Chapter 1 The Dispatch Rider

"Sergeant, look, a dispatch rider!" A soldier with good eyesight noticed a small team appearing in the distance and quickly reminded his superior. His voice only attracted slight attention from those nearby. Recently, dispatch riders shuttling back and forth had become more frequent than before, and it didn't seem to concern them. Everyone was somewhat numb.

A certain battalion of the Tie Yun (Iron Cloud) Cavalry was conducting another marching exercise, one of many in recent months. Three thousand soldiers advanced in five columns, neither hurried nor slow. Since the exercise was taking place within Yun Province and in the south, in a region crisscrossed by farmland, the scouts' movements were severely restricted. It was normal that they hadn't detected the four-man dispatch rider team in advance. The battalion deputy quickly led some men to meet them, shouting, "This is the Fourth Battalion of the Tie Yun Cavalry. Are you looking for us or just passing through?"

"Are you Battalion Deputy Zhang?" The two sides met on the side of the road and spoke from horseback. "Please identify yourself."

Zhang Zhiwen quickly took out a leopard-head badge, a symbol of his identity, stamped from pure copper, from his pocket and flashed it. "That's me."

"Battalion Deputy Zhang, this is the Twenty-Seventh Squad of the Third Section of the Yun Province Pacification Commissioner's Headquarters. These are military orders. We encountered no enemies along the way, and all three copies of the military order are complete. Please sign for them." The other three dispatch riders took out vellum envelopes sealed with sealing wax from the satchels slung across their bodies and handed them to the speaking dispatch rider, who then passed them to Zhang Zhiwen. He also handed Zhang Zhiwen a writing board with a stack of forms clipped to it. Zhang Zhiwen took it and saw that it listed the leaders of various Yun Province armies, veteran farms, and ranches, but all were adjutants... And the commanding officers of all these units had been summoned to this military conference. Zhang Zhiwen's Fourth Battalion of the Tie Yun Cavalry was no exception.

Zhang Zhiwen removed the small copper seal hidden behind the leopard-head badge and solemnly stamped it after his name on the form. "Thank you, gentlemen. I will send a reply to the headquarters from the next eagle station."

"Battalion Deputy Zhang, we must continue delivering orders, so we'll take our leave." The dispatch riders saluted the battalion deputy and then rode off.

In Yun Province, everyone understood that military situations changed rapidly. Although Yun Province had a relatively complete and fast messenger system, it still couldn't keep up with battlefield changes. The delivery and execution of military orders were separate. For direct military orders to units in daily training, the commanding officer didn't unseal and reply in person. Instead, they had to send their reply within two hours, indicating whether they would execute the order, execute it but await further instructions or explanations, or whether they were temporarily unable to comply due to various difficulties. Since the next eagle station was only a little over ten *li* away, Zhang Zhiwen's choice was undoubtedly the fastest way to reply. Only after entering combat did the receiving commanding officer need to unseal and reply in person.

Since all three copies of the military order were complete, and the battalion commander was in a meeting, the entire battalion was under the command of him and a few squad leaders. He casually handed the other two documents to the people next to him, and they all opened them together.

"Zhang-ge (Brother Zhang), what's going on?" After glancing at the extremely simple orders, everyone was confused. The order documents instructed them to reach a certain location within a specified time to receive supplies and meet up with the battalion commander, awaiting further orders. Considering the densely packed dispatch registration form listing all those people, something was clearly happening.

The battalion commander, Zhang Zhiwu, Zhang Zhiwen's older brother, hadn't told him the details of the major operation Yun Province was planning, due to confidentiality clauses, but he had let some information slip, so that he could be prepared in such situations. Thinking about it, Zhang Zhiwen suddenly understood. The things his brother had said before were about this. Is it finally starting?

"Heh heh, we're going to attack." Zhang Zhiwen loudly gave the order: "All troops halt and rest in place for a quarter of an hour. A Mang, go to the eagle station and send a message: The Fourth Battalion of the Tie Yun Cavalry will comply with the order and execute it immediately. ... Immediately call a meeting of company commanders and above, quick!"

A quarter of an hour passed quickly. After Zhang Zhiwen's explanation, based on his understanding, everyone learned that Yun Province was likely to launch a major external offensive, and looking at the direction of their march, it pointed to Zijin Pass, meaning they were likely to attack Xiling. Although the military order gave them very little time, the Tie Yun Cavalry, as an elite cavalry with deep local traditions, was fully confident of arriving ahead of schedule.

After meeting up with the battalion commander at the designated location, everyone gradually learned that Yun Province had mobilized thirty of its fifty battalions at once. Along with the tribes of Benlang Plain, and the inevitably overstaffed twenty-five thousand men, as well as the heavy equipment battalion supported by the Tan family's private army, the total number of regular combat troops mobilized exceeded one hundred and twenty thousand. The two logistics battalions of Suo Zheng's department, which had already been formed, a reserve logistics battalion that was halfway through the reorganization process and was quite good, two auxiliary battalions sent by the Yun Province Veteran Ranch and Farm system, and the transportation teams temporarily vacated by the Agricultural and Commercial Bureau, as well as over thirty thousand civilian laborers, would provide supplies to the entire army with a super luxurious lineup.

When the Fourth Battalion of the Tie Yun Cavalry arrived at the assembly position, they had already learned that Xu Yao, the deputy commander of the Jing Yun (Mirror Cloud) Cavalry, had personally led two battalions through Zijin Pass. With the assistance of the garrison battalion originally stationed at Zijin Pass, they had captured two camps on the Xiling side, set up to defend against Zijin Pass, completely controlling the entire Zijin Valley passage. Further north, along the Changshi Pass line, Dai Shijin, the Yun Province Infantry Commander, was personally leading the main infantry force to slowly advance, and at least one battalion had already entered Xiling...

The military orders that the Fourth Battalion received next were even more detailed and rigorous. Not only were there detailed supply plans along the way, but the timing was also very strict, with arrival time requirements usually specified as no earlier than and no later than a certain time. Naturally, everyone had done this kind of training before, and knew that this was to ensure smooth troop movement in the early stages, to avoid their own people blocking each other on the road. Now, the various Yun Province armies were large and powerful, especially the infantry, which was luxuriously equipped, but the requirements for logistics and roads had also increased. Although everyone was not a mechanized unit, and didn't completely rely on roads, even a small impact on efficiency during this advance could determine the victory or defeat in the mid and late stages.

If you had to describe Yun Province right now, the most appropriate analogy would be that it was an arrogant, powerful sports car being tested on how long it took to go from zero to one hundred kilometers per hour. The entire Yun Province was operating at full speed, and it was truly something to behold. Whenever the soldiers arrived at a certain town or even just a village or manor according to the schedule, there was basically ready-made food, water, lodging, and even specialized veterinarians to make a final diagnosis of horses that might have problems. Although all the attacking troops were rushing from various locations, some were originally traveling light according to orders, and some were even withdrawn from the defense line bordering Bei Liao, they were all fully equipped and well-supplied when they entered Xiling through Zijin Pass and Changshi Pass in battalion units.

This level of rigor and efficiency left Jiang Fangzhou, the newly appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of War from Dongping, at a loss for words. In fact, even the Yun Province military themselves hadn't expected it to go so smoothly. Military progress was secondary. The fact that over thirty battalions had deployed in such a short time was a big surprise to the Zhenbei Military Department, even resulting in several completely victorious battles where no one escaped in the past few days. Since the territory of the Zhenbei Military Department was also sparsely populated, Jiang Xujing preferred to fight decisive battles and surprise attacks, and was accustomed to stationing a small number of troops everywhere and then concentrating the main force to wait for an opportunity. The real decisive battle had not yet begun, and the amount of territory occupied now was not of great significance.

What everyone praised was the current logistics system. The materials piled up in various warehouses had formed two Yun Province supply lines extending to Zijin Pass and Changshi Pass in just ten days. All kinds of items were delivered continuously, and then sent out in a very short time, generally no more than twelve hours. Even Ye Tao found this efficiency a bit unbelievable, not to mention everyone else in this time and space. Within Xiling, three logistics battalions, protected by two auxiliary battalions, methodically transported various supplies, providing feedback on the inventory status of each battalion, establishing forward supply points, and repairing cargo yards, docks, and bridges… And everyone's praise made these soldiers, who had always thought that logistics was not valued and didn't earn much military merit, work even harder.

If there was anything that everyone couldn't understand, it would be the two auxiliary battalions sent by the Veteran Ranch and Farm system. Although they were auxiliary battalions, responsible for protecting the supply lines, these two auxiliary battalions were composed of veterans who had served for more than three years, had been discharged for less than two years, and were no more than thirty-five years old. In terms of combat effectiveness and experience, they were extremely strong. They just hadn't kept up with the adjustments and reorganizations of the Yun Province military in recent years.

Training content not up to par? It didn't matter. In the Veteran Ranches and Farms, these veterans, who fully met the requirements, had been fully or semi-detached from production to train in various subjects, and most of the content followed the content of the Yun Province main force, especially the Tie Yun Cavalry and Jing Yun Cavalry. Equipment? The Veteran Ranches and Farms had never lacked money, and the various farms and ranches sent these people, fearing to lose face, so whether it was the soldiers themselves or the farms and ranches, they tried their best to equip them. One farm even sent a complete company of one hundred and seven men who were all using thick-backed mountain knives made of wuz steel. After checking the product batch number, Ye Tao roughly knew that they were specially made by the Ye Clan Workshop in Yicheng for the Chunnan Imperial Guard, at the request of the Chunnan court. He didn't know that there were people with such powerful connections in the farm system who could get their hands on such good things. Apart from this special stuff, the two auxiliary battalions were probably the most concentrated display of high-end military equipment and armor. In Yun Province, various designs and styles of armor were updated very quickly. According to Ye Tao, they were products that met market needs, conformed to the latest research results in protection and ergonomics, and reflected the latest research results in metal smelting, manufacturing technology, etc., were produced every month in Yun Province. The headquarters and the Dongping Ministry of War had filed records, but had never considered replacing the armor in the army. The cost-effectiveness of the army's armor was certainly a factor, but the uniformity of standards was also an important reason. They couldn't just replace it with better armor, otherwise, the army would not be able to equip themselves properly.

In terms of military appearance and discipline, the auxiliary army was definitely not inferior to the regular army. Because of their eagerness to fight and their hope to leave a good impression on the main combat troops, so that they would have the opportunity to go to the battlefield, their pursuit of excellence in all aspects put a lot of pressure on the main combat troops… And Jiang Fangzhou didn't know how to evaluate this situation.

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I don't know how many people are in the mood to read, but I will still update every day, and wish everyone peace.