"I humbly request the military advisor to point out the flaws in my previous methods," Hua Xiong, seeing that Li Ru didn’t show any intention of preferring death to dishonor, bowed and asked for guidance. Like most of the Xiliang military generals, he came from the ranks of commoners and mountain bandits, never having the opportunity to learn military strategy, mostly honing his skills on the battlefield and under the instruction of Li Ru.
Jia Xu felt somewhat envious. He, like Li Ru, was a strategist, and he believed he was no less capable than Li Ru, but the difference in their treatment was like night and day.
Even if Dong Zhuo perished, Li Ru would still be revered by the soldiers of Xiliang (this could be inferred from the historical fact that after taking Chang’an, the first thing Li Que and others did was to request official positions for Li Ru, which was later denied by Emperor Xian because Li Ru had someone poison the Young Emperor. These two nearly deposed the Emperor, forcing him to use such a pretext, showing how earnestly they sought official positions).
Hua Xiong still treated Li Ru with the utmost respect owed to a military advisor, with proper etiquette, without overstepping bounds—an astonishing thing for a man from Guanzi.
"We won’t discuss how you’ve trained your soldiers for now, but I can tell that they truly support you. However, your method of commanding troops has issues," Li Ru started by praising Hua Xiong’s troops before turning his focus back to Hua Xiong himself.
"That technique is too much of a burden on you. Although I’m not very clear about the physical condition of an Inner Qi Manifestation Rank expert, using four thousand men to execute moves that clearly equate to your full-powered strikes places too great a stress on your body! Your value shouldn’t be displayed in such attacks," Li Ru enunciated every word, explaining slowly just as he had when training the likes of Li Que, Guo Si, Fan Chou, and other bandits and mountain marauders into generals.
"Compromising a military general’s combat capabilities for the sake of one assault isn’t worth it. Instead, you should distribute your strength along the sharp blade. Perhaps the intensity of a straightforward attack is weaker than yours, but it has a wider coverage, and that kind of attack, according to Gongzheng, is akin to replacing a whole rank of soldiers with those who have achieved Qi Refining to Gang," Li Ru continued to elucidate, noticing that this group of silent and steadfast soldiers must resemble the Vanguard Camp.
"An entire rank of military generals at the initial stage of Qi Refining to Gang…" Hua Xiong found himself speechless.
"Yes, Gongzheng himself is not good with words and is notorious for his firm and upright nature, a pity that he serves under Lyu Bu," Li Ru sighed, "Moreover, with your kind of attack method, even faced with Fan Chou’s Xiliang Iron Cavalry, you’d be slaughtered!"
"Scattered yet orderly, disordered yet within formation…" Hua Xiong recalled Li Ru’s words when he had taught them cavalry tactics. The Xiliang Iron Cavalry’s formation was simple—loosely distributed but organized into small, effective attack groups. Such a formation, even if hit head on by his previous technique repeatedly, would at most lose a few hundred men. The damage was too spread out, affecting only those directly in the path of the attack.
"Your kind of attack is meant to intimidate, just like the bed crossbows we used against Beigong Boyu—not decisive in battle and unwisely draining too much combat power, not to mention harming the commander," Li Ru nodded to affirm Hua Xiong’s recollection and continued to educate him on leading elite troops.
"Because some commanders exercise too much control over their troops, and some military generals themselves are very strong, like you and Lyu Bu. Your full-powered strikes can disregard the Cloud Qi protection formed by ordinary soldiers, meaning that neither the Qi of Heaven and Earth nor the spontaneously condensed Qi of soldiers can withstand your Inner Qi. At such times, dense formations should be avoided, just like the Xiliang Iron Cavalry; Cloud Qi is insufficient for self-protection," Li Ru said, providing several examples to elucidate for Hua Xiong.
"So, are you saying that the Xiliang Iron Cavalry’s tactic is attrition?" Hua Xiong looked at Li Ru with shock, as he had never known this.
"Initially, yes, but later, not anymore. However, by that time our cavalry had gotten used to that formation and since it didn’t affect their combat power, I didn’t make further adjustments," Li Ru shook his head and said, "Armies remember the tactics they often use themselves; this doesn’t need training, because the veterans guide the new recruits and make them just like themselves."
"You scared me, I had always thought that the Xiliang Iron Cavalry was among the elite of the world; how could they be so weak?" Hua Xiong felt much more at ease.
"Elite they may be, but there’s still a certain gap with the very top tier of troops," Li Ru said, shaking his head, not agreeing with Hua Xiong’s statement.
As for Jia Xu, who had silently turned his head to look out the window, other Feudal Lords’ elite forces are counted by the hundreds, at most by the thousands. Your Xiliang Iron Cavalry formations are directly in the tens of thousands. How can they compare? At any time, quantity can create quality. For example, how did the Flying Bear Army come to be?
"The troops you are now leading are infantry, and you have a great number in your forces, which have also reached the level of elite. It’s okay to let that go; you need your own tactics to excel," said Li Ru, decisively, "The Flying Bear Army’s tactic is ferocity, the Vanguard Camp’s tactic is stability, and the White Horse Soldiers’ tactic is speed! After you eliminate personal problems, the choice becomes a matter of direction of development!"
"Strategist, I still have three thousand Xiliang Iron Cavalry at Mount Tai, the same forces I had in Xiliang, and a vice-general capable of leading an army independently, holding a thousand infantry. However, the Lord has already expressed that these people are all my Private Troop," Hua Xiong said somewhat awkwardly.
Upon hearing this, Jia Xu turned his head to look at Li Ru, and both exchanged glances, each deep in thought.
"Eight thousand mixed troops, it seems Liu Xuande treats you very generously. The tactics required for this kind of troop are complex, but the advantage is that they can handle any kind of troops and don’t have the issue of being countered. For instance, if the Vanguard Camp encounters the White Horse Soldiers in a specific terrain, they could completely annihilate the White Horse Soldiers. Speed is adequate, but the weakness is just too obvious," Li Ru said with obvious contempt. He really couldn’t respect the White Horse Soldiers; their attack might be high, their speed fast, but did their weakness need to be so conspicuous?
"Please, Strategist, enlighten me on the method of command," Hua Xiong earnestly requested.
"You won’t be able to learn that method. I’ll teach you a Military Formation that requires a variety of troop types instead. When the time comes, I’ll teach you step by step. As long as you can use it, that’s enough. Unless you face someone too formidable, it’ll be hard to break," Li Ru shook his head, indicating that Hua Xiong’s intelligence was too low to learn it, so he planned to teach him a Military Formation that could make use of all troop types. He just needed to sufficiently practice the usual three to five variations.
Upon hearing Li Ru’s words, Jia Xu was taken aback. He knew Li Ru was adept in formations, and if the troops Hua Xiong was commanding were so hard to train, then it could only be one formation: one of the ultimate variations of the Xuanxiang Formation, Li Ru’s enhanced version of the Eight Gates Golden Lock, the Eight Gates Heavenly Lock, a formation that couldn’t be managed without intelligence.