In the watchtower outside Chongzuo City, the dim and hazy moonlight ultimately failed to penetrate the veil of night. If you stood in this watchtower and looked out, apart from the sporadic light spots brought by the early warning fires set up by the defenders outside the position, you would not be able to see even another watchtower hundreds of steps away.
As a veteran, a veteran who was forced to join the army at the beginning of the war and survived the battles in the central battlefield, Xu Laowu always felt a little uneasy.
In theory, it should be safe tonight.
The Khmer people who were blocked in Chongzuo City have recently increased their strength. Although the officers did not elaborate, Xu Laowu carefully discovered that many flags that he had never seen before were added to the Khmer defense line.
But so what?
There had never been a precedent where an equal number of Khmer troops had defeated a Dai Chen army.
Well, not to mention the same number, even if it was twice the number, the Da Chen army would still be chasing the Khmers.
If the Khmers had three times the numerical advantage, they might just be able to hold the line.
Ever since the new Khmer general and military supervisor got carried away and launched several meaningless attacks on the Chen Dynasty's defense line a few months ago, they have never come out of their turtle shell.
Xu Laowu actually felt a little regretful. If he hadn't been rotated to the rear when the Khmer took the initiative to attack last time, he should have been able to catch up with that great victory. If he had a few more gains, well, not many, just two would be enough, he could have accumulated merit and been promoted to sergeant.
There was no other way. The imperial court was very strict in checking military merits. The heads of two Khmer soldiers were equivalent to the head of a Liang soldier. So although fighting the Khmer was easier, the accumulation of military merits was really slow.
Thinking of this, Xu Laowu, who was still on duty, shook his head, which was a little dazed due to sleepiness.
Although he was still a little uneasy in his heart, Xu Laowu felt that it was probably because he was crazy about military merit. After all, only with military merit could he have a chance to stand out. If he became a sergeant or even a centurion, he would not be rejected when he went back to propose marriage.
In this way, being forced to serve in the army doesn't seem like a bad thing.
Anyway, no matter what is causing my uneasiness, it is definitely not that the Khmer are going to launch a sneak attack tonight. At most, there will be an officer patrolling tonight. If he sees a dozing sentry, if he is in a good mood, he will whip you in public and keep you out of bed for half a month. If he is in a bad mood, he will wait until everyone is having breakfast tomorrow and then hang the guy who had breakfast with you on the top of the watchtower.
Come to think of it, although the Khmers are a little weaker in combat, a little dumber, a little shorter in stature, and have darker skin, they are by no means stupid enough to rush out and die.
Xu Laowu knew very well that on the surface, there was only one sentry tower within a hundred steps of his, but within a few hundred steps in front of the sentry tower, there were all kinds of traps, horse pits, and trenches filled with water. And on the only safe passages among these traps, there were early warning fires, guarded by special soldiers, and they would never be extinguished.
Behind the watchtowers are soldier hiding caves, where the first batch of soldiers for counterattacks will always hide. As long as Xu Laowu finds that something is wrong, he will hit the gong hard in his hand. Not only will the soldiers in the hiding caves come out immediately to form a defense line, but tens of thousands of his brothers in the endless camps in the rear will also be urgently mobilized.
Overall, it is very safe.
And tonight is definitely not a good time for a sneak attack.
Before joining the army, Xu Laowu also thought that days like now, when the moon is dark and the wind is strong, are the most suitable for sneak attacks.
But later he realized that night battles also require lighting. Otherwise, tens of thousands of people would be hacking at each other in the pitch-black night. Not to mention hitting their own people, more people might even get lost.
Any night raid would take place when the moonlight was brightest, the officer told him; this was common sense.
Since it was said by the officer, there should be no problem.
It was already midnight, why hadn't the young man who was supposed to be on duty come yet? The young man was becoming increasingly unreliable, always trying to snooze for a little while. If he showed up too late and ran into the night patrol officer on the road, he'd probably get a beating.
Xu Laowu couldn't help but think of the young man who was supposed to be taking over as sentry. He was young, probably around sixteen, only two years younger than Xu Laowu. But he was fair-skinned, well-mannered, and supposedly literate. Logically, he must have been the son of a wealthy family. He didn't know why he was being assigned to this position.
Is it true that in this day and age, even wealthy families can’t afford to pay the exemption fee?
Or was it just a rumor spread in the army that the young man's father wrote a letter to the prince to oppose the tax increase, and was beheaded by the prince, so the young man was sent to the army?
That shouldn't be possible. Could the master be that good?
If he were that good, he wouldn't be the master!
But why hasn't he come yet?
The top of the watchtower was very small, and could only accommodate two or three people at the same time. Xu Laowu decided to get up and look behind him, hoping that he could see the figure of a young man dozing off while walking.
There seems to be a figure in the distance. Judging from the unsteady way he walks, he must be a young man. Only young people who are sleepy and can't get up in the middle of the night will have this strange sight of walking and sleeping.
If Xu Laowu wasn't afraid that the sound would travel too far in the dark and disturb his comrades, he would even want to shout to wake him up.
But a figure appeared behind the young man, most likely a patrol officer. The young man is in trouble, Xu Laowu thought.
I had to hide quickly and not let the officers see that I was staring at the rear while on duty, otherwise I would be in trouble.
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