Mythical Three Kingdoms

"That means this issue is basically resolved, and we should calculate the overall account now, Zichuan. You didn’t notify us when you did something so major; at the very least, you should have mentally prepared us!" Li Youu took a deep breath, gathering his exhausted energy, as yesterday’s event really exasperated him.

"Uh, I was also making casual moves back then, and it turned out like this, which was beyond my expectations." Chen Xi said rather helplessly, "I also didn’t expect Ji Xiang’s change to be this big."

"It’s best to file such matters, not to be taken lightly. If you weren’t adequately prepared, our priority would have shifted from unifying and exiting the Central Plains to combating the heretical sect." Guo Jia said solemnly.

"This kind of thing won’t happen again." Chen Xi also admitted the mistake with a serious expression.

"Next, we’ll address the issue of these captives, and perhaps communicate with Cao Sikong, since some of these captives are constructing roads from Chang’an to Hanzhong and direct to the Western Regions and Onion Ridge." Li Youu nodded, moving past these matters to address substantive issues.

"Hmm, that’s right, and those of them are quite numerous. But do you think they’d care about Miscellaneous Hun captives? Probably they’d directly distribute them to local personnel who would start construction and not bother afterward." Chen Xi retorted, and Li Youu remained silent, as he had considered this but was more concerned whether Cao Cao might covet this power upon discovering it unintentionally or through other channels.

"I think it’s better not to disclose this matter." Guo Jia and Chen Xi shared a similar judgment; though somewhat risky, on one hand, Cao Cao very likely didn’t know about this, and on the other, even if he did know, he wouldn’t have a starting point.

"I’ll reconsider this matter a bit more." Li Youu pondered for a while and decided to think it over again, as this is not a trivial matter.

"General Zhang and others suggested that after the summer harvest, we summon all local militia, Tuntian Soldiers, and veteran soldiers for a unified large-scale drilling." Chen Xi slowly opened up about it.

"Did you agree?" Guo Jia curiously asked.

"Even if I don’t agree, they would proceed; at most, no Tuntian Soldiers involved. This kind of thing is actually just routine notification; you really think if we disagree, they’d stop drilling soldiers? Moreover, in my view, this matter is quite beneficial." Chen Xi responded speechlessly.

Under Liu Bei’s rule so far, there’s not been strict completion of military and political separation, making civil officials appear more powerful relatively.

In reality, many affairs are simply routine notifications because those military generals see their own think tanks and civil servants being strong enough.

More than ninety percent of reports on this matter aim to see if the other party can provide good suggestions or lend a hand, while in truth, apart from Chen Xi, the others indeed cannot manage these generals during peacetime.

"Are we preparing for war? Planning to unveil the accumulated resources over the past years? This isn’t just routine notification." Guo Jia laughed upon hearing this.

"Yes, that’s the plan, ready to showcase the force of the massive army to Cao Mengde and Sunx Bofu, prompting them to recognize their impending defeat willingly. Perhaps it could stir up their fighting spirit, though that’s not important." Chen Xi chuckled. "It’s an expensive exercise."

"All registered soldiers need to be accounted for. I plan to field the so-called 600,000-strong army, equipped with weapons and armor, having reached a level of elite talent through battlefield experience; revealing them should be interesting." Chen Xi laughed lightly.

"Is it really that many?" Li Youu and Guo Jia gasped.

Even though Guo Jia knew that including the Tuntian Soldiers, the 600,000-strong army wasn’t an exaggeration, with a population close to 30 million and standing forces of only 200,000, but the 400,000 Tuntian Soldiers have always been there.

Yet, now you tell me all 400,000 Tuntian Soldiers have reached the elite standard? Our Main Battle Legion hasn’t even reached that level; are you joking!

"Of course... it’s a joke." Chen Xi laughed and cursed; there’s no such thing as a 600,000 elite army. You’re overimagining it.

"I figured so; how could that be possible?" Guo Jia murmured.

"Perhaps more than half of the 600,000 troops are veterans by now? Zichuan’s military system demoted many veterans below Centurion to serve as Centurions in the Tuntian Soldiers, and aside from core legions, other legions have consistently drawn from the Tuntian Soldiers as reinforcements." Li Youu slowly spoke.

Chen Xi nodded, "If the battle between Yuan and Liu was postponed a bit longer, with better hand cards at my disposal and more extended drilling time before the decisive battle, you might have seen 400,000 wartime-trained elite talents. For now, we can only say these are 600,000 veterans, with 200,000 of standing forces and 300,000 able to possess elite talents."

"Hiss!" Guo Jia gasped again, realizing that 300,000 veterans possessing elite talents; how did this accumulate? Speaking logically, the commonly used legions combined never amounted to 200,000 troops.

"This is terrifying." Li Youu shared the shock, while Chen Xi simply smiled.

Though Chen Xi’s military system has somewhat been criticized, enabling a soldier to sustain in the force until thirty without dying in battle, actually contributing to their rich experience during peak years, it retires veterans who haven’t achieved the Centurion rank.

Centurion may be only a leader of 100 men, but for soldiers mostly from humble backgrounds, serving for life generally amounts to being "Big Head" soldiers. So in reality, the mobilization of soldiers under Liu Bei far exceeds regular standards.

Yet practically speaking, these "Big Head" soldiers, retiring without disability, mostly in their early thirties, are still quite capable of fighting. Having gone through war and reached elite talent standards, returning to Tuntian Soldiers doesn’t imply slackened training.

And most of these get promoted by one level, serving as Centurions or middle-level officers among the Tuntian Soldiers.

These wartime-experienced soldiers, without mentioning other aspects, far surpass unbattle-tested Tuntian Soldiers in terms of experience. A large number of quality experienced veterans retiring and spearheading drills, knowing well that sweating is much better than bleeding.

This contributes to Tuntian Soldiers’ overall competency under Liu Bei, alongside Chen Xi retiring veterans annually and integrating them into Tuntian Soldiers as core leaders, sometimes expanding force scale to create wartime-experienced soldiers, sometimes scaling down to increase veteran percentages concerning battle-experienced Tuntian Soldiers.

Currently, using this constant inter-agency borrowing and adjusting method, nearly all Tuntian Soldiers under Liu Bei, apart from those newly recruited this year, have been to the battlefield, some even listed as Tuntian Soldiers, having transformed entirely into thirty-something experienced elite veterans.

Whereas, during the hard times, thirty might mean digging one’s own grave, but now, despite not living extravagantly, ensuring soldiers get enough to eat, even encountering meat once or twice monthly doesn’t matter what meat, thirty-year-old veterans are perfectly balanced in experience and physical strength.

Just like the Yuan Liu battle, when recruiting troops for Wei Yan in haste, unable to train new recruits, Liu Bei directly ordered retired veterans aged thirty to thirty-five to report, when more than twenty thousand elite veterans gathered at Mount Tai instantly.

These veterans, if categorized, half are genuinely possessing elite talents’ levels, instantly forming a very capable legion for Wei Yan.

This happened only at Mount Tai, while Mount Tai served as Liu Bei’s political center at that time, during the approaching war, housing more veteran soldiers was normal but didn’t account for thirty percent; it showed how many cards Chen Xi had back then.

As for now, Chen Xi secretly retained about 12,000 dual talent super elite infantry, approximately 170,000 elite legions, and around 200,000 wartime veterans.

Knowing Liu Bei’s conventional forces barely total 200,000, including only 20,000 dual talent super elite, 110,000 elite legions, with the remaining 70,000 to 80,000 used as rotation veterans.

This means the strength Liu Bei openly displays to suppress Sun Ce and Cao Cao doesn’t even illuminate half of the actual prowess; this is why Chen Xi isn’t afraid of Sun Ce and Cao Cao whatsoever. If Chen Xi understood naval strategy beyond shipbuilding, wouldn’t be Zhou Yu’s turn.

"I didn’t know we had such strength, how come?" Li Youu had suspicions but was still stunned upon Chen Xi unveiling it; witnessing Chen Xi’s accomplishments right under his nose truly amazed him.

"Don’t you know General Guan had previously found fault?" Chen Xi chuckled, "But I relied on my reputation to suppress this matter; nonetheless, in reality, they weren’t fully retired. I integrated them into Tuntian Soldiers serving as backbone for new recruits, enhancing their survival rates on the battlefield and rolling a snowball gradually."

Can Chen Xi say Yuan Shao almost shattered his snowball? During Yuan Shao’s assault, Liu Bei hastily gathered around 60,000 veterans, boosting their side’s strength substantially, even surpassing Yuan Shao after crossing the Yellow River with greater supply lines, yet indeed almost tearing Chen Xi’s whole conscription system apart.