Wu Lai did not dare to say no to the Duncan family. Although he had seen Qi Yuan's true attitude towards him from the way he dealt with the conflict between them in Gosmondo, he still needed the support of the Duncan family. Otherwise, the construction of Salt Marsh Town would be disrupted again, and Connor no longer had the ability to resist the Senate.
Wu Lai was even more reluctant to say no to Connor. Connor had been very kind to him, Wu Lai. To put it bluntly, if it weren't for Connor's support, Wu Lai Green would have to remain silent for a while before he could come to the fore. He would not be like this now.
Most importantly, Connor's trust in him is unmatched by the Duncan family.
However, no matter how difficult it is for Wu Lai, he has to make a decision. For the time being, he can only think about having the best of both worlds.
In the end, Wu Lai decided to write to the two giants in the order in which they received the letters. Although this matter was tricky, at least there was a time difference to fight, and given the current situation, he should make sure to get the soldiers first.
The letter to Connor was very simple. Since there was no need to hide it from Connor, Woolley also told him the content of the letter from the Duncan family. At the end, he also attached his own attitude: "Although the situation is like this, everything will be subject to your decision, Chief Connor, so please give your instructions as soon as possible after careful consideration."
Wu Lai believed that his letter would at least allow Connor to think for a few more days. Plus with the round trip, it wouldn't be a problem to buy a month or so of time.
As for the reply from the Duncan family, Wu Lai planned to wait three to five days before writing. Anyway, he had just received the letter, so he might as well take it as giving himself some time to consider. If he agreed without even thinking about it, Qi Yuan might become suspicious.
That night, Wu Lai held another meeting. After looking through the names of the first and second regiments, he asked about the three battalion commanders of the two regiments one by one. He was very satisfied with the answers from Red and Huo Yi.
"Yes, this is how you lead soldiers. As a regiment commander, you have to know the battalion commanders under you thoroughly, otherwise how can you appoint them?" Wu Lai said with a smile, "As for the direct lineage of the company commanders under the battalion commander, you two regiment commanders can find out, but there is no need to interfere with the selection and direct management. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Understood." Reid and Huo Yi nodded heavily. What Wu Lai said made sense. As the regiment commander, he only needed to manage the three battalion commanders well. The battalion affairs would naturally be taken care of by the battalion commanders. Not interfering in the selection of lower-level officers and not participating in direct management might seem like decentralization, but in fact it could build a strong cohesion. It was much better than trying to manage everything but not being able to manage anything or not managing it well.
"As far as I know, the training level of your two regiments is very low. To put it bluntly, such troops will only die on the battlefield. Therefore, I have specially assigned a chief instructor to your two regiments, that is, Pu Ya who came with Bailey to pick you up." Wu Lai said, and waved to Pu Ya who was standing behind the crowd, "Pu Ya, come here."
"Okay, young master." Pu Ya nodded and walked to Wu Lai with her head held high.
"Captain First, Captain Second, do you have any opinions or suggestions?" Wu Lai asked with a smile.
Reid and Huo Yi looked at each other, and their gazes fell on Puya's left wrist where she was holding the sword. There was a round red mark at the base of the wrist.
When she saw the two men's gazes sweeping over her, Puya's eyebrows furrowed slightly. She understood that Reid and Huo Yi's hesitation was due to her identity, her former identity - the red mark was the single pigeon emblem of Wu Lai's Greendo family. Puya should have removed the mark long ago, but she was unwilling to do that. She was expressing her loyalty to Wu Lai in this way.
"It seems that you two don't have much confidence in Pu Ya. Well, I like to speak with strength. Come, show your abilities in my big tent. Just remember to stop when you are satisfied." Wu Lai laughed and ordered a soldier on duty in the tent to fetch three blunt swords for training. He weighed each sword and continued, "These are three training swords without blades or sharpened tips. They are three times heavier than the swords you usually use. Red, Huo Yi, you two choose first."
"Okay." Red grinned and picked one from Wu Lai's hand. He had been practicing fighting skills since he was a child and had been taught by a famous teacher. He had won every battle in the previous competitions and was naturally full of confidence. So although he knew that Pu Ya must be very capable to be recommended by Wu Lai as the chief instructor, he also had the idea of competing with him. After all, it was not that he did not trust Wu Lai. Of course, he also had a little contempt for Pu Ya who was born a slave.
Red chose the sword, but Huo Yi did not. Instead, he waved his hand with a smile and said to Wu Lai, "General, my fighting skills are far inferior to Red's. Anyway, it's just a competition, so I'll just take a look."
"The Second Captain is quite strategic," Wu Lai joked, making everyone laugh. Pu Ya picked up a sword from Wu Lai while laughing, waved it twice to test the weight, then pointed the sword at Red, "Captain Red, please teach me."
Reid nodded slightly, slowly stepped back a few steps, and held his sword across his chest: "Come on."
"Okay!" Pu Ya responded in a deep voice, crouched down, and pounced on him. "Clang", the two swords collided...
…
The next morning, Bailey left the camp with four logistics soldiers. He still found the fight between Red and Puya last night funny, especially the scene where Puya turned the hilt of the sword and stabbed Red in the lower body. Red not only screamed strangely, but his face twisted in pain also looked particularly weird. Bailey almost laughed so hard that his stomach hurt.
As the top gladiator in Assyria, Bailey also saw the shortcomings of Puya. Although this woman defeated Red cleanly, Bailey believed that Puya took advantage of Red's underestimation of her opponent. Although Puya's movements were astonishingly fast, her speed was achieved at the expense of defense. Once she met an opponent who was faster than her or had particularly good defense, failure would inevitably await her.
Bailey was sure that Puya would not be his opponent, but there were also things about Puya that he admired, such as her fighting awareness and her offensive methods. After watching her fight with Red, Bailey also wanted to compete with her. However, now was obviously not the right time. Puya was recognized as the chief instructor, and he, the battalion commander of the logistics battalion, had also taken office. Wu Lai also gave her the first task - to build a grain purchasing point in Kayikede City to solve the food needs of the garrison.
After arriving at Kayked City, Bailey's work went smoothly. Although the price of food nearly doubled due to the war, Master Wu Lei was not short of money - only 40% of the 2.7 million gold coins paid by Hulett's Third Legion had been transported back to the Green Tower in Assyria, and the rest were still quietly staying in the camp.
In addition to the important factor that Wu Lai was not short of money, Date's goodwill also played a great role. With him, the commander of the garrison, taking the lead, the grain merchants in Kayikede City were also willing to sell grain to Wu Lai's defense zone.
Therefore, it took Bailey only two days to build a purchasing point, rent a warehouse, and complete the first batch of purchasing tasks - enough for 6,000 people for two months.
After leaving two logistics soldiers at the grain purchasing point in Kayikede, Bailey and two other logistics soldiers drove the forty ponies borrowed from Date back to the defense zone. After a night's rest, he set out again, this time with forty logistics soldiers, and the forty ponies also had two large leather bags full of gold coins on their backs. On average, each horse would carry 7,500 gold coins. Part of these gold coins would be left at the grain purchasing point as purchase money, and the rest would be taken to Assyria with Date's men escorting the captives, and then they would be handed over to Loli for safekeeping.
After another long journey, Bailey and his party returned to the city of Kayikede, exhausted. Unexpectedly, before they approached the purchasing point, the two logistics soldiers who stayed behind came up to them with sad faces.
"Captain Bailey, our food has been taken away." said a logistics soldier.
"Took it away? Who?" Bailey was startled. He thought to himself, weren't the grains still piled up in the warehouse when I left? "It was the Woye Army! They came with more than 200 people and dozens of trucks. We couldn't stop them. We could only watch them smash the warehouse door open. They also said that we haven't paid yet. Since we haven't paid, these grains are not ours. They took them away and naturally settled with the grain merchants. It's none of our business. Battalion Commander, what should we do?" Another logistics soldier said in a tearful voice. They knew the grain reserves in the camp very well. Bailey also told them before he left that the grain would be shipped as soon as the money arrived, but now...
When Bailey heard the words "Woye Army", a cold light flashed in his eyes and he clenched his fists. After a moment's silence, he slowly let out the anger in his chest and said, "Let's go back to the acquisition point first."
Bailey is a man who is not lacking in calmness. Even if he gets angry, it only lasts for a moment. This is a necessary quality for an excellent gladiator. Although anger can ignite passion and strength at certain times, it can also easily affect judgment. Bailey has always known this and has long learned to curb his anger. That is why he can climb to the pinnacle of gladiators step by step and become one of the most famous ones in the Assyrian territory.
After returning the gold coins to the warehouse in an orderly manner and arranging the duty shifts and personnel, Bailey came to Date's camp alone. He felt that he had to talk to Date about this matter first because this was Date's territory.
After hearing Bailey's intention, Date showed a difficult expression on his face: "Bailey, I can't help you with this matter. You should know that my Second Corps has no subordinate relationship with the Woye Army, and I have no private dealings with Howell. So, although they have gone a little too far, the only suggestion I can give you is to hurry up and buy another batch of food."
"Okay." Bailey nodded. Date's words were within his expectations. "However, General Date, if my acquisition is not going smoothly, I hope you can lend a hand because of my young master's heroic deeds for Assyria. Otherwise, thousands of people in the camp will starve."
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After hesitating for a moment, Date nodded slightly.
After leaving Dayte's camp, Bailey went to visit the grain merchants, but what he didn't expect was that all the grain merchants refused to see him.
If it was just one or two cases, Bailey might not be sure, but now not only has all the grain been stolen, but all the grain merchants are also doing this at the same time. How could Bailey not know that it was the Woye Army who was causing trouble?
Humph, you are still a little bit impatient if you want to force our young master to leave. Bailey thought so and didn't want to waste any more time. He rode back to the purchasing point and gathered the people. He gave each of them a money bag. If you grain merchants are unwilling to sell grain, there must be grain for sale in the grain shop, right? "All of you go out and go into the grain shop when you see it. Wheat, flour, and bread are all fine. Buy as much as you can. When you run out of money, come back and get more." Bailey waved his hand like Wu Lai and ordered.
Just when Bailey ordered the logistics soldiers to go to the streets to buy food, Teller's messenger climbed through the gap, and it turned out to be an acquaintance - Wei Dun.
"Greetings, General Wu Lai." Wei Dun was very respectful after entering the tent. After greeting, he handed the secret letter to Wu Lai, and then took out a fist-sized leather bag from his bosom and handed it over with both hands. "General Wu Lai, my Marshal Teller said that he is very grateful for your care over the past few days, so he prepared a small gift. Please accept it."
"Thank your Marshal Teller for me." Wu Lai took it with a smile, opened the bag and took a look. He was almost stunned to see that there were more than ten diamonds the size of pigeon eggs in it. Although they had only been simply polished, Wu Lai could tell at a glance that these goods were very good.
"General Wu Lai, please write a reply." Wei Dun said again.
Wu Lai nodded: "Please wait a moment, I will take a look at your young commander's letter first."
"It should be so." Wei Dun smiled, bowed, stepped back a few steps and waited.
Wu Lai was surprised when he opened the letter, because it was written in Assyrian: "Dear General Wu Lai, I miss you very much after not seeing you for a few days..."
I miss you too, if you dare, please let me catch you again. Wu Lai smiled slightly and continued reading -
"...I am about to change guard. The ones who will replace me are part of Hulett's First Legion and part of Kimo's Fifth Legion. I don't know how many people there are, but they are definitely more than my current troops. General, please be careful... General, you have great defensive skills, so I believe your offensive skills are also superior. The area where my troops are currently stationed is not suitable for defense, but your army has never crossed the river to attack, so it has been safe until now. If the general is willing to make achievements, I have a suggestion..."
"... Enclosed with this letter is a set of blueprints of our riverside station. I hope the general will make good use of them and wish the general a successful start..."
"Fuck you, what's going on? Do you two have a grudge against each other?" For a moment, Wu Lai really didn't understand why Teller would do such a thing. Betrayal of friendly forces is a taboo on the battlefield. Once it is known to others, the consequences will be very serious.
What exactly does the Third Legion want to do? Or is this a trap set for me? There must be something fishy going on here. Wu Lai frowned and thought...