Chapter 116: Lei Qing’s First Territory

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“Hey, hey, are you getting carried away?” Lei Qing raised an eyebrow and said in surprise, “Who forces someone to be their boss like this?”

“Anyway, from now on, you are my boss.” Xianyu Bao waved his hand and said to the group of strong men in shiny armor behind him, “Boys, why are you just standing there? Hurry up and greet him.”

Seven elites, all possessing Black Iron-rank strength, stepped forward in unison, cupped their hands, and shouted, “Greetings, Big Boss.”

Big, Big Boss?

Lei Qing was so shocked by this stupefying title that he felt dizzy. Wasn’t this a bit exaggerated? He stared at Xianyu Bao in annoyance and said, “Xianyu Bao, do you really want to join the Black Flag Regiment? And bring people with you?”

“Boss, these are my most trusted men. They are willing to go through life and death with me. After joining the Black Flag Regiment, I am at least a vice-regiment commander, so I need some Personal Guards, right?” Xianyu Bao said carelessly, “Don’t worry, I have already reported it to Regiment Commander Xiahou. He let them go very readily, so there won’t be any trouble.”

Lei Qing was currently in need of men. Those hundred and fifty soldiers didn’t even have a single Bronze-rank among them, so they were indeed not much to look at. Although Xianyu Bao was a bit rough, he was indeed a capable fighter. If they were to fight with their lives on the line, Lei Qing estimated it would take dozens of moves to defeat him, and he would have to pay the price of some injuries.

Since such a fierce general wanted to join, and there were no negative consequences, he was of course welcome. However, he had to thank Uncle Xiahou for this matter. Generally speaking, who would let their fierce general join someone else’s command?

Lei Qing guessed that firstly, it was to look after him, and secondly, it was because of the gift of ten thousand gold coins and a Spatial Ring. Especially the latter, its value was much higher than ten thousand gold; it was a strategic and tactical resource.

“Alright, since you have put it this way.” Lei Qing said solemnly, “It would be too unreasonable if I didn’t accept you. However, let me make this clear first. Since you have joined my Black Flag Regiment, you are people of the Black Flag Regiment. I won’t say much about basic military rules and loyalty, as you are a veteran general. But, if I discover that you dare to betray the Black Flag Regiment, I, Lei Qing, even if it means forfeiting my own life, will execute you first.”

Xianyu Bao shuddered, but his rough face suddenly became very serious, “Don’t worry, Boss. Since I lost the bet and admitted you are my boss, and joined the Black Flag Regiment, we are now on the same side. I, Xianyu Bao, am a rough fellow. I don’t know much else, I only know that from now on I’ll follow you, Boss, to earn a living. If you tell me to go east, I’ll go east; if you tell me to go west, I’ll go west.”

“Since you are like this, I will accept you all.” Lei Qing was also happy in his heart. After all, not to mention these seven elites were all Black Iron-rank, Xianyu Bao was a fierce general. In normal circumstances, he would be undeniably qualified to be a regiment commander. “Clerk, register them. From today, they are part of our Black Flag Regiment.”

“Did you hear that, brothers? Go register one by one.” Xianyu Bao shouted at the top of his lungs, “From today, everyone is part of the Black Flag Regiment. Whoever dares to disobey the Black Flag Regiment’s military orders or have a disloyal heart, I will take your lives before the Boss even acts. After registration is done, I’ll treat everyone tonight at Wanxiang Tower. Each of you is allowed to order two.”

“Ao ao~” That group of Black Iron elites howled as if they had been injected with stimulants.

“Boss, will you grace us with your presence tonight? To bond with the brothers?” Once his identity was confirmed, Xianyu Bao started to regard himself as Lei Qing’s underling, asking with a fawning look on his face.

What Xianyu Bao feared most was that his new boss was a hypocrite. After all, the new boss seemed very good at flirting with girls, so he was afraid he would look down on going to brothels.

“That’s naturally no problem.” Lei Qing naturally knew that such things were common in the military. Especially in an organization like the Iron Cavalry Regiment, which was semi-official and semi-mercenary.

For men, to get familiar and quickly build bonds, one is drinking, and the other is going to brothels together. If both are done at the same time, that bond surges rapidly.

“However…”

Just as Xianyu Bao was about to cheer, he heard Lei Qing drag out the word “however.” He immediately became nervous.

“However, to celebrate the brothers joining, tonight I will definitely be the one treating.” Lei Qing shouted heroically, “Whoever doesn’t get drunk is a coward. Also, there is no limit on the girls; it depends on your skills to see how many you can handle, that’s how many you get.” Lei Qing had extorted a huge sum from the Li Clan, so he was now a wealthy man. The money spent at a brothel was simply child’s play to him.

“Ao ao ao~” Seeing the new boss was so generous, Xianyu Bao and several Black Iron elites who were still lining up to register cheered right there on the street.

…

That night was truly a carnival. Lei Qing booked the entire Wanxiang Tower. Every Black Iron-rank member was counted in, along with the twenty-three borrowed men. It was considered an early celebration of the preliminary establishment of the Black Flag Regiment. The cost for the whole night exceeded three hundred gold coins, making the old madam smile so wide her mouth wouldn’t close. Seeing Lei Qing’s young, handsome, and dashing appearance, she even wanted to throw herself at him. This almost ruined Lei Qing’s appetite.

One had to admit that Lei Qing’s tastes had been spoiled by Leng Yuewu. Before in the Imperial Capital, he used to play quite enthusiastically with that group of unscrupulous brothers. But firstly, his tastes weren’t so picky back then, and secondly, the entertainment venues in the Tianlan Imperial Capital were much higher class than here, with beautiful girls galore.

However, the gold was well spent.

The group quickly merged together, establishing a preliminary brotherhood.

Having such a generous boss made Xianyu Bao feel he had saved face. Although he had acknowledged Lei Qing as his boss earlier because he couldn’t back down, now, he also initially recognized him in his heart.

…

Several days later, on Xianyu Bao’s suggestion, they bid farewell to Xiahou Huan. They gathered their men and horses and started heading towards Yehe Town. Although Xianyu Bao’s ancestral home was a tribe on the Huer Prairie, he had grown up in the northwest of the Free Alliance.

He could be considered a local snake-like figure, so he naturally knew why Lei Qing couldn’t recruit soldiers.

Lei Qing’s recruitment was in Tieling City. Those who had the money to live in Tieling City mostly wouldn’t join an unclear military organization just for money. Even if they joined an organization, they would tend towards the Iron Cavalry Regiment.

However, in those scattered villages and small towns, the high settlement allowance and military pay offered by Lei Qing played a role. The villages were mostly poor people; their first consideration was food and warmth. A large sum of settlement allowance was something they might not be able to save up in ten or twenty years.

Nor did they have to worry that people in villages and small towns lacked bloodiness or ferocity. In fact, the area of a thousand miles around Tieling City bordered the prairie. There were many Horse Bandits on the prairie, who often streamed into the northwest territory to loot. Those big cities had high walls and heavy guards. Those small groups of Horse Bandits naturally wouldn’t dare to attack them. Who was unlucky then, if not those small towns and villages?

Therefore, the people in the northwest were quite fierce in nature. Otherwise, it would be hard even to survive.

Why was the Iron Cavalry Regiment known for its fierceness in the Alliance? It was because the source of soldiers was mostly from the vast villages of the northwest.

Thus, Lei Qing accepted Xianyu Bao’s suggestion to set out immediately and go to Yehe Town for a garrison change. At the same time, a route was drawn up to pass through as many villages as possible to recruit men in the villages.

In the northwest, there were no really small villages. Small villages struggled to survive and were easily bullied. Therefore, villages and settlements here often numbered in the hundreds, even over a thousand people in large villages.

Sure enough, recruiting in the villages was much more effective. Especially under Lei Qing’s command, everyone was cavalry, with extra horses in tow. For the advertising effect, everyone wore polished, shining full-body iron armor. There were also nearly two hundred warhorses, all armored, majestic and full of killing aura. One look and you knew it was an elite and powerful cavalry.

Such a cavalry could easily wipe out a village if they wanted to.

Under the deterrence and gold offensive, in the first village, after Lei Qing promoted his ideas, gave a passionate speech, and offered the recruitment price. More than thirty people enthusiastically responded to the call and applied to join the Black Flag Regiment. This was more than the respondents in Tieling City, which had seventy or eighty thousand people.

Lei Qing implemented his selection philosophy. He selected nine of them, gave them full settlement allowances, stayed for one night, and led them on the road. The next day, they arrived at another village.

This was a large village of over a thousand people. After repeating the same method, they recruited twenty-three people this time.

Continuing forward, after eight or nine days of slow marching and recruiting. The team had grown much larger, increasing by over a hundred and thirty people. All were sturdy young men selected by Lei Qing, including five who were Black Iron-rank.

Although they hadn’t been trained, one could see the unique fierce aura of men from the northwest on them. With a little training, they would become proud and fierce soldiers.

For the Black Iron-rank elites, Lei Qing equipped them with full-body iron armor and selected excellent weapons. The ordinary soldiers were all given leather armor, long spears, and curved swords. Those skilled in archery were also issued bows and arrows. Of course, a horse for each man was also indispensable. Although the ordinary soldiers were allocated some less-than-excellent mixed-breed horses. Joining the Iron Cavalry Regiment, such treatment would be impossible.

But this was enough to make them excited. They were full of hot blood and confidence about the future.

On this day, they had arrived at a village near Yehe Town, where Lei Qing was to be stationed in the future. Yehe Town was a border town, with over a dozen villages surrounding it like stars around the moon. Counting villagers and townsfolk, young and old, there were approximately twenty to thirty thousand people.

Ahead was Wula Village, not far from the prairie, because it needed to resist prairie looters. It was a large village with over a thousand people. There were at least two to three hundred able-bodied men.

The purpose of Lei Qing’s trip was to pass by Wula Village and recruit soldiers one last time. Immediately after, they would go to Yehe Town for the garrison change and take over the territory that would belong to him in the future.

But when they were still seven or eight miles away from Wula Village, the scout exploring the way galloped back. With a feathered arrow stuck in his back, he was rescued while on the verge of death. That Black Iron-rank scout said with difficulty, “B, Boss. There, there are Horse Bandits, prairie Horse Bandits attacking Wula Village.”

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