Chapter 419

Chapter 419 - Training Exercises
TL: Lifeisajourney
As of now, Liu Gan had two identities. To everyone else and outsiders, he was Lord Liu. To these soldiers, they would refer to him as Dragon Commander. Within the military, ranks were strictly enforced. As a result, Dragon Commander and Zhan Nan Shan rarely communicated with their comrades for deeper understanding, so Liu Gan and QiuTao didn't have any fear of getting their covers blown. Even if someone found discrepancies in their statement, they could insist that it was classified information.
These soldiers and Zhan Nan Shan still don't know their secret mission. The soldiers were ordered to obey Dragon Commander and Zhan Nan Shan's orders. Naturally, that meant that they had to obey Liu Gan and QiuTao's orders now. So what Liu Gan wanted, they had to do. A obedient soldier would not question the mission or disobey a direct order.
The two months of planning by the original Dragon Commander and Zhan Nan Shan were merely for retrieving appropriate bodies and reviving the soldiers. During the most crucial moment, a sudden turn of events gave the schemers a taste of their own poison. Liu Gan and QiuTao came out as the victors by absorbing the essences of their enemies, but they had no intentions of revealing what had happened, so they continued to impersonate the dead men.
Where did the plan go wrong? How did it become a tragic ending, instead of the planned outcome by Zhan Nan Shan? The root of this tragic outcome was because they had chosen the wrong target. They should never have provoked Liu Gan. In fact, if it had been anyone other than Liu Gan, then the scheme would've been flawless. Any other poor soul wouldn't have survived the temptation of the reward capsule. They had chosen the one person that could foil their plans; they had chosen Liu Gan.
With the secret of the Mountain Valley Laboratory unraveled and the condition of Brave airship still undetermined, Liu Gan still had two other tasks he had to do. First off, he had to establish a brigade. This meant training all the able-bodied villagers. The second task was to scout Evil Dragon Gulf.
According to the intelligence report, Evil Dragon Gulf housed a general-ranked beast. Without anything else said, the danger level was very high. As of right now, Liu Gan hadn't finished integrating the absorbance of the spiritual essence. Considering all other variables, Liu Gan made the executive decision to establish his brigade, then scout Evil Dragon Gulf.
Establishing the brigade and training them was a pressing matter. After the second occurance of a catastrophic level event, there were abnormally high rates of Black-Spot Variant Zombies appearing in the wilds and city. These Black-Spot Variants were a huge threat to level 5 players, and needless to say, if any pre-level 5 players came upon them randomly then they would die for sure.
In the future, if there were a surge of Black-Spot Variants in a corpse tide attacking the Beginner Village, the current defensive fortifications wouldn't withstand the assault.
Large hordes of Black-Spot Variants could be a blessing and a curse. For low-level players, it was a chance to level up. Prior to the second catastrophic level events, the amount of Variant zombies and beasts were limited, so it was hard for level 5 players to progress further. With the sudden abundant supply of Black-Spot Variants, this was the golden opportunity for players and survivors to strengthen themselves.
To the soldiers, they witnessed the actions of their leader and it fit the role of a militaristic leader. With the agenda of forming a brigade, the soldiers never had any doubts about the authenticity of the Dragon Commander; they would do their best to match Liu Gan's agenda.
One of the best aspects of any militaristic sovereignty was the overwhelming military power. By appealing to the wishes of the people, it meant having a stronger military force. Han GuangMing, Zhao Meng, QiuTao, Jiang Jin-Yuan, Gao Sun, and two of the soldiers were all level 10. Establishing this brigade would be a lot easier with capable officers.
The zombies within the city had begun to transform into Black-Spot Variants. These zombies had begun to wander outward away from the city and into the surroundings areas, which happened to include the Beginner Village. Before a large group of Variants could gather, these small groups of wandering Variants were used as practice for upgrading squadron combat strength.
Liu Gan divided 4000 players into 5 battalions, with Han GuangMing, Zhao Meng, QiuTao, and the two level 10 soldiers as colonels. They would lead their own battalions into battle. Each colonel was assigned their own level 8 and 9 players to assist them. The colonels created memorable names for their own battalions, like Firestorm, Fearless, Eternal, Nightmare, and Predator.
With the higher level players powerleveling the bottlenecked level 4 players, they could kill a Black-Spot Variant and reach level 5. With their newfound abilities, the total tally of level 5 players increased the combat strength of the village. These five battalions took turns heading out for training exercises. They had to clear out any nearby wandering variants as part of the training exercises.
The importance of battalion tactics was not to be taken lightly. There were certain limitations when fighting as individual units, but when fighting with battalions it was possible to use long-term sieges. Players or survivors with defensive abilities would be on the outer ring, serving as tanks. Standing at the rear would be the offensive long-range ability users. In between the long-range users and the tanks would be the healers and supporters. When encountering enemies, the long-range users would fire the first attack. The second attack would be taken by mid-to-long range users, and the third attack by mid-to-close range users.
Lastly in close-quarters combat, the melee fighters would charge forth to meet the enemy. The moment someone got hurt, they would have to fall back while the tank stepped up to hold off the enemy. The wounded person would be escorted back to the battalion center by the supporters so healers could provide immediate medical care.
Many of these people were newcomers, most hadn't had a chance to step onto a battlefield before. Initially, they were quite flustered when doing their assigned duties. After continuous days of training, even the most unskilled person became more proficient. At the very least, when encountering different scenarios, they could adopt to them better than before. Through this harsh training program, it was hard to avoid accidents from occuring that would shrink the battalion. The ones eliminated by natural selection were the people with flawed personalities, the type of people unwilling to work in a group setting. If these people had survived, they would have been deadweights and a liability.
Following the outskirts of the city, the battalions were trimming down the Black-Spot Variant zombie population. With the five battalions taking turns to level up as a group, competition and rivalry naturally sprouted. Liu Gan suggested a slogan, "Eliminate the weakest link". That way the competition among the battalions wasn't to determine which one was the strongest, but to find out which battalion was the weakest.
After countless hours of training, the numbers of pre-level 5 players started to become extinct. Eventually, the number of level 5 players started to decrease, too. By the time the players with the lowest potential had reached level 6, others in the same battalion had reached level 7. While increasing the levels of individuals, their military power as a whole was now more capable of larger-scale operations.