Xu Xiao finally thought of how the Turks would devour the Great Snow Camp.
They had passed through a valley on their way here. There were two mountains in the valley, and there was only one dirt road that could allow two horses to gallop side by side. It was the best place to set up an ambush.
The Turkic cavalry were skilled at archery. As long as they guarded the two mountains and pushed down boulders to block the exits, the thousand soldiers of the Great Snow Camp would become targets for the Turks.
Xu Xiao told his thoughts to Captain Feng Yuan and suggested that they take a detour instead of the original route.
Feng Yuan couldn't make the decision, so he reported it to Hong Tao.
Hong Tao had already noticed Xu Xiao just now. He was the first to discover the peculiarity of the caravan and shot the leader of the caravan to death, revealing the true form of these Turkic spies.
If it wasn't for the unexpected appearance of Cenxi to 'discuss' the matter of the additional 10% next year, he would have already called Xu Xiao over to praise him and 'properly ask' him how he had seen through the 'true identity' of these Turkic spies.
Now that he had heard Feng Yuan's report, he hurriedly summoned Xu Xiao to the carriage. After Xu Xiao explained how he had discovered that the caravan was a Turkic spy, even Assistant Minister Cenxi, who had always been cold and silent, began to look at Xu Xiao with admiration. At this moment, he had already put on the silver mask again and turned into an old coachman.
Hong Tao was even happier. He really picked up a treasure this time! Previously, when he saw Xu Xiao's military service disc, he already felt that this kid was quite good. He did not expect that this was not just quite good, he was simply a treasure! Even Vice Commander Wu Fu, who had a serious expression on his face, smiled when he looked at Xu Xiao.
They could take a detour, but they couldn't decide which route to take. Other than the path in the valley, there were two other paths to choose from.
There was a dense forest on one of the roads. Although it was inconvenient for the Turks to charge on horseback in the forest, and their archery skills were also blocked by the trees, if they first hid in the forest or nearby, and set fire to the forest after the Snow Camp and the carriage entered, the Snow Camp would be the same as in the valley when they left the forest. They would become the target of the Turks, and they would be burned to death if they stayed in the forest.
The other path was filled with plains. There were no mountains or forests that could cause the Turks to set up an ambush, but for the Turks, who were skilled in riding and archery, the plains were the most suitable battlefield.
This time, the Turks only needed to send five hundred cavalry to ambush the Great Snow Camp and wipe them out.
This was the maximum number of cavalry the Turks could mobilize without alerting the scouts on the Liyang border.
If the upper limit of 500 cavalrymen was too much, the Liyang Border Army would have been alerted long ago, and the Heavy Snow Camp would not have set out with only 36 warhorses.
Although the Snow Camp was valiant, they did not have any heavy armor or warhorses. This time, they had to go out secretly to receive the merchant group. Moreover, it was a night march, so most of the warhorses had poor eyesight. The soldiers of the Snow Camp were afraid that they could not see the holes that the field mice had dug out. If the horses lost their front hooves, they would hurt the warhorses.
Therefore, apart from the commanding general Hong Tao, the deputy general Qi Wufu, and the various 'captain's, deputy captain's, and cavalry scouts, the Snow Camp only brought out 36 warhorses. (The military system of the Central Plains is that 100 people are a unit.）
Cenxi advocated taking the path through the forest and letting the scouts scout the way to avoid the ambush of the Turks.
Hong Tao advocated going through the plains. He pointed out the scouts to scout the way. The Great Snow Camp was waiting on the road, and they were also on the plains. If they were attacked by the Turks now, they would definitely pass through that dense forest on their way back. At that time, would you enter or not?
If they entered the forest, they would be trapped. The Turks would burn the forest, and if they didn't get burned to death, they would become targets for arrows.
If they didn't advance, they would still be 'kited' to death by the Turkic cavalry.
"Then what about the encounter with the Turkic cavalry on the plains?”
Cenxi also knew that Hong Tao's words were priceless advice. In fact, he himself had never thought of taking the path through the dense forest. It was just that there were some things that he couldn't say, and there were some choices that he couldn't bring up. He had to let Hong Tao, the Great Snow Camp's commander, willingly say that decision and make that choice.
"This time, all 1361 people from the Great Snow Camp have come out. I'll split the thirty-six warhorses I brought with the thirty-six elites of the camp. If we encounter a Turkic cavalry attack on the plains, they'll quickly escort you and the noble in the carriage back. I'll take the remaining thirteen hundred and twenty-five soldiers of the Great Snow Camp to cover your rear. As long as one of us is alive, we won't let the number of Turkic cavalry pursuing you exceed fifty! Brother Cen, my Great Snow Battalion will use the lives of 1325 soldiers to thank you for the additional 10% of military supplies for next year!”
Hong Tao dismounted and pushed the golden mountain and jade pillar towards Cenxi, giving a deep bow. Beside him, the twenty chief commanders and deputy chief commanders also dismounted and saluted Cenxi solemnly.
Their voices weren't soft to begin with, including when Hong Tao made the decision to sacrifice the lives of 1325 people of the Great Snow Camp. He practically roared it out. The soldiers of Xu Daxue's camp heard it all. Some of them were far away and didn't hear it. The others who heard it also told them about Hong Tao's decision.
The soldiers of the Great Snow Camp didn't protest or show any fear. One after another, the soldiers of the Great Snow Camp knelt on one knee and put their fists across their chests. They faced Cenxi and offered the last 'salute' of their lives.
Cenxi knew that neither Hong Tao nor the officers and soldiers of the Great Snow Camp were paying their respects to him.
They were thanking the salt tea that could make the soldiers of the border army no longer have sores on their mouths.
They were thanking the soldiers for the quilt that could prevent them from sleeping with their clothes closed.
They were thanking those pills that could make the soldiers of the border army no longer sick and unable to be treated.
They were thanking him for the additional 10% of military supplies for next year.
Cenxi asked himself. He had long since cultivated a heart of stone in the capital's Ministry of War, in the Crown Prince's residence, and in the Jinzhou Prefecture. But when he saw these people who knew they were going to die, he was fearless and even gave them the most solemn gifts to thank the 10% of military supplies that had exchanged 1,325 of their lives.
A flame seemed to have ignited in his heart. For a moment, Cen Xi even wanted to find someone to replace him as the coachman. He, Cen Youxu, also wanted to stay behind and fight alongside the soldiers of the Great Snow Camp.
"I am the eldest son of Jinzhou's Cen family's eldest branch, Liyang's minister of war, the Crown Prince's study companion, Cen Xi, and Cen Zixu. As long as the noble in the carriage could return to Jinzhou Prefecture safely, Cen Zixu would definitely help to increase the military supplies by ten percent next year. If he broke his oath, he would be punished like this.”
Cen Xi unsheathed his saber, holding the hilt with one hand and the back of the saber with the other. With a sudden burst of strength, he broke the saber in his hand in half.
Cenxi, also known as Youxu, was the confidant of Prince Zhao Ren of Liyang. He was also the prince's companion and assistant minister of the Ministry of War.
Hong Tao had been serving in the Ministry of War in the capital. Once, he was drinking with his colleagues in a restaurant and had a conflict with the housekeeper of the Crown Prince's Residence. After drinking, he acted impulsively and punched the housekeeper's nose until it bled.
That very night, the Ministry of Justice had thrown Hong Tao into jail for the four major crimes of 'attacking the Crown Prince, slandering the princes, attempting to kill, and causing serious injuries'.
Hong Tao's wife, Lady Yin, borrowed a large sum of money from her maiden family and asked someone to ask for help from Cenxi, who was also a colleague of Hong Tao's. At that time, there was a faction of the Fifth Prince in the capital who impeached the Crown Prince for conniving the people under his door to engage in illegal activities for personal gain. Cenxi suggested to the Crown Prince to 'torture slaves to gain fame, retreat to advance.'
He would first punish the Crown Prince's housekeeper and clear Hong Tao's name to appease the impeachment of the Fifth Prince's faction.
Then, he would sentence the butler lightly for talking nonsense after drinking, punish him with a cane, and buy the hearts of the people.
Not only did it make the impeachment of the Fifth Prince's faction fall through, but it also made the Crown Prince gain a clean reputation. It also sounded the alarm for his subordinates, telling them to know their limits in their actions in the future and not to be easily caught by others. At the same time, it also let them know that the Crown Prince valued friendship and would not casually sacrifice them.
If you can kill four birds with one stone, why not?
After Hong Tao was acquitted, Cenxi sent someone to return the silver that Madam Yin had sent over and sent a message to him to leave the capital. The Crown Prince punished his old housekeeper in order to prove your innocence.
Hong Tao thought of his old friend Chen Wei, who was the commander of a battalion in the Jinzhou border army, so he applied to his superior to be transferred to the Jinzhou border army.
The next day, the transfer order from the history department was approved. Thus, Hong Tao left the capital and went to the Jinzhou border army.
Later on, he became the commander of the Snowy Camp in order to completely appease the housekeeper of the crown prince's residence in the capital.
Thus, when Cenxi said that he was Hong Tao's savior, it wasn't a lie.
As time passed, Cenxi never thought that he would meet Hong Tao outside the pass after so many years.
Moreover, if nothing unexpected happened, this should be the last time they met.
In the unseen world, there was karma.
Back then, he had saved Hong Tao because he wanted to help the Crown Prince counterattack the Fifth Prince.
Now, Hong Tao was risking his life so that the Jinzhou border troops could get 10% more military supplies next year.
Although they didn't take each other seriously, they had saved each other's lives.
However, Hong Tao did not know that this time was the same as many years ago. Asking them to escort the carriage safely back to the Jinzhou Prefecture was just an extra for him.
Even if this matter did not succeed, His Highness the Crown Prince would still increase the military supplies for the Jin City border army by 10% next year.
This was because the emperor had added another hundred years 'worth of' dye 'to Liyang's national treasure, the Map of Mountains and Rivers.
According to the 'rules' of the royal family of Liyang, after this incident, His Majesty the Emperor would abdicate and establish a new ruler within five years.
The Crown Prince would definitely take up the position of the new ruler.
However, other than the carefree Second Prince and the disorderly Fourth Prince, who had no intention of becoming the emperor.
The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince had been eyeing the throne for a long time.
At this time, the Crown Prince needed to do something big and make a great contribution to completely stabilize his position as a ruler.
Opening up territory for Liyang was the Crown Prince's 'guaranteed victory.'
It is not in line with etiquette and righteousness to go to war with other countries in the Central Plains.
As a result, only the Beimo and the Turks were left on the steppe. However, the Beimo did not share a border with Liyang, while the Turks did not. In the past few decades, the two countries had fought more than ten thousand times, both big and small. Generations of enemy countries, can fight can conquer.
In the war against the Turks, the Jin Prefecture border army was definitely the main force of the main force. If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it more grass. Therefore, not only would the Crown Prince increase the military supplies for the Jin Zhou Border Army by ten percent next year, but he would also double the total amount of military supplies for the Jin Zhou Border Army.
At that time, the Jinzhou Border Army would be the trump card for the Crown Prince to win the throne.
It was a pity that he, Hong Tao, had a 'low position' and if the one leading the army this time was the border army's marshal Yuan Hua, he would definitely tell the truth.
Because it was easy to get a thousand troops, but hard to get a commander.
Especially for a commander like Yuan Hua, who knew how to look at others and was good at fighting.
Compared to Yuan Hua, even ten carriages would be enough to sacrifice the Crown Prince.
But if Hong Tao and the thousand over people from the Great Snow Camp were to be compared to the carriage, even if they were all dead, they wouldn't be able to compare to the people inside the carriage.。。。。。
This person still had to climb higher. Otherwise, who knew when he would end up like Hong Tao, because he was at a low place and couldn't see the truth clearly, he would lose his life in vain.
Cenxi warned himself in his heart that he must continue to climb higher, and not be like Hong Tao and the soldiers of the Great Snow Camp, still muddle-headed ghosts until death.
Putting aside the 'self-motivation' of the Assistant Minister of War Cenxi, let's take a look at the Great Snow Camp.
Under Xu Xiao's suggestion, Hong Tao changed his decision to 'walk on the flatland', and still walked on the mountain valley's path.
Because Xu Xiao had said that there wouldn't be too many Turks and horses, so it was impossible for them to occupy the mountains on both sides of the valley.
Although the valley is a dangerous place, if we don't enter the valley but climb up the mountain from the outside and defend against the mountain, if the Snowy Battalion doesn't return to the camp of the Jin Zhou Border Army on time, Marshal Yuan Hua will definitely send a large group of people to investigate.
Even though Lord Cen said that the noble in the carriage was seriously ill and could not leave the carriage, and the carriage could not go up the mountain.
But who knew if the Turks were planning to wipe out the entire camp and the people in the carriage?
General, even if you want to sacrifice yourself for the sake of benevolence, the Turks must agree to let the carriage pass.
That valley is our trump card to get the Turks to agree to let the carriage pass. If they agree to let the carriage pass, we'll fight them to the death on the plain below the valley.
If the people in the carriage are more important to them and they don't let them pass, then we'll just have to get married. Everyone will take care of themselves and we'll go up the mountain to defend ourselves. We can't do a losing deal like 'selling one and giving one up', right?
After that, Hong Tao 'arbitrarily' decided which 'thirty-six people' would escort the carriage back to Jinzhou Prefecture. In other words, it was about who could survive.
Deputy Commander Qi Wufu, 10 Deputy Commander, 10 people per unit, and 15 elite scouts.
In the entire Great Snow Camp, not a single person raised any objections to Hong Tao's decision.
The people who were left behind did not protest against the injustice.
The thirty-six people who were assigned horses did not request to stay.
Because Hong Tao had clearly said that these thirty-six people wanted to complete the reconstruction of the Great Snow Camp in the shortest time possible, and also to make the Great Snow Camp stronger than it was now in the shortest time possible.
The ten deputy chiefs, as the deputy chiefs of the chiefs, were more familiar with how to train and manage soldiers than the chiefs.
Because, no matter which army it was, as a commander, one had to be brave and brave, and take the lead. Military affairs such as training and management were handled by the deputy chief.
As mentioned before, the gang leaders were the 'felons' among the 'criminals' of the Big Snow Camp. They were also the most elite of the Big Snow Camp.
In an army, if the basic officers in charge of training and management were his bones, then the elites like the gang leader were his soul.
Scouts were the treasure of all armies. One hundred ordinary soldiers might not be able to train a scout.
This was because scouts not only had to be good at killing and fighting, but they also had to be proficient in riding and archery, know how to ambush and hide, be good at tracking and searching, be able to draw and map, be able to sneak in and assassinate, understand the official language of the enemy country and all kinds of dialect, and be able to recognize and decipher all kinds of secret language.
The Great Snow Camp was the concentration camp of the top talents of the entire Jin Province border army. These fifteen scouts were the same as the people of the gang leader army. They were the top talents among the top talents.
With them, they would be able to possess seventy percent of the combat power of the Great Snow Camp at its peak after reconstruction.
Previously, Hong Tao had always suppressed him because he was too fierce and too desperate. He was so fierce that he didn't care about life and death. He would rather lose a thousand of his own strength to injure eight hundred enemies.
For the previous Great Snow Camp, letting the military officers take charge of the family would cost them everything.
However, for the Snow Camp that was going to be rebuilt in the future, he had nothing. Even if he wanted to squander, he had nothing to lose.
On the contrary, his ferocity and fighting spirit could stimulate the bloodlust of the new recruits of the Snow Camp and lead them to complete the transformation of turning a snake into a flood dragon in the shortest time possible.
Moreover, Hong Tao had already chosen a deputy for the horse rider, who would continue to 'suppress' the horse rider at the critical moment in his place, preventing this mad tiger from going crazy and risking his life.
At this moment, Xu Xiao felt that his thigh was very painful.
Because the person Hong Tao chose was him.
He had only joined the army for less than a day and had already risen from a gang leader to a commandant and deputy commander of the 1st camp.
This step was a little too big.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。