The barracks is rather old, however, is quite well maintained, the wood is not rotting, the paint seemed to be slightly fading, but not to an extreme degree, and the doors seemed well oiled, the building itself gives off a rather strong smell of wood.

Were it not overpowered by the smell of sweat. 

The soldiers, although had been conscripted, seemed quite obedient, while simultaneously showing enthusiasm.

Dongan, Bingjiang, and various depots had been designated to be the areas that would be producing fresh troops.

Liu Two, feeling his legs slightly sore from standing for such a long time, felt relief as he finally stepped inside the tent, but felt slightly surprised seeing the person that was meant to examine him.

“Sister in law, why are here,” Liu One asked, forgetting his soreness.

“What rubbish, I’m a medic, of course, I’m here to ensure you’re up to the standards to continue service,” Lady Wei replied, struggling to keep a blush from crawling up her face,” Furthermore, Liu Three and I are not in any form of relationship.”

“Sister in law, am I supposed to take my clothes off, the last examiner I had was a man, so I am not certain that this is properly respecting the boundaries between man and woman,” Liu One asked.

“That is not necessary, new tools have arrived to measure a person without the need for physical contact between two people, just step into the instrument on the left,” Lady Wei replied.

Liu Two noticed there was a similar instrument on the right, presumably for females, and thought that Xu Xiaomeng’s stature would be far too delicate to pass the physical test.

“Lady Wei, have you seen the third brother,” Liu Two asked, standing within the apparatus.

“I have,” Lady Wei replied, feeling her face slightly hot. When she was examining Liu Three, he had acted differently from all the other examinees and shamelessly taken off his clothes.

Liu Two noticed the slight brush of Lady Wei’s face and noted to himself to ask his younger brother regarding this matter later.

“I have heard from the other examinees that Lady Li was coming today, apparently she was spotted at the living quarters along with your older brother,” Lady Wei said, before writing down the measurements recorded by the instrument.

“Liu Two, it seems that you’ve become fatter,” Lady Li said after she finished writing, hoping to tease Liu Two in revenge for the embarrassment he caused her to feel.

Unfortunately, Liu Two seemed rather unresponsive and walked off in a stiff manner, forgetting to even bid his sister in law farewell. Walking outside the building, Liu Two’s absent-mindedness caused many of his comrades to feel a tinge of curiosity.

“Comrade Liu Two, what’s wrong,” a middle-aged man asked, his face carrying an expression of familiarity and concern.

Liu Two gave off a rather dumb-looking smile, before waving his hands to indicate that there was nothing wrong, before hastily walking away.

“Lady Li, these men are what I consider to be the most talented,” Liu One said, staring expectantly at Xu Xiaomeng, before continuing,” Most of these men had been former teachers and scholars, who had volunteered to join the army.”

“Good,” Xu Xiaomeng said with a faint smile, upon noticing how well-groomed one of the men were, she took a step toward him.

“What is this gentleman’s name?” Xu Xiaomeng asked, her voice sounding rather polite.

“I am Ma Wen, from a small county in Huxi,” Ma Wen replied, his tone rather relaxed and his posture in a humble manner.

“Why did you join the army, considering your status as a teacher, you should be well respected and not lacking for money,” Xu Xiaomeng, noticing the collected manner in which Ma Wen had spoken, seemed to have softened her tone, but still maintained a degree of professionalism.

“The world is in turmoil, naturally as a citizen of the land West of Tianshan, I should offer my services to a man worthy of my service,” Ma Wen answered, his voice went slightly quiet,” Although I am not the greatest, I still believe that my service would be of help.

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Xu Xiaomeng appeared rather pleased, with a light smile appearing. Placing her hand behind her back, she began to walk. 

The man followed but allowed Ma Wen to lead them. It appeared that he holds a great deal of prestige among this group of scholars.

“Gentleman Ma, why did you not offer your service toward Empress Wunan?” One of the men following Ma Wen whispered in a manner that Xu Xiaomeng could not hear,” Empress Wunan undoubtedly possess far more soldiers, man and bureaucrats, to follow Lady Xu Xiaomeng would be a difficult task.”

“That is indeed a good question,” Ma Wen replied, his voice containing a hint of amusement.

“Empress Wunan is suspicious of all those under heaven, who knows how many able men has died due to her paranoia,” Ma Wen said, his hand reaching with his sleeves to retrieve a small umbrella.

“Lady Xu meanwhile, is able to trust those under her, she had asked me only two questions before determining that I am to be trusted,” Ma Wen replied, holding his umbrella in his right hand.

“What is more surprising is her lack of suspicion even after an assassination, even if the Imperial Palace Guards are aware of previously unknown tunnels, one must understand that there must have been a betray that had taken place for them to enter, thus for her to still keep such a trusting nature would only mean that she is either confident, or that she is a fool,” Ma Wen said, opening his umbrella after stepping outside the building, blocking much of the sun. Unfortunately, the umbrella was far too small to cover his entire body, resulting in only his upper body covered in shade. 

“Considering that she was able to create a state that even remotely rival that of the Sui Dynasty, it is undoubtedly true that she is not a fool, thus she is confident of her choices,” Ma Wen concluded. 

Furthermore, she is a person that will last as long as the heavens and earth, Ma Wen thought in his heart but did not speak of it.

Eventually, they arrived at a rather old building, far away from the soldiers. Stepping inward, Xiao Xi and Galina could be seen, with Xiao Xi giving off a rather tense atmosphere, before walking toward Xu Xiaomeng.

“Lady, could you please inform the Northern barbarian to dress in a more modest manner, I am afraid that she would leave a bad impression on these scholars,” Xiao Xi requested in a quiet tone so that the man behind Xu Xiaomeng would not hear.

Xu Xiaomeng did not reply, walking toward an aged piece of table, she promptly sat down, before inviting Ma Wen and the rest of the scholars. 

Taking out the note Xiao Xi had written earlier, she placed them in a neat manner on the table. The scholars sat on the opposite, appearing slightly crowded, but their small stature allowed them to sit rather comfortably.

“Lady, this is quite impressive, I have not expected you to be this adept in warfare,” Ma Wen, who was sitting far more spacious than the others, praised,” It is no wonder that with such tactics that you have defeated the forces of the Great Sui Dynasty.” 

“However, the army is using artillery and cavalry far too sparingly,” Ma Wen commented,” The cavalry has great effects on the enemy’s morale, furthermore, the supposed new form of artillery should be integrated along with the infantry, and not used separately.”

“If Lady Xu would excuse my words, the only use of artillery that I would praise would be during the siege of Dongan, however, it could be used to great effect against the Northerns,” Ma Wen said, noticing Galina, he gave a smile of apology.

Xu Xiaomeng contemplated for some time, before realising that Li Ming had fought in the civil war in his previous world using far more advanced technology, for her to adapt to such primitive weapons of war would be quite difficult.     

“Sir is indeed correct,” Xu Xiaomeng said,” Then how would you propose we utilise artillery and cavalry to their full potential.”

“Considering the mountainous terrain of our borders between the North, the cavalry would be useless, thus it should be used mainly on the flat terrain of the Central Plains as shock troops, along with the role of protecting our flanks,” Ma Wen replied, his eyes containing a hint of appreciation.

“The artillery meanwhile, is far too important for us to understand it’s implications at the moment,” Ma Wen said with a slightly deprecating tone.

“I am not too certain, but supposedly, would it not be far more efficient for the artillery to be drawn by horses, considering it you be rather useful in shocking the enemy soldiers, especially if flanked with the cavalry” Galina, from the corner of the old room, suddenly said.

“That is indeed a viable tactic,” Ma Wen said, though his voice contains a hint of questioning.

“My nation of Nitsa utilise these tactics, I am simply conveying this idea to you, though I am not certain the specifics of how it is done,” Galina replied, her voice sounding slightly fearful.

“Perhaps it is only used in this manner to transport the artillery quickly, considering the recoil, it would be unusable if on a carriage,” Xu Xiaomeng said. Afterwards, the room becomes rather silent.

“Artillery is already used in order to disperse infantry and seize fortifications, however, much of the enemy soldiers would be obscured by hills and the like,” Ma Wen said, breaking the silence.

“What if we utilise hot air balloons in order to signal for the artillery to fire at a target they could not see from the ground, utilising signal flags as a form of communication,” Ma Wen proposed.

Xu Xiaomeng gave off a ‘hmm’, approving Ma Wen’s idea.

“This is certainly quite informative,” Galina said, her body appearing to be more open.

“Indeed, I believe that Lady Xu should be delving into the main reason she had invited these man,” Xiao Xi responded without thought, evident that she was rather engaged in this conversation.

“Regardless, I have summoned these sirs to do a great deed for the nation,” Xu Xiaomeng, indeed have begun to speak of the most important factor of this meeting.

“I would request these sirs to aid General Liu One with supplying timely information so that far better plans could be made, while also maintaining a smooth flow of information between the various units,” Xu Xiaomeng said cleaning up the paper laid on the table. 

“Your group will be informed of all issues that affect the army, while the major decisions would be still done by Liu One, however, smaller matters, such as those of logistics will be handed to you,” Xu Xiaomeng said, her dark eyes appearing slightly tired.

“Ma Wen will be in charge of maintenance of equipment and supplies, while Galina will be in charge of finalising reports and the command of gathering intelligence,” Xu Xiaomeng said.

While Ma Wen responded in a calm manner, Galina was unsurprisingly shocked, while her body appeared to be shivering, perhaps due to Xiao Xi’s intense staring.

“Why me,” Galina asked, her expression rather pale.

Xu Xiaomeng did not respond.

“Why her,” Xiao Xi asked, her tone clearly suppressed.

Xu Xiaomeng still did not answer and had instead handed the thick stack military notes into the hands of Xiao Xi, instructing her to bring this to be copied.

When Xiao Xi had left the room, Xu Xiaomeng began to speak.

“The remainder of the man will be under Ma Wen and will be responsible for training, finances, and communications,” Xu Xiaomeng said as she left the table after motioning her hand as to instruct Galina to follow her, she left the old wooden building.

The first thing Xu Xiaomeng said toward Galina after they had left the building.

“Please do stop acting,” Xu Xiaomeng’s dark eyes seemed even darker than before, while her silver hair appeared to be slightly shining, despite the light emitted by the sun.