Chapter Five: Eager to Try, Hearts Flutter
Zhong Li'an turned around and hung the map on the wall. The tent was once again filled with a warm and cozy atmosphere, but this time it was filled with a sense of pride and eagerness to try.
Yang Xiao sighed deeply, filled with emotion, and recalled the competition in front of the city gate.
She couldn't help but smile, turning to look at Zhongli Shuo, and teased, "This is the first time I've seen someone who actively provokes others and then refuses to accept defeat. To be honest, when you stopped me at the city gate just now, it wasn't just to test my strength, was it?"
"We've only known each other for a few hours, and you're already teasing me," Zhong Lishuo said with a reproachful smile, looking at Yang Xiao. "Aren't you afraid that we might have ulterior motives?"
Yang Xiao looked at Zhong Li'an, who had the blueprints hanging on the wall, and waved her hand with a smile. "My lord is a gentle and open-minded person. If I didn't trust him, I would never have come to join him." She then glanced back at Zhong Li Shuo. "You can't keep anything to yourself. I could tell from the moment you wanted to fight me. What else could you possibly be after?"
“Lingyu’s ability to judge people is truly accurate,” Zhongli’an said, holding the blueprints and turning back to smile at the two of them. “Yude’s worries are always written on his face; you can guess them without even looking closely.”
“Brother, you…” Zhongli Shuo looked at Zhongli Shuo with dissatisfaction, then shook his head in submission. “Alright, alright, I admit that I fought with you just now because I disagreed with you and rode to the city to relieve my boredom. I happened to run into you. Seeing your extraordinary aura, I knew you must have some skills, so I sparred with you to test my skills.”
“I knew it,” Yang Xiao said with a smile, looking at Zhong Lishuo. “Who comes to seek refuge and then has to undergo trials before entering the pass?”
"I thought I had finally met a worthy opponent, but I didn't expect your Crimson Serpent to pull such a stunt." Zhongli Shuo smiled and walked with Yang Xiao toward Zhongli An, where the map was hung. "In terms of martial arts alone, I really didn't misjudge you."
Yang Xiao waved his hand, "This time, my victory was not honorable. Now that I think about it, I'm still scared. If that move had hurt you, how could I face my lord?"
Zhong Li'an laughed upon hearing this, "If he was really hurt, it's because he was rude to attack me upon first meeting me."
He dusted off the map on the wall. “You two are both exceptional talents. Although Yude is not very cunning, I know his martial arts skills. You two can have another match in the future, and I will be the judge.” He turned to look at Yang Xiao. “Don’t worry, I will not show favoritism to him.”
“Okay,” Yang Xiao looked up at the picture on the wall, “then I’ll wait and see.”
"Alright, let's get back to the main topic." Zhong Li'an pointed to the map. "I was worried about not having enough manpower before, but now that Lingyu has come to help, it seems that this plan has a chance of succeeding."
“If we want to achieve great things, we must first make Jizhou our home, and then take Yanzhou and Yuzhou as our base.” Zhongli An raised his hand and gestured on the map. “At that time, our strength will still be inferior to that of Xiao Yan of Bingzhou, and the forces in Jiangnan will be chaotic. We need to wait for them to fall into disarray before we can start attacking Qingzhou and Xuzhou, consolidate our base, and then discuss the next steps.”
“Brother, you…” Zhongli Shuo stood there, staring at the map on the wall, then at Zhongli An, “Why didn’t you tell me you had such a plan before?”
“At that time, we didn’t have enough manpower. Any further arrangements would just be empty words. Saying more would be pointless and would only add to your excitement.” Zhongli An waved his hand with a smile, then continued to point at the map, “Ji Province and Yu Province are separated by Yan Province. To conquer Ji Province, we must first take down Yan Province.”
Yang Xiao looked at the map and nodded approvingly. "I heard that the governor of Yanzhou has no real learning. He only became governor because his family was wealthy and he filled the bellies of treacherous officials. That's why the governorship was sold to him."
“Lingyu is absolutely right,” Zhongli An nodded approvingly. “This man only knows how to have fun and doesn’t care about military and political affairs. Compared to us, he is perhaps slightly inferior.”
“In that case, let’s launch a full-scale attack,” Zhongli Shuo looked up at Zhongli An. “Lingyu and I will lead 20,000 elite troops, which will be enough to take it down.”
Looking at Zhongli Shuo's confident face, Zhongli An couldn't help but shake his head with a smile, "Don't think that conquering cities and seizing territories is too simple. Although the Yanzhou army is loose, it is not without the power to fight back. Moreover, our forces are not particularly strong. If we send out all our troops, Bingzhou may take the opportunity to send troops, leaving our army attacked from both sides."
"So, according to what you're saying, doesn't that mean we can't defeat the enemy in one strike?"
“No.” Zhongli An shook his head. “When the time comes, you and Lingyu will each lead a force, attacking from Ye County and Pingyuan simultaneously. When you reach Shanyang County and meet up, someone will come from Yuzhou to meet you.”
"Oh? There are reinforcements?" Zhongli Shuo immediately became interested. "Who is this person?"
Zhong Li'an smiled gently and shook his head, "It'll be a secret for now. You'll find out when the time comes."
“Brother, why are you still keeping us in suspense?” Zhongli Shuo sighed softly. “Never mind, you’ve always been like this.”
Zhongli An smiled, then looked solemnly at the two of them, "This battle is of paramount importance. Whether we can establish ourselves in the Central Plains in this chaotic world depends on this battle. Our ambition to save the world rests entirely in your hands."
Yang Xiao and Zhong Lishuo exchanged a glance, then clasped their hands in a fist salute to Zhong Li'an and said, "We will do our utmost!"
Zhong Li'an nodded to the two of them with emotion, then looked up at Yang Xiao and said, "Lingyu, this is your first battle in Jizhou. Although you are exceptionally strong, remember to be careful and prioritize safety."
"I will obey your words, my lord." Yang Xiao's eyes gleamed with sharpness as he nodded to Zhong Li'an. "I will do my utmost on this mission and live up to your expectations."
Zhong Li'an nodded and walked to Yang Xiao's side. "You're new here and unfamiliar with military affairs. The soldiers know nothing about you either. After you're settled, go around the camp with Yu De and get to know them better."
"Alright." Yang Xiao clasped his hands in response, then hesitated for a moment before looking at Zhong Li'an inquiringly, "However, my lord, I... still have a request."
"Oh?" Zhong Li'an looked at Yang Xiao with interest. "Go ahead and speak."
"As my lord said, I am new here and a woman, so I fear it will be difficult to win over the troops before we achieve victory. I wonder if my lord could grant me two hundred men so that I may personally train them and restore morale?"
“That’s absolutely right,” Zhongli An said without hesitation. “I will assign you five hundred elite soldiers, whom you will personally train. These five hundred men will accompany you in every battle from now on. Given your flexible tactics and ability to take advantage of situations, we will call them the Eagle Squad. Tomorrow, we will select elite soldiers from various armies to join this squad.”
"This..." Yang Xiao was stunned upon hearing this. She looked at Zhongli An in disbelief. "My lord, is this really true?"
Zhong Li'an smiled as he looked at Yang Xiao, who was standing there in a daze, and gently patted her shoulder. "However, it is entirely up to you how to win them over."
"Rest assured, my lord," Yang Xiao said with gratitude, clasping his hands in a fist and smiling, "I will definitely be able to make them willingly go to the battlefield with me based on my own strength."
“Good.” Zhong Li’an nodded approvingly. “I’ll be watching from the training ground tomorrow.”
After the tent was closed, Yang Xiao's mind was filled with thoughts of personally training the Eagle Squad. She never imagined that upon arriving in such a place, she would be able to obtain an elite army, and be personally trained by it.
She couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. Although she was quite confident in her abilities, winning over five hundred people was a major challenge.
Facing the setting sun, she took a deep breath, clearing her mind of all distractions, and carefully examined her true self.
At this moment, Zhong Lishuo, having been ordered by Zhong Li'an, was overjoyed to take charge of the Eagle Team's affairs.
-
Zhong Lishuo is a warm-hearted person and also gets things done quickly and efficiently.
As soon as he left his residence, he excitedly rode his horse to the military camp and quickly approved the deployment of five hundred elite soldiers. He even approved a young boy with exceptional culinary skills to join the Eagle Cavalry, saying that food is the most important thing for the people.
The next morning, people from all sides, carrying various rumors about the new female general, gathered at the drill ground.
"Hey, Ping, have you heard? We have a new female general in our camp." The young chef squinted at the blinding sunrise, then nudged his yawning comrade beside him. "Tsk... Hey, Zhang Ping, don't be sleepy."
"Ha—" Zhang Ping stretched lazily with his eyes closed. "Huh? Mu Fei, you called me? What did you just say?"
“You…” Mu Fei looked at Zhang Ping, paused, and then sighed helplessly, “If you’re always so sleepy, what if you fall asleep one day when the general gives an order? You’ll lose your head!”
Zhang Ping waved his hand, glanced at the blinding sunlight, frowned and rubbed his eyes, walked to the side, picked up his weapon and headed towards the drill platform. "At least I didn't get up late today. Let's go, it's the new general's first time conducting a drill, we can't keep the general waiting."
"Hey? Didn't you hear what I just said?" Mu Fei ran two steps to catch up with Zhang Ping. "How did you know a new general was coming to conduct military exercises?"
Zhang Ping closed his eyes and yawned again. "Didn't General Yude say when he went to the camp to select people that the newly appointed female general wanted to form a Swift Eagle Army, so he wanted to select 500 elite soldiers to be trained by her?"
"You remember it so clearly?" Mu Fei looked at Zhang Ping in shock. "I thought you had forgotten everything after taking a nap. If General Yude hadn't been called away by the military commander when he was selecting people that day, I would have been able to see the new general in person."
“You wouldn’t have seen it even if you hadn’t been called away,” Zhang Ping seemed to have finally snapped out of his slumber, his eyes regaining their bright light. “Our general was in a state of confusion, practicing his gun all night, and didn’t come at all.”
Mu Fei nodded thoughtfully. "The general is truly... a role model for us all." He then turned to Zhang Ping and teased with a smile, "Speaking of which, Brother Ping, the general is selecting elite soldiers. How did you, who's always so sleepy, get chosen?"
Zhang Ping twirled the ring-pommel sword in his hand, glancing helplessly at Mu Fei. "I may be a heavy sleeper, but I've never missed a day because of sleeping. Besides, my skills aren't exactly inferior in this army." He raised his hand to hang the sword at his waist and leaned towards Mu Fei. "But you, a young kid who's only been in the army for a few days, how did you get selected for the elite unit?"
“Me?” Mu Fei pointed to himself, grinning, “I may not be as strong as you, but—” He paused, then smiled at Zhang Ping, “I’m a good cook. The military commander told me that food is the most important thing for people, let alone for the army?” He walked ahead, holding his knife, looking radiant, “He said that as long as I’m here, the whole army will be able to eat well.”
“Alright, that’s a valid reason.” Zhang Ping nodded with a smile, then sighed softly, “Although the people we selected in our unit have no objections to General Yang Xiao, it’s said that people from other battalions are very dissatisfied with the general.”
Upon hearing this, Mu Fei sighed, "After all, the general is a woman, so it's inevitable that others will criticize her."
“So what if she’s a woman?” Zhang Ping crossed his arms indignantly. “In my opinion, women can be generals just as well. Didn’t Xiao Yan usurp power? Look at Chang’an now, who dares to disobey her? If Xiao Yan can wield such power, how can we generals not lead troops?”
"Alright, alright," Mu Fei stopped in the ranks, leaned on Zhang Ping's arm, and looked at the banners fluttering in the distance. "The general is coming."
The bugle sounded, the imperial bells jingled like waves, a red figure flashed by, and Yang Xiao instantly reined in his horse and stood in front of the drill platform.
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