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Chapter 208: Training Soldiers, Husband And Wife Are One

Bai Xiangxiu had long since come up with an adequate answer to this question. She was fortunate that she had been born into a family of scholars and truly had a very large library. Thus, Long Heng didn’t find her explanation suspicious when she did answer him. Truth be told, his suspicions towards Bai Xiangxiu had gradually changed over time into trust. It was a deep trust that came from the bottom of his heart.

“Wear your clothes and rest. If you need anything, Shu’er will be here to wait on you. I have a couple of things to take care of.” Long Heng had quite the list of things he needed to deal with. And at the top of that list was a method to train his soldiers for breaking the chained horses formation, followed by forging that weapon Bai Xiangxiu had described in the letter.

Bai Xiangxiu had to rest as well. Even though she felt that she should be helping Long Heng, it would have to wait until she was fully recovered. She wouldn’t able to think straight if she kept her body in its current state.

Long Heng had his hands full with his duties as Bai Xiangxiu slept the day away. He started with the weapon forging. The sickles he had collected from the city were too small for him to use in battle. They simply didn’t have the reach to cut through the horses’ legs. One of the biggest issues plaguing him was the shape of the sickle. Each attempt by the blacksmith only worsened his dissatisfaction with the weapon. It was while he was examining the blacksmith’s most recent attempt when a voice piped up from behind him, “It’s too short. The sickle needs to be longer, with an edge on each side of the blade as well. One side can be used to cut when stabbing forward, while the other side can shear off the legs in a single pull.”

Long Heng instantly recognized Bai Xiangxiu’s voice, though she’d tried to disguise it.

Long Heng turned back with a frown, “Why have you come?”

“I came over to take a look since I’ve gotten plenty of rest. I know a little bit about these sort of things,” Bai Xiangxiu advised after taking a closer look at the sickle. She was still dressed in men’s clothing, but that didn’t seem to deter her as she described the shape and size of the sickle in detail to the blacksmiths. At that moment, she was very grateful for the realistic descriptions from that television drama Water Margin. It was very useful in her current predicament.

Long Heng also felt that her words were useful, so he asked the blacksmiths to forge according to her advice. “We will have to wait for a while before it’s finished. Come with me. We will go back to the room.” A woman like her shouldn’t be loitering around in an army camp. However, she didn’t seem to be bothered by it. “But you still need to know how to train your troops right?”

“This… come with me then.” Resigned to this newfound courage of his concubine, Long Heng brought Bai Xiangxiu to the training grounds with him. There, they found the soldiers drilling on how to properly fall and leap to their feet quickly.

This is a good plan. As expected of Long Heng.

“You should erect some wooden pillars here, and let them learn how to shear the pillars with the weapon. The training will be complete when they are able to shear a row of pillars in half with a single blow.”

“It’s that simple?”

“Yes. Once the cavalry leading the charge have fallen, the cavalry behind them will not be able to get out of the way in time. They will continue to charge to the front and trample everything in their path, no matter human or horse. The chaos that follows will render a complete defeat to the linked horses formation.

“…I really want to read that book.”

“It’s been such a long time since I’ve read it. I no longer remember where I can find that particular book. Haha…”