Zhao Hu stood at the front of the line, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. He didn't utter a single unnecessary word, only using his eyes to confirm the orderliness of the line.
Tie Dun stood beside him, holding a huge wooden sign with the numbers and locations of the various legions written on it.
He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Night Whisper Legion, stand on the left! Crescent Moon Legion, stand on the right! Native brothers, stand in the middle! Line up according to the ranks we just divided! Don't push! You won't be moved; everyone will get a spot!"
In the middle of the queue, Su Yuehua was holding a roster and quickly explaining the next steps to a row of Awakened who had just finished registering.
Shi Pojun followed silently behind her, his huge shield resting against his legs. Occasionally, someone would approach him to ask for directions, and he would simply raise his hand and point to indicate the corresponding location.
The crowd began to regroup as instructed, the noise gradually subsided, and a solemn and grand atmosphere quietly gathered in the air.
Just as the various formations were gradually taking shape, a golden figure leaped down from the towering city tower of Hangu Pass.
Lin Feng stopped in mid-air, hovering about ten meters in the air at the forefront of the army, his hands behind his back, his gaze calmly looking over the dark sea of people below.
The three formations—Night Whispers, New Moon, and Indigenous People—were arranged neatly under the direction of Zhao Hu and Su Yuehua.
From the upgrade of the Terracotta Warriors last night, to the deployment in the council hall this morning, and now the gathering outside the South Gate, everything is proceeding meticulously according to his plan.
This expansion is unprecedented in scale, with a massive force of 500,000 people, most of whom are ordinary people and low-level awakened individuals who have not yet undergone rigorous training.
Hangu Pass is far from Fenghuo City. If they were to march on foot, it would take more than ten days just to get there.
He doesn't have that much time to waste.
Lin Feng snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at the gradually quieting crowd below.
The breaths of more than 200,000 people mingled with the sound of the wind, echoing across the land outside the South Gate, as everyone waited for the man to speak.
"Set off."
Lin Feng's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.
The moment he finished speaking, he stomped his foot.
"Swift March!"
A pale blue halo emanated from him, spreading outwards like ripples and instantly enveloping the entire army.
The halo brushed against the hem of everyone's clothes and the tips of their hair, and everyone felt a sudden lightness in their bodies, as if an invisible giant hand was gently but firmly pushing them from behind.
A formation of over 200,000 people took the first step simultaneously.
The massive army, like a sword drawn from its sheath, officially set off towards Fenghuo City.
...
Sixteen days later, in the afternoon, two hundred li south of Hangu Pass.
A black torrent stretching for more than ten miles is steadily advancing northward along the official road.
Three hundred and ninety thousand elite Qin soldiers marched in dense square formations in the center, their black armor plates gleaming with a dark, cold light in the afternoon sun, resembling a moving steel forest.
Tens of thousands of Qin elite soldiers were interspersed among the ranks, their long halberds pointing diagonally to the sky, exuding a chilling and murderous aura.
On the left and right flanks of the army, the Night Whisper Legion and the Crescent Moon Legion each deployed nearly 100,000 men, their legion banners fluttering in the wind.
At the very center of the procession was the largest beacon guard formation, its thickness and density far exceeding that of the flanks. The footsteps of hundreds of thousands of people converged into a continuous, low rumble, spreading northward along the official road, causing the earth to tremble slightly.
Behind the [N O V E L I G H T] column, the county soldiers' supply train stretched out in an extremely long line.
Pack animals and carts loaded with tents, provisions, and spare arrows lined up in rows, their axles creaking continuously and dully on the dirt road.
On the left flank of the Night Whisper Legion, Tie Dun rode on a pack animal, following behind Zhao Hu.
He turned his head and glanced at the back of the line, then couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Brother Tiger, I just counted, this line stretches for at least ten miles."
Zhao Hu kept his eyes straight ahead and said calmly, "Not only that, there are also supplies behind."
Tie Dun was silent for a moment, then sighed, "I used to think that leading five thousand men into battle was the most impressive thing ever."
"And now?" Zhao Hu asked.
Tie Dun patted the neck of the beast beneath him, a bitter smile on his face, looking utterly hopeless: "Now I think that five thousand men are at most a commando unit."
Look at our group of over 500,000 people... Good heavens, this isn't just traveling, it's like we're plowing up the entire plain! At this rate, by the time we're done, even our own mothers won't recognize the original path.”
Meanwhile, on the right flank of the team.
Riding on the back of a pack animal, Su Yuehua's eyes, sharp as a ruler, precisely scanned a square formation of the Crescent Moon Legion not far away.
She keenly noticed that dozens of soldiers in the back of the formation were whispering to each other, and the gaps between them were significantly wider than those on the sides. The people in the back had stepped on the heels of the people in front, causing the entire formation to begin to distort slightly.
Su Yuehua frowned slightly, turned to a messenger officer beside her and said in a deep voice, "Go tell their garrison commander that the entire army has marched more than a thousand miles, and their garrison has the worst military discipline. Tell him to immediately take charge of his troops."
The officer nodded in response and spurred his horse to gallop off in that direction.
Su Yuehua didn't spend much time confirming the execution status; her mount adjusted its pace slightly and returned to the correct position in the formation.
Soon, the noise in that formation quickly subsided as the officer approached, and the distorted formation slowly regained its order as they marched.
In the center of the army, at a low altitude of about twenty meters.
Lin Feng and Jiang Zhaoyue maintained the same speed as the ground army as they flew north.
A pale blue "Swift March" aura continued to spread from beneath his feet, gently enveloping the massive army formation below.
His gaze remained fixed straight ahead, beyond the flags of the vanguard and beyond the distant, faintly visible horizon.
Sixteen days have passed, and he silently reviewed the past two weeks in his mind.
When he set off from Hangu Pass, he took more than 200,000 people with him. Along the way, he recruited the local people to join him in every village and town he passed through, and the crowd grew like a snowball.
Upon arriving at Fenghuo City, another conscription team that had come from the west also joined them, finally bringing together the total number of 500,000 needed for expansion.
Subsequently, the stone gate of the Qin elite soldiers' camp, like a giant, insatiable maw, swallowed more than 400,000 people in batches.
He asked an awakened person who came out of the barracks. The person thought for a long time and only said that it felt like he came out not long ago, but his mind suddenly had combat skills and teamwork experience, as if he had been fighting in the barracks for many years.
Lin Feng didn't press the matter at the time. In the rules of the Nightmare World, some things don't need explanation; as long as they work, that's enough.
After waiting for ten days in Fenghuo City until everyone had finished training, he immediately led his troops north to begin this extreme defensive mission.
"What are you thinking about?" Jiang Yue Zhao's cool voice came from beside him, interrupting his thoughts.
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