Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 18: First to Arrive Reward
"Why did the captain suddenly gather so many people?"

"I don't know, it should be something big."

"That's right. We will probably be able to surround Zhangye tomorrow. I think the governor has made some arrangements."

After passing through dozens of tents, Liu Jilong walked into the regiment's main tent, where military officers of all ranks of the Thirteenth Regiment had already gathered.

The two brigade commanders were the first in the first row on the left and right sides of the tent, followed by four team captains.

Team leaders like Liu Jilong can only queue in the second row inside.

Because of his tall stature, Liu Jilian, who was over six feet tall, stood out among the many military officers who were only five feet six or seven inches tall.

Listening to the conversation between the brigade commander and the team leaders in the front row, Liu Jilong said nothing, but just waited quietly for Zhang Huaishen to appear.

About a quarter of an hour later, Zhang Huaishen, dressed in military uniform, walked into the tent with two armored soldiers and sat down in the main seat.

"Colonel Captain..."

Everyone in the tent bowed and saluted. Zhang Huaishen raised his hand and said, "Brothers, we are here to discuss the war that happened in the past few days."

Zhang Huaishen glanced at everyone, paused for a moment when looking at Liu Jilong, and then looked away.

"The governor has just issued an order that the person who has made the greatest contribution in capturing Ganzhou will be awarded the position of governor of Ganzhou."

"When attacking a city or plundering territory, the greatest achievement is to kill a general, seize a flag, or be the first to reach the enemy's formation and break through the enemy's formation."

"Therefore, to capture Zhangye and Shandan, our Thirteenth Regiment must be the first to ascend!"

Zhang Huaishen was a man who seldom made firm statements, but now that he had said so, it meant that he was determined to get the position of Governor of Ganzhou.

In response, everyone bowed and said, "Yes, sir!"

The Thirteenth Regiment is Zhang Huaishen's direct line. If Zhang Huaishen can become the governor of Ganzhou, then with the population and farmland of Ganzhou, everyone in the account can be promoted at least one level.

If you can perform outstandingly in this battle, it is not impossible to be promoted to the second level.

Therefore, everyone was very excited, including Liu Jilong.

Now he doesn’t have many lofty ideals, he just wants to climb up and make his life better and better.

However, he was also aware of the strength of the third group, so he was not blinded by desire.

Sitting in the main seat, Zhang Huaishen glanced at everyone and was very satisfied.

"Whoever reaches the top first will be rewarded with a thousand strings of cash by me personally!"

Zhang Huaishen once again released important news. According to the internal reward system of the Shazhou Army, the one thousand strings of cash was proposed by the regiment commander Zhang Huaishen, and it would be divided starting from the brigade level.

For example, if Liu Jilian won the merit of being the first to reach the enemy line in a battle, the one thousand strings of cash would be divided half at the brigade level and half at the team level, and in the end he would still have two hundred and fifty strings of cash in his hands.

The two hundred and fifty strings of cash were divided equally among the third group, but under normal circumstances, the head of the group would get more.

However, even if it is divided equally, the ordinary soldiers of the third group can still get more than 20 strings of cash.

If this money is kept in Hexi, it is enough to cover the annual expenses of a family of five, which is not a small amount.

If Liu Jilian got 250 strings of cash, even if he gave 20 strings to each of Zhang Chang and the others, he would still have 50 strings left for training his troops.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong tightened the leather belt around his waist.

"Okay, let's all go down and have a good rest!"

After Zhang Huaishen finished speaking, he signaled everyone to leave.

Without a moment's delay, everyone bowed and left.

However, after everyone left, Liu Jilong was called to the brigade and the team to discuss matters one after another. This tedious meeting made him feel helpless.

Fortunately, these discussions did not take too long. When Liu Jilian returned to the third group, Zhang Chang and his team had just cooked the rice.

After Liu Jilian returned, he did not immediately tell Zhang Chang what they had discussed in the tent, but instead signaled them to eat first.

After finishing the meal, he told them about the dental account. Hearing this, Ma Cheng remained silent, while Zhang Chang and Zhao Qian, the young and energetic ones, became excited.

"If we go first, won't each of us get more than 20 strings of cash?"

"What's the big deal? The most important thing is to get promoted based on your merits after reaching the top!"

"Yes! The captain is so capable, we have to help him take the position of team leader or brigade commander!"

Zhang Chang and his friends had not forgotten the kindness Liu Jilong had shown them, which made Liu Jilong feel somewhat relieved.

However, in the face of everyone's optimism, Liu Jilong still poured cold water on them.

"It's not that easy to take the first place. Zhangye is one of the important cities in Hexi. Not only is the city high, but there is also the Ganzhou River as a moat and water diversion river. There will be no shortage of foreign bandits guarding the city."

“Although being the first to reach the city is a great achievement, we should not let it go to our heads and attack the city blindly.”

Liu Jilong took a deep breath and continued, "I brought you out of Jiuquan, and I also want to bring you back."

"We'll attack the city in a few days. Don't worry about anything else. Just keep an eye on me."

"If you need to climb the city wall, I'll be the first one to go up. If you need to climb up first, I'll be the first one to go up."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, he lay down, not giving anyone a chance to refute.

Looking at his actions, everyone looked at each other and couldn't help but talk in a low voice.

Their discussions were all about some issues related to siege, which Liu Jilong had taught them before, including during training, so he did not interrupt them.

Perhaps because he was too tired during the day, Liu Jilong fell asleep in a daze.

It seemed that in order to allow the 13th Regiment to recuperate, Zhang Huaishen transferred the military horses in the regiment to other regiments to serve as Tangqi, so that the 13th Regiment did not have to take on the task of Tangqi and could have a good rest.

The next morning, after Liu Jilong woke up, he was informed by the team leader to travel light.

Wearing a long shirt and trousers, with a leather belt and a long sword tied around the waist, this is the light attire for the march.

As for armor, long weapons and blunt weapons, they were all placed on the civilians' horse-drawn carts.

Each group of soldiers had a civilian laborer driving a horse-drawn carriage. In addition to the armor of the group of soldiers, the carriage also contained rations for the group of soldiers and the civilian laborer.

If you calculate carefully, the horse-drawn carriage is pulling at least a thousand pounds of weight.

Since a large number of draft horses and oxen were needed for farming in the rear, the Shazhou army did not have enough draft horses, and each horse-drawn carriage had only one draft horse.

This configuration makes the carriage slow to move and it needs to stop to rest from time to time.

"No wonder they walk so slowly every day. How can they go fast when carrying such heavy cargo?"

When the army reached the west bank of the Ganzhou River, Zhang Chang couldn't help but click his tongue as he looked at the horses that had been untied from their reins.

Ma Cheng and the others didn't care about these things. After all, the people were so tired, who would care whether the horses were tired or not.

Instead, Liu Jilong chuckled and comforted everyone:

"Be thankful. This is because there is no shortage of horses in Hexi. If it were in the Central Plains or Hebei, neither group would be able to get a draft horse."

As he explained, he looked at the scenery around Ganzhou River, feeling the grandeur of the place and also marveling at its fertility.

It is no wonder that the Huihe people became nomads in Ganzhou after moving south. With the water and grass in Ganzhou, which nomadic people would not be greedy?

"Thirteenth Regiment, carry your armor and cross the river!"

Following Zhang Huaishen's order, Liu Jilian and other soldiers from the 13th Regiment put their armor on the carriages and went into the water with spears in hand.

It must be said that going into the water in the hot season of mid-May is a real pleasure.

The water in Ganzhou River is not very deep, and the crossing point chosen by Zhang Yichao is the shallowest place in nearly ten miles. The water is only above an adult's waist, and the riverbed is relatively hard.

As time passed, more and more people successfully crossed the river, and the third group followed suit and crossed safely.

(End of this chapter)