Chapter 124: The First Move to Recruit Bronze-rank Subordinates

Cheng Xiao, who was calm and cautious, quickly tallied up his side’s casualties. Bloodied and with a grim expression, he stepped forward, clasped his fists, and said to Lei Qing, “Young General, seven of our men are dead, thirty are severely wounded, and more than sixty are lightly or moderately injured. Most of them are new recruits. We are doing our best to treat the severely wounded, hoping they can survive.”

Lei Qing’s face darkened slightly upon hearing this. He had been extremely reluctant to throw new recruits into battle. However, without this batch of new recruits participating in the ambush and interception, it would have been impossible to nearly annihilate the enemy with just those Iron Cavalry.

These were Horse Bandits. If they were not annihilated, staying stationed at Yehe Town would be a source of endless trouble for him later on. Just playing guerrilla warfare and harassing them would keep him running around like a dog.

Fortunately, some price had been paid to completely eliminate this wave of Horse Bandits. The only regret was that Helian Bo, the main culprit, had escaped.

But even if Helian Bo escaped, it would not be possible for him to organize a proper counterattack in the short term. As long as Lei Qing could establish a firm foothold in Yehe Town and train his troops thoroughly, Helian Bo would be insignificant.

Lei Qing said with a somewhat heavy expression, “Brother Cheng Xiao, thank you for your hard work this time.”

“No trouble, it is the Young General who has worked hard. You single-handedly took on the role of bait in the trap to lure the enemy. You also fought Helian Bo and defeated him, causing him to flee with severe injuries. Otherwise, our casualties this time would have been several times this amount.” Cheng Xiao also relaxed his furrowed brows, and a look of admiration appeared in his expression. “This battle, we have won brilliantly. The Young General is majestic, brave, resourceful, and wise. Cheng Xiao admires you to the utmost.” In the army, bravery and martial prowess were most respected. But equally, those who could devise strategies to defeat the enemy, such as strategists, were also admired. In the previous battle, Cheng Xiao had already regarded Lei Qing as a wise general and felt sincere respect for him.

As for the losses, they were already quite minimal now. How could war exist without deaths? On some bloody battlefields, let alone new recruits, even Silver-rank and Gold-rank strong generals could fall. Even so, there have been many Holy Rank powerhouses who died on the battlefield throughout history.

“No, it is the brothers’ bravery in killing the enemy that brought about such results.” Lei Qing did not take credit for himself; instead, he became modest.

This naturally increased Cheng Xiao’s gratitude. His personality was calm, and he feared those generals the most who, once they achieved some results, started to let go of their heads, thinking they were the best in the world. Those generals were simply the nightmare of their subordinates and would sooner or later send their loyal brothers to hell.

“Xianyu Bao, have the brothers’ bodies transported to Yehe Town. I will personally preside over the cremation ceremony, and then their ashes will be returned to their hometowns for burial. All pensions must not be delayed. For those with elderly parents or children at home, give them more pension money, and help out more with families in difficulty.” Lei Qing’s voice was solemn and serious, yet revealing a faint sadness. “The brothers trusted me and were willing to follow me to fight for the world and achieve merit together. We cannot let the brothers down.”

Xianyu Bao was also influenced by Lei Qing. He clasped his fists heavily and said, “Please rest assured, Young General. Leave this matter to me, and there will be no flaws whatsoever.”

Lei Qing’s words were heard by many people nearby and spread quietly, earning him some loyalty. It was every soldier’s wish to serve a leader who was not only brave and skilled in battle but also loved his soldiers like his own children.

After tidying up the battlefield, the army rested for a while before heading to Wula Village. Before they even left the entrance of the Canyon, they saw a group of over a hundred strong young men, armed with weapons, with only a few having horses. They had nearly rushed to the canyon entrance on foot.

Upon seeing that the war had ended, with Lei Qing’s army full of prisoners and heads cut off, the villagers of Wula Village froze for a moment before cheering.

“I wonder which unit your honorable army belongs to? I am Wu Ji of Wula Village. I pay my respects to Your Excellency the General. Thank you, Your Excellency, for helping us save us.” The leader of the group, a man in his mid-twenties, seemed to have remarkable Fighting Qi cultivation. He dismounted from his horse and, full of excitement, bowed respectfully from afar to the blood-covered Lei Qing.

“We are the Black Flag Regiment, sent here on orders to replace the garrison at Yehe Town.” Xianyu Bao urged his horse forward, pointed at Lei Qing with a proud expression, and said, “This is our Regiment Commander, Young General Lei Qing. It was he who single-handedly lured away the Horse Bandits who besieged your Wula Village. Now, the Horse Bandits have been completely annihilated, so you can rest assured.”

Wu Ji was surprised and joyful. He cast a hateful glance at the dozens of captured Horse Bandits, but when he saw the heads of the bandits hanging from the horses, Wu Ji could not help but burst into tears. He knelt directly before Lei Qing and bowed. “Thank you, General Lei, for saving our Wula Village, and thank you, General Lei, for avenging those who died for our Wula Village.”

The remaining one hundred or so strong men also quickly knelt down in unison under Wu Ji’s guidance. “Thank you, General Lei, for saving us.”

Lei Qing could understand their respect and gratitude. Indeed, if he had not happened to pass by just then, Wula Village would likely have been slaughtered. However, Lei Qing wondered why the Iron Cavalry 7th Regiment, which was supposed to be stationed at Yehe Town, had not arrived yet?

Seeing this group of strong young men, Lei Qing was tempted to recruit them into his subordinate forces. Wula Village really lived up to its reputation as a large village; it actually had so many able-bodied young men.

Immediately, Lei Qing dismounted from his horse, actively helped Wu Ji up, and said with a smile, “It is my duty, and I cannot refuse. The knees of men hold gold. Brothers, all stand up.”

The group thanked him again before everyone stood up one by one.

“Someone take the captured warhorses and distribute them to the brothers. Let us go to Wula Village together to see what can be helped with?” Lei Qing saw that most of the villagers of Wula Village were quite fierce, with good spirits. Among the hundred-plus people, there was actually one Bronze-rank man and ten Black Iron-rank men. The rest also exuded a refined and fierce aura.

Obviously, because Wula Village was close to the grassland border, the villagers paid more attention to martial arts cultivation than villages slightly inland and were more united. Only in this way could they survive under the harassment of the Horse Bandits.

Today’s battle, in which Lei Qing displayed both courage and wisdom and led his brothers to a great victory, had initially established his authority in the entire Black Flag Regiment. Even some borrowed soldiers and generals admired Lei Qing greatly.

Soon, his orders were implemented, and the large number of captured warhorses were distributed to everyone. In this borderland, although everyone lacked horses, most people knew how to ride.

With horses, the speed to Wula Village increased significantly. Of course, it was necessary to send a part of the troops to walk slowly with the wounded. Xianyu Bao and Cheng Xiao were put in charge of the main situation.

Lei Qing, meanwhile, led a hundred and fifty Iron Cavalry and over a hundred villagers, arriving outside Wula Village like a whirlwind.

The big fire had been extinguished. But the entire Wula Village was still filled with smoke and chaos, extremely disorderly. But upon hearing that the Horse Bandit group had been completely wiped out and that there was ample evidence in the form of many bandit heads, Wula Village instantly boiled over with excitement.

The old village chief came to personally greet Young General Lei Qing, supported by others.

Lei Qing naturally exchanged polite words with him, sent people to help clean up the mess in the village, and accepted the invitation to set up camp and station troops outside Wula Village tonight.

At night, the Wula Village villagers, who were deeply grateful to Lei Qing, spontaneously organized a grand banquet to reward the army. In response, Lei Qing did not decline. Wula Village was still relatively prosperous, and hosting a grand banquet after surviving a disaster to foster military-civilian unity was very beneficial.

After the grand banquet, the brothers in Lei Qing’s army had become quite familiar with the villagers of Wula Village. They drank, chatted, and even wrestled. Many young girls even went to the tents that night to offer themselves.

Here, close to the grassland, the customs were relatively open, and this kind of thing was not strange.

Only Lei Qing felt a slight headache. He was handsome, a general, outstanding in martial arts, and the great benefactor of Wula Village. Not only was he frequently toasted at the banquet, but who knew how many girls sneaked into his tent in the middle of the night to offer themselves?

Lei Qing had to leave his empty tent behind and ran to the neighboring tent to squeeze in with Zuo Qianqian for the night.

Early the next morning, Lei Qing set up a recruitment platform to attract people. Under such close and intimate circumstances, there were naturally many responders, with followers like clouds.

However, Lei Qing did not open special privileges just because of their familiarity. He still implemented his relatively strict recruitment system. Lei Qing’s recruitment always adhered to the principle of “better to lack than to have substandard quality.”

Even so, Lei Qing recruited a total of seventy-three people in Wula Village. Among them were twelve Black Iron-rank men and one Entry-rank Bronze.

In the end, Lei Qing was recruiting a Bronze-rank powerhouse for the first time, which was that Wu Ji. Wu Ji was also grateful for the Black Flag Army’s help and felt that following Lei Qing was a promising future, so he joined the Black Flag Army without hesitation.

Thus, Lei Qing’s Black Flag Army reached over three hundred people, and its momentum grew even more impressive.

Just as Lei Qing was preparing to raise camp and head directly to Yehe Town, a scout on outer patrol came to report that the Iron Cavalry 7th Regiment was on its way.

Upon hearing of the Iron Cavalry 7th Regiment, Lei Qing frowned. The two sides had not yet exchanged garrisons, and the Iron Cavalry 7th Regiment should have maintained peace in this area. But why did they only arrive on the second day afternoon after such a big incident?

In a moment, a squadron of over two hundred riders came galloping like a torrent, raising high dust behind them.

This wave of cavalry stopped in front of Lei Qing’s camp. The leaders in the front rode straight to Lei Qing. The foremost figure was a man in his thirties, wearing iron armor, with a face as black as an iron tower.

Although Lei Qing had never seen him before, he knew that this person was Jiang Kongsheng, the commander of the Iron Cavalry 7th Regiment, the black-faced killing god. He was skilled in using a giant axe and was a notable figure in the Northwest region.

Jiang Kongsheng seemed somewhat ashamed. Upon seeing Lei Qing, he quickly clasped his fists and said, “You must be Young General Lei Qing, Brother Lei? I am Jiang Kongsheng, the commander of the 7th Regiment. This time, we fell for the enemy’s trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain. Wula Village was nearly destroyed. Fortunately, Young General stepped in and saved Wula Village. Jiang is truly endlessly grateful.”