470 Authority (1/2)

The Dragon army wasn't Dugu Xian's ideal army. He didn't understand why he, a regular general, had to explain strategy.

But the Dragon King had asked him to find a way to persuade the whole army, so Dugu Xian was going to try to do that.

Ten commanders and ten vice commanders gathered in the Dragon King's main tent with a dozen important generals. They thought that the Left General was about to train his troops for the upcoming war.

After several months of contact, Dugu Xian had gradually gained the recognition of all the soldiers. The Five Kingdoms soldiers who had been under his command were very surprised that he was still powerful. He had not shown it when he besieged the capital of Stone Kingdom.

Dugu Xian had become very famous, and it had all started with a bet.

When he was first appointed Left General, he hadn't had any authority. Besides, he had needed to take precautions against the swordsmen of Great Snowmountain who were anxious to avenge themselves at any time. If he enraged a swordsman, they might have given him a fatal blow.

Dugu Xian hadn't excelled in Kung Fu. After losing his left arm, he couldn't even defeat the most common soldier.

The Dragon King had assigned him dozens of guards, but Dugu Xian still felt he had to rely on himself. If he walked among the barracks, he would have to worry about his safety. How could he train and command soldiers?

The swordsmen of Great Snowmountain were the core of the army. Only by changing their attitude could he win the support of the whole army.

Dugu Xian issued an agreement to the chief of the Greatsword Peak, claiming that it would only take ten days to train 100 fresh recruits into qualified soldiers who could defeat the same number of swordsmen.

Dugu Xian carefully considered his objectives before choosing Long Xiaoshi, the chief of Danduo Peak. He undoubtedly had the highest status among the swordsmen of Great Snowmountain. The former chief of Greatsword Peak had been killed. The new chief was an inexperienced agent, who had a bad temper like the former chief. If Dugu Xian defeated him, he wouldn't offend too many people.

The swordsmen had immediately accepted the challenge and conceitedly cut their numbers in half. They claimed that they could beat 100 fresh recruits led by the Left General with only 50 soldiers.

The gamble attracted the interest of the whole army. More than half of them bet on it. Most of them bet on the swordsmen. Those who bet on the Left General didn't actually believe in him but believed in the Dragon King backing him.

Ten days passed quickly. The harassment of the killers from the Golden Roc Fort continued, but the fight was what occupied everyone's mind. Therefore, several months later, their memory of the killers was vague, but they were still impressed by the 100 fresh recruits.

To avoid causing unnecessary casualties, all the weapons were made of wood. Before the fight, the weapons were covered with lime. Once hit in the head or chest, one had to withdraw from the battlefield.

They hadn't recruited common people from the Five Kingdoms on a large scale, so the so-called ”fresh recruits” were actually 100 slaves from the Land of Fragrance. They had only received basic training on weapons and had never fought in the battlefield. In the eyes of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, they were too fresh to win.

In order to ensure fairness, the two parties agreed in advance that fresh recruits could not use crossbows or javelins, and the swordsmen could not attack from the flanks. This was a battle of charges.

Fifty swordsmen stood in a loose shape; the chief of Greatsword Peak stood in the middle; and others lined up on both sides. Their only complaint was that the wooden swords were too light to hold comfortably.

On the opposite side, 100 slave soldiers stood in three rows side by side, with various weapons in their hands.

The first row of soldiers held large shields that were half a man tall. Their shields were closely linked to one another to form a wooden wall with no other weapons.

The second row of soldiers only held short-sabers that were inserted in their belts. They never pulled them out.

The third row of soldiers held pikes that were almost the height of two people.

It was said that Dugu Xian had used very strict means to train the 100 people. In addition, he had actually beheaded two soldiers who disobeyed orders. But few people believed this rumor.

The fight began.

Fifty swordsmen, led by the chief of Greatsword Peak, shouted out and charged forward to defeat the enemy (and therefore win the bet).

One hundred slave soldiers stood still, waiting for orders.

Dugu Xian didn't join in the battle himself. Instead, he stayed behind the troops with a drummer at his side.

With the first sound of the drum, they stepped forward at a gentle pace.

The second drum sounded, and the soldiers began to trot, only slightly faster than before.

The two troops met.

Fifty swordsmen hit the enemy's shields. If they had been holding real, heavy swords, it would have been enough to split several soldiers and their shields.

The slave soldiers team was under great pressure, but not scattered. The second row of soldiers pressed hard against the back of the front row, relying on the strength of two men to withstand the swordsmen's attack.

The swordsmen were winning. However, the wooden swords in their hands were so blunt that they didn't win right away.

The third drum rang, and the third row of soldiers with pikes shot out. Because they were much taller, so they stabbed enemies through the shoulders of the two front rows, hitting the swordsmen and leaving lime marks. Immediately they had to stop.

When using a spear, timing was extremely important. If you wielded the spear too early, you couldn't hurt the enemies. But if you did it too late, more than half the soldiers among the first two rows would be ”killed” or ”hurt”. They had to go when the two parties gathered together and couldn't turn around.