Chapter 67
The two cooks regretted their words as soon as they left their mouths, but when they looked at Xue Jin'an's youthful face and clear, innocent eyes, they couldn't bring themselves to lose face. So they could only bite the bullet and say, "But let's make it clear first, our skills are rudimentary, just average. We are definitely not the kind of experts you're thinking of."
The implication is that if you think three people can just rush in and take down a hundred people to capture the stronghold, forget it; they won't play along.
Both of them wanted Xue Jin'an to back down.
However, Xue Jin'an had no intention of confronting them head-on. He did have three methods for clearing the game, but the success rate was too low, so they were not even on his radar.
Xue Jin'an considered the two men's requests as conditions in his mind, filtered out plans that did not require high combat strength, and then listed them off in order of their success rate.
He rattled off almost all of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, from feinting to the east while attacking in the west, luring the enemy deep into his territory, to secretly crossing the Chencang pass... leaving the two cooks dumbfounded, their eyes glazed over, completely bewildered.
Then Xue Jin'an said, "These are the ones, you can choose one."
Cook: "..." So many and you still want to say it? They've heard so many questions, how are they supposed to choose?
The two swallowed hard, exchanged a glance, and their eyes were full of guilt.
Before, they thought this young man was a bit arrogant, but now, listening to him talk so confidently, even though they had only heard the name of the plan and had no idea how to execute it, his confident demeanor suggested he wasn't just spouting nonsense.
As one of the most uneducated and roughneck soldiers in the military camp, Xue Jin'an, who could fluently recite the names of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, was truly extraordinary in their eyes.
Could he be a descendant of some general? If so, it's no wonder he was able to enter the army at such a young age—it's quite common for sons to follow in their fathers' footsteps in the military, especially in the border armies, because there are many military households in the border armies.
The ancient household registration system is quite different from the modern household registration system. In ancient times, household registration was passed down through generations. If someone was registered as a merchant, their descendants would be registered as merchants; if someone was registered as a soldier, their descendants would be registered as soldiers. Unless there was an extraordinary opportunity, there was basically no possibility of changing one's registration.
When children of military households reach the legal age to pursue an official career, military service is the only path they can take. If they conceal their absence, they will be considered deserters, which is a very serious crime. Dismissal and exile are minor matters; many will be directly enslaved.
However, military households not only have a relatively low social status, but also very limited career advancement opportunities. Generations of them can only serve as soldiers and it is very difficult for them to become true military officers. Even becoming a county lieutenant is very difficult.
The hardships faced by the sons of military households are unimaginable; in previous dynasties, there were even large-scale rebellions by military households.
This also shows that the existence of Qian Dezhong, a general from a military household, was very necessary.
He was the comforter and hope of the military households, making them believe that as long as they worked hard, they would be rewarded and have hope of changing their household registration and their life's destiny.
Of course, besides military families who bring their entire families and settle down in the border areas, many generals also have children with them. If their children want to join the army, they will send them to the military camp.
Judging from Xue Jin'an's age and demeanor, the two cooks thought he must be the son of a general, not the son of a military household.
As for why such a well-behaved second-generation heir was assigned to this lowly cook camp... perhaps the general felt that his child was still young and just needed to broaden his horizons, without having to fight to the death with others.
However, this young general clearly didn't think that way; he openly expressed his desire to cause trouble.
An invisible pressure loomed over them; they were terrified of failing and holding the team back. They exchanged glances and hesitantly asked, "Young General, is there any plan that has the lowest requirements for us?"
Ideally, there would be no plan at all for them to appear.
Xue Jin'an found the request somewhat strange, but still found the most suitable one for them: "A plan to lure the enemy—"
The plan consists of three steps:
The first step was for the two cooks to pretend they had accidentally wandered into the enemy camp. They were discovered by patrolling soldiers, and after a fierce escape, they were eventually captured.
The second step was to inadvertently reveal Helian Yong's location, which aroused their greed and led them to take action against him.
The third step was for Xue Jin'an to seize the camp, thus cutting off its supply lines.
The requirements for the two cooks were indeed very low. They only needed to struggle and run away at the beginning to avoid arousing suspicion from the enemy. After that, they could just quietly wait to be rescued as prisoners.
They weren't afraid of anything going wrong, after all, it was just an exercise, and the two sides were comrades-in-arms, so they couldn't possibly actually be killed by them.
"Okay, this is it!" Although the two had some doubts about why they were the only ones being used as bait, they didn't ask and immediately made the decision.
The whole plan went smoothly. They accidentally bumped into the enemy camp, and their first reaction was to run away, quietly and stealthily, without alerting the guards. They successfully fooled the others, and then pretended to "unluckily" run into a patrol while fleeing.
The two fought back and tried their best to escape. Several members of the Blue Team almost failed to catch them. Because they acted so sincerely, the patrol captain quickly put aside his subtle suspicions.
Although the camp wasn't large, it was incredibly well-guarded. Entry and exit required passwords, and even though this patrol had just come out, they would have to use the same password again to return.
The Blue Team patrol tied their hands and feet and tossed them aside, leaving them to their own devices. Not only did they inadvertently reveal Helian Yong's location, but they also failed to see the leader of the Blue Team. Unable to proceed to the next step, both of them grew anxious.
Suddenly, the camp became agitated. The two men craned their necks to listen and see. It turned out that a scout had reported discovering Helian Yong's whereabouts and that he was lying in ambush nearby with a group of men.
"Investigate again and report back!" The commander-in-chief immediately stood up, even walking out of his tent with some excitement.
As the absolute ruler of the Northwest Bureau, Helian Cheng's subordinates naturally respected him. Correspondingly, Helian Yong, as Helian Cheng's apprentice and adopted son, was also highly regarded by everyone, even though no one had heard of him yet.
This expectation also made them want to test Helian Yong's abilities and see if he was a qualified successor.
However, although the Blue Team's coach was eager to do something, he was also careful and asked the scouts to investigate further before taking any action.
The Blue Team was completely unaware that the intelligence they had gathered about Helian Yong was deliberately manipulated by someone, and that person was none other than Xue Jin'an.
Xue Jin'an knew very well that humans would only believe the truth they had deduced, and this was also true here. Only if the Blue Team's own people "inadvertently" discovered Helian Yong would they believe it.
Therefore, he never intended for the two cooks to reveal the existence of the other decoy, Helian Yong.
The two cooks weren't really stupid; by now, they knew everything. They were relieved that the young man was so shrewd; otherwise, they would have been sold out like them and would have been helping to count the money.
Come to think of it, neither of them even knew the young man's name... They should ask him after they've finished.
By the time the Blue Team's commander confirmed Helian Yong's location and discussed countermeasures to launch an attack, Xue Jin'an had already dug a trap for them to fall into.
Helian Yong had a full three hundred men under his command, while the Blue Army's main camp only had less than one hundred men. In case of any unforeseen circumstances, they naturally sent out all their men, leaving only the Blue Army's commander and a few flag bearers in the camp.
It was at this moment that Xue Jin'an seized the opportunity, bursting into the empty net and catching the Blue Team's commander off guard.
"Not good, protect the flag!" the commander-in-chief immediately ordered. "Don't worry about me, you must protect the flag!"
He hadn't forgotten that one of the criteria for judging the outcome of this exercise was whose flag was pulled down first. The three-day competition had only just begun. He could accept leaving the field, but he absolutely refused to accept losing so pathetically.
However, Xue Jin'an completely ignored the military flag and walked straight to the commander-in-chief, saying, "I'm not here to pull down the flag; I'm here to replace you."
Xue Jin'an wants to be the strongest; he wants to win everything. The first thing he needs to do is change his identity.
The coach didn't believe it at all and tried to stall for time.
"Long Aotian? You are Long Aotian? You are even younger than the legend says." The commander-in-chief recognized Xue Jin'an immediately. It wasn't that he had seen Xue Jin'an before, but the story of Helian Yong getting into a conflict with a boy named Long Aotian and being punished by General Helian by squatting in a horse stance for four hours and being beaten with ten military sticks was so widely circulated in the Northwest Army that it was hard for him not to know.
It is said that Long Aotian was the general's chosen successor, but he was unfortunately abandoned by the general because he was too short. He then chose Helian Yong as a second choice. It is precisely because of this that Helian Yong is quite hostile to Long Aotian.
The story spread with great detail and conviction. Moreover, not only was Helian Yong punished that day, but many onlookers were also dealt with. As the saying goes, "three men can make a tiger," and when many people say it, it becomes hard not to believe it.
Especially since his subordinates knew that the general had chosen more than just Helian Yong from among the new recruits. In fact, when Helian Yong was mentioned, the general's expression was not very satisfied, and he would occasionally sigh.
The commander-in-chief was also half-believing the rumor, so he recognized Xue Jin'an without surprise. He said, "You still came to participate in this exercise after all, but I didn't expect you to choose to side with the young general. I thought you two didn't get along."
“We do not get along well.” Xue Jin’an nodded firmly.
Upon hearing this, the commander thought his plan to sow discord had worked, and hurriedly said, "If that's the case, why do you have to be with him? Why don't you—" Why don't you come to my side?
The coach's words came to an abrupt halt. He felt a sharp pain in his neck, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
"So I'm here to replace you." Xue Jin'an, who disliked nonsense and only valued efficiency, put away his hand chop, took the seal belonging to the Blue Team's commander from his body and stuffed it into his pocket, then stripped off the armor from his body and put it on himself.
He managed to escape in the chaos, intending to help, only to witness his friend's betrayal by the cook: ? ? ?
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