Start with a red name

With the addition of the thirty-five ships personally escorted back by Geng Xuan, the efficiency of transporting supplies and personnel was once again greatly improved.

In particular, the seven huge vehicles and ships he brought back this time all played a significant role.

Around noon on the ninth day of the lunar month, all the personnel and supplies that had been "accumulated" on the Xuanqing coast were moved to a small island more than ten miles away.

Geng Xuan himself was not involved in these matters.

He used this time to do two things.

First, we will treat those who were seriously injured or disabled in the battles that came with Tie Lang, Fu Yunfeng and others from Youzhou.

Inspired by Tao Bin and Cao Ao, after leaving Hongsha Island, he began to thoroughly "plunder" the surrounding waters.

He did not kill those dissidents who failed to become "one of his own" during his screening process.

They merely dispersed their internal energy, temporarily crippling their cultivation, and then placed them together on several ships, carrying them with them.

For these people, this method was certainly somewhat inhumane, but considering that the two Black Wind Gangs were about to join forces, he, as the leader, could not show favoritism.

If all the injured in Xuanzhou receive proper treatment, the more than two thousand injured in Youzhou are left unresolved for so long, creating conflict where none existed.

Moreover, delaying proper treatment for these individuals is a huge waste for the Black Wind Gang, whose every bit of combat strength is extremely precious.

Taking all this into consideration, Geng Xuan decided to "compromise" with these "living materials," which were mainly composed of river bandits.

Moreover, from a materialistic perspective, all of this is what happened to them after they died.

Before their deaths, they did not experience any additional or unnecessary pain, either physically or mentally.

On the contrary, having lived an extra night wasn't a loss.

Another step is to conduct a complete reorganization of the current Black Wind Gang.

The main body of the reorganization was naturally led by Song Mingzhu and others, consisting of more than 20,700 people from Xuanzhou, and nearly 16,000 people led by Tie Lang and others who came from Youzhou to join them.

In addition, there are the 1436 newcomers that Geng Xuan has gathered from the Xuanqing Sea in the past two days.

More than half of these people were river bandits, or "practitioners" closely related to river bandits, such as Yu Qiuhe and Pang Xiude.

The other half consists of islanders who are half fishermen and half bandits, like Fan Tao, who came from "Meicun Island".

Excluding their families, relatives, and ordinary people who were lucky enough to survive in the bandit strongholds, the number of cultivators alone was as high as 38,070.

Among them, those who have reached the first level of perfection include Song Mingzhu and Tie Lang.

There are 25 people at the peak of the Marrow Refinement stage, 110 people at the late stage, and 294 people at the mid-stage.

In the early stages of Marrow Refinement, he even reached an astonishing 1401st place.

In this reorganization, Geng Xuan not only completely disbanded the original team but also reorganized it.

It no longer involves distributing combat power relatively evenly among each squad, company, and battalion.

After consulting with Song Mingzhu, Tielang, Cao Ao, and others, and adding some ideas from Geng Xuan's own mind.

This reorganization almost completely shattered the original system and reshaped it.

First, after the reorganization, the Black Wind Gang no longer uses names like "Squad," "Squad," and "Brigade," which seem too arbitrary and do not meet everyone's expectations.

It wasn't just the name that changed; the skeleton also underwent a significant transformation.

The core framework consists of three levels: "Pawn", "Band", and "Department".

Each soldier had a hundred men, and their commander was called a "soldier captain".

Within a single soldier, there are further divisions into squads and detachments, each with its own "squad leader" and "detachment leader," who assist the "squad leader" in commanding the soldiers of that squad.

Each troop consists of about 500 people, commanded by a "troop general," who oversees five squads of soldiers.

Each unit consisted of about two thousand men, commanded by a "captain," and comprised four detachments of troops.

In Geng Xuan's view, these "soldier", "troop", "unit" are no different from squad, squadron, and battalion; they are just names.
However, he could tell that Song Mingzhu, Tie Lang, Cao Ao, and others took this matter very seriously.

It seems that this change in "name" marks the Black Wind Gang's transformation from a makeshift organization to a more formalized group.

After those former company commanders and battalion commanders transformed into "generals" and "captains," Geng Xuan could directly see the change in everyone's morale and spirit.

Even his posture suddenly became much more upright.

They, who used to be able to joke and have fun with others freely, have become much more reserved and elegant in their speech.

Although the performance was overly dramatic and the idol image was too strong, the changes were visible to the naked eye as tens of thousands of people began to consciously impose such constraints on themselves.

That strong bandit aura dissipated by more than half in an instant!

At the same time, the Black Wind Gang was no longer called the "Black Wind Gang" but the "Black Wind Army," and people no longer called him "Gang Leader" but "Army Lord."

The reorganized "Black Wind Army" consisted of 380 soldiers, 76 troops, and 19 units.

In addition, due to different actual needs, a new "camp" was established in addition to "soldier", "troop", and "unit", called "camp commander".

Sometimes, the titles "Ying Sima" and "Duwei" overlapped.

The number of participants is not fixed and depends on demand.

In Geng Xuan's understanding, "卒", "曲", "部", and the lower-level "伍" and "什" are basically a combination of military rank and job title.

The "camp" focuses more on practical duties and tasks.

For example, there was a "first aid battalion" of 2,000 men that belonged to various units during the war and participated in the battle, and was later placed under the command of Tao Bin.

—During combat, all members of the first aid battalion must participate in the battle; they will not be left to stand idly by in the rear.

However, their emergency rescue efforts will also be credited separately.

In addition, there is a "Supply Battalion" of 5,000, mainly composed of low-level cultivators, which is led by Fu Yunfeng.

From then on, the transportation and storage of supplies for the "Black Wind Army" were mainly the responsibility of the "Supply Battalion".

Now, the "Supply Battalion" has another task: to repair the iron cavalry armor that is too damaged.

There is also the "Iron Cavalry Battalion" composed of three thousand elite troops.

—The Black Wind Army currently has 3335 Xuanyou horses. Considering losses, injuries, and illnesses, only one "Iron Cavalry Battalion" of 3,000 riders was ultimately formed.

It was led by Tie Lang, Zhang Kai, Xiang Jinxiu, and others.

In addition, simple and unpretentious "First Battalion", "Second Battalion" and "Third Battalion" were formed respectively.

Commanded by Song Mingzhu, Zhang Kai, Guo Nan, Cao Ao, and others, each battalion had an astonishing 10,000 men.

Originally, Geng Xuan wanted to form a "combat supervision battalion" headed by Cao Ao and a "ship battalion" headed by Ruan Ruizhe, but after careful consideration, he abandoned the idea.

The former is that the timing is not right yet, and the latter is because there are too few ships.

When organizing these three battalions, Geng Xuan intentionally allocated their combat strength in a tiered manner.

Although each camp has no shortage of combat power at the Marrow Refinement level or above, and even at the peak of the Marrow Refinement level.

Overall, however, the "First Battalion" was the strongest and most elite.

Next was the "Second Battalion," and finally the "Third Battalion."

Those who were assigned to the "First Battalion" were naturally very happy.

But those who were assigned to the "Second Battalion" and the "Third Battalion" were not in a good mood.

Anyone with eyes to see can see that with the completion of this reorganization, the "Black Wind Army" has taken a big step towards standardization and professionalization, and its internal division of labor will gradually become clearer.

In the future, the situation where everyone rushes in at once during battle will become less and less frequent.

Those members with low combat effectiveness and mediocre performance will gradually be removed from the front-line ranks.

Their opportunities will become fewer and fewer.

From a security perspective, this is certainly a major benefit.

However, this also means that their chances of receiving the "blessing" will become increasingly slim, or even completely out of reach. Therefore, after the reorganization was completed, Geng Xuan gave a special address to everyone.

It was specifically pointed out that this reorganization is only temporary, and the positions of each member are not fixed and will continue to change.

The specific changes will depend on each person's performance in their respective positions.

While outstanding performance in battle is an important consideration for "blessing," it is not the only one.

As long as you are a member of the "Black Wind Army," everyone has a chance if you work hard.

This major reorganization almost completely crushed and rebuilt the Black Wind Gang, turning it into a brand new "Black Wind Army".

With the completion of this reorganization, the "Treatise of Troops," which had remained at the Grandmaster level for a long time, finally completed its final digestion and absorption, and entered the realm of perfection.

Even earlier, after Geng Xuan had performed the necessary rituals on the more than two thousand injured people, the "Life-Gathering Technique" and the "Cutting Technique" had also advanced from the Grandmaster level to the Perfect level.

From yesterday when he led Ruan Ruizhe into the Xuanqing Sea to today when he "escorted" 35 ships back, most of the time was spent on the water.

The previously slow-progressing "Water Movement Technique" skipped two levels directly.

From minor achievement to major achievement, and from major achievement to mastery.

Now, if he exerts his full strength, his speed in the water can reach about 100 kilometers per hour.

Even with one person on board, it can maintain a speed of over 80 kilometers per hour.

With the three secret techniques completed in succession, the skill information, which originally seemed quite complicated, became "clean" again.

[Lucky Draw: 1,341,336]
Black luck: 58,867
Practice Method: Heaven and Earth Stance (Minor Success)
Skills: Jade-Refining Sky-Supporting Finger (Grandmaster), Flying Eagle Technique (Grandmaster), Water Movement Technique (Master), Chicken Raising Technique (Beginner), Cock Fighting Technique (Beginner), Bedroom Technique (Beginner), Finger Wrapping Technique (Beginner)

What Geng Xuan cared about most was that Hongyun broke through one million points for the first time.

It was truly because, since the New Year, when he traveled north from Yuanzhou and returned to Xuanyou, he had been reaping the heads of "red-named" people far too quickly and fiercely.

It's just a collection of bandit strongholds, from "Golden Leaf Cliff" and "Rapid Flow Cave" in Xuanzhou to "Fish Scale Dock", "White Horse Ridge", "Three Passes", and "Swallow Peak" in Youzhou, plus some other scattered places.

Even after deducting all previous "lucky blessings," he still gained over 350,000 points of good fortune, which is quite astonishing.

The clash with the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry resulted in heavy casualties on both sides.

The good fortune that this brought to Geng Xuan was also quite extraordinary.

In just one night, Hongyun's earnings reached over 200,000 points.

Due to the changes in luck, from good fortune to bad fortune, at first glance, the "flint" still appears to be the same "flint," and there is no essential difference compared to the past.

However, if you pay close attention, you will realize that it has never stopped moving within itself.

Good fortune and bad fortune ultimately exist within the "flint" in the form of some peculiar "precipitate," or, in Geng Xuan's understanding, a form akin to a materialized "data stream."

The benefits gained from each instance of "white luck" are quickly neutralized by the corresponding "black luck," leaving nothing behind.

However, the interior of the "flint pearl" gradually became deeper and heavier.

It's like silently expanding the space.

The storage capacity of the "flint" has thus been continuously increased.

……

When Geng Xuan completed the full reorganization of the current "Black Wind Army", the last batch of supplies was also transported from the shore.

It was noon on the ninth day of the month.

At this moment, ten large vehicles and ships are lined up and moored at the temporary berths built next to the island.

A steady stream of people boarded nine of the boats, and as the number of people increased rapidly, the waterline of the nine boats slowly descended.

On the shore, Geng Xuan withdrew his gaze from the sidelines and looked at Song Mingzhu, Cao Ao, and the others, saying:
"This time, I will bring the 'Iron Cavalry Battalion' and the 'First Battalion'."

The Second Battalion, the Third Battalion, and the Supply Battalion are all yours.

"We'll reserve one vehicle and one boat for you, plus forty-seven other vessels."

"However, it is impossible to transport all personnel and supplies with only this number of ships."

If I'm not mistaken, the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry, who retreated for a day, will arrive here tonight, or possibly tomorrow.

"This stretch of water, spanning several miles, is sufficient to protect you from the onslaught of the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry."

But this distance is still too close. Once they pinpoint this location, your situation will become even more passive.

"Therefore, you should make full use of this time to collect more ships in the surrounding area and take everyone to move to deeper waters."

Hearing Geng Xuan's arrangements, Song Mingzhu and the others nodded gently.

Although Geng Xuan, as the "military commander," is about to embark on another long journey.

But this time, being in the water and isolated from the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry, they felt very at ease and confident.

There was no longer any need for unnecessary worry about the approaching Xuanyou Iron Cavalry.

They didn't think the plan Geng Xuan had set for them would be difficult at all.

Within the Xuanqing Sea, various forces are deeply entrenched, creating an extremely complex situation.

If you approach it with the mindset of "organizing the threads," even a year may not be enough to fully understand all the intricacies involved.

But for them, there's no need for that at all.

Although the Xuanqing Sea was vast and enormous, the entry of their nearly 40,000-strong "Black Wind Army" was like a massive boulder crashing into a small pond.

Apart from Dong Guan, throughout the two states of Xuan You, there was no other force that could rival them.

Their current predicament stems solely from the lack of sufficient ships.

But they believed that as long as they used these few dozen ships as a "leader", they could quickly sweep southward and increase the number of ships in their hands to hundreds, even thousands.

Their tens of thousands of "Black Wind Army" will also rapidly transform into the overlords of Xuanqinghai in this process.

The only thing that could hinder their actions was Dong Guan's power.

This is also why "Military Commander" Geng Xuan wanted to shake them off and head south first.

He wanted to take down that tough nut before they headed south and before Dong Guan's strategic adjustments penetrated deep into the Xuanqing Sea.

This is a "royal expedition".

After giving his final instructions to Song Mingzhu and the others, Geng Xuan boarded the first vehicle-boat.

Soon, nine vehicles and ships, carrying 13,000 Black Wind Army soldiers, slowly departed from their berths and headed towards deeper waters.

On the sailors' seats, members of the Black Wind Army pressed their feet hard on the pedals.

The giant paddles, which were perpendicular to the water surface and looked like a waterwheel, began to turn little by little.

The speed of the blade rotation is slowly increasing.

The speed of the vehicles and ships was also gradually increasing.

Judging solely from the acceleration process, it is far more sluggish and slow than the acceleration of a blue-gray horse.

Even after the nine vehicles and boats had sailed more than ten miles away from the island, their speed continued to increase slowly.

Now, their speed has reached the level of the Azure Horse's gallop.

But their acceleration still hasn't stopped.

The vehicles and boats only stabilized their speed after traveling another ten miles or so.

It reaches approximately 40 kilometers per hour.

direction, south.

Target: Huangwei Island. (End of Chapter)