Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 118 Opening a Banquet and Introducing the Ancestral Tent (3)

There are no captains and centurions, and the ten centurions refuse to give in to each other.In desperation, everyone began to discuss the terms of the march.Decided to set off at Mao every day and camp at You.Rest for a quarter of an hour every hour of march, and half an hour for every three hours of march.Three teams of ten rotate on duty each night.The required camels, horses, and carts are collected according to the rules of the baggage department.Because Zhao De knew how to operate the Tianguan instrument, he gave it to him for safekeeping. As compensation, Zhao De's ten-man team got an extra camel.In addition, with the highest title, the oldest military qualifications, and the longest age, the ten chiefs will be the convener, and fifty ten chiefs will be convened for discussion in case of major events.If someone violates the military discipline and treaty, the fifty chiefs will supervise and punish them after a collegial meeting.Fortunately, marching inland, there is no need for surprise attacks by the enemy, and there is no need for the commander to make a decisive decision.

After negotiating the terms of the contract, the more than fifty husbands reported their names, titles, qualifications, and ages one by one.

A big-armed and round-shouldered Mo Dao hand ten husband first said: "Duan Yanji, Cai Guan, year Geng 28, has served in the army for seven years."

A hussar captain next to him seemed to have no interest in ranking seniority, and said lazily: "Wang Tongdeng, Shangzao, 25 years old, has served in the army for three years." What military merits, after serving in the army for three years, he actually entered the third rank of nobility.Several aspiring captains immediately listed him as an important opponent.Later, Zhao Decai learned that Wang Tongdeng was the tenth commander of the Tiger Wing Army. He escorted the general Liu Yi back from his patrol in Mobei again, and ran into an ambush by horse thieves. Two hours later, until the reinforcements arrived, the Tiger Wing Army killed 77 people and the rest were injured.It was a service that killed more than 11 horse thieves.This Wang Tongdeng charged bravely, and picked up [-] horse thieves in a row with a big gun, defeating the enemy's spirit, so he added two ranks of titles.

"Guo Sansheng, courtesy name Jinsi, Cai Guan, year Geng 29, has been in the army for eight years."

"Jian Cheng, courtesy name Heping, Gongshi, year Geng 25, has been in the army for three years."

Zhao Xingde was sitting beside Jian Cheng, and all the soldiers' eyes were on him, Zhao Xingde said with some embarrassment: "I'm Zhao De, the words are straight, year Geng 25, title?" He said in an uncertain tone , "It's a gentleman, he joined the army for less than a month."

All the sergeants were in an uproar, and those who were able to join the Chengying Army did not expect that there was a rookie who was too tender among the ten commanders.The few people who were secretly wary of Zhao De earlier also let go of their vigilance, thinking, a rookie who can operate the celestial instrument will not be able to make any big waves, so he doesn't have to treat him like a big enemy, but he should live well win over.

The last old sword and shield commander who taught the army, Du Chuijiao, was publicly elected as the convener.He worships "Shangzao" and has been in the army for nearly 20 years, and he is already in his 40s.Suddenly got the opportunity to "lead" the whole battalion, Du Chuijiao secretly thought, if this opportunity is grasped well, the captain will not dare to think about it, and there is hope for the centurion to grow up.Suppressing the excitement in his heart, his face was flushed, and he saw every ten commanders laughing and said: "This march requires a lot of support from brothers."

The three marching Sima of the General's Mansion sat beside him without saying a word, and saw that although the ten commanders refused to give in to each other, they still managed the marching affairs in an orderly manner by signing treaties and discussing with each other. Secret praise.

On the way back to the General's Mansion to report, Fu Junfang, the marching commander, sighed, "Chengying Battalion is indeed an elite group. It hasn't formed an army yet, and it doesn't even have any decent officers. It's still orderly. Now we're ready to run for thousands of miles." " Jin Changtai also said: "Yeah, I haven't started the training yet, and I don't accept anyone, but I already look like a strong soldier."

Huang Zongdao, another marching Sima, smiled and said: "These guys still have trouble." He paused, then murmured, "That newcomer named Zhao De actually knows how to manipulate concepts." Tianyi, it’s interesting. Could it be just putting on a show?” Jin Changtai said with a smile, “I’m not as good as Kanto, and people are forbidden to learn astronomy privately. Maybe he’s just interested in astronomy, or maybe he once planned to go to the wilderness. Looking for mineral veins, so I have specially learned this art of observing the sky and positioning."

When the commander of the marching army reported the situation of the military meeting of the fifty commanders to Zhang Shanfu, the chief general of the marching army department, Zhang Shanfu smiled at Zhou Yuanzhong: "Congratulations, your newcomer has passed the test. I am really worried about these wolves. The cubs are marching towards Qiemo like birds and beasts, it will be very troublesome to contain them, maybe they will have to mobilize the teaching army to find them."

Zhou Yuanzhong picked up the general's felt hat on the table, put it on his head, and said in a deep voice: "To carry out dispatch military affairs in enemy territory, it is indispensable to cooperate with friendly troops who are unfamiliar and not subordinate to each other. It is also an essential ability of the Chengying Camp It is precisely to use the long-distance march to temper the materials of these stragglers into an army." He paused, and then smiled: "Chengying Camp has never bothered to teach the soldiers to train new recruits, even if they bother them, it will be fine. .”

Zhang Shanfu smiled and said: "Except for that Zhao De, the others are not considered real recruits. Besides, Chengying is in the upper three armies, and he has to teach the soldiers to train on his behalf. You don't think it's embarrassing, but I feel ashamed. But let's talk Come back, you don't want my people to 'operate' the Tianguan instrument, is it because you want them to go around in Puchangze?"

Zhou Yuanzhong put on a thick cloak, stood up, and said with a smile: "Every time you go deep into the enemy's territory, as long as you don't get lost, dispatching military affairs is half the battle. I just want them to understand the importance of Tianguan positioning." , I didn’t expect that among this group of newcomers, there was one who could use the sky-watching instrument, so I had to set off early to get ahead of them.” After speaking, he said goodbye to Zhang Shanfu and left the General’s Mansion. The sergeant had prepared his horse and waited outside.

Zhou Yuanzhong got on his horse, and a group of people galloped out of Dunhuang.They rushed to the broad Puchangze area first, and used the military order of the General's Mansion to inform the government and post stations along the way not to provide guides for the subsequent training army. camp.

After the Chengying Battalion became an army, it accepted the dispatch military affairs issued by the General's Mansion, and often went out in units of battalions.The lieutenant in the front has great independent command power, Zhou Zhongyuan, the commander of the army, has nothing to do, except review the local military information obtained every time and report the battle history to the general's mansion, and arrange logistics support for the battalion heads. Please reward him for your merits kind of thing.Zhou Zhongyuan held back his strength and had nowhere to exert his strength. For him, every time he trained the new camp, it was a rare opportunity to relax his muscles and bones.

Because the quicksand on the South Tianshan Road often flooded the roads, the North Tianshan Road was chosen for the Chidao running through the Western Regions. After the completion of the Chidao, the trade routes on the Tianshan South Road declined rapidly.Only a few merchants took some silk, cotton, linen and other materials to buy special products such as jade on the south road.Thousands of miles across the entire South Road, there is only one leading army.The military headquarters of the Shuran Army was built in Khotan, and the five thousand soldiers were scattered and stationed in various important oases like grass snakes and gray lines.

Because of Zhou Yuanzhong's painstaking arrangements, when Zhao De and other five hundred soldiers from the Seventh Battalion of Chengying took great pains to find the only post by Puchang Ze, the only post spread his hands and said with a bitter face: "Everyone, sir! There is an order from the General's Mansion that the march during this training is like an operation behind the enemy's rear, and the post station is not allowed to find guides and give you directions."

"Junior understands, thank you, old man." Zhao Xingde frowned, cupped his hands and said goodbye.Because he speaks well and asks questions clearly.Sometimes it is obvious that others don't want to tell him, but he can get some clues by insinuating.Gradually, the chiefs of the ten husbands entrusted him with the job of asking directions.

The old post official looked at his back and nodded secretly, the man was calm.There are few merchants here, and the old post officials traveled all over the world when they were young. Now, in their spare time, they cultivate a few acres of paddy fields and take care of the vegetable garden. They also set up a pond and raised hundreds of ducks. They often sell the marinated duck meat. For some traders who pass by occasionally, his wife is dead, and his son is teaching the army to be a sergeant.

Zhao Xingde returned to the group of ten chiefs, and said with a sullen face: "Without a guide, it is not easy to find the mouth of the Qiemo River in this vast and boundless Puchangze." The location of this station is just vague Where the commercial roads criss-cross, except for the wide road from the east, each of the other roads seems to have no end in sight, extending to the swamp and mud outside Puchangze.