Chapter 637 - Chapter 637: Performance
Chapter 637: Performance
Editor: Atlas Studios
A cold glint flashed across Liu Dahei’s eyes. He chuckled and said, “Assistant Commander Su, you’re too polite. We’re both His Highness’s subordinates. Although we’re divided into three divisions, we’re still a family. There are no concerns of this sort.”
“In that case, let’s each send a platoon to compete. How about that?”
Liu Dahei agreed with a smile. Next, it was time for him to show off his charm.
As soon as Qi Haoran and the rest arrived, the two of them had already come to an agreement and came over to ask for permission.
Qi Haoran glanced at Liu Dahei, smiled, and nodded in agreement. He turned to Chief Ji’an and said, “It’s a good opportunity for Chief Ji’an to give them some pointers.”
“No, no.” Chief Ji’an said with a smile, “I should be the one asking the two assistant commanders for guidance.”
Liu Dahei mounted his horse and personally went forward to hold the fort. Assistant Commander Su’s eyebrows twitched as he cursed inwardly that Liu Dahei was too much of a lackey. To think he actually personally went forward to hold the fort. In comparison, Assistant Commander Su had wanted to simply hold the flag and give instructions from the side.
Seeing this, Assistant Commander Su had no choice but to get someone to bring his horse over.
Though Jinhua often saw boys wrestling and fighting in the Miao stockade, she had never seen such an arrangement before. Immediately, her eyes lit up.
Liu Dahei was a general of the West Camp. He had a good relationship with Qi Haoran, so Qi Haoran could trust him to manage the West Camp back then.
He naturally did his best to implement Qi Haoran’s training plan. Hence, unlike the undisciplined Central Camp, the soldiers of the West Camp were quite well-trained. Not only were their overall abilities impressive, but their individual combat abilities were also impressive.
Before coming, these soldiers had been informed that they were here to help the general win the affections of a girl. Just this alone was enough for them to do their best for the general.
If they encountered some ignorant and undisciplined Central Camp soldiers, they easily knocked them down right away.
What the soldiers fretted over was how to show off the general’s valiance under the premise of winning.
Soon, they wouldn’t have to worry, because their general had taken care of it himself.
Liu Dahei originally wanted to end the battle quickly. After all, Assistant Commander Su wasn’t weak, and Liu Dahei didn’t want to risk losing. In the end, when the two of them fought, Liu Dahei’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t expect Assistant Commander Su’s skills to deteriorate so much after not seeing him for just a few months.
He was well-versed in the ways of the world and knew that outsiders would only watch the show. Hence, he forcefully diverted 20% of the force from his saber. Assistant Commander Su was not knocked off his horse by him, and he barely managed to preserve his dignity. This also allowed Liu Dahei to use more fanciful moves.
Assistant Commander Su’s face turned pale. Then, he looked at Liu Dahei, feeling a little confused about his intentions. If he wanted to perform in front of the general, wouldn’t it be more embarrassing if he simply knocked him off his horse within three moves?
Was he helping him out of love for a colleague?
But then again, when did Liu Dahei become so skilled? He remembered that when the two of them sparred a few months ago, they couldn’t determine a victor even after exchanging a hundred moves.
Liu Dahei didn’t give Assistant Commander Su much time to think. Although his moves were fanciful, the force behind them wasn’t small either. It was just that instead of going straight for his opponents’ vital points, Liu Dahei attacked the insignificant areas.
Jinhua was all worked up and she kept clapping.
Madam Liu also felt that the sparring was interesting and couldn’t help but hold her breath. Mu Yangling couldn’t help but purse her lips and smile when she saw this. Meanwhile, Qi Haoran glanced at Chief Ji’an with a straight face and secretly cursed Liu Dahei in his heart, feeling that he was showing off too much. He blinked at Liu Dahei and gave him a look to remind him that not only were there laymen like Jinhua watching this competition, but there was also his potential future father-in-law, Chief Ji’an, who was certainly no layman.
Chief Ji’an thought that this was Qi Haoran had arranged this. Originally, he thought that it was unnecessary because he could tell that Assistant Commander Liu could knock Assistant Commander Su off his horse in three moves, but he deliberately dragged on for more than 40 moves. However, when he saw the two assistant commanders fighting and leading the cavalrymen behind them, Chief Ji’an fell into deep thought. Could it be that the Prince wanted him to witness the strength of their cavalrymen and that Qi Haoran prioritized soldiers over the generals?
That made sense. Although fighting a war depended on the orders of the generals, the fact that the soldiers were able to follow orders and fall into formations quickly was also a huge strength in itself. Meanwhile, the generals of Great Qi had all experienced war, so their abilities were naturally not a problem.
With this thought in mind, Chief Ji’an carefully watched the battle between the two armies. After a while, he couldn’t help but sigh. “General’s troops are indeed extraordinary.”
Qi Haoran gritted his teeth and said humbly, “Not at all. The men led by Assistant Commander Liu are not bad. They are ordinary soldiers from the West Camp whose performances are passable. However, the soldiers Assistant Commander Su is commanding are the worst in the Central Camp. It’s also good to let them see what the standard should be, lest they get kicked out of the military camp without even knowing why.”
Qi Haoran reckoned even the soldiers he trained for ten days could catch up to these soldiers who had trained for more than three months. It was really a waste of so much time.
Even ordinary soldiers were able to react so uniformly and quickly. Almost as soon as Assistant Commander Liu gave an order, they could immediately change formations and interspersed among themselves. If it weren’t for the fact that Assistant Commander Su’s men were too weak, it would probably show the strength of Assistant Commander Liu’s army even more.
The longer Chief Ji’an watched, the more shocked he became. He didn’t know if it was a coincidence or if it was intentional. Although the soldiers led by Assistant Commander Su were cowards, their strength happened to be just above the Miao stockade soldiers.
As a leader of troops himself, when Chief Ji’an was watching, he couldn’t help but compare his own soldiers with them. He couldn’t judge their individual combat ability for the time being, but looking at their overall ability to resist, with the existing weapons, equipment, and combat awareness of the Miao stockade, they would probably be barely able to fight to a draw with Assistant Commander Su’s men.
Thinking of this, he increasingly felt that Qi Haoran had deliberately arranged it. However, the last time Qi Haoran came, he had only seen the soldiers of his stockade from afar. How did he know their strength?
With this thought in mind, Chief Ji’an’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the Prince had already found out confidential information regarding their Miao stockade?
Was this the Prince warning him to be loyal to Great Qi, or else they weren’t fearful of starting a war?
After all, even the soldiers led by the weaker Assistant Commander Su were slightly stronger than the soldiers of the Miao stockade. Chief Ji’an was drenched in cold sweat. He felt that dealing with the Han Chinese was troublesome and had to put more thought into this.
Little did he know that he was thinking too much. Qi Haoran just wanted to be a matchmaker, that was all.
At this moment, when he saw Assistant Commander Su’s performance, he gritted his teeth in his heart and planned to double the intensity of their training after today. Then, he glared at Liu Dahei and gave him a look for him not to go too far.
When Assistant Commander Liu felt that it was about time, he finally shouted and knocked Assistant Commander Su off his horse. His soldiers also took down many of the other party’s men like a hot knife through butter.
Assistant Commander Liu rode forward on his horse and cupped his fists with a solemn expression. “I hope I did not disappoint you.”
The moment Assistant Commander Liu won, Jinhua cheered and clapped hard, staring at Liu Dahei seriously with a red face. When Liu Dahei stepped forward and said those words with a solemn expression, the blush on her face deepened. Her eyes were filled with tears as she clenched her fists and looked at him.
Mu Yangling was about to turn around with a smile and ask Jinhua how she felt when she saw her expression. She could not help but be stunned. Then, she looked hesitantly at the handsome and cheerful Lieutenant Zhong, who was waiting at the side. Could it be that the main character today was not the clean-shaven lieutenant, but the tanned and burly Liu Dahei?