Chapter 58: Feudal Lords from Other States and Prefectures
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"First, the more Yellow Turban soldiers you kill and the higher status they have, the more merits you receive.
"Second, listening to commands will earn you merits, whereas those who disobey commands will have their merits deducted.
"Third, if the Court triumphs, each and every person who has served with loyalty will be rewarded with merits according to your overall performance.
"Merits can be exchanged for official posts, weapons, forage, and skill books."
The commander, Ma Zhangtie, explained the merit system in simple terms. He was concise and efficient, not a single word of nonsense leaving his mouth.
After the simple introduction, the Han Army allocated all the feudal lords and free players to their respective camps.
There were 120 feudal lords and 1751 free players altogether in this Han Army Camp. These feudal lords had brought along 18,000 professional or local soldiers.
Chu Tian had thought that he would be able to meet the prominent figures of the late Eastern Han upon arriving at the battlefield of Julu Prefecture. The Northern General, Lu Zhi, and the three brothers, Liu, Guan, and Zhang, were all active on this battlefield.
However, the commander who kept guard of this military camp, Ma Zhangtie, was obviously just an ordinary mid-grade military officer of the Han Army, not a historical hero.
There were many more wooden stockades like this one.
The main camp of the Han Army was located outside Guangzong County Town, which was 15 kilometers from the camp where Chu Tian was.
Eastern Han in Feudal Lords was vast, and Guangzong District of Ji State was also ten times larger than in reality. Hence, the area of the battlefield was also massive. The camps of the Han Army and the Yellow Turban Army stretched out for several dozen kilometers.
It was now two days from the official launching of the first historical warfare, "Riot of the Yellow Turbans".
Throughout the warring period, Chu Tian didn't need to worry about providing food to the 800 soldiers under him. All the food would be supplied by the Han Army. However, the food given by the Court wasn't of good quality, Indeed, it was mostly coarse grains.
The food supplied by Xia Town to the soldiers was much better than this. Sometimes, Chu Tian would even purchase pork from the hoggeries of Xia Town as a reward for the soldiers. Hence, despite their meager numbers, the soldiers of Xia Town maintained a high morale.
"Let's make do with what we have."
Chu Tian was sitting on the ground along with Hua Mulan, Zhou Yafu, Liu Sandao, Gongsun Wu, Zhang Ding, Chen Feng, and many other soldiers from Xia Town.
He was secretly observing the other feudal lords.
These feudal lords might have come from the other states and prefectures of the Eastern Han. Small feudal lords only had several tens of soldiers.
Chu Tian noticed one of the feudal lords, whose army looked rather different from the others.
This was a feudal lord from the western protectorates.
There was another feudal lord from You State who had over 200 light cavalrymen under him, which captured the attention of many other feudal lords. Feudal lords of You State could develop cavalries at lower costs compared to other feudal lords in the urban area, which drew envy from the urban feudal lords.
Apart from Chu Tian, who had the greatest military strength, the two feudal lords from You State and the western protectorate were next in line. They were the most conspicuous among the 120 feudal lords.
"The feudal lord from the western protectorates is called Huo An. He has a military force of around 400 men, which makes him one of the more powerful feudal lords. That feudal lord from You State is called Prince Yan. He's probably one of the most powerful feudal lords of You State."
Chu Tian met the feudal lords from other states and prefectures for the first time. The developmental goals of feudal lords from different regions varied. Most feudal lords of You State focused on developing cavalries, while feudal lords from the western protectorates might recruit servant soldiers from the 36 nations of the West.
"Do not belittle the other feudal lords."
Chu Tian knew that there were almost higher mountains beyond the highest mountain, especially in the Eastern Han, where the competition was the most intense. The number of feudal lords was huge, so there were certainly people who were brilliant and resourceful among these feudal lords. Heroes might even be born among them. None of the feudal lords should be taken lightly.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yafu was observing the number of Han soldiers in this camp.
"This camp has 5,000 Han soldiers," Zhou Yafu quickly informed Chu Tian with a rough count.
"In other words, the entire camp consists of 5,000 Han soldiers, 18,000 voluntary soldiers, and 1,700 foreign people. In total, that's about 25,000 men."
Chu Tian realized that the scale of the war between the Han Army and the Yellow Turban Army was enormous, especially if a single camp itself consisted of 25,000 men.
The Han Army differed from the Yellow Turban Army.
The Han Army had smaller numbers, but they were all elites with a high average status. Among them were high-grade army types like the five divisions of the Northern Army and the cavalries of the three rivers.
The Yellow Turban Army had greater numbers, but their grades weren't as high, and neither were there as many elites among them.
"Brother, which prefecture are you from?"
The feudal lord from the western protectorates, Huo An, took the initiative to talk to Chu Tian.
All the other feudal lords, and even free players, in the camp couldn't help but glance at Chu Tian, who kept a low profile.
Chu Tian had the strongest military force among all these feudal lords. He should probably have a high profile, but Chu Tian hadn't really made any noise so far.
All the feudal lords and free players were eager to know the background of this feudal lord.
"Xu Prefecture, Langya Nation, I Just Want to Farm."
In fact, Chu Tian didn't mind making his name known or befriending other feudal lords. No one could know if some of the feudal lords they had befriended now would become their allies in the future. At first, not even Liu Bei and Sun Quan had thought that there would be a day when they would join hands and fight against Cao Cao.
His territory had been ranked among the top hundred for the past couple of months, so almost all the feudal lords of the Eastern Han had an impression of a great feudal lord named "I Just Want to Farm" in Xu Prefecture, more or less.
Just as expected, right after Chu Tian gave his reply, some players went to browse the ranking immediately. When they saw the name "I Just Want to Farm" on the ranking, they seemed to be in disbelief.
Even Huo An, the feudal lord from the western protectorates who had inquired about Chu Tian's name was stupefied.
The total prosperity level of I Just Want to Farm was ranked tenth in the Eastern Han!
Huo An marveled, "Goodness, I can't believe I ran into a feudal lord ranked among the top ten in the Eastern Han in this Han Army Camp. It is my honor indeed."
There were two great camps and three main battlefields, with each battlefield consisting of numerous camps. No one had an idea which camps the top ten feudal lords would be allocated.
Currently, Chu Tian was the only feudal lord in this camp who was ranked among the top ten in the Eastern Han.
"No wonder he has so many soldiers and horses. Infantry, archers, cavalry, he has them all!"
"The tenth-ranking feudal lord of the Eastern Han. I have no idea how he got so great. I went to great lengths to upgrade my territory to a Level 1 town, and I am not even ranked among the top one thousand in the Eastern Han."
"It's good enough for you to be among even the top three thousand. I am not even among the top ten thousand. I'm only joining this battle to take a look at how great Liu Guan Zhang, Lu Zhi, or Zhang Jiao are."
"I feel that with this meager amount of power that we have, we stand no chance of meeting Liu Guan Zhang."
These feudal lords became active after finding out that Chu Tian was the tenth-ranking feudal lord of the Eastern Han. The ambience in the camp was quite pleasant.
The feudal lord from the western protectorates, Huo An, requested to befriend him. Chu Tian was also glad to get acquainted with a feudal lord from the western protectorates.
The western protectorates guarded the borders of the Eastern Han. Their population was limited, and their soil was also not as fertile as that of the central plains. The feudal lords who chose to build their villages in the western protectorates more or less had the intention of safeguarding the borders.
Besides, the western protectorates were the point of intersection between the Eastern Han and other civilizations, as well as the NPC forces. Befriending a feudal lord from the western protectorates would enable him to grasp the changes in the western protectorates in very little time and allow him to guard against the invasion of the Eastern Han by other civilizations from the West.
Not a single square inch of the territories of the Eastern Han was to be taken by others.
-- Gift
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