Deployment in the Van

A week later.

The third test had already been completed.

It was not a walk-in examination like the strength and combat tests, but a scheduled one. Every participant undertook the exam at the same time and the results were revealed two days after.

The questions were mainly mathematical. 

For example, "Commander Zhang is issued 100,000 taels of silver by the imperial court.

He has 200,000 men under his command. Assuming these men all work at the wage of a lieutenant, how long can his army be sustained for?"

And the more advanced variant of the same question, "With 60,000 taels of silver, how long can an army of 30,000 be sustained for, assuming 60% are lieutenants, 20% are captains, 10% are colonels, 6% are generals, with the remaining consisting of one commander and his deputies?"

The more interesting questions, in Wuxian's opinion, were the open-ended ones. They would present a dilemma for the examinee who would have to answer and justify with sound reasoning.

One question was, "Is it acceptable to lose 300 men of a battalion of 400 to defeat an equal force of 400?"

Another was, "When sieging a city, the option to use fire attacks is available to you.

In doing so, you will reduce the number of casualties your men take, but will endanger the lives of many civilians.

Assuming the proportion of soldiers saved to civilians killed is in a ratio of 1:10, is it worth it to use fire? Answer in under 1000 words."

In the tricky scenarios presented in these questions, Wuxian often decided to answer from a purely pragmatic view, discarding any notions of heroism, though he was naturally inclined towards mercy rather than tyranny. For the second open-ended question, for example:

"I will not use fire attacks. In the scenario where manpower needs to be preserved to defend the city post-capture from enemy reinforcements, fire attacks are counterproductive.

They will haphazardly damage infrastructure and fortifications that will be difficult to repair quickly. Occupying a city where there is no popular support and damaged emplacements would instead cut my army off from supplies once the enemy lays siege.

Additionally, lack of popular support means that a portion of manpower will need to be invested in policing the populace.

If the city cannot be captured within a reasonable time frame and with minimal losses without the use of fire, I will first lay an ambush outside the city to intercept reinforcing foes, preventing messengers from leaving or entering the city.

Once the reinforcements are routed, only then will I consider employing fire to take the city depending on how many casualties I have received in the ambush."

And luckily for Wuxian, he had made the correct choices. The day after the results were delivered to their rooms, Wuxian received a notice of immediate promotion to the rank of lieutenant, as well as a slip that allowed entry to the garrison armoury and the acquisition of a uniform for free.

Mian Ji and Xiao Chong had also aced their respective tests, receiving honours, tax exemptions and silver. 

Upon receiving the news, that evening, the boys visited the red light district, where they gambled away all of their newly earned silver.

And did other things as well.

The fourth day, they were mostly recovering from hangovers.

The fifth day, the three signed up together, with Mian Ji and Xiao Chong joining Wuxian's squad. As they did not know anyone else, two others were randomly assigned to the group.

As the lieutenant, Wuxian had to meet his fellow officers of the same rank as well as his direct superior, the captain in charge of their company.

Here, he was taught the basics of leading a unit and clued in on the expected developments with the war. 

Not only was the lieutenant expected to lead a squadron of four others, but he was also required to oversee their individual provisions and their training.

According to the captain, Wuxian could expect their squadron to be deployed within the month.

So in anticipation, he arranged a group meet. At the third hour, five people sat at the edge of the training hall.

The first three were familiar individuals, Sihai Wuxian, Mian Ji and Xiao Chong. They were 2 metres, 1.9 metres and 1.85 metres tall respectively. 

Wuxian was wearing his lamellar armour and resting his wax-wood spear against his shoulder.

Mian Ji wore a set of leather armour acquired from the storehouse. The set came with a wide-brimmed cap that had a single long black tassel on the top. 

Xiao Chong was dressed similarly to Mian Ji, only his armour had pieces of bronze here and there. His chest piece was also a smooth bronze disc.

And then there were two newcomers. 

"Greetings, lieutenant. The name's Sun Tao. I'm thirty years old this year. I've had minor success in the Preying Mantis style. I'm proficient in using a ji halberd, but can also use a spear and a dagger axe if necessary."

The man in question was neither tall nor short, but had the air of a veteran. His skin was tanned and he wore a full set of bronze armour. Resting on his shoulder was a ji halberd of roughly 3 metres long.

Wuxian and the others cupped their fists in response.

Then the other newcomer introduced himself.

"Greetings, all. I'm Wu Wen, just turned 15 this year. I don't know any martial arts, but I've always been fast and agile since young and am proficient in archery. I'm good at hunting and foraging too.

I'm accurate with a short bow and can reliably hit a moving target at more than 50 paces away. I can also use a spear or a ji halberd, although without any finesse. Please take care of me."

Xiao Chong's eyes lit up at the mention of Wu Wen's age. He slung his arm over Wu Wen's shoulder, wearing a sly grin.

"Oho~ this new kid's pretty well mannered, hehe."

Wuxian and Mian Ji shared a look.

Over the course of the next few hours, the five showcased their skills in a series of spars. The skill level of the three brothers didn't need to be discussed further- their performance in the army tests spoke volumes already.

The main variables were the two newcomers, Sun Tao and Wu Wen. The former was an experienced fighter.

But his claim of 'minor success' in the Mantis Style was also an accurate evaluation and not him being overly modest, as Wuxian had initially expected.

He only knew a few forms and they were shabby at best, but his true skill lay in his experience.

In every bout he fought, he would somehow manage to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by employing a variety of dirty tricks.

These included but were not limited to: throwing sand, verbal abuse, throwing his weapon, and running away when he was disadvantaged.

On the other hand, Wu Wen was both incompetent and inexperienced. While his skills with the bow were acceptable, the bow could not be used in a spar.

He was similar to Sun Tao in that he had little to no martial prowess, but he wasn't able to play dirty to compensate for this weakness.

In all of their spars, everyone won at least one match, but Wu Wen was soundly defeated on all fronts.

After thinking things through briefly, Wuxian was certain of a training regime. Himself, Mian Ji and Xiao Chong were all proficient in combat and coordination.

For them, the main focus was to generally just improve and perhaps learn some of Sun Tao's dirty tactics. Sun Tao would need to brush up on his martial skills and cooperation with the rest of the group, but other than that, he was fine.

Wu Wen, on the other hand, would need to improve in every aspect, and drastically.

"Alright, good work everyone. Meet here again tomorrow at the same time for training. I'll write up a full training schedule later."

The rest of the group nodded with their respective salutes before walking off.

Wu Wen was slower than the others, clearly upset at his poor performance. Wuxian looked at his back, contemplating the best way to go about things.

"Wu Wen, slow your steps please." Wuxian said.

The boy paused and slowly turned around. His gaze pointed downward, inspecting the details of the floor closely.

"Relax, you're not in any trouble."

Wu Wen looked up in disbelief.

"The point of today's session was to gauge your close combat capabilities. This is not to mock you or make you feel insecure, but to see where you have room to improve. Understood?"

"Y-yes sir."

"And as long as I have any say in the arrangement of our squad, I will not be putting you on the front lines.

You have much more potential as a sharpshooter or a scout. Your close combat training will focus entirely on self-defence." Wuxian added reassuringly.

"Thank you lieutenant!" Wu Wen saluted, bowing deeply.

Wuxian waved his hand, making a shooing gesture.

"Okay, now scram. Make sure you're not late for tomorrow."

"Aye." 

As he watched the boy skip away, Wuxian rubbed the stubble on his chin. Despite only being five years older than Wu Wen, he seemed to subconsciously consider the boy to be a child.

Thinking back to Wen's reactions in sparring whenever he lost, as well as his petrified look when Wuxian had called him to stay behind, Wuxian felt a bit sorry for him.

'Clearly, he's a product of harsh parenting.'

Wuxian felt lucky for his upbringing. Fathers often went harder on their sons, but as the only son, his father, Sihai Xia had been extremely soft.

He sheltered Wuxian to the extent that he did not allow the latter to accompany him on commerce business, leaving him safely in the village instead.

———

Over the next month, progress was smooth and steady.

They sparred frequently, focusing more on practicality than on disciplined drilling. The three brothers and Wu Wen did their best to emulate some of Sun Tao's dirtiness.

Sun Tao himself somehow managed to become even more underhanded.

Wu Wen had improved in archery, stamina and was able to defend himself from the combined attacks of Mian Ji and Xiao Chong for more than two bouts before falling.

Though seemingly unimpressive, surviving two bouts on the battlefield could potentially mean the difference between life and death.

If he could protect himself, he could buy time for the others to come and bail him out of sticky situations.

However, Wu Wen had also been overly humble when introducing himself.

His skills as an archer weren't heaven-defying, but his skills as a huntsman were something to behold. He was an adept tracker, able to predict animal movements from only tracks and his knowledge of the climate and geography.

He also had an impressive sense of hearing, able to determine someone's weight class from sound alone.

Of course, it would be hard to hear with such specificity when marching with an army, but as a stealth operative or forward scout, his hearing would work wonders.

  Outside of sparring within the squad, they also engaged in friendly matches with other squadrons in the training hall. They would frequently conduct mock battles and joint exercises with different objectives. 

There was the traditional squad battle, where both sides used blunt weapons. Contact with someone's head or neck would count as an instant kill and said person would be knocked out of the match.

This was mainly a test of coordination and teamwork.

Then there was a capture the flag style team battle as well. Each side would designate a single individual as the 'flag bearer', who would be armed with a single short sword.

The goal would be to eliminate the flag bearer. 

And then there was just general competition, like weight lifting, sprinting, throwing, archery and so on.

One afternoon, Wuxian's squad had just finished training, idly relaxing in the training hall.

Some of them were mingling with people from other squads, while some were just recovering from the exertion of exercise.

At this moment, an armoured messenger rushed into the room.

"Report!" He shouted, quickly coming to a halt at the entrance of the room.

At the sound of his voice, everyone, no matter what they were doing, immediately stood to attention.

"On the orders of Commander-in-Chief Ying, Red Flag company, Blue Flag company and Yellow Flag company are to report in at the Thousand Blessings Square at the South Gate immediately!"

The messenger repeated his message two more times before saluting towards the crowd and jogging out.

As soon as he left, the hall was filled with hubbub. 

"Hey, brother Sihai, which company are you in?" Someone shouted.

Wuxian turned to look at the speaker. It was lieutenant Meng, the leader of a squad they had been training with frequently.

"Yellow Flag. It seems that we've been picked to lead the vanguard." 

Meng grinned. "What's with that dull tone? Glory and honour are aplenty in the van."

Wuxian shrugged as he tidied himself. "Some say that life is worth more than glory."

"Well, it's too late to complain now."

"Indeed."

Wuxian looked at the members of his squad. They were fully armed and kitted out. Internally, he wondered how many of them would still be alive in a month's time.

"What are you waiting for? Get a move on!" He barked.

As they had just finished training, a lot of their gear was placed aside. Currently, they were rushing to wear their armour and fasten their weapons. 

"Humph, acting tough just because you're a higher rank." Xiao Chong muttered.

Wuxian raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing at all!"