Chapter 59: Battle
Wu Wenxiu immediately understood and walked forward, unfolding the imperial edict.
When Zhen Ruicai saw it, he frowned in disapproval and asked the female official to announce the decree. Who could hear her with such a small voice?
He quickly said, "Empress Dowager, please let me give the orders. My female official's voice is soft, and if the soldiers can't hear clearly, they might think it's just a mosquito's cry. Wouldn't that bring disgrace to the court?"
Wu Wenxiu's face was slightly annoyed. How dare Zhen Ruicai tell her what to do? Did he really think she was a vegetarian?
She must have been prepared to read the imperial edict in front of tens of thousands of soldiers.
Before coming, she went to the Military Equipment Bureau to ask for something from the Sixth Supervisor.
It is an iron tube that is large on the outside and small on the inside, and looks like a suona.
If you speak into the small opening of the iron tube, a loud noise will come out from the large opening. She tried it and was shocked.
Zhen Ruicai's behavior of casually questioning the Empress Dowager's close ministers is essentially relying on his control of the military power and not taking the Empress Dowager seriously. She needs to make this person realize his mistake.
Thinking of this, Wu Wenxiu suppressed the anger in his eyes and said with a smile, "My voice is quite loud. Would you like to try it, Lord Envoy?"
Zhen Ruicai disagreed, "Why do you have to be so arrogant, Wu Shishu? Even if you shout at the top of your lungs, the soldiers below the stage won't be able to hear you clearly."
As soon as Wu Wenxiu raised her hand, a maid brought up an iron cylinder. She took it in her hand, pointed the big mouth at Zhen Ruicai, and shouted loudly: "By the will of Heaven, the Empress Dowager decrees——"
The sound amplified by the loudspeaker suddenly exploded in Zhen Ruicai's ears. He was startled and screamed in fear, "Ah——!"
Then his knees went weak and he fell to the ground, covering his ears with his hands, his face as pale as paper.
The maids nearby were prepared and had covered their ears in advance. Seeing his panic-stricken look, they hurriedly came over with a smile to help him.
The officials standing behind were also shocked. What was this thing and why was it making such a loud noise?
Then they saw Zhen Ruicai's ugly appearance and couldn't help laughing out loud.
Zhen Ruicai's face flushed red, and he pushed away the maid who came to help him, and stood up with forced calmness. Unexpectedly, he pulled the leg injury from yesterday, staggered, and almost fell again.
He held on to the railing tightly and managed to keep his balance.
I was so angry that I stared at Wu Wenxiu. You made me lose face so much. I will make you pay sooner or later!
Wu Wenxiu had no time to pay attention to his ugly appearance. He concentrated on reading the imperial edict to the soldiers. His calm and steady voice was amplified through the iron tube and spread far away.
The imperial edict affirmed that the soldiers of each army were the elite troops of Dayong, praised the soldiers' merits of leaving their homes to defend the country, and asked everyone to demonstrate the military power of Dayong Dynasty today, boost morale and deter the enemy.
On the training ground, the soldiers knelt down one after another and listened attentively, their hearts filled with astonishment. How could the sound be transmitted so far? Could it be the sound of immortals?
When Wu Wenxiu finished reading, the whole audience fell silent, and the eyes looking towards the platform were filled with awe.
Chi Li took the loudspeaker from Wu Wenxiu's hand, looked at the soldiers below, and put her lips close to the loudspeaker, "Military parade, begin!"
In front of Mingfengtai, a tall stone tablet covered with red silk stood tall, with salutes placed on both sides. Following Chi Lan's order, the salutes were fired at the same time, and the sound was deafening.
Teams of soldiers marched in neat rows, constantly changing their formations according to the instructions of the command flags, showing their heroic spirit to Empress Dowager Chi and a group of officials on the viewing platform, as well as the people on the distant hillside.
The officials in charge of the review gave high scores of seven or eight.
Zhen Rui, who had just been humiliated in front of the officials, immediately regained his confidence, straightened his chest, and looked proud.
Naturally, an observant official stepped forward to praise him, saying, "Lord Zhen truly manages his troops with rigor. Under your leadership, the soldiers will surely be invincible on the battlefield!"
Zhen Ruicai smiled and nodded, feeling very pleased. As the commander-in-chief of the military parade, he could finally hold his head high.
However, he didn't expect that when he turned around, he saw Chi Li scored a very low three-pointer, and his raised eyebrows couldn't help but twitch.
Even though Empress Dowager Chi is so biased, it cannot conceal his excellence, because other people's eyes are sharp!
He remembered that it was Empress Dowager Chi who appointed Zhao Yuzhang as the commander of the Golden Crow Guard, catching him off guard.
Fortunately, he was not afraid. With Zhao Yuzhang's military command skills, it was impossible for him to make a comeback and steal the show at the military parade.
Queen Mother Chi didn't really expect her to train a strong army, did she? Those female soldiers participating in the military parade were just a joke.
When the time comes, the Jinwu Guard will be disbanded, and Zhao Yuzhang will naturally be held responsible for dereliction of duty.
When he thought about seeing Zhao Yuzhang crying in despair, he felt happy, and even his leg, which was deliberately injured by Zhao Mingyue, didn't hurt as much.
There are a total of six guards, and Zhen Ruicai arranged the Golden Crow Guard to appear last, and the Left Eagle Guard to be the finale. In this way, the comparison between the two teams will be more vivid and tragic.
At this moment, the Left Eagle Guards arrived in front of Mingfeng Terrace. Each of them was a tall, strong man, full of imposing presence, and the surrounding onlookers immediately cheered. The Golden Crow Guards following behind them, however, were three inches shorter and appeared much weaker.
However, although the Left Eagle Guard walking in front was majestic and his footsteps were deafening, a closer look revealed that the formation was not very orderly.
Zhao Mingyue, who was standing at the front of the team, couldn't help but get nervous when he heard the cheers around him.
Zhao Yuzhang, who was sitting on his horse, gave her an encouraging glance. She took a deep breath and waved the flag, "Forward!"
When the soldiers saw the flag order, they immediately raised their feet in unison and walked forward without looking around. The sound of their footsteps on the ground was so loud and powerful that it immediately drowned out the voices of the rest of the guards.
Everyone's eyes immediately turned to the guards at the end, and they saw an incredibly orderly army, as if it had been drawn with an ink line. Everyone's movements were in perfect unison, as if they were one, and their momentum was like a rainbow.
The slanting sunlight shone on their battle robes embroidered with red golden crows, making them sparkle.
Compared with them, the left eagle guard in front seemed a little sloppy, and the originally tolerable irregularity became particularly eye-catching.
Just like that, the Golden Crow Guards advanced step by step, arriving directly in front of the viewing platform. Zhao Mingyue waved the flag, and the soldiers began to move in an orderly manner, changing formations.
From the initial square formation to the complex goose formation and fish scale formation, five or six formations were changed in less than a quarter of an hour.
The soldiers advanced or retreated, and every movement was transmitted in the queue like water waves. There was no chaos at all, and the entire formation drill was completed like flowing water.
At some point, the cheers around disappeared, and the people stared at the army in amazement. It was hard to imagine that half a year ago, some of these soldiers were ladies embroidering in their boudoirs, and some were widows sweeping the house and serving their parents-in-law.
To get to where I am today, I don’t know how much hardship and sweat I have put in.
"Great! A heroine, this is the good girl of our Darong Dynasty." A man clapped his hands.
Some women also became excited, "How awesome! So impressive! I want to join the army too!"
But this voice was quickly suppressed, "What's the point of being a soldier? You won't be able to get married then!"
"That's right! What kind of good family would want a woman like this in their home? It's terrifying!"
On the viewing stand, the judges all gave high scores of nine points. Even if they wanted to give Zuo Yingwei a high score, the comparison was too tragic, and Zuo Yingwei was obviously worse.
Zhen Ruicai's face was visibly ugly to the naked eye.
Wu Wenxiu held a loudspeaker and announced the scores to the audience: "For this performance, the Golden Crow Guard scored nine points! First place!"
Even after hearing this good news, the Jinwu Guards still maintained strict discipline, standing straight and not making any sound.
Instead, the Left Eagle Guard erupted in shouts, his face filled with resentment and unwillingness. How could he accept losing to a group of female soldiers?!
Qian Qian shouted for them to be quiet several times, but it didn't make them quiet down.
On the viewing platform, Chi Li looked at Zhen Ruicai, whose face was ashen, and sneered, "Envoy Zhen Rui, are these the good soldiers you brought out? The troops are in disarray, and the military discipline is lax. Tell me, how can such an army fight a war?"
Zhen Ruicai broke out in a cold sweat and immediately shifted the blame, saying, "This, this is all because of Qian Qian, the commander of the Left Eagle Guard, who is not strict in his management of the army!"
"But I handed over the command of the parade to you. If anything goes wrong, I will only ask you." Chi Li's face darkened. "You are dereliction of duty!"
Zhen Rui was stunned for a moment, then realized the seriousness of the crime and knelt hurriedly, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty has always fulfilled my duties and has no intention of neglecting them! Besides--"
He racked his brains, and a light bulb suddenly lit up in his head. He immediately came up with an excuse and said with forced composure, "Your Majesty, the parade is only halfway through. Their military discipline may be a little lacking, but their combat capability is definitely flawless!"
That's right! So what if those female soldiers marched in formation? It was just something they could achieve with practice. But in terms of martial arts, no matter how much they practiced, they couldn't match the strength of the male soldiers.
Chi Li turned back around and looked towards the training ground again. "Let's continue. What's the next match?"
"The next match will be between the generals of each army competing individually."
Zhen Rui raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and stood up carefully, hoping that Qian Qian would fight for his dignity and not let Zhao Yuzhang win again.
Otherwise, Empress Dowager Chi would seize this opportunity to remove him from his post.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Two quarters of an hour later, Qian Qian was overthrown by Zhao Yuzhang.
"Golden Crow Guard, score another ten points, for a total of twenty-nine points."
Zhen Ruicai's face turned pale and he gritted his teeth, "No! Isn't there still... an attack and defense match? We can definitely win!"
The attack and defense game simulates a siege in a war, except that in a real war, one side attacks and the other side defends, while the attack and defense game requires both attack and defense, which especially tests the command ability of the generals and the execution and coordination ability of the soldiers.
There were six armies, each sending two teams, plus the commander, for a total of twenty-five people.
Among them, there are two teams, one is responsible for guarding the city and protecting the military flag, and the other is responsible for capturing the city and seizing the other army's flag. If the military flag is destroyed, the city will fall.
On the parade ground, the flags of the six guards had been planted high behind the temporary battlements built by each army, fluttering in the wind and making rustling sounds.
Zhen Ruicai looked towards the parade ground. The soldiers were busy carrying bricks, stones and soil to reinforce the low battlements and protect the flags firmly. On the other hand, the Jinwu Guards couldn't even move a large stone. Wouldn't they be defeated at the first attack?
Hope surged in his heart again. This time, he could definitely win!
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