A thousand soldiers were marching rapidly along a mountain path.
Besides their equipment, each of them carried only three days' worth of dry rations and drinking water.
The closest bandit stronghold to the imperial city was located in a deep mountain about 120 miles to the southwest.
However, if you take the mountain road, you will take many detours and it will take about 150 miles to hike.
At the pace of these soldiers' forced march, if they traveled for five hours a day, they could cover about one hundred to one hundred and twenty li on a flat official road.
However, they traveled along sparsely populated mountain paths, some of which were rugged and steep, so they could only travel a maximum of seventy or eighty li (approximately 35-40 kilometers) a day.
Ye Jinghe instructed each soldier to carry three days' worth of rations. After two days of travel, they would rest for one night upon reaching their destination. On the third day, after eating and drinking their fill, they would wipe out the bandits and then, with the rations looted from the bandits, head to the next bandit stronghold.
One reason for doing this so secretly is that if the commotion is too great, it will alert the bandits, who might then flee in advance.
After all, the Imperial Guard was the regular army of the imperial court. Although people in the capital knew they were a joke, the bandits did not.
Moreover, mountain bandits are generally limited in size, at most a few hundred people, and even if they have the advantage of terrain, not many people would want to rashly confront the regular army of the imperial court.
Therefore, if they were to lead their men along the official roads to suppress the bandits in a grand manner, the bandits might have already learned of their presence and fled or gone into hiding while they were still negotiating with the local officials after they arrived at their destination.
Previously, some generals in the guard had wanted to go to more distant places to suppress bandits and earn military merit, but every time they led their troops to find the bandit's den in a grand manner, the bandits had already run away, and the supplies were often taken away, leaving them only empty mountain strongholds, causing them to return empty-handed.
After several fruitless raids, the young masters in the guard camp became unwilling to go out and suppress bandits anymore.
Therefore, the only way to fight bandits is to strike them by surprise.
We must catch them off guard and wipe them out in one fell swoop.
Otherwise, even if the bandits don't run away, they are familiar with the terrain in the mountains and forests. If they use their geographical advantage to wage guerrilla warfare, the imperial court would have to pay a heavy price to wipe them out!
The second objective was to train troops.
To avoid attracting attention, they deliberately chose to march through sparsely populated mountains. The rugged mountain roads provided an excellent opportunity for training.
Ye Jingchen brought a lot of Eastern Palace guards with him this time. However, Ye Jinghe has kept his identity as a prince well hidden so far, so Ye Jingchen naturally has to cooperate with him and hide his identity as the crown prince.
Therefore, the dozens of Donggong guards split into smaller groups and hid near Ye Jingchen, only showing themselves when absolutely necessary.
Before setting off, Ye Jingchen told Ye Jinghe that he would invite Xie Chang'an to come with them. Ye Jinghe immediately performed a 'face-changing' trick for him.
An excited and joyful face instantly fell, and the person asked unhappily why.
“Without him, how would we know where the bandits are? And how would we know how to plan our marching route?” Ye Jingchen explained to him.
Of course, the most important thing is that he and Ye Jinghe only have theoretical knowledge and no practical combat experience, so they would feel at ease if they brought along someone who has been through many battles.
In this way, even if Ye Jinghe's strategy is flawed, Xie Chang'an can correct and remedy it in time.
Soldiers' lives matter too; they cannot treat human lives as a joke and must do everything possible to minimize casualties.
However, this point cannot be told to Ye Jinghe, as Ye Jingchen is afraid he will get angry.
"He's always stayed in the capital, so how would he know all this? If the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion knows even this, does that mean they have rebellious intentions?" Ye Jinghe immediately said.
Ye Jingchen could only say that Ye Jinghe was indeed worthy of being Xie Chang'an's ally in the original novel; he was quick-witted and adept at conspiracy theories.
"I asked him to collect the information. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory. Mastering information is the key to taking the initiative! Do you think my brother has any disloyal intentions?" Ye Jingchen took the blame upon himself. Only in this way would Ye Jinghe not continue to investigate.
"My brother is the crown prince, not a subject. It's only natural that he knows these things! If anyone is to blame, it's him for being too suspicious. My brother is such a good person, yet he still doubts him!" Ye Jinghe smoothly switched targets.
The "he" he refers to usually means the emperor.
In this respect, he has always been incredibly perceptive.
“We are in a different position from Father Emperor; it’s lonely at the top, so you can’t blame Father Emperor for being suspicious. I’ve been collecting this information only to learn more about the Great Abyss, and look, it’s coming in handy now!”
Ye Jingchen didn't want to discuss such a dangerous topic with Ye Jinghe, so he quickly changed the subject and brought it back to the main point.
“Xie Chang’an could have sent a few people familiar with the terrain with us. There was no need for him to come here personally. The fact that he’s following us so eagerly means he has ulterior motives towards my brother!” Ye Jinghe didn’t miss any opportunity to expose Xie Chang’an’s true colors in front of his brother.
"Um... I invited him to come with us..." Ye Jingchen said somewhat awkwardly.
The only person he truly trusted was Xie Chang'an.
"Brother, you don't believe me!" Ye Jinghe's eyes immediately reddened, feeling both angry and aggrieved.
Ye Jingchen admired Ye Jinghe's quick change of expression and his understanding of him. He had only said one sentence, yet Ye Jinghe already knew what he meant.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that Xie Chang’an is a member of the Xie family, and I want to provide your soldiers with an extra layer of protection. Human life is very precious. Since they have become your soldiers, you have to be responsible for their lives. That’s what makes a good general,” Ye Jingchen quickly explained.
Ye Jinghe was still very unhappy. "I will definitely take responsibility for their lives! I don't need Xie Chang'an to meddle in my business!"
"Xie Chang'an won't easily interfere with your decisions; this is your battlefield," Ye Jingchen assured Ye Jinghe, patting him on the shoulder.
Most of the time, Ye Jinghe would compromise on anything Ye Jingchen decided.
He was very unhappy when he saw Xie Chang'an, but he didn't provoke him. He just ignored him and acted as if he didn't exist.
Xie Chang'an wouldn't take the initiative to speak to him, so the atmosphere among the three of them was very silent, filled with awkwardness.
They walked awkwardly for several hours until Ye Jingchen began to struggle due to the steep mountain path beneath his feet.
He had never walked such a rugged road in his life. If he hadn't been consistently training, he might not have been able to keep up with the group.
As he walked, the people on his left and right sides almost simultaneously grabbed his arms.
Then their eyes met, and they exchanged a silent battle.
Worried that they might have a conflict, Ye Jingchen shook off both hands from his arms and walked ahead.
A moment later, Ye Jinghe and Xie Chang'an caught up with him at the same time, still one on the left and one on the right, sandwiching him in the middle.
He was truly surrounded by men on both sides, yet he couldn't shake them off, because they were protecting him by placing him in the middle.
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