Pick up a princess to be your wife

The burly man raised his hand to block, but Zhao Cuo's leg swept across the burly man's arm.

At that moment, a force that was almost impossible for him to resist came from the strong man's arm.

His arm couldn't withstand Zhao Cuo's impact and instead struck his cheek, causing his massive body to flip to the ground almost instantly.

Before he could get up, Zhao Cuo, who had landed, pressed him to the ground and rained punches on the back of the burly man's head.

The burly man did not lose his fighting ability after falling to the ground. He first protected the top of his head with both hands, then struggled to push Zhao Cuo away, and then suddenly got up.

Enraged, the burly man swung his fist at Zhao Cuo.

"court death!"

Zhao Cuo directly exchanged a punch with the burly man. After their fists collided, the burly man realized that this short man was not as weak as he had imagined.

The burly man tried to throw another punch, sending Zhao Cuo flying, but Zhao Cuo's foot had already kicked the burly man in the abdomen.

The burly man staggered back several steps, and Zhao Cuo, who had landed, charged forward again, delivering a fierce knee strike like a tiger descending a mountain, heading straight for the burly man.

Before the burly man could even regain his footing, Zhao Cuo knocked him several steps away, causing him to fall heavily to the ground, nearly vomiting blood.

Zhao Cuo was about to continue, but the burly man waved his hands repeatedly, like a dead fish.

"I'm done fighting, I surrender, the battalion commander is yours."

Zhao Cuo's shoehorn stopped right on the burly man's face.

He snorted coldly: "Hmph, you're convinced so easily? How boring."

In fact, Xiao Yunfei had already reached a conclusion in his heart: this burly man might not be a match for Zhao Cuo.

On that day at Yanwo Ridge, among the fifteen masked men, one was more ferocious than the others.

That ruthless man was not tall, but he was exceptionally agile and strong.

If Xiao Yunfei wasn't mistaken, it was this person.

"Name."

"Zhao is wrong."

"From now on, you will be the battalion commander of this battalion."

"Yes."

Xiao Yunfei glanced around and said loudly, "If any battalion still has any dissatisfaction, feel free to challenge their battalion commander. Whoever wins the challenger's challenge will become the battalion commander."

Within the ranks, many immediately challenged their respective battalion commanders.

Some won and became the new battalion commanders. Others were utterly defeated.

After a morning of competition, eight or nine battalion commanders were replaced.

Lunch was more plentiful than Li Mu had imagined. There were plenty of steamed buns, and everyone was given a piece of meat with some fat.

During the meal, Xiao Yunfei walked back and forth among the crowd.

"Regardless of whether this campaign against the bandits succeeds or fails, I will select the group of people with the greatest military achievements from among you to stay in the army camp."

I will give you a chance, but whether you stay or leave is entirely up to you. I will not force you to do so.

These words caused an uproar among everyone.

If one could join the army and become a professional soldier, it would be equivalent to receiving a government salary.

Most of the people present were living a precarious life, and who wouldn't want to join the army and become a professional soldier?

"I don't have much time to give you for training now, only three days, after which we will be attacking Tiger Head Stronghold."

To survive on the battlefield, you must train ten times harder in the next few days. Do you all understand?

"Understood!" the crowd answered in unison, their shouts deafening.

Xiao Yunfei had previously lost seventy men, and he urgently needed to replenish his forces.

But he doesn't accept just anyone; he only wants elite soldiers who dare to fight and take risks.

He hoped to discover some promising talents among this group, ideally increasing the number to over three hundred.

"I'll give you one more incense stick's time to eat. After the meal, you'll begin training immediately!"

"Yes!"

To think that you can build a well-trained army in a few days is wishful thinking.

What Xiao Yunfei had to do was to keep encouraging them over the next three days, helping them to muster their courage.

He will only have a chance of winning if these people are not afraid of death.

During this time, Xiao Yunfei would occasionally glance at Li Mu.

In the past few days, Li Mu has not shown any special performance, nor has he challenged the battalion commander from time to time like the others.

He continued to practice and performed adequately.

Weapons and equipment gradually arrived, and everyone received a sword, including several hundred broadswords.

Narrow swords were the main weapon of the Great Yan Dynasty army, but now broadswords have begun to be used in the army.

While a broadsword is not as agile as a narrow sword, in head-on combat, a broadsword is far more lethal than a narrow sword.

Besides the swords, no one knows where Yu Rong got six or seven hundred suits of armor from.

Although most of them are just scrap metal, wearing them can significantly increase your defense.

There were also one hundred horse bows, a number of arrows, and thirty warhorses.

The best equipment was secretly distributed by Xiao Yunfei to his own men. Besides giving one set of armor to each battalion commander, all the other armor was given to the officers and soldiers within the battalion.

The others had only a knife and a wooden shield.

After several days of training, Xiao Yunfei gathered everyone together.

The progress of these three thousand people from initially standing crookedly to now being able to line up neatly is remarkable.

In Li Mu's view, Xiao Yunfei had some skill in training troops. However, he mostly followed the rules verbatim, and his skills weren't particularly outstanding.

After Xiao Yunfei finished his pre-battle mobilization speech, he loudly announced the start of the expedition.

Led by thirty cavalrymen, three thousand men stood in neat rows, ready to leave the city.

The roadsides were lined with people.

As soon as the city gates opened, this hastily assembled army marched toward Zhangxianling, the stronghold of Hutou Village.

Zhangxianling is fifty li away from Luyang County. The army arrived at the foot of Zhangxianling in less than three hours.

The summit of Zhangxianling is surrounded by cliffs on three sides, and one side is formed by a concave shape of piled stones, with a stone staircase in the middle leading to the gate of the mountain village.

You can see the mountain village perched atop the peak from afar; it looks just like a castle.

"Tiger Head Stronghold's location is good. It has a sloping front, steep slopes on both sides, and a cliff on the back. There's only one stone staircase in the middle to get in and out of Tiger Head Stronghold. To take it up, it would probably take three thousand regular troops," Xiao Yunfei said thoughtfully, looking at the map and then at Tiger Head Stronghold in sight.

“But once Tiger Head Stronghold is breached from the front, won’t the stronghold become their prison?” Ge Desheng, dressed as an ordinary soldier, squinted and smiled.

"Difficult." Xiao Yunfei shook his head.

"Young general, what I mean is that mountain bandits are all cunning. We could tell from our last encounter with Tiger Head Stronghold that they are probably even more cunning than ordinary mountain bandits."

How could such cunning bandits possibly confine themselves to a single area? Therefore, there must be other secret passages leading in and out of the stronghold.

Ge Desheng said.