Chinese Generals Summoning System

Chapter 37: Organizing the Army (Part 2)

In the end, 480 able-bodied men chose to leave Liu Ji’s border garrison unit. Among them, several dozen disregarded Liu Ji’s advice and secretly returned to Qi County in groups—after all, their families were still there. However, the local powerful clans in Qi County had been keeping a close eye on the families of these men sent to guard the border. Although the Great Jin court was in its twilight years, the aristocratic and powerful families across the land remained strongly supportive of the court’s efforts to strengthen military forces along the northern border. Should the cavalry of northern tribes launch a large-scale invasion to the south, these families—just like ordinary Great Jin citizens—would suffer the consequences. Therefore, the aristocratic and powerful families across the land dealt ruthlessly with the deserters in this border garrison contingent. Dozens of able-bodied men who had secretly returned to Qi County were ultimately all executed on charges of desertion. The remaining able-bodied men who did not return to Qi County simply scattered in different directions. Most became bandits or roving raiders, while others fled to other counties and prefectures within the Great Jin, where they were recruited into the private armies of local aristocratic families or powerful clans. In such turbulent times, where else could they possibly flee to? In truth, several of the military commanders did not entirely agree with Liu Ji’s approach. However, since Liu Ji was their lord, they merely offered him subtle advice, suggesting he refrain from such tactics in the future. Liu Ji glanced at the remaining 218 soldiers, gave a wry smile, and nodded. A few days later, on the sixteenth day of the eleventh month of the 425th year of the Great Jin era, Liu Ji and his men had been staying in this mountain hollow within Gong County for six days. During those six days, the 150 combatants hadn’t made much progress—after all, the time was too short. Even with figures like Yue Yi and Han Tao, whom he had previously recruited as personal retainers, Cheng Yi could only suppress his suspicions. After summoning Han Tao, Liu Ji now had eight military commanders under his command—all fierce warriors with combat ratings above 60—along with the two top-tier commanders Hua Xiong and Chen Hao. His lineup was already quite impressive. Currently, local officials throughout the Great Jin court were raising armies, yet even the commander of a single commandery struggled to match Liu Ji’s roster of generals. Indeed, many provincial governors did not command as many formidable warriors—though, of course, local officials backed by major aristocratic clans were a different story. The twin sisters, Lin Xiya and Lin Xiwen, saw Liu Ji training with Hua Xiong and couldn’t help but pester him, asking to learn some martial arts for self-defense. Liu Ji considered that he was about to head to Qianzhou to guard the border, and he didn’t know what dangers he might encounter. he realized that if Lin Xiya and Lin Xiwen could learn some self-defense skills, it might save their lives in a critical moment. Therefore, Liu Ji wholeheartedly agreed and asked Hua Xiong to teach the two sisters some self-defense techniques while instructing him. To Liu Ji’s great surprise, he had previously had the system analyze the twins’ stats: Lin Xiya had a Strength of 12, Intelligence of 67, and Leadership of 33, while Lin Xiwen had a Strength of 12, Intelligence of 63, and Leadership of 29. Aside from their decent intelligence, they didn’t stand out in any particular area. However, after just a few days of training under Hua Xiong, Lin Xiya’s Strength stat had surged to 23, while Lin Xiwen’s was even higher than her sister’s, reaching 24. Talent truly varies from person to person—consider that Liu Ji’s current Strength stat is only 21, and that’s only because the system had previously rewarded him with a significant number of Strength points. Liu Ji’s progress—gaining 4 points in martial prowess over 6 days—paled in comparison to that of the twin sisters. He was actually quite pleased that Lin Xiya and Lin Xiwen had made such rapid progress training with Hua Xiong, but he was determined to practice diligently himself. He absolutely could not let those two young girls outshine him; he needed to reestablish his authority as the head of the household. On the evening of the fifteenth of November, Yue Yi suggested to Liu Ji,“Although the current force of 150 soldiers would still struggle to engage the enemy in battle, they should have no trouble with ordinary marching. Should we continue our journey to Pingyin County in Dai’an Commandery, Qianzhou? We can conduct military training along the way. Moreover, once we enter Wanzhou, there are numerous bandits and roving raiders along the route; we can fully utilize small groups of these bandits and raiders for practical combat training.” Furthermore, the official document Liu Ji carried stated that he was required to lead his 500-man contingent to Pingyin County. Therefore, Liu Ji and his men would need to travel into Wan Prefecture to recruit young, able-bodied men willing to serve on the frontier in Qianzhou to bring their numbers up to 500. Otherwise, even if Liu Ji arrived at Pingyin County, he would face punishment for failing to bring the required number of soldiers. After giving it some thought, Liu Ji decided to set out again the very next day. Not only did he plan to use the bandits and marauders for practical combat training, but he also intended to seize the weapons, grain, silver, and recruits he needed from them. Thus, early in the morning of the 16th of November, Liu Ji and his men packed their belongings, left the mountain pass, and continued their journey toward Wan Prefecture.