Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 527 Xia Ren Fu Tiandu, Gathering Troops and Drumming

December 30th, the twelfth year of the Great Xia Dynasty, midnight
It is about a mile south of Donggu City.

call…………

Forty black military tents stood firm in the wind, surrounding a wooden watchtower several tens of meters high, with a large black and gold banner at the top of the tower fluttering in the gale.

The large golden character "夏" (Xia) on the flag shone brightly under the intense light of the torches, making it exceptionally eye-catching.

At the top of the tower, five soldiers clad in golden armor were chatting idly while gazing around.

"Tiandu, I heard that our central army may not need to fight anymore. We just need to keep an eye on Donggu City and prevent the 50,000 troops in the city from moving."

Upon hearing Meng Tian's words, Fu Tiandu was stunned for a moment, then asked anxiously, "How is that possible? Didn't Commander Xiang already bring 10,000 troops here? How can we be afraid of not being able to take down such a small city as Donggu?"

Meng Tian shook his head and said, "The Wuchuan army has been holed up in the city, which shows that they know they are not as strong as us. Attacking a city is not the same as normal warfare. If they attack rashly, even if they capture the city, they will suffer heavy losses. Marshal Luo will definitely not launch a major siege easily."

Upon hearing this, Fu Tiandu's expression immediately turned ugly.

Not only him, but Meng Tian's expression was also unpleasant when he said this, as were the other three middle-aged soldiers on the tower.

"We finally had a battle, and we thought we could earn some military merits, but we haven't even clashed with Wuchuan yet, and we haven't killed a single enemy soldier. Is this great battle going to end in such a muddle?"

"I think it's about time. Longgu Town has already surrendered, and Beishuo Baimu City was breached last night. Yang Jian was killed, and Yang Fa was captured alive. Xu, the deputy commander, just brought news an hour ago that Beishuo City has also been breached by the lord's army. Yang Jian, Yang Fa, and all the Yang clan members have probably already been publicly executed. Two of the five northern towns have already fallen, including the strongest, Beishuo Town. The remaining three towns are probably all considering surrendering..."

"The Left Route Army has really made a name for itself this time. In the two major battles of Baimu City and Beishuo City, the lords personally went to the battlefield and even took action. In just four days, they have basically conquered Beishuo. After this Northern Expedition ends, the Left Route Army will probably have a lot more people who will be granted titles."

………………

Upon hearing the words of his three comrades, Fu Tiandu's expression grew even more anxious, and a hint of impatience even appeared in his pupils.

"How could I not fight? I'm still 320 military merits away from the lowest rank of ninth-grade Xuanling Viscount. If I miss this great battle, I'm afraid I'll have to waste several more years. I can barely afford to buy Tiger Power Pills, Dragon Carp Pills, Green Cod Pills, Black Fiend Pills, and other pills that can boost my strength. Not to mention the Crimson Spirit Pills that can help me further improve my battle physique, and the Rising Sun Pills that come later..."

Fu Tiandu was not born and raised in the Great Xia Dynasty; he came from the Hezang region.

On the night his family was destroyed in the eighth year of the Great Xia Dynasty, he was chased by his enemies. In his panic, he fled into the family's silver vault, where he unexpectedly encountered a cat-shaped monster that was stealing silver.

At that time, Fu Tiandu only had the strength of the Cold Resistance level. Logically speaking, the cat demon could have killed him easily. But for some reason, the cat demon saw something in him and not only did not kill him, but also said that it would help him escape to safety.

On the condition that he agrees to let the cat demon reside in his body.

At that time, Fu Tian was filled with despair and only wanted to live. Even though he knew that the cat demon was no good, he could only agree.

His enemies were all very powerful and resourceful. Even though the cat demon was extremely skilled at hiding, he was still chased all the way. Seeing that neither Caiqiu nor Chencang was safe, with the cat demon's advice and assistance, he finally risked his life to cross the Nine-Bend Blood Corridor and escaped to the southern foothills, where he finally got rid of his enemies and settled down.

After settling down, Fu Tiandu's next step was naturally to improve his strength and prepare to return for revenge.

He witnessed his parents, brothers, sisters, and all his relatives being slaughtered by his enemies. Coupled with being hunted down for half a year, the overwhelming hatred that had accumulated in his heart had long made revenge his only motivation to live.

Tragically, having just escaped the tiger of his enemy, he was now controlled by the jackal of the cat demon.

The cat demon led him to escape from the River Treasure and helped him pass through the Nine-Bend Blood Corridor to completely escape the pursuit of his enemies. Once they reached the southern foothills, the cat demon began to reveal its true form and led him to various camps to steal silver.

Fu Tiandu came from a respectable background and naturally resisted theft. However, firstly, he was already under the control of the cat demon, and secondly, the cat demon used silver as bait, always leaving him a portion of the stolen silver to buy cultivation resources.

Using both carrot and stick tactics, along with threats and inducements, Fu Tian had no choice but to agree. From the moment they arrived in the southern foothills, the cat demon had been in charge of and controlling all their actions.

Until finally, they arrived at Hongmen City!

Although Daxia was only a town-level camp, it had two magical items for dealing with monsters: small torches and yellow candles. The cat demon controlled his body and stole silver twice in Hongmen City before he was almost caught by the people of Daxia.

He was terrified that time. In addition, the cat demon kept secretly spreading cat plague in Hongmen City. He guessed that the cat demon was brewing some great disaster, which was very likely to affect all the living beings in the city. He was both shocked and afraid, and even tried to break ties with the cat demon.

Of course, the consequence was that he was tortured by the cat demon again.

After encountering danger in Hongmen City, the cat demon was not afraid at all. Instead, he developed a strong interest in the Great Xia Dynasty and even asked him to participate in the martial arts competition that year, planning to sneak into Xia City.

Fu Tian knew he couldn't get rid of the cat demon, and his heart was already filled with despair. He could only follow the cat demon's orders like a puppet on a string.

But who would have thought that things would take such a dramatic turn!

Fu Tiandu, after all, came from a powerful family in a vassal state and was quite talented. He directly entered the top ten of the youth group in the martial arts competition of the ninth year of the Great Xia Dynasty and unexpectedly gained the opportunity to meet Lord Xia Hong.

Meeting Lord Xia Hong was the beginning of a turning point.

The cat demon's clever hiding methods were completely exposed in front of Xia Hong.

Fu Tiandu remembered very clearly that when he entered the main hall, Xia Hong immediately noticed the abnormality on him and even pointed out that the cat demon was on him. He was quite frightened at that time.

It should be noted that among those who were chasing him were experts at the Tribulation Realm, yet they were all fooled by the cat demon. This demonstrates the cat demon's exceptional skill in concealment. The cat demon must have been extremely confident in his abilities, which is why he dared to let him infiltrate Xia City under the pretext of participating in the martial arts competition.

To everyone's surprise, Xia Hong saw through it at a glance and easily dealt with the cat demon in no time.

Fu Tiandu originally thought that Xia Hong would kill him. He knew very well that for someone in such a high position, someone like him, who was at the Yuhan level, was insignificant.

He had even considered that if Xia Hong insisted on killing him, he would have no choice but to reveal his identity or even expose some of the secrets of He Cang in hopes of saving his life. But to his surprise, Xia Hong not only spared his life but also allowed him to join the Great Xia Dynasty, and even gave him the rewards for his ranking in the martial arts competition as usual.

"No need. His talent and ability are indeed quite good. He got ninth place through his own efforts, so there's no reason to invalidate it. Doesn't he owe 100 million taels of silver? Let's convert the reward into a payment so he can pay off part of the debt first, and then pay off the rest later."

Even after three years, Fu Tian still remembers Xia Hong's words clearly. Although his family has long been destroyed, he still retains some of the arrogance of a warlord's son.

But at that moment, he really started to waver!
He was already somewhat shocked by everything in Hongmen City, but after arriving in Xia City, he realized even more clearly that Great Xia was definitely not the ordinary town-level camp he had previously known.

For Xia Hong, dealing with that cat demon might be a trivial matter, but for Fu Tiandu, it was a life-saving favor.

Furthermore, Xia Hong showed no concern whatsoever about the stolen six million taels of silver, and even only asked him to repay the one million taels he had used. Such magnanimity truly shocked Fu Tiandu.

From that moment on, Fu Tiandu made a decision to make Daxia his second home. He could no longer return to Hezang, so to be more precise, it should be his only home from now on.

Unbeknownst to him, he had already spent three years in Daxia. Looking back, Fu Tiandu felt only gratitude for his decision at the time.

Over the past three years, he has seen clearly that the development speed of Great Xia can no longer be described as fast; it is simply terrifying.

Not to mention the explosive growth in the number of people in the Cold-resistant class, the key point is that in the last two years, the number of people in the Sun-like class has also started to explode, which is really frightening.

Of course, Fu Tiandu, who had spent three years in Daxia, was also clear about what was behind this terrifyingly rapid development.

The Sacred Cauldron, the Ancestral Spirit Stele, the Martial Arts Pavilion, the Weapon Refining Pavilion, and the Alchemy Pavilion... Upon first witnessing the mysterious and wondrous architecture of the Great Xia Dynasty, Fu Tian was utterly shocked. Especially after personally cultivating in the Martial Arts Pavilion several times, and later when the Great Xia Sacred Mark grew between his eyebrows, he was almost certain that it was only a matter of time before the Great Xia Dynasty caught up with and even surpassed the Hezang.

He could even assert that this period of time would not be too long.

Thanks to Lord Xia Hong's exceptional leniency, the Logistics Department did not impose overly strict requirements on his debt repayment progress. Each month, he was only allowed to use half of his income to repay his debts, while the other half was left for him to purchase cultivation resources normally.

The reward for placing ninth in the martial arts competition already offset part of his debt. Fu Tiandu came from a military region, so his knowledge was naturally far superior to that of ordinary people. With this extraordinary knowledge, coupled with enough diligence, he paid off his debts in just two years.

Of course, since half of his income was used to pay off his debts, his cultivation progress was indeed slowed down a bit. However, considering that he had used the one million taels of silver to buy cultivation resources to improve his strength, the two offset each other, so his progress had simply returned to normal and had not actually been slowed down.

After two years of paying off his debts and one year of cultivation, Fu Tiandu has basically come to regard himself as a true Xia person. His only goal now is to improve his strength so that he can return to Hezang to take revenge as soon as possible.

In the Great Xia Dynasty, the fastest way to obtain cultivation resources is to join the army. So Fu Tian didn't think twice. Two years ago, after paying off his debts and regaining his freedom, he became a true Xia citizen and immediately participated in the army's assessment.

His strength was already formidable; otherwise, he wouldn't have made it into the top ten of the youth group. The military assessment was a piece of cake for him. Originally, he wanted to join the strongest Cloud Flood Dragon Army and Dragon Martial Army, but those two armies were highly sought after and were already full. If he wanted to join then, he could only go to the reserve force and would have to wait for a vacancy to open up in the military before he could be added.

Although reserves can also act alongside the army, the treatment of the two is vastly different. Moreover, the Great Xia has been at peace for a long time, and who knows when a vacancy will become available? He is eager to improve his strength and is naturally unwilling to wait.

By a twist of fate, he was noticed by Lord Luo Yuan, the then-commander of the Tiger and Leopard Army and the head of the Hunting Department of the Great Xia Dynasty, and thus he joined the Tiger and Leopard Army.

Before he knew it, he had been in the Tiger and Leopard Army for more than a year. Thanks to the army's generous treatment and his own efforts, he not only had the strength of 48 manes, but had also become the flag bearer of the Tiger and Leopard Army.

The Great Xia Army has been established for more than a decade, and its various systems have become relatively mature. The promotion system for soldiers has also given rise to a set of default procedures.

The most recent change to the military system of the Great Xia was two years ago when the Allied Forces were established. Currently, the military system of the numbered army is 20 men per team, with one captain; 10 teams make up a battalion, with one colonel; 10 battalions are the lowest level, the ninth-level army, with a commander-in-chief; the next level, the eighth-level army, has 25 battalions, with two commanders-in-chief each leading 10 battalions, one general leading the entire army, and an additional five battalions of personal guards.

In addition to this top-down system, the allocation of military branches in each army still follows the previous tradition, with each army assigning one-tenth of its most elite personnel to the scout battalion.

In addition to the scout battalion, each army also had five flag bearers responsible for carrying flags on the battlefield, moving according to the commander-in-chief's orders, and indicating the direction of attack for all soldiers.

Because the task of the flag bearer is heavy and extremely dangerous, those who can take on this position must be the elite of the elite, basically the top group of the army.

For this reason, the position of flag bearer is not low in the army. Since they are usually selected from all the captains, their status is second only to the captains.

There is a widely circulated saying in the Xia army that the flag bearer is the key to promotion to captain. Once you become a flag bearer, you have a great chance of being promoted to captain.

"My goal is to become a captain. I need military merit, I must have military merit. Only by being granted a title can I obtain a large amount of extra cultivation resources, as well as all kinds of generous benefits, and even some precious pills that people without a title simply cannot buy."

In recent years, the population of Great Xia has exploded, and resources have become increasingly scarce. The supply of elixirs has become tight, and prices have risen higher and higher. Even precious elixirs like the Yang-Boosting Pill are only available for purchase by those who have been granted titles, and in limited quantities. Furthermore, the access to cultivation slots in the Martial Arts Pavilion has become increasingly restricted, and prices have become increasingly exorbitant...

From these basics, it's clear that in the future, whatever good things come, the first to be given preferential treatment will definitely be those who have been granted titles. Therefore, granting titles and military merits are essential..."

Fu Tiandu's mind was filled with countless thoughts, but when he finally came to his senses, he remembered what Meng Tian had just said: that his central army might not be able to engage Wu Chuan in a direct battle. His mood immediately plummeted.

Not engaging in battle doesn't necessarily mean there will be no military merit, but it will certainly be greatly reduced. In that case, it will be a long time before he is granted a title.
Of course, it wasn't just Fu Tiandu; Meng Tian and the other three flag bearers were also in low spirits.

"Thump thump thump thump..."

The silence among the five was quickly broken by a burst of rapid drumbeats.

"The continuous sound is the drumbeat signaling the troop assembly!"

"Is the fight about to start?"

"Look down, the commander-in-chief is coming out of his tent, and so is Governor Xiang..."

"Not only that, they've all come out! It's really going to start a fight, hahaha..."

(End of this chapter)