Brian Clark noticed something: the neatly arranged tents could each accommodate five people, meaning one squad per tent. Then, a hundred people formed a base point, arranged in a square formation. Next, five groups of a hundred formed their own structure, with the tents arranged in a small angular shape. There were ten such small camps in total, all forming an oval formation around the city, guarding the center. He couldn’t see the very center, but it must be the central command, where the general’s tent was located.

The Qin army infantry was organized into six levels: five men formed a squad, led by a squad leader; two squads made a section, led by a section leader; five sections made a platoon, led by a platoon leader; two platoons made a hundred, led by a centurion; five hundred men were led by a five-hundred commander; and a thousand men were led by two five-hundred commanders. The “two five-hundred commanders” were also called “thousand-man commanders,” considered mid-level officers.

Oh... he had just learned that the highest-ranking officer commanding his unit was a “thousand-man commander.”

The interior of the tent was not complicated: straw mats on the ground, gray quilts, and hooks hanging from the main beam—these were all standard army supplies.

In movies and TV shows, tents always have rows of weapon racks, but when Brian Clark moved in, he didn’t see anything like that at all. After all, the army wouldn’t waste resources making such unnecessary things.

In his view, the so-called “ready for battle” wasn’t anything special, since soldiers would always keep their weapons close by, and the bundles they brought when conscripted needed to be protected at all times. Usually, the long spears would be pressed under the bundle, which would then be used as a pillow.

Brian Clark walked out of the tent, and everywhere he looked, there were soldiers lined up.

The soldiers weren’t all moving in the same direction, and because they had leather pouches hanging from their waists, you could hear the sound of wood bumping and rubbing as they walked.

Brian Clark also noticed that Qin soldiers would never remove the leather pouch from their waist unless absolutely necessary. He had one too, which held his eating utensils and a bamboo tube prepared by an older man. He didn’t know what the bamboo tube was for, but it was clearly not for water—there were special leather flasks for that.

Since ancient times, setting up a military camp had been a science: the more talented the commander, the simpler and more practical the camp. “Simple” referred to the walkways between tents, and “practical” didn’t mean personality, but rather the sturdiness of the paths.

Soldiers didn’t weave through the tent-filled areas when walking; they used specially marked walkways. If the camp was set up for a long time, the paths would naturally become firm from constant use.

Whether the roads in the camp were solid or not was extremely important to famous generals. If it rained suddenly during battle, muddy roads would delay troop assembly, and the speed at which the army could gather often determined victory or defeat.

He walked for dozens of minutes, and with his good sense of direction, Brian Clark was a bit confused as to why he was going from the eastern camp to the southern one. It wasn’t until he smelled food from afar and saw soldiers lining up for meals, with many food stalls set up nearby, that he felt a wave of surprise.

All along, he had been eating food he brought himself or bought in towns and counties. He had thought that Great Qin didn’t provide rations at all.

When it was Brian Clark’s turn, the cook seemed to pause for a moment?

The cook glanced at Brian Clark’s armor and the long sword at his waist, lifted the lid of another large vat, and with a big ladle, “plop”—yellow grains of millet filled the wooden bowl.

Brian Clark habitually smiled back, but inside he wondered if the cook had made a mistake. The other soldiers were getting food made of yellow and black beans, but he was given millet rice (a type of grain).

The cook saw Brian Clark staring blankly and smiled again, pointing at the leather pouch on his waist.

Brian Clark immediately untied the pouch and rummaged inside, not really knowing what to do, looking at the cook in confusion.

“Soup!”

Brian Clark still didn’t get it...

The cook pointed at the bamboo tube.

“Oh!”

It turned out to be a bowl of soup with oil and the aroma of meat. There wasn’t much meat, mostly yellow vegetable leaves, but it smelled wonderful!

After receiving his food, Brian Clark stepped aside and noticed that the cook distributed rations differently. Ordinary soldiers only got bean rice and a bowl of soup with just yellow vegetable leaves, while officers were divided into ranks—some officers not only got millet rice and meat soup, but even one to three pieces of bread (like steamed buns). Clearly, each of the twenty ranks of Qin nobility had its own treatment.

The soldiers looked at the officers’ food with envy in their eyes. For the first time, he felt the class system so deeply. To change one’s status and treatment, one had to earn merit, which meant killing more enemies to gain military rank. The army’s desire to fight was obvious.

He looked again at the nearby stalls and, upon closer inspection, realized they weren’t army rations at all. These stalls belonged to camp-following merchants who had received permission to be there, and they were a blessing for soldiers wanting to improve their meals.

There weren’t many types of food at the stalls—mostly steamed wheat products, with the special item being boiled chunks of meat. From time to time, someone would go up to haggle with the merchant, then pull out knife-shaped coins to buy food.

Brian Clark stood there for a long, long time, and finally couldn’t help but sigh, “So this is how it is...”