Everyone's gaze was fixed on the direction from which the voice came, whether it was the city guards or the special forces. At this moment, their attention was completely focused on the east of the camp, the direction from which the voice came.
"Defend... Refuse horse... Gunners form up..."
A string of loud curses burst forth from Liu Junshu's mouth, his face stern and with a hint of anger. No matter how well-trained these men were, they couldn't change one fact: they were all new recruits, all of them newbies on their first battlefield.
The city guards were like waking up from a dream, and the shield-bearing soldiers and gun-wielding soldiers formed row after row of dense formations.
Square formation is always the best choice for dealing with cavalry charges.
Before them, the crossbowmen dropped the deerskin quivers from their backs, which were filled with six-sided iron caltrops. They ran to the front of the phalanx and scattered many irregularly within ten paces.
The number of iron wedges was not large, but enough to give any cavalry unit with malicious intentions an unexpected surprise.
Under the cover of darkness, these things that bring harm to people cannot be detected if they are not searched carefully.
Having quickly finished all this, the crossbowmen turned back and returned to their formation, opening up their crossbows and waiting in a tight array.
The sound of horseshoes gradually approached, like thunder rumbling.
The darkness gradually faded away, and another day arrived.
The red sun suddenly jumped out of the morning mist, swinging out millions of rays of light, almost illuminating the entire plain in an instant, and also dyeing the thin morning mist red. The layer of mist that seemed to exist and disappear under the sunlight gradually retreated, and the world suddenly became clear.
The knight from afar drew near, and before the city guards' eyes appeared a dense blackness. The brand new armor, under the morning light's illumination, actually had a slow flowing illusion.
"Hei Qi Jun... The Master has arrived."
The chirping cries spread throughout the army, and the city guards were in a state of turmoil.
Facing the sunshine, Xu Haifeng's face had a relieved smile. As for these new recruits' performance, he was not surprised at all.
Because he also grew up from a newcomer.
Even to this day, he would not forget the scene of his first battle against the Caesarians. The thrill of having repelled their attack and emerged victorious was still vivid in his mind.
For the first time on the battlefield, being able to preserve one's life and gain victory is a feeling that people who have not experienced it find hard to imagine.
The city guards cheered and laughed, holding up their swords in their hands and laughing wildly.
"Liu Tong can be in..."
The cheers suddenly subsided, and the city guards' eyes focused on Liu's calm face, without a hint of fluctuation.
Liu Junshu strode out in big steps, displaying his light and agile movements. In just a moment, he arrived alone before the horse team.
Xu Haifeng dismounted his horse, with a smile all over his face, and came forward: "Brother Liu is indeed extraordinary, the first battle of the city's defense army was won beautifully." He slightly bowed and said: "Xu congratulates Brother Liu on his victory."
Since seeing Liu Ting once and also listening to someone's frightening words, Liu Junshu willingly stayed in Wulong City.
Xu Haifeng had many talented people under his command, but high-ranking generals who could lead an army were extremely scarce.
The city guard had expanded for the second time and now had more than 30,000 people. However, the choice of commander was always a worry for him.
Before Liu Junshu, Ge Haojian had been acting in his place.
It's just that the new inspector of Wulong City wasn't born into a military family, and his appointment was also an unavoidable move. It wasn't until Liu Junshu surrendered that this urgent problem was resolved.
Liu Junshu, as one of the most outstanding generals of the Liu family, was quite capable in his actions. Within a month or so, he had already won over the hearts and minds of the city's garrison troops, and this commanding position became increasingly solidified.
He slightly bowed his head, Liu Junshu returned a courtesy, saying: "I don't dare to accept it, General Xu has been building the army for many years, and the training is rigorous. The city defense troops already have considerable combat effectiveness, I just happened to benefit from it." Although Liu Junshu's tone was calm, his words were sincere.
The city guards were mostly ordinary people from the former Tuyuhun country, and Xu Haifeng began to form an army only after leaving the capital and returning to Wulong City.
In just over a year, their performance has been quite impressive.
In fact, if we talk about the personal qualities of the soldiers, they are just average, but their teamwork is what opened Liu Junshu's eyes.
To reach this level of tacit understanding, even the elite troops of the Huang Long Army would need at least several years. But these ordinary city guards had achieved it with ease, leaving Liu Junshu, who had just taken over, utterly astonished.
Later, with Xu Haifeng's permission, Liu Junshu came into contact with the only military school in the world that was specifically used to train mid-to-low-level officers.
After studying intermittently for a period of time, he finally understood the underlying principles.
The city garrison troops differ from other troops in that they attach great importance to the cultivation and training of middle and low-level officers, which is unmatched by any troops in the world today.
Junior and low-ranking officers, especially junior officers in the army, play an irreplaceable role.
Such a theory completely overturned Liu Junshu's previous understanding, but after careful consideration, he had to admit that this sentence was indeed a famous saying.
Leaders with personal charm indeed exist. As Liu Jun saw it, within the borders of Great Han alone, there were at least five such individuals.
Gu Daoxun, Fang Lingtian, Fang Lichen, Tan Hongda and Li Bohu.
The five of them held supreme positions in their respective troops, and they had a high reputation among the brave soldiers. They could even win over an army with just their names.
But leaders like them are after all a tiny minority, and it would not be an exaggeration to describe them as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Neither Zhang Jinzhong, the newly appointed commander of the Tianying Legion, nor Liu Zhengzhong, the commander of the Huanglong Legion, can reach this level.
The orders of these five generals in their own troops will become like imperial edicts, and can be executed with meticulous care. When the two armies are at war, as long as their great flags are still flying on the battlefield, their troops will have the courage to charge forward bravely.
They are able to do this because they are gods in the army, and their names already represent the spirit of soldiers.
The most important thing in the Great Han Empire is the cultivation and discovery of high-level generals. Once such a general is available, the combat effectiveness of the troops will increase exponentially.
However, apart from the Northern Great Camp of the Fang family's direct lineage troops, the other commanders-in-chief held their positions for no more than a decade or so. Once the time was up, they had to leave their armies.
Because when they did this, the troops they led had become their private armies, and it was precisely because of this that their armies were able to unleash invincible combat effectiveness.
This is a great Han, it's Liu family's world. No matter which emperor, no matter how wise he is, can't tolerate this potential threat.
For hundreds of years, except for the Northern Legion's Grand Commander being fixed from the Fang family and the Yellow Dragon Legion's Grand Commander coming from the Liu family, the other three legions' Grand Commanders have no fixed numbers.
This led to an inevitable consequence, that is, these generals left their own army, and the effect of their prestige will be greatly discounted.
It's not that a famous general is in command of the troops, nor will the morale of the soldiers be so high, let alone exert their greatest combat effectiveness.
This principle is understood by everyone, but from beginning to end, many sages and wise men have been unable to cope with it.
The combat effectiveness of the army and the family's rivers and mountains, which one is more important, seems to be an insoluble contradiction.
However, the emergence of military schools changed this phenomenon. The appearance of a large number of low- and mid-level officers who had undergone systematic training made the army's cohesion unprecedentedly united. The strong cohesion represents invincible combat effectiveness.
They are no longer a private army, no - they are still a private army, and the object of their loyalty is Xu Haifeng, the principal Xu Haifeng, not Liu Junshu who holds the position of Garrison Commander.
He knew that although he was the highest commander of this unit, once he wanted to plot against Xu Haifeng, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Even if he stayed in this position for another ten years, he still wouldn't dare have such extravagant hopes.
Because he didn't dare to be certain that when Xu Haifeng appeared in front of the troops at that moment, all the generals would make what kind of choice.
Liu Junshu looked up and saw Xuhai Feng's smiling face, his gentle face had a faint smile, as if nothing in the world could ever get him down again.
Maybe he has become the sixth such famous general.
"What? Brother Liu is still satisfied with the performance of these young men?" Feeling his strange gaze, Xu Haifeng's smile grew thicker.
Liu Junshu nodded silently, although he didn't say a word, but he had to admit it.
The Garrison Corps was the most satisfactory unit he had ever commanded.
In Pingyang, all the generals will spontaneously discuss and exchange their experiences with each other. Especially with this big war looming, this atmosphere has become even more intense.
Before this expedition, the qualified high and middle-level generals all expressed their opinions and put forward countless suggestions, many of which were not even noticed by Liu Jun himself.
There were differing opinions among them, but from the moment Liu Jun decided to take action, there was not a single word of dissent in the army.
Although they may have had reservations about Liu Jun's orders in their hearts, in their actions, they were obedient and followed his commands.
In the great hall of the military academy, there are four golden characters: Obey Orders.
Yes, the first iron law of the army is not flexibility and variability, nor bravery and tenacity, but obedience.
Obey orders.
There is no reason why a corps without absolute obedience to orders can be called an iron army.
The city guards did it, they were instilled with an idea from the first day of formation - obey orders.
Until today, they finally did it, and it was almost perfect.
()

