Chapter 2044: Chapter 1821: This Was an Accident
If it were just this, it would be fine, but as Cao Ang rode forward, the soldiers arranged neatly also began to walk almost in unison.
Compared to the last time, when dealing with the Southern Huns, the army led by Cao Ang has made progress in marching. Last time, the marching sound seemed overlapping; now it is nearly unified.
This imposing march forward made Cao Cao, waiting to welcome them from afar, stunned. Was this really the elite that his eldest son Cao Ang trained? It can’t be a joke; this is too incredible. This sort of grandeur does not resemble a ragtag group of miscellaneous soldiers.
"The Han army welcoming us is indeed mighty and majestic." Cao Cao had some words he couldn’t utter himself, but Liu Bei had no such scruples. Being a person knowledgeable in military affairs, he naturally understood how terrifying it was for an army of more than ten thousand to act as one.
"This is the army trained by my eldest son Ang. It’s truly my oversight that I hadn’t realized Ang’s talent in military administration for all these years." Cao Cao laughed heartily, although he completely didn’t believe that Cao Ang’s army was cobbled together. Who knows how long it took them to train to such a degree.
No matter how long the training took, to be able to train such a well-disciplined elite army right under his father’s nose, from any angle, Cao Cao felt his son indeed had extraordinary talent.
Of course, this is also because Cao Cao’s suspicion disease is not severe at the moment and he hasn’t reached the point of being muddle-headed. Otherwise, with the talent Cao Ang is showing now, Cao Cao might suspect that Cao Ang is preparing to act against him.
"The Cao Army is indeed elite along this route." Guo Jia, surprisingly sober, looked at the approaching Cao Army with neat steps and exclaimed in wonder.
"Ahh~" Chen Xi yawned. While others saw nothing amiss, Chen Xi realized this was trained using a quick, deceptive method.
"Zichuan, don’t you think Feng Xiao’s words make sense?" Liu Bei, seeing Chen Xi drowsily yawning, seemed to have some intentions of testing.
"Uh, give me ten thousand people and a month to train them, achieving this degree isn’t difficult. I guarantee the other side can only march in step, turn, and line up." Chen Xi shrugged, indicating he had seen through everything.
Chen Xi estimated that if given ten thousand lazy college students, enforcing military law for violations, within twenty days training them to march in step, not requiring parade-like precision, just making the sound appear unified, there would likely be no issue.
It’s known that the human ear’s time resolution is 0.1 seconds, and a step takes about 0.5 seconds — a correction rate of as high as 20%. It’s not really about achieving the parade’s strict fractional correction error.
According to Chen Xi’s guesses on Sima Yi’s dark psychology, Sima Yi might already have eliminated upwards of a double-digit number of disobedient soldiers; if college military training had a death rate, within seven days each class could walk neatly in goose-step, but of course such inhumane actions are absolutely impermissible.
"Huh?" Liu Bei looked at Chen Xi in surprise, "One shouldn’t say such things carelessly."
"I wouldn’t carelessly say such things." Chen Xi pursed his lips, "If nothing unexpected happens, this method of deceit was likely learned from my side."
"Deceit?" Cao Cao, dissatisfied, glanced at Chen Xi, and all civil officials on Cao Cao’s side looked at Chen Xi likewise, yet Chen Xi wasn’t fazed at all.
"This is actually a kind of deceptive training method. I recall telling Wen Ru about it once, but Wen Ru thought I was too opportunistic and threw me out, then trained the army himself." Chen Xi spread his hands and helplessly stated.
"I remember now, you’re saying this is a ceremonial guard. I recall there’s a book in the Library Pavilion specifically about training ceremonial guards and using them to intimidate people." Jia Xu looked up at the sky and, after a moment’s thought, remembered.
Upon finishing, Jia Xu, who originally appeared pensive, instantly lost interest in this army, understanding it was entirely for fooling people. However, one has to admit, it really could fool others — even he was briefly fooled.
"Zichuan, you can randomly eat things but not say things randomly." Chen Qun, a bit speechless, looked at Chen Xi. Although Chen Xi’s expression was as if nine out of ten the matter were true, revealing it so directly wasn’t beneficial for anyone.
"Wait to ask Lord Cao’s eldest son about it when he arrives, and you’ll know." Chen Xi laughed loudly, suddenly feeling aged as if Cao Ang were almost as old as him.
Cao Ang indeed didn’t keep Cao Cao and Liu Bei waiting long, arriving soon after. Cao Cao looked Cao Ang over, slightly weathered, and nodded with satisfaction, "Well done."
Cao Ang humbly paid his respects immediately. Upon seeing Cao Ang, Chen Xi finally realized Zhao Yun seemingly had many enemies too. Fortunately, Ma Yunlu knew to keep hidden.
[Cao Ang probably isn’t interested in Ma Yunlu either. Cao Ang likely needs a proper lady; Ma Yunlu doesn’t fit the requirement at all. No wonder I always felt something was unusual about General Guan bringing Ma Yunlu back.] Chen Xi thought, stroking his chin.
Meanwhile, Cao Cao was sincerely inquiring about Cao Ang’s army, and Cao Ang’s response indeed matched Chen Xi’s expectations.
"Sima Zhongda truly is a genius." Cao Cao praised without reservation, "To think of such methods to let you decisively eliminate the Southern Huns. How do you plan to handle the Hun Chanyu and the Left and Right Virtuous Kings?"
"Chanyu Huchuquan drank too much a few days ago, went to the stables at night to relieve himself, accidentally fell, and drowned with his head in the water trough." Cao Ang explained awkwardly.
This incident, this reason, made Cao Ang somewhat embarrassed to speak. A dignified Inner Qi Manifestation, to drown while intoxicated in a trough — he might as well say they killed him. They’ve done so, yet made such an excuse; it’s clearly a way to humiliate the opponent!
Jia Xu glanced inexplicably at Fa Zheng, but Fa Zheng shook his head, indicating it wasn’t his doing. Then Jia Xu turned his interest towards Sima Yi — an impressive talent to mold!
"How about the remaining two?" Cao Cao asked naturally, showing no trace of embarrassment.
"Right Virtuous King Liu Qubi was heartbroken over Huchuquan’s death and died of sorrow. We plan to bury him beside Chanyu Huchuquan." Cao Ang pulled at his lips, stating a situation clearly suspect to any fool, yet Sima Yi really went through with it.
"Left Virtuous King Liu Bao, due to the consecutive deaths of the Chanyu and Right Virtuous King, is exhausted and dull-witted now, seemingly not long for this world, with many Southern Huns’ warriors admiring the Chanyu and Right Virtuous King, voluntarily choosing to be interred with them." Cao Ang said, head bowed solemnly.
