Secular world: My destiny has no taboos

Chapter 493, Part 503: Beacon Fire (Part Two)
Lin Beixuan glanced at Luo Bingzhong with surprise. Seeing the other party's confident demeanor, he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

Then he asked, "What if the two armies clash and fight?"

It's important to understand that things change rapidly on the battlefield. No one will wait for you to form a battle formation before engaging in combat. The conventional approach is to first charge and disrupt the enemy's formation, and then break up the enemy into smaller groups for further fighting.

Therefore, what is often needed is tacit cooperation between teams and strong individual combat skills.

But when Lin Beixuan asked about this, Luo Bingzhong's expression visibly stiffened, and he coughed lightly.

"If we're talking about charging and fighting, our army might barely qualify as third-rate."

"Third-rate?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Beixuan's excited expression subsided slightly.

He hadn't expected such an answer, because in his mind, the Beiming Army, having undergone the baptism of starving ghosts, couldn't possibly be just a third-rate force; they should be much better.

Seeing Lin Beixuan frowning, Luo Bingzhong sighed and immediately explained the reason.

"My lord, the reason why our army is only third-rate is not because our army is weak, but because it lacks too many of the necessary configurations within the army."

"Take the simplest example of cavalry. We don't even have cavalry, so how can we talk about charging?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Beixuan opened his mouth slightly, but couldn't think of any words to reply.

As Luo Bingzhong said, the Beiming Army was basically composed of infantry, and there was no detailed planning or configuration for cavalry, archers, etc.

The cavalry were needed because after Luozhou was ravaged by starving ghosts, everything was withered, making it extremely difficult to find a horse.

Archers are even simpler, because arrows are completely useless against starving ghosts.

The weak points of the hungry ghosts are mostly concentrated in their heads, so to accurately shoot an arrow at the head of a hungry ghost requires extremely precise archery skills.

By the time the hungry ghosts charged close, it would be too late to shoot them with arrows, risking friendly fire, and it wouldn't be as easy and quick as drawing a sword directly.

Therefore, Lin Beixuan did not add any cavalry or archer units at the beginning, but instead trained all infantry.

The shortcomings are now obvious. If a war is involved, relying solely on infantry is far from enough, no matter how strong or fierce the individual combat capabilities of the infantrymen are.

They first unleashed a volley of arrows, then rammed through the enemy ranks with a cavalry charge, disrupting the army's formation almost instantly, giving you no time to regroup.

Having thought all this through, Lin Beixuan could quite understand Luo Bingzhong's current predicament.

Calling them third-rate would be a high compliment. If it were to be deployed to a large-scale battlefield with tens or hundreds of thousands of soldiers, the Beiming Army would likely find it difficult to survive as an infantry force alone.

"In other words, the individual and squad combat capabilities of the Beiming Army have been honed in the hellish environment of the starving ghosts. If we want to improve the overall quality of the Beiming Army, the only thing we can do now is to improve the army's configuration," Lin Beixuan said, deep in thought.

Luo Bingzhong looked at Lin Beixuan and said, "That's right. With the current military formation capabilities of the Beiming Army, it is already comparable to any strong army in the mortal world, but there are still many shortcomings in other aspects."

"In terms of individual combat, barbarian soldiers are often extremely strong, and few armies can defeat them. However, in terms of the sophistication of their military configuration, successive dynasties have studied this aspect extensively."

"In general, the current plan of the Northern Underworld Army should be to increase the army's configuration and assemble the most important members such as cavalry and archers."

By the bright candlelight nearby, Luo Bingzhong took out a booklet and handed it to Lin Beixuan.

"These are some of my thoughts on military reform. Given the current situation in Luozhou, it is probably impossible to build a cavalry force in the short term, but we can prioritize building an archer force."

"There are many skilled archers in the military camp. Most of them used to be mountain people. We can organize them and train them in this area."

Lin Beixuan glanced at the booklet Luo Bingzhong handed him, but did not take it. Instead, he said calmly, "I trust you. I am not as good as you in terms of military management. In the future, you can just explain the situation to me when adding new types of troops."

Luo Bingzhong felt a warmth in his heart when he saw that Lin Beixuan trusted him so much, and immediately clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I will certainly live up to your trust, Lord."

Ever since eliminating the starving ghosts, Luo Bingzhong has always had some worries in his heart.

Now that the main conflict has been resolved, the next step is likely to be an internal power struggle.

When he was serving in the Zhenxi Army during the previous dynasties, he witnessed far too many similar situations.

After the matter came to a close, everyone seemed to lose their direction and goals, turning their attention to the power struggles within the team.

He had no interest in power and therefore resented it.

But it's different in the Northern Underworld Army.

The Northern Underworld Army fought their way out of the encirclement of the starving ghost tide, and they possessed a fierce and bloodthirsty nature.

Luo Bingzhong originally thought that after dealing with the starving ghosts, his fighting spirit would be gradually erased by a comfortable life.

On the contrary, the Northern Dark Army did not lose its fighting spirit; on the contrary, it seemed to be accumulating it.

Now, Luo Bingzhong patrols the military camp every day, and he is always somewhat shocked by the eyes of the soldiers.

Soldiers in a normal army do not want to fight, and their eyes will shrink when faced with an impending war.

But the Northern Underworld Army was different; upon hearing news of the Evil Spirit Army, they felt an urge to try their luck.

They couldn't wait to go to the battlefield and kill the enemy to gain merit.

Under the merit exchange system, they can see the accumulation of their merits and the many tempting spells, weapons, and even divine organs that can be exchanged for in the exchange section.

The creation of organs by the gods represents the opportunity to become a human immortal, to stand shoulder to shoulder with mortal gods. Even he himself couldn't help but be tempted by this.

"I really don't know how the Prefect came up with this system. Who could resist such temptation after seeing it!"

Luo Bingzhong glanced at Lin Beixuan secretly, sighing inwardly.

Under this system, even he couldn't help but want to make contributions on the battlefield and kill more enemies.

In the following time, Lin Beixuan discussed the Northern Underworld Army with Luo Bingzhong for a while, and then gradually shifted the focus to the Evil Spirit Army.

"Based on the information I have gathered, the Evil Spirit Army is the direct subordinate army of the Evil Spirit True Lord, and it is also his most powerful army."

"The soldiers of the Northern Dark Army encountered the Phantom Army of the Third Army in Anle County, Qingzhou."

"In the army under the Evil Spirit True Lord, only those who are sufficiently ruthless and cunning can stand out and eventually be absorbed into the First Army."

By the candlelight, Luo Bingzhong said, "These soldiers have been transformed into inhuman beings, possessing not only immense strength but also incredible speed and a variety of bizarre techniques." "Many times, I would imagine that the evil spirit army is about to attack Luozhou, and I would consider how to defend against them and how to retaliate."

Luo Bingzhong unfolded a map showing the geographical locations of various places outside Huangque City.

As Lin Beixuan listened to Luo Bingzhong's explanation on the map, his fingers unconsciously began to tap on the table.

As he instructed, the group formed a coordinated battle line with Huangque City as the outpost and Wangfeng City as the tail.

This was a last resort due to the small population in Luozhou.

At this point, as Luo Bingzhong explained, the shortcomings of this method were also exposed.

That means if the opponent attacks from both sides, they are very likely to be unable to defend both sides and will be unable to protect both ends.

This battle line appears continuous, but it is actually too thin. Once the evil spirit army adopts flexible tactics and chooses to avoid direct confrontation and instead break through from the flank, the limited forces of the Northern Underworld Army will be dispersed, and the defensive system may collapse instantly.

Lin Beixuan frowned, staring at the winding lines on the map, as if he could see the terrifying scene of the evil spirit army surging in from both flanks like a tide.

"If the evil army really launches a surprise attack from both sides, our current troop deployment may be difficult to withstand."

"At that time, communication between cities will be cut off, making each city an isolated city."

"Was my initial thought wrong?!"

For a moment, Lin Beixuan began to doubt whether his initial decision had been correct.

Based on current analysis, if the evil spirit army targets Huangque City as its sole objective, Huangque City would indeed be an impregnable defensive line.

But what if the other side would rather take a longer route to attack the city behind Huangque City?

As their forces are gradually dispersed, Huangque City and several other cities under construction will become isolated cities besieged by the enemy.

However, Luo Bingzhong shook his head at this moment: "The Lord's decision at the time was not actually wrong."

"We want to worry about them dividing their forces to besiege the city, but first they need to have enough troops."

"If we were to distribute them all, then our Huangque City would transform into the sharpest bird's beak, piercing through the enemy's plans."

Lin Beixuan nodded upon hearing this, and said nothing more, because judging from the situation at the time, his method was indeed the safest and most feasible approach.

Although some people were brought back from Qingzhou, the total population of Luozhou was still too small. Even with the addition of the Beiming Army, there were only a few hundred thousand people, which was only the population of one city.

If the goal is to build a defensive line in Luozhou with this population size, this is the best approach.

After all, if everyone gathered in one city, the enemy might have already stepped into the border of Luozhou without us even knowing, and the trouble that would bring would probably be even more difficult to resolve.

However, many people have forgotten that Lin Beixuan's forces are not limited to the Beiming Army; the Yin Si forces have also developed to a considerable extent.

If things really come to a head, tens of thousands of ghost soldiers may also join the battle.

But Lin Beixuan wouldn't do that unless absolutely necessary.

He originally intended to completely separate the underworld from any forces in the mortal world, and personally formulated a prohibition that the underworld would not concern itself with the affairs of the living in the mortal world. Unless it was a critical moment, the underworld would never be exposed to the sunlight.

And so, Lin Beixuan moved into Huangque City.

When the soldiers of the Northern Underworld Army saw him arrive, their fighting spirit seemed to intensify, and they trained with all their might every day.

Every day, deafening battle cries echo from the training ground within the city. The sounds, imbued with an indomitable spirit, surge and converge in the air, gradually transforming into the shape of a giant fish.

At the same time, the archer unit was also formed under Luo Bingzhong's arrangement. The number of people was small, but they were all composed of people with excellent archery skills. Then, these people taught the new recruits who joined the archer unit how to shoot arrows. After a few days, it had already taken shape.

……

Meanwhile, not far from Luozhou, a strange and massive army was advancing towards Luozhou.

Viewed from above, this army resembled a pale white wave, surging over hills and forests towards Luozhou.

The leaders were three terrifying-looking immortals.

The immortal on the left has a huge body, almost like a small mountain, except for a few special parts, and is covered with bone-like armor.

He had countless legs, and a handsome head with long, flowing hair was attached to his exposed spine, with a sinister smile on his face.

The intermediate immortal is only slightly taller than an ordinary person, but his face is covered with round eyes that move on their own, densely packed like flies crawling on a person's face.

He was dressed in coarse linen clothes, with many bulging pockets hanging from them, the contents of which were unknown.

The immortal on the right is a woman of exquisite beauty, dressed in gorgeous palace attire. Her breasts are perfectly proportioned, her waist and hips are flawless, and her long, jet-black hair cascades down her back like a waterfall.

What's most striking is her skin—smooth, supple, and flawless. She's like a work of art, impeccable from head to toe.

"I heard that the God of Wrongful Death and the Twin Gods were killed by that Lord of the Northern Underworld, and even the True Lord's arm was taken away by him."

The beautiful immortal opened her rosy lips and yawned, seemingly a little bored, and took the initiative to chat with the two immortals next to her.

"Although the True Lord did not fully descend, the fact that he could directly block the True Lord in the spatial rift and sever the True Lord's Black Scaled Dragon arm proves his strength," the man with many eyes on his face said after pondering for a while.

"The True Lord said that what's truly powerful is just the weapon in his hand!" The beautiful immortal covered her mouth and chuckled, "We can let the Heavenly Centipede try it out first."

The immortal named Tianwu slowly lowered his enormous head, his long hair flowing down like a waterfall to touch the beautiful immortal.

"Painted Skin, you should be the one to test it out first. Neither Evil Eye nor I know whether you standing here are a painted skin or your real self."

The painted skin giggled and made an angry expression; any normal person here would be completely captivated.

However, neither the Evil Eye nor the Heavenly Centipede looked at her coldly.

The evil eye, with its countless black, hollow eyes fixed on the painted skin, said calmly, "The True Lord said that we are not dealing with the Northern Underworld Lord this time; we only need to deal with his four underworld generals."

As the name of the Lord of the Northern Underworld spread, several powerful generals in the Northern Underworld army were also mentioned, and when the news reached the ears of the Evil Spirit True Lord, they became four Underworld Generals.

"A blood-stained corpse, a ghostly spear."

"The True Lord foresaw that these four people would soon be promoted to Immortals in the Northern Underworld Army, so he urged us to get rid of them as soon as possible and not wait for Luo Zhou to grow stronger."

(End of this chapter)