Chapter 59: Battle Formation

Chapter 59: Military Maneuvers

Wu Wenxiu immediately understood and stepped forward, unfurling the imperial edict.

Zhen Ruicai scowled in disapproval. Having a female official announce the decree? Who could possibly hear her tiny voice?

He quickly interjected, "Your Majesty, please allow me to issue the commands. Secretary Wu's voice is too soft. If the soldiers can't hear clearly and mistake it for a mosquito's buzz, wouldn't that be an embarrassment to the court?"

Wu Wenxiu's face flushed with annoyance. How dare Zhen Ruicai presume to dictate to her? Did he truly think she was a pushover?

She had come prepared to read the decree before tens of thousands of soldiers.

Before arriving, she had specifically visited the Armory Bureau to procure an item from the Sixth Supervisor—a metal tube, wide at one end and narrow at the other, resembling a suona horn.

Speaking softly into the narrow end produced a booming sound from the wide end. She had tested it herself, and the sheer volume had startled even her.

Zhen Ruicai’s casual dismissal of a close aide to the Empress Dowager was, at its core, an assertion of his military authority and a blatant disregard for her power. It was imperative that she make him recognize his error.

With this thought, Wu Wenxiu suppressed her anger and said with a smile, "My voice is not small at all, Lord Supervisor. Would you care to test it?"

Zhen Ruicai scoffed, "Secretary Wu, why exert yourself? Even if you shout your lungs out, the soldiers below won’t hear you."

Wu Wenxiu raised a hand, and a maid presented the metal tube. She took it, aimed the wide end toward Zhen Ruicai, and loudly proclaimed, "By the decree of Heaven, the Empress Dowager commands—"

The amplified voice exploded beside Zhen Ruicai’s ear. Startled, he let out a sharp cry, "Ah—!"

His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, clutching his ears tightly, his face ashen.

The nearby maids, forewarned, had already covered their ears. Seeing his panicked state, they hurried over, chuckling, to help him up.

The officials standing farther back were also startled. What was this device that could amplify sound so powerfully?

Then, witnessing Zhen Ruicai’s humiliating display, they couldn’t suppress their laughter.

Zhen Ruicai’s face turned crimson. He pushed away the maids trying to assist him and struggled to his feet, attempting to regain his composure. Unfortunately, he aggravated the leg injury from the previous day, stumbled, and nearly fell again.

He gripped the railing tightly to steady himself.

Furious, he glared at Wu Wenxiu. *How dare she make me lose face like this? I’ll make you pay for this sooner or later!*

Wu Wenxiu paid no mind to his embarrassment. She focused on reading the decree to the soldiers, her calm and steady voice amplified by the metal tube, carrying far into the distance.

The decree affirmed the armies as the elite forces of Great Rong, praised the soldiers for leaving their homes to defend the nation, and called upon them to showcase the military might of the Da Rong Dynasty today, boosting morale and intimidating their enemies.

On the training ground, the soldiers knelt to listen, astonished. How could the voice carry so far? Was it some kind of divine transmission?

When Wu Wenxiu finished, the entire field fell silent. The eyes fixed on the high platform were filled with awe.

Chi Jing took the loudspeaker from Wu Wenxiu’s hand, looked at the soldiers below, and spoke into it, "The military parade begins!"

Before the Phoenix Cry Platform stood a tall stone tablet draped in red silk, flanked by ceremonial cannons. At Chi Jing’s command, the cannons fired in unison, their roar shaking the sky.

Rows of soldiers marched in formation, changing their patterns according to the signal flags, displaying their impressive bearing to Empress Dowager Chi, the officials on the viewing platform, and the civilians on the distant slopes.

The evaluating officials awarded high scores of seven and eight points.

Zhen Ruicai, who had just been humiliated before the officials, immediately regained his confidence. He straightened his chest, looking proud and honored.

Naturally, some observant officials stepped forward to praise him, "Lord Zhen, your military discipline is exemplary. Under your leadership, the soldiers are sure to be invincible on the battlefield!"

Zhen Ruicai nodded with a smile, feeling quite pleased. As the chief commander of the military parade, he could finally hold his head high.

But then he turned and saw Chi Jing give an extremely low score of three points. His raised eyebrows twitched involuntarily.

Even if Empress Dowager Chi was biased, it couldn't conceal his excellence. Everyone else could see the truth!

He recalled how Empress Dowager Chi had appointed Zhao Yuzhang as the commander of the Golden Crow Guard, catching him off guard.

But he wasn’t worried. With Zhao Yuzhang’s level of military management, it was impossible for her to turn things around and steal the spotlight at the military parade.

Did Empress Dowager Chi really expect her to train a strong army? Those female soldiers participating in the parade were just going to make a joke of themselves.

When the time came, the Golden Crow Guard would be disbanded, and Zhao Yuzhang would naturally be punished for incompetence.

The thought of seeing Zhao Yuzhang devastated and in tears lifted his spirits, even making the leg injury intentionally inflicted by Zhao Mingyue feel less painful.

There were six guards in total. Zhen Ruicai arranged for the Golden Crow Guard to appear last, with the Left Eagle Guard as the finale. This way, the contrast between the two units would be stark and dramatic.

At this moment, the Left Eagle Guard marched before the Phoenix Cry Platform. Each soldier was a tall, robust man, full of imposing presence. The surrounding civilians immediately erupted into cheers. In contrast, the Golden Crow Guard following behind appeared much weaker, their average height shorter by three inches.

However, although the Left Eagle Guard at the front was imposing, their footsteps thunderous, a closer look revealed that their formation was not very neat.

Zhao Mingyue, standing at the front of the formation, grew nervous hearing the cheers around her.

Zhao Yuzhang, on horseback, shot her an encouraging glance. Zhao Mingyue took a deep breath and then waved the signal flag, "Forward!"

The soldiers, seeing the flag command, immediately lifted their feet in unison, marching forward with unwavering focus. Their footsteps, firm and powerful on the ground, instantly drowned out the sounds of the other guards.

Everyone’s attention turned to this last guard unit, witnessing an incredibly neat army, as if drawn with an ink line. Every movement was synchronized, as if they were one person, their momentum overwhelming.

The slanting sunlight shone on their battle robes embroidered with crimson golden crows, gleaming brilliantly.

In comparison, the Left Eagle Guard ahead seemed somewhat sloppy. What might have been tolerable disarray now appeared glaringly obvious.

Thus, the Golden Crow Guard advanced step by step to the front of the viewing platform. Zhao Mingyue waved the flag, and the soldiers began to move in an orderly manner, changing formations.

From the initial square formation to the complex wild goose spread and fish scale formations, they shifted through five or six patterns in less than a quarter of an hour.

The soldiers advanced and retreated, each movement rippling through the ranks like waves, without a hint of chaos. They completed the entire drill with seamless fluidity.

At some point, the cheers around them ceased. The civilians stared dumbfounded at this army, unable to believe that half a year ago, some of these soldiers were gentlewomen embroidering in their chambers, others widows sweeping courtyards and serving in-laws.

To reach this level, no one knew how much hardship and sweat they had endured.

"Excellent! Heroines indeed. These are the fine women of our Great Rong Dynasty," a man applauded.

Some women grew excited and stirred, "So impressive! So majestic! I want to join the army too!"

But these voices were quickly suppressed, "What’s the use of being a soldier? You won’t be able to marry later!"

"Exactly! What respectable family would want such a woman? It’s terrifying!"

On the viewing platform, the judges awarded high scores of nine points. Even if they wanted to give the Left Eagle Guard higher scores, the contrast was too stark—the Left Eagle Guard was clearly inferior.

And Zhen Ruicai’s face visibly darkened.

Wu Wenxiu took the loudspeaker and announced the scores to the crowd below, "In this formation drill, the Golden Crow Guard scores nine points! Ranked first!"

Even upon hearing this good news, the Golden Crow Guard maintained strict discipline, standing tall and straight without making a sound.

In contrast, the Left Eagle Guard broke into loud grumbling, their faces filled with resentment and unwillingness—how could they possibly accept losing to a bunch of women soldiers?

Qian Qian shouted several times for quiet, but failed to calm them down.

On the viewing platform, Chi Jing shot a look at Zhen Ruicai, whose face had turned ashen, and let out a cold laugh. "Commander Zhen, is this the disciplined force you promised? Disorganized ranks, lax discipline—how do you expect such troops to fight in a war?"

Cold sweat broke out on Zhen Ruicai’s forehead, and he immediately deflected blame. "Th-this is all because Left Eagle Guard Commander Qian Qian has been lax in his discipline!"

"But I entrusted you with the role of head parade coordinator. If anything goes wrong, I hold you responsible," Chi Jing said sternly, her expression darkening. "This is dereliction of duty!"

Zhen Ruicai froze for a moment before realizing the severity of the accusation. He hurriedly dropped to his knees. "Your Majesty, I have always been diligent and dedicated, with no intention of negligence! Besides—"

Frantically racking his brain, he suddenly thought of an excuse and forced himself to sound calm. "Your Majesty, the parade is only halfway through. Perhaps their discipline is lacking, but their battle readiness is beyond doubt!"

That’s right! So what if those female soldiers marched in perfect formation? That’s something anyone can achieve with practice. But when it comes to combat strength, no amount of drilling will ever let them outfight men.

Chi Jing turned back to face the training ground. "Let’s continue. What’s next?"

"Next, the commanders of each army will compete in mounted one-on-one duels."

Zhen Ruicai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and cautiously rose to his feet, hoping Qian Qian would pull through and not let Zhao Yuzhang win again.

Otherwise, Empress Dowager Chi might use this failure as grounds to dismiss him.

Unfortunately, things did not go as he hoped. Half an hour later, Qian Qian was unhorsed by Zhao Yuzhang.

"Golden Crow Guard scores another ten points, bringing their total to twenty-nine."

Zhen Ruicai’s face turned pale, and he gritted his teeth. "No! There’s still... still the offense-defense match, right? We can definitely win that!"

The offense-defense match recreates a siege scenario in war. However, unlike real warfare where one side attacks and the other defends, this contest required each army to both attack and defend, testing the commander’s leadership and the soldiers’ coordination and execution.

Each of the six armies sent two teams, plus a commander, totaling twenty-five personnel.

One team was responsible for defending their fortress and protecting their flag, while the other team was assigned to storm enemy positions and capturing their flags. If a flag was destroyed, the fortress would be considered fallen.

On the drill field, the flags of the six guards were already planted high behind the temporary battlements each army had built, fluttering and snapping in the wind.

Zhen Ruicai’s gaze swept across the field. Soldiers were busy moving bricks and earth to reinforce the low fortifications, firmly protecting their flags. Meanwhile, the Golden Crow Guard struggled to move larger stones—they’d fold at the first assault, wouldn’t they?

Hope surged in his heart once more. This time, victory was absolutely certain!