Iron Army in Formation, Cannons Bombard the Martial Arena

Following the order of the Duke of Zhenguo, the Imperial Guard camp erupted with earth-shattering battle cries. This military drill, gathering 250,000 high-tier martial artists, completely overturned the transmigrator Wang Hao's understanding of classical warfare.

The first to be demonstrated were the infantry tactical drills.

"Infantry assault!"

Tens of thousands of heavy infantry formed a phalanx. Their blood qi surged, erupting with the power of the Second Layer of Martial Arts. Every step they took made the ground tremble. Their charge was like a fleet of heavy tanks flattening everything in their path; the wooden barricades ahead were instantly smashed to splinters.

"Infantry and cavalry joint strike!"

Immediately after, the cavalry on both flanks swept out like a storm. The riders and their warhorses shared a connected blood qi, merging man and steed into one. The moment the infantry tore a rift in the enemy formation, they accurately inserted themselves, cutting the enemy into countless small pieces.

"Heavy crossbow volley!"

The part that made Wang Hao's scalp tingle the most arrived. Three thousand crossbowmen leveled their Qi-Breaking Crossbows, which required the combined strength of three men to draw. Accompanied by ear-piercing shrieks tearing through the air, three thousand heavy crossbow bolts—each ten feet long and engraved with runes—crashed down on a distant hill like a dark, overarching cloud.

"Boom!"

Half the rocks on the hill were forcibly leveled, sending debris flying. With this kind of destructive power, let alone someone at the Third Layer of Martial Arts, even a master at the Fourth Layer's Organ Forging Realm would be instantly shot into minced meat if they were focus-fired on an open plain!

"Spear infantry thrust!"

The spearmen's drill was even more murderous. With every thrust of their spears, the air popped and cracked. This was specifically aimed at high-tier martial artists and heavy cavalry of the enemy.

But what truly made the adrenaline of Wang Hao, a modern man, spike was the subsequent firearms drill!

"Firearms Battalion, ready!" ordered the Duke of Zhenguo.

Rows of soldiers stepped forward, leveling their Runic Muskets.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The muskets fired in volleys. The bullets were not only incredibly fast but also carried runic effects of explosion and armor-piercing. The targets on the range, made from the bones of Tier-2 aberrations, were blasted to dust.

"My God..." Wang Hao gulped, a stormy sea churning in his heart. "How the hell are these muskets? This power is almost catching up to large-caliber anti-materiel sniper rifles! If a Fourth Layer martial artist runs into this thing, they'd die if they aren't wearing heavy armor!"

And it wasn't over yet.

"Bring up the Tiger Might Cannons!"

Over a dozen bare-chested, burly men pushed forward bronze cannons flashing with profound runes. What was stuffed into the barrels wasn't ordinary gunpowder, but a mixture of explosive shells and detonation talismans.

"Fire!"

"BOOM—!!!"

The earth shook and the mountains swayed! The cannonballs landed a mile away, kicking up small mushroom clouds. Even Wang Hao on the commander's platform could clearly feel the terrifying shockwave. This power was absolutely no inferior to the large-caliber howitzers of his previous life! Anyone below the Astral Qi Realm (Seventh Layer of Martial Arts) taking this head-on would absolutely be reduced to ashes!

Next, they showcased special firearms that felt incredibly sci-fi.

"Swarm of Bees" — a multi-barrel rocket launcher that fired hundreds of explosive runic arrows at once, covering an area half the size of a football field.

"Fire Dragon Gun" — a short-barreled shotgun designed for cavalry, invincible in close-range burst damage.

"Fire Dragon Cart" — several soldiers pushed a strange cart that spewed high-temperature flames up to sixty feet long. This was simply a different-world version of a flamethrower!

After watching all of this, Wang Hao sat blankly on his dragon throne, the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.

"I was too rash... The day before yesterday, I led people to encircle and annihilate Ye Chen. If I had known earlier that the firearms in this high-martial world were so overpowered, why the hell would I have my men hack at him with swords? I should have just pulled up twenty Tiger Might Cannons and a thousand Runic Muskets. I don't care if he's the Child of Destiny or possessed by an old grandpa's spirit, I would have just carpet-bombed him and scattered his ashes!"

But Wang Hao subsequently learned from the Duke of Zhenguo the fatal flaw of these weapons—they were expensive! Outrageously expensive!

Firing a single shot from a Tiger Might Cannon burned through ten taels of silver. The manufacturing cost of one Runic Musket was enough to arm ten heavy infantrymen. In this martial world, the exorbitant costs were the biggest obstacle restricting the expansion of the Great Zhou's firearms troops.

"Expensive?" Wang Hao smiled, grinning like a nouveau riche. "I'm short on money now, but in a few days, I won't be!"

The drill concluded, and the 250,000-strong army regrouped beneath the commander's platform in dead silence, awaiting the Emperor's address.

Wang Hao stood up. He didn't spout any high-sounding nonsense. Instead, with a grand wave of his hand, he shouted to the eunuch in charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial, Sun Li, beside him: "Companion Sun, show the soldiers what I brought!"

"Understood, Your Majesty!"

Companion Sun flicked his whisk, and hundreds of court eunuch guards stepped forward, violently tearing off the tarpaulins covering the hundred horse-drawn carriages.

"Whoosh!"

Under the sunlight, the blinding gleam radiating from six million taels of silver instantly dazzled the eyes of the 250,000 soldiers present! The military formation that had been dead silent just a moment ago suddenly erupted with the sounds of heavy breathing and gulping.

"Soldiers!" Wang Hao channeled his true qi, his voice ringing out like a massive bell across the entire field. "The imperial court is in difficulty, and the treasury is empty. I know you have been owed three months of military pay! But I tell you this: as long as I sit in this position for a single day, I will never let men who bleed shed tears again!"

"This is six million taels of ready silver! I am not keeping a single cent; it will all be distributed to you! Every ordinary soldier gets twenty taels of silver! Paid on the spot, with absolutely no delays! Military officers will have their pay doubled sequentially according to their rank!"

Twenty taels of silver! That was enough for a family of five to live comfortably for two years!

Boom!

The entire camp completely exploded. The eyes of the 250,000 men turned red. This Emperor was a solid guy; if he had money, he really handed it out!

"Long live the Emperor! Long live! Long, long live!"

Earth-shattering cheers resounded through the clouds. Wang Hao activated his Emperor's Qi Observation Technique, his heart blossoming with joy as he watched the loyalty levels above the soldiers' heads skyrocketing. Conviction was certainly important, but to turn this group of arrogant and formidable soldiers into his absolute diehards, it took cold, hard cash!

To push his prestige to the absolute peak, Wang Hao even walked down from the high platform. Having read too many web novels in his past life, he was well-versed in the art of putting on a show. He personally pressed ingots of silver into the hands of the front-row military officers and soldier representatives, patting their shoulders and affectionately asking about their hometowns and names.

With this single move, those iron-blooded men who wouldn't bat an eye while hacking people with swords were moved to tears, swearing on the spot to lay down their lives for the Emperor.

Once the army's emotions settled slightly, Wang Hao immediately summoned the Duke of Zhenguo and all the high-ranking military officers into the central command tent to convene a military council.

"You've taken my money, now you must do my bidding." Wang Hao sat in the seat of honor, the smile fading from his face, replaced by imperial majesty. "The Great Zhou's military system is bloated and corrupt, its connections complex and tangled. Today, I am going to break you all down and reorganize everything!"

The military officers felt a chill in their hearts, but having taken his money, they were obliged to him. Coupled with the prestige Wang Hao had just established, no one dared to object.

"The capable will rise, and the mediocre will step down! Those who are dissatisfied can compete right outside this tent; whoever wins gets to be an officer!" Wang Hao's words were resolute and resounding.

"Hear the decree! The two hundred thousand Imperial Guards shall, from this day forth, be reorganized into the Sixteen Guards of the Imperial Army! Each Guard will consist of twelve thousand men! The Commanders of the Guards will all be promoted to the Primary Third Rank!"

The military officers' eyes lit up. The Primary Third Rank—this was a genuinely high-ranking official position!

"However!" Wang Hao suddenly changed his tone, throwing out terms that left everyone dumbfounded. "To ensure the army's absolute loyalty to the imperial court, every Guard, in addition to the Commander, will also have one Political Commissar and one Chief of Staff, both holding the Secondary Third Rank!"

"Political... Political Commissar? Chief of Staff?" Wei Jing, the Duke of Zhenguo, looked bewildered. "Your Majesty, what official titles are these?"

Wang Hao coughed dryly twice and explained, "The so-called Political Commissar is the assistant in charge of ideological and political affairs, responsible for the soldiers' ideological work and overseeing military discipline, reporting directly to me. The Chief of Staff is the mastermind advising on military affairs, responsible for formulating tactical plans. The Commander manages the fighting, the Commissar manages the hearts of the men, and the Chief of Staff manages the brains. A separation of three powers, cooperating with one another!"

The generals were thoroughly confused by the explanation, but it all boiled down to one point: the Emperor wanted to plant high-ranking military supervisors within the army, whose status was only half a rank lower than theirs. If it were in the past, they would have definitely caused a fuss. But the Emperor had just distributed so much wealth, and these were Secondary Third Rank positions. Everyone was getting promoted and making a fortune; who would go against money and their own future prospects?

"We obey Your Majesty's decree!" the generals accepted their orders in unison.

Wang Hao continued to roll out his meticulously designed modern military architecture: "Sixteen Infantry Guards, with each Guard commanding two infantry regiments, one firearms regiment, and one cavalry regiment, with two thousand five hundred men per regiment! Plus a one-thousand-man artillery regiment and a one-thousand-man garrison regiment! Regiment Commanders will be of the Primary Fourth Rank, while Commissars and Chiefs of Staff will be of the Secondary Fourth Rank! And so on, all the way down to the grassroots level!"

This highly modular, combined-arms organization left the Duke of Zhenguo and the others dumbfounded. However, upon careful thought, they realized that this kind of organization, with its tight coordination and mutual support among various branches in actual combat, would absolutely unleash multiplied combat power!