I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 186, Section 184: The Difference in True Qi in the Great Harmony

The bombardment by the militia under the walls of Datong Prefecture lasted for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

When the explosions stopped, the entire Qing army camp had been reduced to a sea of ​​fire. Of the nearly 50,000 soldiers, less than one in ten survived, and most of the rest were wounded.

This battle fully demonstrated the enormous advantages of modern weaponry.

Of course, this was also partly because the Qing army was new to this kind of artillery bombardment and didn't know how to deal with it to minimize casualties.

They only knew how to run around blindly in a panic, and the end result was that most of them were blown up.

"rush!"

Following Yang Zonghan's order, three thousand soldiers of the Salvation Army began a rapid charge.

After activating the Divine Speed ​​ability, a journey of nearly ten miles takes only two or three minutes.

When everyone arrived at the battlefield, there were practically no living people left standing.

Most of those who could run did, while those who couldn't lay on the ground groaning and waiting to die, and some were still stunned by the explosion and hadn't realized what was happening.

There was no need for fighting anymore. Yang Zonghan simply led his men forward and ended the suffering of everyone, whether they were standing or lying on the ground groaning in pain.

This time, Yang Zonghan did not personally lead his troops to pursue the Qing army again.

The Qing army is now so terrified that it can hardly accomplish anything.

Moreover, there are only a few thousand people left, so we can just send a team to pursue them.

Upon arriving at the city of Datong, Yang Zonghan dispatched a battalion commander to lead a thousand-strong militia to pursue the fleeing Qing troops.

He then leisurely arrived at the city gate, looked up at the city wall above, where a group of Ming soldiers were watching him timidly.

What had just happened before their eyes was truly shocking.

Just moments before, they were worrying about how to stop the Qing army from attacking the city, and even considering whether to flee.

However, the next moment, countless cannonballs rained down, deafening explosions and towering flames instantly engulfed the Qing army camp below the city.

In the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the 50,000 Qing troops and their garrison camp beneath the city had been completely destroyed.

They just saw that the number of Qing soldiers who escaped was definitely less than five thousand, and many of them were seriously wounded. They didn't know how many of them would survive.

Even though the two sides were enemies, seeing the current state of the Qing army still made them feel sad.

If it happened to them, the result would probably be no different.

Just as they were thinking about whether to take advantage of the chaos and go out of the city to hunt them down, they saw a gray shadow rushing towards them at high speed in the distance, even leaving afterimages in its wake.

When they arrived at the Qing army camp and stopped galloping, they realized that the gray figures were actually people dressed in gray clothes.

"This is... the People's Salvation Army?!"

Watching the militia rescuing the people below the city, constantly firing shots on the battlefield, Wang Pu, the general of Datong, muttered to himself.

He had naturally heard of the Salvation Army, which had successively occupied Shaanxi Province, Shaanxi and Sichuan, and successively captured cities such as Turpan, Yumen, Shazhou and Guazhou, forcing Ligdan Khan to flee north in disarray and plundering Mongol herders.

However, he never expected that the People's Salvation Army, which was far away in Shaanxi, would suddenly appear in Datong Prefecture and wipe out 50,000 elite Qing troops in one fell swoop.

Looking at Wang Pu, the general of Datong, on the city wall, Yang Zonghan turned his head and instructed a soldier beside him to shout.

"The general on the city wall, will he die or surrender?"

Yang Zonghan felt absolutely no goodwill towards these Ming Dynasty soldiers at this time.

Faced with the invading Qing army, not a single one dared to fight; they only knew how to defend the city to the death, while allowing the people under their rule to suffer abuse and slaughter.

Therefore, Yang Zonghan was unwilling to say much to him, and he made the soldiers shout without any politeness.

There are only two choices: live or die.

Hearing the words of the People's Salvation Army generals below, Wang Pu fell silent.

What else could he say in this situation?
As for being loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
Even if he defended the city to the death, it would only be a meaningless and pointless death.

In the original history, he was the first person to flee during the Battle of Songjin between the Ming and Qing dynasties.

At this point, he naturally couldn't bring himself to die for the Ming Dynasty either.

"Open the city gates, we surrender!"

After a moment of silence, Wang Pu said weakly.

"Hoo~!"

"it is good!"

Upon hearing Wang Pu's words, the deputy general and the many soldiers around him secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing the relieved looks on everyone's faces, Wang Pu suddenly felt a sense of relief.

I am not being cowardly; I am doing this for the sake of the lives of all the people and soldiers in the city.

Yang Zonghan was naturally unaware of Wang Pu's inner thoughts.

After Wang Pu surrendered with the city gates wide open, Yang Zonghan immediately sent men to take over the city's defenses and confiscate the weapons of Wang Pu and his men.

Subsequently, Yang Zonghan summoned Wang Pu.

"Hmm? Not bad. Your true energy is already quite substantial. In our militia's new recruit camp, you could be considered above average."

Upon seeing him, Yang Zonghan couldn't help but look him up and down with a hint of surprise.

After the world advanced, even an ordinary person, with sufficient food, could potentially cultivate true qi. Yang Zonghan, as the general of Yulin, was naturally aware of this.

Moreover, it should be noted that the people of the Salvation Army are now well-fed and clothed, and the energy concentration in the Salvation Army's territory is five times that of the outside world, greatly increasing the probability of them refining true qi.

Almost one in ten people can cultivate true qi.

Moreover, this was initially accomplished unconsciously by everyone.

As more and more people develop true qi, and the word spreads, with deliberate practice, almost every adult can develop true qi.

However, while ordinary people can cultivate true qi...

However, the intensity of their true energy is completely different from that obtained through the Heavenly Rank. In other words, they are two completely different levels of existence, almost like the difference between iron and cotton.

After all, the Heavenly Rank is an evolution of the power of rules, and the true energy derived from it by fusing with essence, energy, and spirit will naturally be tainted by the power of rules.

The true qi of ordinary people is simply a transformation of essence and qi, and naturally cannot compare with the true qi possessed by the People's Salvation Army.

Not to mention, the speed at which ordinary people can improve their true qi is far slower than that of the militia.

If the average person's improvement rate is 1, then the improvement rate of the People's Salvation Army can reach at least 5.

Currently, the strongest person in Yulin Prefecture is only capable of circulating Qi throughout the body and splitting a wooden stake the thickness of a wrist with a single palm strike.

For most people, true qi can only exist in the dantian, serving to warm and nourish the body.

Therefore, Yang Zonghan never took so-called folk masters seriously, and naturally he didn't take the extraordinary armies of other countries seriously either.

Even their strongest were no match for the militia that were randomly selected.

Even new recruits in the boot camp, due to their relatively complete training methods and high-intensity training, can surpass these strong individuals by a great deal.

The strongest recruit is capable of splitting stone tablets and shattering rocks, with sword energy reaching two or three meters in length.

Therefore, Yang Zonghan's statement that Wang Pu had reached an above-average level in the recruit camp was already a very high compliment.

After all, Wang Pu didn't have the same comprehensive training methods as the Salvation Army. The fact that he was able to reach the above-average level of the Salvation Army's new recruits was thanks to his identity.

Yang Zonghan looked up at the top of Wang Pu's head.

After completely occupying Datong City, spiritual power and the national destiny of the People's Army have enveloped Datong City and its surrounding areas.

Naturally, Yang Zonghan's innate destiny and status enabled him to discern changes in related fortunes.

A bright yellow aura of national destiny, coupled with a fierce and bloodthirsty aura, gathered wisps of heaven and earth energy, making the concentration of heaven and earth energy around Wang Pu several times higher than the surrounding area.

Furthermore, when the true energy circulates within Wang Pu's body, the bright yellow national fortune and iron-blooded killing aura will actively draw in the energy of heaven and earth to merge into his body.

This is the treatment of new recruits in the Salvation Army's recruit training camp.

Unfortunately, the national destiny and iron-blooded aura above Wang Pu's head transformed into bright yellow and dark red specks of light after his surrender, rapidly dissipating into the world.

Moreover, Wang Pu's training intensity should not be high.

Otherwise, after such a long time, they should have surpassed the number of new recruits in the People's Salvation Army.

This is not meant to belittle the new recruits of the People's Salvation Army.

However, the expansion of the People's Salvation Army has never stopped. As long as the new recruits are trained and qualified, they will be recruited into the regular army as soon as possible.

Therefore, recruits in the basic training camp are basically enrolled every three to five months.

Before their true energy had accumulated to a considerable level, they had already merged with the Heavenly Ranks and become a regular army.

After merging with the Heavenly Rank, their true energy will be devoured and absorbed by the Heavenly Rank, and then used to strengthen their bodies.

When one's celestial status advances further and reaches the level of a warrior, one will develop guiding supernatural powers. With the power of these supernatural powers, one will condense one's essence, energy, and spirit, evolving and fusing the power of rules and aura into true energy that far surpasses ordinary true energy.

Previously, the only way to reach the level of a combat soldier was to accumulate military merits.

However, after the world advances and the energy concentration increases significantly, if they can absorb enough energy from heaven and earth and their bodies and souls are tempered to a certain degree, they can also be promoted to warriors.

Moreover, whether one accumulates military merits to reach the level of a combat soldier, or one's own realm reaches the Qi Refining stage, thereby elevating one's Heavenly Rank to the level of a combat soldier, there is no difference.

As for whether reaching the warrior level through self-cultivation will result in greater physical strength.

Perhaps a little stronger, but only to a limited extent.

Because the tempering effect of the true qi evolved from the celestial and tertiary status on the body far exceeds that of ordinary true qi.

The physical strength gap before being promoted to combat soldier will soon be made up, or even completely eliminated.

Therefore, the best way for the People's Salvation Army to become stronger is to make meritorious contributions.

Otherwise, by the time you become a soldier on your own, others may have already become elite soldiers, or even kings of soldiers.

Even their own realm has reached the Divine Power Realm. How can you compare?

Therefore, it is futile to try to elevate one's rank from regular soldier to combat soldier, or even elite soldier or king of soldiers, through one's own efforts.

Of course, it is only in the second stage of the Heavenly Rank that powerful true energy is cultivated.

However, this does not mean that before one's celestial status reaches the level of a warrior, one is inferior to an ordinary person who has cultivated true qi.

As the world progresses and energy increases, the power that celestial beings can exert also becomes increasingly stronger.

Even with only the Heavenly Rank of Condensation Realm, one can easily draw upon the surrounding天地能量 (heaven and earth energy) and unleash power surpassing ordinary true qi.

If we really want to compare them, one is martial arts internal energy, and the other is immortal cultivation techniques; there's really not much to compare them.

Meanwhile, Wang Pu's expression changed slightly after hearing Yang Zonghan's seemingly complimentary words.

What is considered above average among the new recruits of the militia?

Are you saying I'm not even as good as a regular member of the People's Salvation Army?

He was not clear about the specific divisions of the People's Salvation Army.

However, the difference between regular soldiers and new recruits was common knowledge throughout the entire territory of the Salvation Army, and the news naturally spread with the merchants who came and went.

New recruits don't even qualify to go to the battlefield.

Wang Pu naturally felt uncomfortable when Yang Zonghan compared him to a new recruit.

However, at this point, circumstances are beyond our control.

Therefore, his expression only changed slightly before returning to normal, and he put on a smile again.

"Yes, yes, the general is right."

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(End of this chapter)