Chapter 357 Top
After a short rest, Lin Changning and his group headed towards the valley, arriving at its entrance as dawn broke.
Lin Changning looked at the golden hue on the horizon at dawn and nodded to Li Mingde.
"Your Highness, you take your men to rest, and I will take a team to ambush on the mountainside."
Li Mingde responded and led a group of men directly into the valley. Seeing that the men had left, Lin Changning quickly dismounted his men, settled the horses, and led them up the mountainside to set up ambushes and traps.
Wei Shao had already followed the main force into the valley. Sitting on his horse under the scorching sun, he endured the pain from his wounds. His face was extremely pale, and he felt a little dizzy.
Commander Zhao looked back at Wei Shao with some concern, whispered something to another commander beside him, then rode his horse backward and asked Wei Shao, "Little Wei, is there anything still bothering you?"
With extremely pale lips, Wei Shao forced a faint smile at Commander Zhao: "It's alright, Commander. It's just that the weather is too hot, and I feel a little dizzy."
As he spoke, he began to sway unsteadily, and Commander Zhao became increasingly worried about Wei Shao's condition.
He waved to the group, beckoning two people over, and instructed them: "Go and help Xiao Wei off his horse. Also, bring up the carts for the wounded in the back to shield them from the sun."
The two guards nodded upon hearing this and quickly mounted their horses and rode off to the back.
Once the cart was brought over, Commander Zhao immediately dismounted and went to help Wei Shao: "Little Wei, don't ride the horse, sit on the cart."
Wei Shao dismounted from his horse with the help of Commander Zhao and was helped onto a cart. He looked at Commander Zhao and said, "Thank you, Commander."
Looking at Wei Shao's still pale face, Zhao Qianhu was still a little worried. He left two of his personal guards to take care of him and rode ahead of Wei Shao to lead the way.
When he was stationed at Yingzhou Garrison, he met Wei Shao's father. If Wei Shao's father hadn't saved him from the Tartars back then, he would never have become a commander of a thousand men today.
Therefore, he felt that no matter how the war went, at least Wei Shao's life had to be saved.
This can be considered as repaying the kindness of Wei Shao's father in rescuing him from Da Zi back then.
Thinking of this, Commander Zhao rode his horse beside Wei Shao and asked, "Little Wei, how old are you this year?"
Wei Shao sat on the cart, swaying along at the back of the line, and replied to Zhao Qianhu beside him, "I'm twenty-one this year, Qianhu."
Commander Zhao nodded, a smile on his face: "Not bad. You managed to fight your way out of the rebels' encirclement last night, so you must have inherited your father's excellent marksmanship. But why are you here in Xincheng all of a sudden? If I remember correctly, it shouldn't be you who's coming, right?"
Wei Shao looked somewhat gloomy, glanced at Zhao Qianhu and sighed: "Originally, Li Qianhu and Wang Baihu were going to lead the team. After my father passed away, I inherited the position of Baihu. Wang Baihu was injured some time ago, so I temporarily took over."
To put it nicely, it was a temporary replacement due to injury, but in reality, this Commander Wang was the brother of Commander Wang. The commander couldn't bear to see his brother risk his life on the front lines, so he made an excuse to decline and replaced him with someone who had a shallower foundation in the army.
After his father passed away, several uncles tried to help him move around, but unfortunately it didn't make much of a difference.
Left with no other choice, he and Commander Li came to the front line together. But on their very first day there, Commander Li and a group of brothers lost their lives in Xincheng.
Thinking of this, Wei Shao sighed again.
Commander Zhao was a veteran in the army, and when he heard Wei Shao say this, he immediately understood what was going on, but he couldn't comment on the matter of the garrison post in Yingzhou.
He could only comfort him, saying, "Don't worry, Xiao Wei. Back when I went to Yingzhou, your father was the one who rescued me from the Tartars. If you don't mind, just call me Uncle Zhao. Uncle Zhao will make sure you stay safe and sound here."
Wei Shao's thoughts were complicated. He hadn't expected to run into his father's old friend again. This person didn't seem bad and even promised to protect him in this war.
only……
Thinking of what he had said to Lin Changning when he left last night, Wei Shao was momentarily at a loss for words.
Seeing that the man was in a daze, Commander Zhao called out a few more times, "Xiao Wei? Xiao Wei?"
Wei Shao suddenly came to his senses: "Thank you, Uncle Zhao."
Seeing the worry on Wei Shao's face, Commander Zhao asked again, "Is there something troubling you? You can tell Uncle Zhao."
Wei Shao was somewhat at a loss for words. Looking at Zhao Qianhu's sincere gaze, he wavered a little, but in the end, reason prevailed, and he shook his head at Zhao Qianhu.
"It's nothing, Uncle Zhao. I'm just a little worried. Those people from last night were no good."
Commander Zhao seemed to be deep in thought. After hearing Wei Shao's words, he couldn't help but ask, "Little Wei, do you think there's something wrong with this operation?"
Wei Shao shook his head, his face sincere: "It's not that there's anything wrong. The commander's decisions are never wrong. It's just that I have a vague sense of unease."
At this point, Wei Shao chuckled lightly, "Uncle Zhao, you don't need to take my words to heart. With the commander in charge, I'm sure nothing unexpected will happen. It's just that my father sometimes felt anxious during battles, and he always came back injured, so that's why I..."
Listening to Wei Shao's words, Commander Zhao felt that the boy had been frightened to death last night. It was inevitable that he would be unaccustomed to the battlefield for the first time. It was already quite remarkable that Wei Shao was able to escape from the enemy's encirclement and deliver the message to them.
Thinking of this, Commander Zhao laughed heartily: "Don't worry, Xiao Wei, the men we brought are all top-notch soldiers, it's fine."
Wei Shao lowered his eyes and sighed inwardly. This was all the advice he could offer. Uncle Zhao seemed like a good person and had been taking good care of him since last night. If possible, he still hoped that Uncle Zhao could live.
By this time, he had fully realized that since he had surrendered yesterday, there was no turning back. Whether the news was true or false, he could not escape punishment.
Let's just send people there; most of them will probably die in the valley.
Thinking of this, Wei Shao felt as if he were being boiled in hot oil. After a long while, Wei Shao looked up at the valley in the distance, which was gradually taking shape, and silently turned his head away.
Zhao Qianhu walked to one side, and looking at the somewhat uneasy Wei Shao, he also felt a little uneasy.
He was quite capable and shrewd to have risen to the rank of commander in the army. Although he didn't take the boy's reminder seriously, he couldn't help but have some doubts.
He became more cautious and rode his horse forward a bit. After catching up with the main force, he suddenly said to another commander, "Hey, Lao Qian, I've noticed a bit of an upset stomach today. Can you cover for me during the charge?"
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