"We have trained soldiers for a thousand days, and now is the time for them to be used. But not today! Da Qian and the Barbarian tribes are in a fight to the death. From today onwards, no one is to question the strategy of holding our ground! We will defend the city and wait for the enemy's mistakes!"
With Liang Xiao's command, the generals were enlightened and all promised in unison, their voices shaking the heavens.
Only then did Lü Yi relax.
As the Grand Marshal, he needed to stabilize the overall situation, and he needed a subordinate like Liang Xiao, who would show no mercy and do the unpleasant tasks he found inconvenient. Lü Yi would then be responsible for covering the aftermath and playing favorites.
The Northern Army camp, composed mostly of infantry, was inherently at a disadvantage against the Barbarian cavalry.
Relying on strategies like "waiting for the enemy to tire" was not realistic. The enemy could harass, flank, or even engage in guerrilla warfare, slowly wearing down the Da Qian soldiers, unless they could be forced into a decisive battle.
Winter was approaching. Even if they won now, Da Qian would not be able to pursue their victory.
The Great Ancestor of Da Qian's failed pursuit years ago, which nearly led to the annihilation of his entire army due to harsh weather, was a grim warning.
Most importantly, the Da Qian Iron Guards and the Heaven-Supporting Guards were on the verge of being fully trained!
After the military review, Liang Xiao went to the barracks of the Da Qian Iron Guards.
"Greetings, Commander!"
Ten thousand Da Qian Iron Guards, their appearance and spirit vastly different from before, all clad in armor and armed, saluted Liang Xiao.
Two thousand of them wore armor composed of over a thousand overlapping scales, with more than half wielding two-edged long sabers, forming the strongest iron wall of the Da Qian Iron Guards.
Lü Yi smiled with satisfaction, "How did you come up with the idea of having the Armory Directorate rush to produce this 'Bu Ren Jia'?"
Even Mu Hong, who was responsible for the production of these weapons and armor, cast a questioning glance at Liang Xiao.
The Bu Ren Jia was one of the key tasks that Liang Xiao had assigned to the Armory Directorate.
It was no small feat to mobilize craftsmen from all over the country to assist in the capital and produce over three thousand sets of Bu Ren Jia and a large number of other weapons in half a year.
Each suit had over eighteen hundred scales, and the Bu Ren Jia weighed fifty to sixty catties, providing near-complete body protection and making them fearless against the Barbarian cavalry!
Liang Xiao replied, "For the safety of the soldiers, we have to rack our brains!"
He had provided the concept and the basic design for these Bu Ren Jia, and with a slight improvement from Zhang Yang, they could be put into production.
Even now, with Liang Xiao's mind becoming more agile and intelligent, he felt there was no need for significant modifications at the moment.
The Da Qian Iron Guards wearing the Bu Ren Jia were all overjoyed, looking at Liang Xiao as if he were a living Bodhisattva.
They had the best equipment, and their families were well taken care of by the state.
Now, even if they were to serve as vanguards or suicide squads, they would have the confidence to do so!
With such heavy armor, their casualties would not necessarily be higher than those of the central, rear, or border armies!
Lü Yi couldn't help but touch a spare set of Bu Ren Jia placed on the table, marveling at it.
Initially, people thought Liang Xiao was too strict in selecting elites with the standard of carrying a hundred catties and running a hundred li in half a day.
It wasn't until the Bu Ren Jia were delivered to Yan Prefecture that the soldiers finally understood Liang Xiao's profound intentions.
Without sufficient strength and endurance, most people wearing such heavy armor would be exhausted and unable to walk far before collapsing from fatigue.
"However, the shock this thing has given me is no less than that of the Bu Ren Jia, the 'Cotton Armor,' or the 'Heng Dao'!"
Lü Yi picked up a two-edged long sabre, a zhang in length, his expression solemn, and sighed repeatedly, "Mo Dao, a good thing, it's no problem to cut an enemy in half..."
Everyone looked at the gleaming Mo Dao and nodded in agreement.
Liang Xiao smiled, "Forged and refined repeatedly with bin iron, the cost of one Mo Dao exceeds one hundred and thirty taels. How could it not be a good thing?"
Da Qian's bin iron output was impressive. It was essentially a type of steel. Bin iron that had been repeatedly smelted was of a quality close to the expensive 'Bai Lian Gang' and 'Yu Gang.'
Only then did everyone recall the cost of the Mo Dao and pouted, speechless.
Even the Bu Ren Jia cost only fifty to sixty taels, while the Mo Dao cost at least double...
A set of Bu Ren Jia and a Mo Dao already weighed sixty to seventy catties, not including spare sabres or crossbow bolts. The selection criteria for the Da Qian Iron Guards were indeed not exaggerated at all!
As the director of the Armory Directorate, Mu Hong was most aware of the difficulty in crafting Mo Dao. He sighed, "There are only over two thousand Mo Dao in Yan Prefecture, and they are still being produced and transported from the capital, escorted by the Feathered Forest Army. However, it still feels a certain distance from the power of the Marquis of An Guo's 'Manma Ju Sui'!"
Everyone then remembered the 'Manma Ju Sui' that Liang Xiao had mentioned. Lü Yi smiled and said, "It's enough if it can kill horses. To kill both man and horse in one go is indeed a bit exaggerated."
Lü Changhe pouted, wanting to speak but holding back.
He recalled Liang Xiao's heroic feat of transforming into the Heavenly General and killing Hu Yan Jueluo.
That was splitting both man and horse in two, before either army could even react!
Liang Xiao explained, "That is because the craftsmanship is limited, and there is insufficient guarantee for the quality and output of steel. My coming to Yan Prefecture is also to solve this problem!"
He now had better ideas for smelting steel. With Da Qian's existing productivity, and craftsmen recruited from all over the country, they had already been sent to Yan Prefecture.
Lü Yi, unable to hide his joy, whispered, "Low profile! Low profile!"
Liang Xiao laughed heartily, nodded, and his gaze fell back to the 'Heng Dao' equipped at the waists of the Da Qian Iron Guards.
The blade was straight and upright, extremely sharp, and primarily made of bin iron!
However, this material did not require the extremely demanding and sustained repeated forging like the Mo Dao, making it much easier to produce, and its cost was less than a tenth of that of the Mo Dao.
Lü Yi followed Liang Xiao's gaze to the Heng Dao and smiled, "A Heng Dao costs six taels, which is not cheap, but it's good that the entire Da Qian Iron Guard is equipped with them! Some elites in the army are also equipped with this Heng Dao, and it is indeed more effective than ordinary swords!"
Liang Xiao mused.
The cost of the Heng Dao was actually quite high, and ultimately it was due to Da Qian's limited steel production capacity...
However, without workers and craftsmen, even the most skilled person cannot cook without rice. These people were now converging on Yan Prefecture.
The workshops that Xiao Qing had entrusted Liang Xiao to secretly establish in Yan Prefecture were already experimenting with the steel smelting techniques Liang Xiao had left six months ago, and they had indeed produced a considerable amount of steel.
The Armory Directorate in the capital, guarded by the Shadow Guards, was also trying this method and had produced a good amount of usable steel, its quality not inferior to bin iron.
The Mo Dao produced subsequently would use this improved steel.
These Da Qian Iron Guards were also equipped with various special cotton armors, powerful crossbows, spears, and long sabers.
It was temporarily impossible for everyone to have a suit of Bu Ren Jia, but equipping them with high-quality armor and battlefield weapons was certainly achievable.
Nan Jiyun, standing nearby, finally couldn't help but laugh, "The military provisions of the Da Qian Iron Guards have made the soldiers in other camps extremely envious! Everyone is training diligently, hoping to reach the standard of a candidate for the Da Qian Iron Guards in the future!"
Everyone couldn't help but smile.
Just then, a herald reported, "Deputy Grand Marshal, the White Robe soldiers have finished their training. They heard you were at the Northern Army camp and said they wished to see you!"