# **Chapter 22: Stress Test**

  Day three of integrated training.

  Wei stood on the north wall watching the garrison run coordinated maneuvers. The improvement was visible—formations tighter, transitions smoother, communication cleaner.

  But controlled drills weren't combat.

  Zhang appeared beside him. "Scouts just reported. Oirat activity increasing along the frontier. Three sightings in two days. Larger groups than usual."

  "How large?"

  "Hundred to hundred fifty riders. Not raiding parties. Reconnaissance in force."

  Wei processed that. "They're mapping our defensive posture. Building intelligence for something bigger."

  "Major assault?"

  "Or coordinated raids across multiple garrisons. Either way, we're running out of time." Wei turned from the wall. "We need to stress-test this integration before real combat does it for us."

  "What did you have in mind?"

  "Night drill. Full chaos scenario. Everything that can go wrong, does. Find out if this unified command structure holds under maximum pressure."

  Zhang grinned. "You're going to break them deliberately."

  "Better I break them in training than the Oirats break them in combat. At least we can put them back together afterward."

  ---

  Wei assembled the command staff that afternoon.

  Liu, Zhao, Captain Hu, Lieutenant Feng, and the senior section leaders.

  "Tonight, full garrison defensive drill. Night conditions, complex scenario, maximum chaos. I'm going to throw everything at you simultaneously. Your job is to maintain unified command and coordinated response."

  Liu leaned forward. "Parameters?"

  "Simulated attack from multiple directions. Leadership casualties. Equipment failures. Morale breaks. Communications disruption. Everything."

  Zhao's expression sharpened. "You're testing whether the integration holds under catastrophic conditions."

  "Exactly. Because that's when it matters most. Anyone can coordinate when things go smoothly. Professional soldiers coordinate when everything's on fire."

  Lieutenant Feng: "What's the success condition?"

  "Maintain defensive coherence. Hold the walls. Prevent complete formation collapse. I don't expect perfect performance—I expect functional response despite chaos."

  Captain Hu: "And if we fail?"

  "Then we identify the breaking points and fix them. That's what training is for." Wei met their eyes. "This won't be comfortable. Some of you will make mistakes. Some calls will be wrong. That's acceptable. What's not acceptable is giving up or reverting to factional thinking when pressure hits."

  Silence.

  Then Liu: "When do we start?"

  "Midnight. Get your troops fed and rested. They're going to need it."

  ---

  **2300 hours. Pre-drill briefing.**

  Four hundred soldiers assembled in the dark. Tension visible even in torchlight.

  Wei kept it simple.

  "Tonight you face worst-case scenario conditions. Multiple threats, degraded communications, leadership casualties. Your training will be tested. Your unity will be tested. Some of you will fail individual tasks. That's expected. What matters is whether you support each other through the failures."

  He paused.

  "You've spent three days learning to function as one garrison instead of two factions. Tonight we find out if that integration is real or just surface performance. Questions?"

  A young sergeant from Zhao's original faction: "Sir, what if the old divisions resurface under pressure?"

  "Then you'll see why unity matters. And either fix it or fail together." Wei's voice hardened. "This garrison has four hundred soldiers. If you split into factions during a crisis, you become two forces of two hundred. Both too weak to hold. Both dead. Stay unified or die divided. Your choice."

  The message landed.

  "Positions. Drill starts in one hour."

  ---

  **Midnight. The drill began.**

  Wei triggered the first scenario.

  "Enemy contact! Multiple cavalry formations approaching from north, east, and south! Estimated five hundred riders! All sections to defensive positions!"

  The alarm drums sounded.

  The garrison responded—troops moving to walls, weapons ready, formations taking shape.

  Fast. Professional.

  Then Wei started adding chaos.

  "Simulated casualty! Commander Liu is down! Deputy Commander Zhao assumes command!"

  He pulled Liu off the command deck. Liu went along with it, stepping back into observer role.

  Zhao took over smoothly. "Captain Hu, maintain north wall defense! Lieutenant Feng, cover east approach!"

  Good delegation.

  Wei let it run for thirty seconds.

  Then: "Simulated casualty! Deputy Commander Zhao is down!"

  Zhao stepped back.

  Now both senior commanders were out.

  Captain Hu and Lieutenant Feng looked at each other.

  They'd never commanded together at this level.

  Wei gave them five seconds. "Enemy closing! Four hundred yards! Who has command?"

  Hu made the call. "I've got tactical! Feng, you coordinate reserves!"

  "Confirmed!" Feng moved to his position.

  No hesitation. No argument about authority.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  They were functioning.

  Wei escalated.

  "North wall section reports hand cannon misfire! Three weapons out of action! East wall reports ammunition shortage! South wall—"

  He paused for effect.

  "—reports disciplinary breakdown! Section refusing orders!"

  That was the real test.

  On the south wall, a section of twenty soldiers from Liu's original faction stood frozen. Their sergeant—a man named Gao who'd been vocal about resenting the integration—was supposed to simulate insubordination.

  He played his role well.

  "We're not taking orders from reserve command! This is chaos! We hold traditional formations!"

  The soldiers looked uncertain. Half wanted to follow doctrine. Half wavered.

  Lieutenant Feng heard the report. His face went tight.

  This was exactly the factional split that had crippled the garrison for eight months.

  Wei watched carefully. This was the breaking point.

  Feng could respond with authority—crush the insubordination.

  Or with politics—try to negotiate.

  Or with panic—freeze and let it spiral.

  Feng chose differently.

  He called Captain Hu. "Disciplinary break on south wall. Requesting you handle it. You have authority with that section."

  Smart. Recognizing that Hu had more credibility with Liu's original troops.

  Hu didn't hesitate. "On it."

  He moved to the south wall. Addressed Sergeant Gao directly.

  "Sergeant. You're refusing orders?"

  "Sir, we're not—this integration is—"

  "I'm not asking for your opinion on doctrine. I'm asking if you're refusing orders during a defensive emergency."

  Gao faltered. The scenario was simulated, but Hu's authority was real.

  "Sir, we just think—"

  "Are. You. Refusing. Orders?"

  Five seconds of silence.

  Then Gao straightened. "No, sir. We'll comply."

  "Then get your section into position and execute the defensive protocol. Now."

  The section moved.

  The breakdown stopped before it spread.

  Wei noted it. First major test—passed.

  He kept pressure on.

  ---

  "Enemy at two hundred yards! North wall, prepare volley fire! East wall—"

  Another escalation.

  "—reports enemy fire arrows incoming! Multiple fires on the wall!"

  He had Zhang and a team throwing straw bundles soaked in oil and lighting them. Realistic fire simulation without actual danger.

  Flames leapt up along the east wall.

  The troops there panicked slightly—fire was terrifying in wooden fortifications.

  Lieutenant Feng: "Fire teams! Contain the blazes! Defense sections maintain positions!"

  Soldiers broke from formation to fight fires.

  The defensive line thinned.

  Wei called the enemy response. "Cavalry exploiting the gap! Charging the weakened section!"

  Feng saw it. Drum signal went out. *Boom-boom, pause, boom-boom.*

  Reserve sections responded immediately. Moved to plug the gap while fire teams worked.

  The line held.

  Barely.

  Wei checked his timer. Twenty minutes into the drill. Time to hit them with the worst scenario.

  "Communications failure! All drum signals compromised! Enemy has matched our rhythm!"

  He had drummers start pounding random sequences. The careful signal system they'd developed became useless noise.

  Captain Hu: "Visual signals only! Flag commands!"

  Colored flags went up across the walls.

  Red. Yellow. Green.

  The backup system worked.

  But it was slower. Less precise.

  The coordination degraded noticeably.

  Wei let them struggle with it for five minutes.

  Then delivered the final blow.

  "North wall breach! Enemy has broken through! Hostile forces inside the garrison!"

  He sent a squad of his cadre troops—marked with white armbands to distinguish them as enemy—through the north gate simulation.

  Chaos.

  Troops on the walls suddenly had enemies behind them.

  The defensive formation that had been holding started to collapse inward.

  This was the moment.

  Complete tactical breakdown or adaptive recovery.

  Captain Hu: "Interior defense! Sections Four and Five, form anti-cavalry square inside the garrison!"

  Lieutenant Feng: "Wall sections maintain exterior defense! Do not abandon positions!"

  Good calls. Textbook response.

  But the troops were rattled. Some sections hesitated. Some over-rotated, leaving gaps.

  One section from Zhao's original faction started to break formation.

  Their corporal—a man named Chen—called to his troops: "Hold! Remember the integration! We cover each other!"

  They steadied.

  The interior square formed up. The wall defense maintained.

  The simulated enemy force hit the square.

  The troops held.

  Spears braced. Crossbows firing in rotation. Disciplined response despite chaos.

  Wei blew the halt whistle.

  "Drill complete. All sections stand down."

  ---

  Silence fell across the garrison.

  Four hundred soldiers breathing hard. Some shaking from adrenaline. All exhausted.

  Wei climbed to the command platform.

  "Assessment. You faced simultaneous multi-vector assault, leadership casualties, equipment failures, communications breakdown, fire emergency, disciplinary crisis, and breach scenario. All at night. Under maximum stress."

  He paused.

  "You held."

  The tension broke slightly.

  "Not perfectly. There were mistakes. Slow responses. Coordination gaps. Several sections nearly broke formation. Fire teams took too long to organize. Interior defense was chaotic for the first thirty seconds."

  He looked across the assembled troops.

  "But you adapted. When traditional command structure failed, junior officers stepped up. When communications broke down, you used backups. When sections wavered, other soldiers steadied them. When the breach happened, you didn't panic—you formed appropriate response formations."

  Wei's voice hardened.

  "Most importantly—when factional pressure hit, you chose unity over division. Sergeant Gao could have let his section collapse. Corporal Chen could have let his troops break. Captain Hu and Lieutenant Feng could have competed for authority. None of that happened."

  He gestured to Liu and Zhao, who'd been observing from the side.

  "This garrison spent eight months divided. Three days ago, you could barely coordinate basic maneuvers. Tonight, you held against worst-case conditions. That's not luck. That's discipline and commitment to unified purpose."

  Captain Hu stepped forward. "Sir, request permission to address the troops."

  Wei nodded.

  Hu turned to face the garrison. "I spent six months believing the integration was impossible. That our doctrines were incompatible. Tonight proved me wrong. Not because the tactics changed—because we stopped treating each other as enemies and started functioning as soldiers."

  Lieutenant Feng joined him. "I thought Commander Liu's approach was outdated and rigid. I was wrong. The structure he built provided the foundation that let our flexibility work. Both approaches matter. Both have value. Together, they make us effective."

  Sergeant Gao—who'd played the insubordinate role—spoke up. "I was supposed to simulate breakdown. But when Captain Hu asked if I was refusing orders, I realized... if this was real combat, my stubbornness would get soldiers killed. That's not acceptable."

  Corporal Chen: "When my section started to waver, I remembered something Captain Wei said—stay unified or die divided. That's not propaganda. That's reality."

  Wei let them talk. This was their breakthrough, not his.

  Commander Liu finally stepped forward.

  "Deputy Commander Zhao and I nearly destroyed this garrison through pride and stubbornness. We prioritized being right over being effective. That ends permanently. As of now, this garrison operates under unified command with integrated doctrine. Anyone who cannot accept that can request transfer. No judgment, no penalties. But if you stay, you commit completely."

  Zhao nodded. "Agreed. We're one garrison. One command structure. One defensive force. The Oirats don't care about our internal politics. Neither should we."

  A moment of silence.

  Then the troops started clapping.

  Not a formal salute. Not parade ground discipline.

  Genuine approval from soldiers who'd just proven they could function together.

  Wei watched it happen.

  The garrison that had been broken by internal conflict was finally whole.

  ---

  Wei found Liu and Zhao in the command post afterward.

  Both looked exhausted. But for the first time since Wei had arrived, they looked like they were on the same side.

  "Effective drill," Liu said. "Brutal, but effective."

  "Necessary," Zhao added. "We needed to know if the integration was real or just surface coordination. Now we know."

  Wei pulled out a map. "Good. Because the real test is coming. Scout reports indicate major Oirat movement. Multiple warbands consolidating. We have maybe a week before they hit someone."

  "You think they'll hit us?"

  "You're a border garrison that just demonstrated improved capabilities. They'll either avoid you or test you aggressively. Either way, we need this garrison fully functional."

  Liu studied the map. "What's the training priority for the next week?"

  "Advanced scenarios. Combined arms coordination. Night operations. Anti-cavalry maneuvers. Everything we can cram in before contact."

  Zhao: "What about the other garrisons? If the Oirats hit multiple locations simultaneously—"

  "Then we hope your neighbors are competent enough to hold until reinforcement arrives. But that's not your problem. Your problem is keeping this garrison alive."

  Liu and Zhao exchanged glances.

  Then Liu: "Requesting permission to modify the training schedule. Add in coordination drills with potential reinforcement scenarios. If we need to support neighboring garrisons, we should practice those maneuvers."

  Zhao: "Agreed. And we should drill rapid deployment protocols. If we get a call for reinforcement, response time matters."

  Wei nodded. "Approved. You two coordinate the schedule. I want it ready by morning."

  They both moved to the maps.

  Working together. Naturally.

  The transformation was complete.

  Zhang appeared in the doorway. Waited until Liu and Zhao were deep in planning discussion.

  Then quietly: "That's progress."

  "That's survival instinct aligning with professional competence. They finally realized being right doesn't matter if you're dead."

  "Think they'll hold when real combat hits?"

  Wei watched the two officers collaborating over defensive positions and fire control protocols.

  "Yes. Because they've seen it work under pressure. That's more powerful than any order I could give."

  "What about the troops?"

  "The troops follow leadership. And the leadership just proved it functions. That's enough."

  Outside, the garrison settled into post-drill routine.

  Soldiers from both former factions helping each other secure equipment. Sharing water. Discussing performance.

  Not as separate units.

  As one garrison.

  Zhangjiakou had been broken by internal conflict for eight months.

  Now it was functional.

  Just in time.

  Because the frontier was about to get significantly more dangerous.