The Military System of Yan State

The Gobi Desert is silent at dusk, and white tents are shrouded in mist.

Tents stood on the Gobi Desert, shrouded in mist, and all one could see were layers upon layers of "white burial mounds".

The aroma of millet rice wafted towards my nose, and the sound of boiling soup was nearby, yet it brought no sense of warmth or cooking.

Wu Huaiyi felt no hunger at all, and the booklet he had been carrying had long since been lost somewhere. At this moment, he followed the main force, his eyes scanning the tents one by one.

Vice Minister Zhang frowned and asked, "Which of the three northern battalions is encamped here?"

"This is the bottom slope; setting up camp here is a major taboo in military strategy. My Black Stone Camp's camp isn't here, and the other two camps... probably aren't here either..."

The adjutant returned without confidence, because as he looked up, he could see a flag.

Embroidered on the flag was a majestic character—"Flame".

This is not the enemy camp.

It was the camp of the Yan Kingdom.

As for which battalion it belonged to, the adjutant racked his brains but couldn't figure it out.

Suddenly, someone spoke again from the fog: "Return to your tents after your night patrols, and prepare yourselves."

The border guards officer stared at the empty tents, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "Sir," he said, "according to military regulations, after a night patrol, we must first rest and recuperate before waiting for roll call."

Vice Minister Zhang asked, "Where are our berths?"

The adjutant shook his head: "I can't tell..."

As soon as the two finished their conversation, a young border soldier couldn't hold on any longer. His legs had gone weak from patrolling the camp earlier, and when he heard the word "rest," he instinctively sat down on the nearest bunk.

His buttocks had barely touched the wooden board.

A sound came from inside the tent.

"Occupying a shop space, eighty strokes of the cane."

The soldier on the other side had just shown a hint of relief when, in the next instant, he sprang up from his bunk.

They didn't stand up on their own; they were supported.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

The sound of slapping echoed continuously. The armor plates on his back caved in section by section. Before he could even spit out a mouthful of blood, he was already lying on the ground, his legs twisted backwards, his eyes wide open. He had been beaten to death.

The aroma of food still lingers in the camp, and wooden spoons are still tapping against the edge of the pot.

But the team has lost another member, leaving twenty-three.

Wu Huaiyi instinctively moved away from that tent, but while backing away, he accidentally bumped into another tent on the other side, which startled him. Luckily, he was unharmed.

The clerk from the Xun Jin Division on the other side wasn't so lucky; he bumped into a sword rack as he backed away.

"Clang!"

The sword rack wobbled, and the weapon hanging on it fell to the ground.

"Unauthorized use of military equipment, take him into custody!"

It was as if an invisible hand reached out from the fog, and the clerk only had time to shout "Help!" before he was dragged behind the curtain.

There was a sound of something heavy falling behind the curtain.

Then it disappeared.

Shi Laoqi muttered under his breath, "Damn it, there are too many rules. It must be so stifling to be a soldier in this camp."

At this moment, everyone would rather encounter a powerful ghost than stay in this scene and die inexplicably.

Vice Minister Zhang's face darkened: "Listen carefully, everyone. Follow the strictest military orders to govern yourselves. Wait for orders in all matters, and obey them without question."

His words pointed out a general direction, which, while not resolving the crisis, at least provided a semblance of reassurance.

"Walk around the camp, pretending you're going back to your bunk," said Zhang Shilang.

The group then sprang into action, each person standing in perfect unison, even those who had never served in the military, their backs ramrod straight.

The heat from the tent seeped into their bones, and many people were sweating profusely, but no one dared to wipe it away.

A moment later, the sound of the pots and pans inside the tent stopped.

Further into the fog came another military order:

"Checking in!"

"Soldier, Shigou'er."

Shi Laoqi froze.

The color drained from his face instantly, making him even paler than when he had seen the dead body.

"Who?" he asked instinctively. "How did he know that's my childhood nickname?"

No one answered him.

The fog repeated itself once more.

"Stone Dog".

Shi Laoqi opened his lips, and the instincts he had developed over many years in the army made him answer "Here!" almost before he could finish thinking.

Zhang Shilang's eyes darkened, but he didn't have time to stop him.

After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment.

He didn't die.

Just as Shi Laoqi's face showed a hint of joy at surviving a disaster, Wu Huaiyi suddenly widened his eyes.

"Your legs are gone!"

Shi Laoqi lowered his head.

His two legs are disappearing.

It wasn't cut off, nor did it turn into blood; rather, it faded away inch by inch, leaving the area below the waist empty so that the ground was clearly visible.

"Help!" Shi Laoqi was so frightened that he took a step forward.

He no longer had legs, but there was an extra footprint on the ground, exactly the same as the footprint from the patrol earlier.

"Help me! Lord Wu, please help me!"

Shi Laoqi grabbed wildly with both hands, but only grasped at air; his arms began to feel empty.

Wu Huaiyi wanted to help, but stopped himself abruptly. He remembered all too clearly how that young Taoist priest had died.

Shi Laoqi also saw Wu Huaiyi stop his hand. The old soldier had no resentment on his face, only fear.

"I don't want to be a ghost soldier."

His entire chest was gone by now. Despair flashed in Shi Laoqi's eyes as he murmured:

"My wife, I'm sorry, I can't go back..."

As soon as the voice fell, Old Shi disappeared.

Only a string of new footprints remained on the ground, heading out of the tent.

"I understand. Those who have answered the call will be incorporated into this battalion's organization." Wu Huaiyi's mood was low and his voice was hoarse. "I can't answer. If I do, I'll be one of the people in this battalion."

But by the time those words were spoken, it was too late.

In the first round of roll call, besides Shi Laoqi, there were other people, and they all answered.

"Yang Erzhu from Ganzhou".

"arrive."

The figure faded away.

"Liu Cheng of Heishakou".

"exist."

The leaf fell to the ground.

"Feng Mancang of Zhao Family Village".

The man covered his mouth as he cried, but a few sounds escaped his throat and then faded away before everyone's eyes.

Before long, a large part of the white tent was empty.

When the second round of roll call began, no one responded. Of the twenty-four people who came in, only nine are still standing.

Of course, it's not all bad news.

At least that's what Vice Minister Zhang thought; his gaze remained fixed on the border army's adjutant.

The lieutenant general was also called out by name and responded, but he didn't die. He was just hit by a heavy force and is now curled up on the ground, spitting blood.

Why did the lieutenant general answer that he wasn't dead?

A glint of light flashed in Zhang Shilang's eyes, as if he had grasped the key point.

He stepped forward and pressed down on the adjutant's shoulder, transferring his vital energy to him until the man's chest began to rise and fall again.

Vice Minister Zhang asked, "When you answered the call just now, did you report any false information?"

"No, General Mo's name is real, and his military registration is also real."

"If military law punishes someone by killing them, does it consider the difference between superiors and subordinates?"

Vice Minister Zhang asked the question he most wanted to know, and then waited expectantly for the answer with piercing eyes.

The adjutant wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth: "If there were no hierarchy in the army, it wouldn't be an army."

"I understand."

Vice Minister Zhang slowly straightened up.

Ordinary people were forcibly incorporated into the army by the military camp, while border generals, who held military positions, faced much more difficulties in being incorporated, which is why they did not disappear.

After clarifying his thoughts, Vice Minister Zhang reached for his waist.

"I know where that glimmer of hope lies."

Vice Minister Zhang's voice was not loud, but he spoke very steadily, "Since they abide by military law, and they are from the Yan Kingdom's army..."

As he spoke, he tugged at his finger and removed the military tally from his waist.

As soon as the fish-shaped tally was displayed, a copper light flashed briefly inside the tent.

Standing in the white tent, Vice Minister Zhang's voice, full of energy, drowned out all other sounds within.

"Zhang Shoujie, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War of the Yan Kingdom, is here."

"By order of the imperial court, investigate the unusual events in the three northern battalions."

"All battalions, heed my command: cease roll call, collect military documents, and await further orders!"

The last four words fell.

The white tent fell silent.

The clatter of the pots and pans stopped, the clatter of armor plates stopped, the dragging sound behind the curtain stopped, and even the footsteps outside disappeared.

The survivors exchanged glances, their eyes filled with the light of having escaped death.

An official from the Imperial Observatory almost burst into tears: "It's under control! It's really under control!"

Wu Huaiyi also breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on the ground.

But before he could exhale completely, the thick fog suddenly began to churn violently.

Like boiling water at a barbecue, the entire air was filled with a "rumbling" sound.

No! That's not the sound of boiling water, it's the sound of soldiers marching in formation!

Immediately afterwards!

The war drums sounded!

"Thump! Thump! Thump!—Thump!"

Three long and one short drumbeats signal an enemy attack!

From the depths of the gray fog, the voices of countless soldiers rang out simultaneously, causing the entire military camp to tremble.

"Those who forge orders will be killed! Killed! Killed!"