" Gao Fei asked with a puzzled expression.

  Ma Chao said: "I don't know what's going on, but I do know that General Huangfu is leading the expedition to quell the rebels by imperial order and cannot afford to delay. That's why he ventured out in the wind and snow. Dong Zhuo, Bao Hong, Fu Xie, and Gai Yun have all gone to Huairi already. Lord Fu ordered me to inform His Excellency as soon as possible, so I dared to come to Wu Yue Mountain to find His Excellency."

  Gao Fei heard this and said with joy: "It seems that we are going to send troops to Liangzhou, just in time my Flying Feather Troop has been trained enough, it's also time for me to take them out for a test. Ma Jiu, you go back first, I'll follow later, when the time comes, you and I will go to Huairi together."

  Ma Jiu happily said: "Master Hou wants to take me? I...I am truly honored...I will go back and prepare the carriage immediately."

  Gao Fei saw Ma Chao leave, then temporarily stopped the military training, ordered Zhao Yun and others to train soldiers, waiting for his order to go out, and then went straight into Liangzhou.

  After descending the mountain, Gao Fei galloped back to Chen Cang as fast as he could. Ma Jiu had already made preparations, and Gao Fei left Chen Cang with him. The tens of thousands of troops surrounding Chen Cang were under the command of various military officers, so Gao Fei didn't need to worry about them.