Chapter 446 Dragon and Tiger

On August 10th, there was no fighting in Zhongren Pavilion.

It was almost sunset when the Taishan Army arrived at the Zhongrenting battlefield. They conservatively chose to camp, and the Han Army did not come out from their positions to launch an attack.

Thus, the day of August 10th ended amidst the tension, uneasiness, and excitement of the officials on both sides.

August 11th, Yinshi, Pingdan.

The Han army chose to cook and eat breakfast two hours earlier than usual. At this time, it was still dark and there was a damp and cold wind.

Before the heavy rain, it was summer, and after the heavy rain, it was winter.

The huge temperature difference made officials at all levels very uneasy. They reported the situation to Lu Zhi, and then General Zhenbei agreed to distribute the stored spirits.

Before the war, it was undoubtedly a crazy thing to let the soldiers drink, but perhaps for the officials of the Zhenbei Army, strong liquor may be what they need most, far more than empty words about loyalty to the Han Dynasty.

it works.

Today the Han soldiers had a meal of mutton and braised millet rice. For most people, this meal might be their last meal.

While the baggage soldiers were still busy, two outlying sentries hurried to the central army with a stranger, asking to see Lu Zhi.

This strange officer was a strict guard stationed at Changshan Pass. He came to see Lu Zhi now to ask about the location of his troops.

Previously, when Lu Zhi went south from Changshan Pass, he left 3,000 troops behind and made his general Yan Jing his general. Later, Lu Zhi decided to fight decisively at Zhongrenting. In order to ensure sufficient troops, he asked Yan Jing to lead another 3,000 troops.

Go south to the Zhongren Pavilion.

Before the battle on August 11, Yan Jingbu arrived.

Lu Zhi was overjoyed to learn that Yan Jing's troops had arrived in time, and then ordered his troops to station on the east side of the battlefield, under the control of Ma Teng's troops, so as to strengthen his left wing.

Yan Jing's troops received the order and quickly moved to the northeast of the battlefield, where they joined Ma Teng's troops.

It was also at this time that the soldiers of each battalion of the Han army, who had finished their meals one after another, began to take action.

Under the rumbling drums of the Chinese army, they carried their swords and halberds, walked on the muddy ground, and then drove to the designated position under the command of the officers at the head of each platoon.

However, not all Han troops were so obedient. This battlefield was too big and there were too many battalions participating in the battle, so quarrels and conflicts were inevitable.

When the officials of the Yueqi Camp went to the forage yard on the back slope to beg for fodder, they had a quarrel with the warehouse officials there. The warehouse officials said that this batch of fodder was for the Youzhou Tuqi, and then they were

The knights from the Yueqi Battalion beat him up and took away the supplies.

There are also some troops who were still sleeping when they heard the rallying horn of the Chinese army. It is said that one general is incompetent and the three armies are exhausted.

Li Min was drunk yesterday and still hasn't woken up, and none of the soldiers outside the tent dared to enter the tent to disturb them. They are all descendants of the Li family in Xiangping, and they can tell the personality of their head clearly.

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Have you seen the dozen or so hounds kept outside the tent? One of my family’s favorite crimes is dog execution.

Therefore, even if these soldiers heard the Chinese army's gathering drum, they pretended not to hear it. Their fear of the family leader was far greater than Lu Zhi's military law.

Someone has said that military discipline is the most important thing when fighting in a large army. It seems that Lu Zhi's military law is not good either.

Li Min didn't wake up, so naturally everyone else was snoring in the tent.

Taishi Ci was no exception. He was lying on the straw mat with his clothes open and snoring. It wasn't that he drank too much and didn't wake up, but the superiors asked them to be on guard in the trench yesterday to prevent the Taishan soldiers from attacking at night.

Taishi Ci and his seven brothers squatted in the trench all night. Apart from being bitten by mosquitoes, they squatted in loneliness.

So from the time they came back to now, Taishi Ci and the others have actually not slept for two hours.

But Taishi Ci did not wake up. Lao Zheng, who was sleeping with him, got up suddenly and heard the sound of the trumpet.

For an old soldier like Lao Zheng, the sound of golden drums and horns is engraved in his dreams and has formed a conditioned reflex.

When he got up, he realized that what he had dreamed was not a dream, but that it was indeed a gathering of troops.

Lao Zheng hurriedly pushed Tai Shici to wake up and said in surprise:

"General Shi, the rallying call is blowing."

Although Tai Shi Ci is powerful, he actually has very little battle experience. Compared with Lao Zheng, he is just a new soldier.

Hearing Lao Zheng calling the Chinese army to blow the trumpet, Taishi Ci didn't dare to sleep anymore. He quickly got up and listened carefully, but something was wrong.

He said to Lao Zheng:

"Isn't this from the head of our camp?"

But Old Zheng still pulled Taishi Ci and ordered the two Husbands to wear Taishi Ci's armor. Old Zheng knew very well that whether they could survive this battle all depended on his own generals.

When Taishi Ci put on his armor and led his men out of the tent, the Zhongren Pavilion outside was already abuzz, and only their camp was silent.

This left the two of them confused, so they could only wait for orders in the big tent.

However, because Li Min's department is on a back slope, it is not yet on the front line, so the delay is actually not that serious.

What was really important was the twenty battalions of Han troops on the front slope. They were frozen in formation in the cold wind in the early morning, and from time to time they would take a sip of strong liquor from their water bags.

These people are either from the northwest or from Youji, and they are all people who can drink.

So this drink not only drove away the cold, but also made them more excited. They sat on the ground, leaning on each other as much as possible to keep warm. There was only a trace of light in the sky, and they whispered in the darkness.

The wealthy Zheng and the deceased Paoze entrusted their wills to the deceased. Some who could write were responsible for writing one or two parting words to the Paoze. If by any chance the Han army won the war, they would be considered dead. These things

He will also be sent back to his hometown together with the reward and delivered to his wife.

As for losing? Then what are you thinking about?

While the twenty battalion heads on the front slope were still moving slowly to organize their troops, a group of vendors suddenly came from the back slope. They pushed carts filled with food and liquor and shuttled between the battalions and began to sell supplies.

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In fact, these people have a dual identity. They are not only the transport team of the Zhenbei Army, but also the business group accompanying the army organized by the powerful.

Before this, Lu Zhi felt the laziness and numbness of recruiting civilians, so he handed over the supply and demand tasks of the Zhenbei Army to the powerful people in Zhongshan area.

Lu Zhi also learned from the dynasty's experience in conquering the Qiang. At that time, in order to stimulate wealthy merchants in the Guandong region to actively support the war, the imperial court gave these wealthy merchants corresponding quotas of salt and iron introduction, so that they could benefit.

This time, Lu Zhi also used a similar method. He promised that the seizures from this battle could be purchased directly from the soldiers.

This is big business.

In every battle, the officers of the Zhenbei Army would make seizures. But these seizures were of various kinds, including slaves, valuable furniture, and property deeds. It was not convenient to take these things away, so the best way was to dispose of them immediately.

At this time, the officials of the Zhenbei Army can cash in with the business groups, and the business groups can also obtain these excess wealth at a low price.

The same is true for this decisive battle with the Taishan Army. Although everyone sees the huge risks involved, everyone also knows the huge wealth contained in it.

If the main force of the Taishan Army is annihilated here, won't the central and southern parts of Jizhou be left to their mercy? I can't even imagine how much wealth this will bring.

Therefore, in the end, the powerful people from Zhongshan Kingdom joined some powerful people from Youzhou to take over this heavy baggage work and provide supplies to the Zhenbei Army.

But the reason why a business group is a business group is to make money. The original things can be supported, but do they have to spend money to buy the extra ones?

Just like this liquor bar, Lu Shuai reserves one water bag for each person. But for the men in Youzhou, what is this bag enough for?

So here comes the business opportunity.

At this time, the merchant groups drove the servants to sell liquor between the camps. Due to military discipline, the soldiers could not leave, but their eager eyes put considerable pressure on the military officials.

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They also know that if this requirement cannot be met, how can they ask the people below to work hard?

So even the stingy officers, under this pressure, crowded around these vendors and asked about the price of the drinks.

But no military officer did not gasp after hearing the price of the drinks. But the situation is such that it is really unjustifiable not to buy it.

So these military officials could only sell some of the previous seizures to these business groups, and then gave each soldier another bag of strong liquor.

Le Shang was such a generous general. He bought all the drinks beside him and refilled the water bags of his officers.

The halberd bearers from Anping Camp gathered around happily and drank heavily.

Only Xu Miao was swallowing in small sips, with no intention of drinking it all in one go.

The veteran soldier next to him asked him:

"Xiao Xu, why are you keeping this wine? Do you know what kind of wine this is? This is called life-selling wine. That is, we are going to the battlefield, so we have this drink. If you don't finish it now, I'm afraid it will be cheaper later.

Someone else."

What Lao Jun said is very straightforward, that is to say, you may not be able to keep this battle life, but you still want to keep this drink? Is it stupid?

But when Xu Miao heard this, he was not angry at all. Instead, he said to the old soldier very seriously:

"Don't worry, the arrow that killed me, Xu Miao, hasn't been made yet. I will definitely become a general."

Lao Jun couldn't help laughing and said haha:

"Okay, okay, you will be the general. Then you will take care of the brothers."

But Xu Miao nodded very seriously and said:

"Yeah, but the premise is that you have to survive this battle."

Now Lao Jun was so angry that his whole face turned red with anger and he stopped paying attention to this young man.

…
To be continued...