Chapter 1 Guo Dong's Excitement

Guo Dong was so excited today that he was still tossing and turning at night.

Xu An, who was sleeping next to him, of course knew why he was like this. Wasn't it because he saw Earl Pingye during the day?

Xu An wasn't as excited as Guo Dong, because he wasn't a Yan person.

For the Yan people, admiration for Earl Pingye is a must.

The imperial court needs to create a hero;

And Earl Pingye doesn't even need to be deliberately beautified, because his achievements and his deeds are real, and they look even more beautified than others' beautifications.

In Meng Shou's words, it's called adding color.

Xu An didn't really like the Yan people, because in Yingdu, the Yan people were always superior.

The Yan merchants, the Yan soldiers, the Yan officials, and even the Yan people who moved from Yan to cultivate, their eyes always carried a very clear arrogance.

His foster father once cursed when he was drunk, scolding these Yan people for looking at them as if they were looking at inferior people.

Then, his foster father cried again, crying and saying that if these Yan people hadn't come back then, they, the Jin people, wouldn't even be able to be human.

After sobering up, his foster father said again that this world is like this, if your fist is bigger than his, and you beat him into submission, he will naturally be more convinced of you.

Their people, in our territory, are superior.

Since ancient times, it has never been heard that the people of a normal country would be obsequious to the people of a country weaker than themselves, and their own people would consider themselves inferior. If this were the case, it would be a great joke to the world.

Xu An didn't understand many of his foster father's words, but he could understand one thing. He didn't think there was anything wrong with the Yan people being arrogant, just like his foster father looked down on the heads of other coolie gangs after a few group fights, which was very natural.

But not admiring them doesn't mean he wasn't satisfied after learning that his team was assigned to this Earl's command.

From gathering in Yingdu to arriving here, his experiences, coupled with Guo Dong's narration of their journey from the ancient county of Yan to here, Xu An knew that the food here should be the best.

Previously, Xu An was still wondering why no food and grass were transported over when his group came here.

Now, he understood, because the grain would be transported from Snow Sea Pass.

Xu An couldn't help but think of his foster father again. His foster father once said that the official in charge of their coolie gang was truly rich and generous. People looked down on their filial piety, just to seek a job to do, even if they didn't give filial piety, maintaining the stability of the market and preventing coolies from causing trouble would be enough.

Perhaps Earl Pingye is also "rich and generous".

Other people's soldiers rely on laborers to transport food, but he brings his own when he fights.

Another point, Xu An knew Earl Pingye's ability to fight. No soldier likes to fight with a victorious general, and auxiliary soldiers and laborers are no exception.

That night,

Xu An fell asleep thinking about it,

Guo Dong,

However, suffered from insomnia.

The next day,

The sound of military drums rang.

Xu An got up immediately and shook Guo Dong beside him awake.

The two immediately put on their leather armor, took their weapons, and rushed out of the tent to assemble.

They were no longer laborers, but auxiliary soldiers, proper auxiliary soldiers, who didn't need to work anymore, just needed to prepare to fight desperately.

Five people were late for the assembly.

They were caught by the Yan lieutenant, who ordered them to be whipped five times each as a warning to others.

Then,

It was training.

Everyone lined up and started running.

The newly formed auxiliary soldier team didn't have such strict discipline yet.

Guo Dong couldn't help but ask Xu An beside him while running;

"Where are the horses? Where are the horses?"

Yan is a horse-producing area, and Jin is actually considered one too. After all, before the Barbarian rebellion broke out, the Snow Plain was like Jin's back garden. Horses would be continuously transported from there to Jin, and the Three Jin Knights could have the confidence to compete with the Great Yan Iron Cavalry.

When Guo Dong's group came out of the ancient county, they were actually carrying horses, although most of them were pack horses, there were also horses that could go to the battlefield. These horses were carefully cared for along the way.

When needed, they would be assigned to the most skilled young people in the ancient county.

Yan has always had the tradition of preparing weapons, armor, and horses to go to war from the king. Some places would also gather the financial and material resources of a village, a town, or even a county to equip their young men with the best warhorses and armor, so that they could earn military merits on the battlefield;

After the war ended and merits were rewarded, they would also come back to repay their hometown.

After seeing Earl Pingye yesterday, Guo Dong was so excited that he didn't fall asleep until the second half of the night, and had been dreaming of riding a warhorse and following Pingye to charge into battle.

As a result,

Where are the horses,

Where are my horses?

Xu An replied;

"We're attacking the city, where do we need horses."

It was like a basin of cold water, directly poured on Guo Dong's head.

After running for more than half the distance, the leading lieutenant signaled them to slow down and start marching.

When walking to the outside of the camp, about to go back for food, Guo Dong saw his father being pressed to the ground by two Yan armored soldiers and whipped.

Guo Dong's eyes widened immediately. The one being beaten was his father!

But,

He still didn't dare to go up to stop him, and didn't dare to speak.

Guo Dong's father, Guo Dayong, was originally a small leader of this labor team in the ancient county. After the reorganization, he became a proper tube team of an 800-person labor team.

When the Yan officers inspected the trenches outside the camp, they found that the depth was insufficient and that the angle was not dug out as required, so Guo Dayong was punished for negligence.

Being whipped was nothing, but being whipped in front of so many people and his subordinates was really embarrassing.

Guo Dayong was also considered a prestigious person in the ancient county, otherwise Miss Ashui's family wouldn't have agreed to marry her son even if she had fallen into decline.

But,

He still had to be beaten.

The strict military law in Snow Sea Pass was transplanted to this camp.

After being beaten, you still have to continue working, taking your men to repair the trenches. If you fail to complete the task by the deadline, the punishment will be heavier.

The auxiliary soldier team returned to the camp, and the quartermaster began to distribute food.

Dry rice, a piece of cured meat per person, and a large spoonful of sauce.

It wasn't very rich, but being away from home, having this standard of food was really good.

Guo Dong was eating while shedding tears.

"Your father will be fine," Xu An comforted.

"I'm crying for my horse, I've been taking care of it so carefully all the way."

"..." Xu An.

After the meal, the auxiliary soldiers were distributed shields and began to line up and run back and forth in the open space outside the camp under the leadership of the lieutenant.

This time, the training was more strict. Anyone who was out of position, slow, or fast would be whipped.

And this extremely boring shield-holding training lasted for three days.

Every day, they got up early, ran, came back from running, ate, and after eating, held shields and lined up to start running back and forth and changing those fixed formations.

Guo Dong was not a person who could endure hardship, but under the spur of the whip, he didn't dare to slack off in the slightest.

During a break in training, Xu An suddenly reached out and punched him,

"Look, over there."

Guo Dong looked over and saw two people standing on the tower over there.

One was wearing armor, and the other was wearing a black long gown.

Although the distance was a bit far, it could be seen that the other party's clothes were very clean.

The rules in the military camp were strict, and the only one who could dress casually here was that person.

Guo Dong shouted happily:

"Look, Earl Pingye is watching us over there!"

"No noise!"

An armored soldier came over with a whip, but didn't drop the whip, but kicked Guo Dong.

Next, when everyone held up their shields and started training again after the break, their morale and spirit were obviously different from before. Everyone used their full strength to complete the training tasks with the strictest standards, just to satisfy that figure in the distance.

Even if,

That figure may not have been watching them at all.

Zheng Boye was indeed not watching them, he was peeling an orange, with Liang Cheng standing next to him.

"Tomorrow, all our troops should be able to arrive, right?" Zheng Boye asked.

In fact, more than 10,000 combat troops had already arrived. Jin Shuke, Ke Yan Dongge, and Gao Yi's three towns had arrived. Ding Hao and Zuo Jiqian's town troops were responsible for guarding Snow Sea Pass, and Xu Youcheng's unit was still on the road.

The reason why Xu Youcheng's unit was so slow was because that unit was responsible for monitoring and escorting nearly 30,000 Barbarian slave soldiers.

Sang Hu led 30,000 tribes to surrender, but only a little over 10,000 suitable ones were selected. The siege battles on the Snow Plain had also collected more than 10,000 prisoners of war. The two sides put together were less than 30,000 people.

There would actually be more in the future, because the tribes of the Snow Plain were also required to offer young men and cattle and sheep, but they were all on the way.

This wave was just the initial force that Snow Sea Pass wanted to invest.

Calculated, the original Snow Sea Pass combat troops totaled eleven camps, which was almost 16,000 combat troops.

There were 30,000 Barbarian slave soldiers. Fortunately, these 30,000 people had different components. After all, they had fought each other, so they could restrain each other.

In addition, the flanks of Zheng Boye's military camp would also have other Yan and Jin troops stationed there. Theoretically, it was not that Zheng Boye was guarding 30,000 slaves with 16,000 people, but that hundreds of thousands of troops around were helping to manage them together.

In addition, more than 6,000 laborers were received from Yingdu, and nearly 10,000 laborers were also sent from Snow Sea Pass.

Among these 16,000 laborers, 6,000 auxiliary soldiers were selected.

If calculated according to the strength of the troops including the laborers, Zheng Boye could completely put up the banner of "100,000 troops" by rounding it up.

But how should I put it, it was meaningless.

After all, everyone was now facing each other with soldiers against soldiers and kings against kings. Next, they would have to fight to the death in front of the Chu defense system based on Zhennan Pass. What was the use of bragging any more?

"They should arrive in batches tomorrow. According to the reports from the messengers, the troops from all sides should have arrived. The army's food and grass are still sufficient. The first round of battle should be able to begin."

The army was at the front line, and coupled with the consumption of laborers and warhorses, it was an astronomical figure every day. Food and grass would never be absolutely sufficient, so they must not wait foolishly. As long as the food was currently sufficient, they should start the battle in front of them first.

On the logistics side, they could replenish while fighting.

Unless Tian Wujing intended to use a method similar to the "Battle of Changping" to compete in national strength;

But this was obviously not realistic, the Yan army's logistics pressure was much greater than that of the Chu people.

"Okay, I estimate that the central army's headquarters will soon..."

"Report!!!!!"

A messenger galloped over on horseback:

"Order from King Jingnan, summon all generals to the headquarters to listen to orders tomorrow!"

"Look, it's here."

Zheng Boye didn't go down to receive the order, but just waved to the messenger from the tower.

This seemed very arrogant,

With a great battle ahead,

If other generals dared to treat the marshal's order so perfunctorily,

If it were any other commander,

It was estimated that they would have to be beheaded first to kill the chicken to warn the monkey.

But Zheng Boye was relying on his favor and arrogance, and he also believed that the guard responsible for conveying the order would not gossip about him when he went back.

"Look, it's here. To be honest, fighting under Tian Wujing is quite straightforward. He likes to mark all the operations, movements, and purposes of the troops from all sides for you. You will have a clear goal to complete."

A commander is not something everyone can have.

Great Yan doesn't lack generals;

And the difference in difficulty between being a general and being a commander is not small.

Therefore, on the battlefield, being a "puppet" is actually quite happy. It's always better than having to face a complex environment and being at a loss when you have to deal with things on your own.

"Master, just as I said before, I think Tian Wujing's method of using troops can be better brought into play in this kind of positional warfare. He likes to command everything by stripping away the cocoon, but the unknown variables are too many in that kind of cavalry large-scale maneuver warfare."

"I know, I know, so the previous battles were all wronging Lao Tian, hehe.

By the way,

You first talk about how this battle should be fought from the current point of view. I'm worried that Lao Tian will ask me to speak first at the meeting tomorrow."

As King Jingnan's proud disciple, he naturally enjoyed this special treatment.

Therefore, in order not to damage his image in Tian Wujing's heart, and to make Tian Wujing have a sense of satisfaction and pride in cultivating the next generation of military gods,

Zheng Boye still habitually presses the questions and memorizes the answers.

This is not cheating,

This is called rehearsal.

"The Chu people have been operating for a long time, and they have also been prepared for a long time. This battle will inevitably be protracted. Therefore, I think that since General Nian Yao has built so many castles and military camps based on Zhennan Pass, we can let the central army hold the line and resist the main force of the Chu army at Zhennan Pass. The other troops take turns attacking a castle or military camp;

First, it can remove the thorns set by the Chu people outside Zhennan Pass;

Second, it can give the Yan army, who are always good at field battles but not good at siege, a good training opportunity."

"Hmm, is that all?"

"The general strategy is actually this. Zhennan Pass is placed there. In fact, both the Yan and Chu sides are playing with their cards on the table. Before breaking the situation, neither side has a very good opportunity.

It's just that the Yan army attacks desperately and the Chu army defends desperately."

"Wait, wait, Acheng, I believe you."

"Master, I think you should be able to explain this at the meeting, and there should be no problem."

"Not enough."

"Not enough?"

"After the meeting, Tian Wujing will probably keep me and say a few more words. What is the opportunity you mentioned before?"

"For the Chu people, it is naturally that our Yan army's logistics are not good, or that there is chaos in Yan or Jin, and we have to retreat. At this time, the Chu army will have great prospects.

As for our army, after all, we are the attacking side, and since we are the attacking side, we must still take the initiative. After removing all the thorns outside Zhennan Pass, we can try to attack Zhennan Pass.

First, don't seek to break through Zhennan Pass, but you can try to push down the two large military camps on the east and west sides of Zhennan Pass.

In fact, the so-called pass is like our original Shengle City and the current Snow Sea Pass. The effect of the pass depends on its range of influence.

Once our army can clean up the area around Zhennan Pass, making Zhennan Pass a solitary city and reducing its range of influence to the lowest level, then our army can send troops to bypass Zhennan Pass and enter the Chu territory.

Whether it is to break its grain route or harass its territory, forcing the army in Zhennan Pass to come out for aid, the initiative is still in our hands."

"Oh, I understand, I understand."

Zheng Boye put his hands on his hips and nodded.

"By the way, remember to remind me tomorrow to take the 'Essentials of Siege Warfare' that I had the blind man write and print out, so I can distribute it at the meeting."

"Okay, Master."

There has always been a beautiful landscape in Snow Sea Pass, that is, the blind man lights the lamp, the blind man reads the letter, and the blind man writes the book.

"The closest to us should be the Chu people's Sui City, right?"

"Yes, Master, it's actually just a castle, and the garrison should be less than 10,000."

"What's the situation with the Chu people recently?"

"They have some restless intentions. Although they know that their side is mainly defending, they still hope to do something. This is not something that General Nian Yao can decide and control.

In the past few days, small groups of Chu cavalry have been constantly tearing at our scouts. Obviously, they are not willing to be shrinking turtles from the beginning.

Our laborers and scouts have also suffered some casualties these days."

"In my name, inform the friendly forces on both wings, and everyone should coordinate their scouts. They should give me this face."

"I think that after tomorrow's meeting, Tian Wujing should hand over the coordination of the friendly forces on the left and right wings to you, Master. After all, we are the only three troops on the northeast side."

"Hmm, I'll ask tomorrow."

………

After nightfall,

Guo Dong and Xu An began to pick out the blisters on each other's shoulders, which were caused by practicing with shields these days.

"Hiss, it hurts, it hurts!"

Guo Dong shouted.

"Don't you have a pad? Is it useless?"

The day before yesterday, Guo Dayong sent his son a leather pad to tie to his shoulders and a few other places.

A father still cares about his son.

"It's too hot to wear that thing, I didn't use it."

"Well, there's no need to use it. After grinding for a while, calluses will grow."

At this time,

An armored soldier walked over, opened the tent, and said:

"Guo Dong, your townsman is looking for you outside the camp."

"Okay, I know."

After the armored soldier left, Guo Dong immediately smiled and said to Xu An;

"It must be my father who came to bring us food again. He has been cutting wood in the forest on the periphery these days, and he can often hunt back to improve our meals. Wait, Anzi, we can have an extra meal tonight."

Xu An smiled and nodded.

A quarter of an hour later,

Guo Dong opened the curtain,

Standing at the tent entrance in a daze.

Xu An asked:

"What's wrong?"

Guo Dong suddenly cried out:

"Anzi, my father, my father is gone, my father is gone!"

——————

I have to go to class every morning these two weeks, which has squeezed the update time. Fortunately, the class is about to end, so I'll just update once tonight. I'm a bit too tired, so I'll take a rest.