Chapter 674 Quick Commands.
Shi Lang and Fairy Moon Jade spent some time having tea and reminiscing about the old days. The Terran expressed that he did not wish people to know he was an old soul. Moon Jade understood and promised not to reveal this information to anyone.
The terran then left the tent to see the situation of the unit he had to command. With the order directly coming from the sovereign of the army, he would not have much trouble gaining control, but he wanted to gain the people's trust. Only then will he have the confidence to fight the demonic beast tide.
He reached the tent where Old Commander Yan was packing his stuff. Shi Lang shook his head and said, "Old Commander Yan, you do not have to move out or give up your position. I am here only temporarily. I will be heading back after the blood moon night."
Surprised, Old Yan said, "Sir, this is not in line with the military regulations."
Shi Lang smiled and said, "It does not matter who lives in which tent, Old Yan. What matters is who is standing out there on the battlefield beside you. I am not someone to fuss over such things. Forget it, and we have a business to take care of."
Perplexed, the old man stopped packing and said, "I await your commands, Sir."
Shi Lang said, "Have all the men gather in the field. I will discuss a few things with them. Before they fight with me, they have to know who I am."
The old man was surprised to see this guy having such a deep thought process. He nodded and said, "Cheng Kang, you heard the commander. Get them all gathered."
Cheng Kang nodded and left, but the sight of hesitation in his eyes did not escape Shi Lang's gaze. However, the terran was not worried. He was sure to earn back the recognition of this group before the sun rose in the sky.
After a few minutes, Shi Lang followed the old commander to the gathering spot. He saw a force of thousand men and women. All of them radiated a cold killing intent that made many volunteers shiver. These people were embroiled in life-and-death battles throughout the year. They were not something the fresh blood could handle.
At this moment, these people were demonstrating their fighting spirit as a silent protest against Shi Lang being appointed as the commander in place of Old Yan. Shi Lang gazed at the scene and climbed a small pedestal with Old Yan.
The old man was about to tell the soldiers to stop when he sensed something cold beside him. Yan Lian turned to look at Shi Lang, and he felt a shiver in his soul. The young man gave off such a cold aura, like a demon from hell. Shi Lang was radiating his killing intent and amplifying it with shura sutra.
Shi Lang did not say anything to the people, but first, he subdued their intent to kill. The soldiers shivered a bit. They all saw a blood-red dragon condense behind Shi Lang. This dragon looked so life-like to them that it made even the real dragons ashamed.
The terran said, "Do you think the sovereign will appoint me to lead you just because they know me? Do you think they do not care about your lives? Are you people that conceited and narrow-minded?"
His words shocked the soldiers. They did not expect him to say something like this. Shi Lang continued, "You all think just because my realm is small, I do not have the skill to lead you all, but let me clarify one thing. I am not here to watch you all publicly protest before me. I came here to lead you in battle. That means I will stand ahead of you when those filthy bastards charge at us.
I do not want you to acknowledge me. I want to know if you care about the person beside you now. Tell me, do you?"
His voice was calm but echoed in the people's minds as if it were a war drum. They all replied loudly in unison, "We do."
Shi Lang nodded and said, "Then, as long as I can guarantee the safety of your comrade, do you think it is worth following me?"
The crowd fell silent for a bit, but then they exclaimed loudly, "It is worth it, Sir."
Shi Lang nodded subtly as he continued, "Now, be a good soldier and follow the commands. I do not want you to fight for some noble goal to save humanity. First, fight to save the person next to you, then fight to save the people in this unit, and if you still have some spirit left, fight for humanity. Your individuality means nothing before the unit. Do you hear me?"
His words made the people's blood boil. They exclaimed, "Yes."
Shi Lang snorted and said, "What, yes? Say, Sir, yes, sir. Understood."
"Sir, yes, sir!" replied the crowd of soldiers.
At the side, the volunteers watched him in awe. Shi Lang said, "Now, one thing we must understand while fighting these brainless demonic beasts. They do not have what we have. Can someone tell me what it is?"
One clear voice sounded, "Mind, sir."
Shi Lang turned to look at a young man standing among the ranks and nodded. He said, "We have a brain that gives us the advantage to coordinate and fight against these things in a much more efficient manner. They may have brute strength, but all that can be controlled."
He watched the soldiers nod as he continued, "I will lay down a plan. If you have anything to contribute, then do not hesitate to step forward and discuss the idea. We are all fighting this together."
The soldiers were surprised. This was the first time they had seen a superior officer encouraging the junior soldiers to come up with opinions. Shi Lang said, "I want the people with expertise in defense spirit techniques to form a line in the front of the unit. Your task is to hold back the demon beasts; do not worry, Immortal Kings will support you. Can you do it?"
The soldiers thought and replied, "Sir, Yes, sir."
Shi Lang smiled and said, "Then do not stand there. Move ahead."
Following his words, the defense experts separated from the queues and came to the forefront of the unit. Shi Lang looked at Old Yan and said, "Commander Yan will lead in coordinating with various immortal kings assigned to our unit. You all will maintain a domain to slow down the demonic beasts. This will help you save spiritual energy and last longer. At the same time, the primary attack force will slay the beasts."
Old Yan had no problem. As long as it was only slowing down the demons, they could do it easily. Shi Lang said, "The maid task of the defense line at the front is not to block the demons but to attract the attention of the dimwitted ones. The demon beast kings might have an intelligence on par with the humans, but when they are charged with demonic energy to the brim and blatantly looking for an outlet, the intelligence will be low. We will be exploiting them. Understood?"
The people replied with a stomp of their feet on the ground. Shi Lang nodded and continued, "Attack teams, you will be responsible for the lives of the defense experts. I do not wish to see anyone fighting alone, relying on each other. Share the burden and pain because that is what a human should do. Any questions?"
What followed was a tremor in the ground caused by the constant stomp of the soldiers. They may be a military force, but they all had weapons and styles. Shi Lang said, "Spear users will support the sword users, and long-distance weapon users will support the defense experts from the effective range in controlling the pace of the beast charge. However, do not make any moves that might let the beasts go crazier than they already are. It will cause an outbreak, and many people will die. Controlled rage is the best weapon."
Following this, Shi Lang arranged many things in the unit. The entire process did not take him long, but the soldiers were shocked. Shi Lang would watch them perform some moves and then arrange for them to fight alongside the person who complimented their fighting style and increased their strength. The correlation of such small teams formed a chain of troops.
The unit's soldiers were filled with confidence and eagerly awaited the moon to rise in the sky. Shi Lang did not nag them about this because he was also waiting for the moment to let loose. He said, "Old Yan, if the situation tilted in the favor of the demons, I will be charging out. You will assume command of the unit then."
Old Yan was surprised but nodded, and he did not know many commanders who were so young and so decisive. He said, "I will arrange for Cheng Kang to follow you."
Shi Lang waved his hand and said, "Do not do any such thing. I will be fine on my own. I am used to fighting alone ever since I came to the immortal realm."
Old Yan found out that Shi Lang was an ascender, and the respect in his heart grew even more. A part of his heart wanted Shi Lang to go out to fight the demonic beasts so that he could see the limits of skills this young man had.
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