Tiger Guards

Chapter 39 Race against time
After eating a few pieces of meat patties, Zhao Ji sat cross-legged and started to "concentrate his mind and gather his energy".

Seeing how serious he looked, several of his personal soldiers pretended to learn from him, but they didn't dare to speak loudly, and they just felt it was magical.

It will probably take time to improve this skill.

After activating the skill, Zhao Ji's body and mind immediately relaxed, and he could feel the burning sensation of strained muscles all over his body.

The county soldiers of the baggage train drove the prisoners to carry the dead bodies, and prisoners whose injuries did not affect their movements were also allowed to rest by the campfire.

It's not out of kindness, it's simply because these people were gathered around the fire and couldn't escape under the cover of darkness.

Various equipment were collected and piled up in front of the convoy and placed in categories.

There were knights returning to their teams holding torches, mostly in small groups of a few people, driving either prisoners or a dozen horses.

Since the campfire was lit, many stray horses came over on their own initiative.

Soon Zhao Ji's stomach growled and his skill automatically quit. He opened his eyes, feeling lost.

Han Shu had already returned and was eating wheat cakes when he asked, "Captain, what are you doing?"

"This is meditation, or Zen, or even sitting quietly. It can clear away distracting thoughts and allow one to contemplate calmly, which is also helpful for practicing martial arts."

Zhao Ji explained, reached out to take a piece of cake and started eating.

Several resting guards also stood up and imitated sitting in meditation.

At this time, Xiang Libao and Wei Xing came together and sat beside Zhao Ji. Xiang Libao asked, "When are we leaving?"

"Rest a little longer, many people will eat."

Zhao Ji asked in return, "How was the interrogation of the captives?"

"Hou Jing's brothers Hou Mo and Hou Chen have both been killed. The manor is guarded by less than a hundred people."

Xiang Libao replied, adding, "It's just that we have too many powerful crossbows, which is not conducive to a strong attack."

"Then bring two more vehicles. After surrounding the manor, set fire to it upwind and create smoke. We'll follow the smoke and charge forward. Those participating in the charge must wear two layers of armor. How much armor was seized?"

"Thirty-seven sets of iron armor, and over a hundred sets of various leather armors and coats."

Xiang Libao raised his hand and pointed at the pile of armor on one side, and said, "If it's difficult to break through, you can surround it without attacking, wait for the main force to arrive, suppress it with bows and crossbows, and then break through."

"Ah."

Zhao Ji looked up at the Big Dipper in the night sky to judge the time, and said, "We must defeat it before dawn. Li Le is a formidable opponent."

Only after capturing the Hou family manor could the Huben have enough supplies and train servants and auxiliary troops.

Only by killing Li Le cleanly and efficiently can the court, Yang Feng and others calmly enter into the negotiation phase.

As for the next step, if we do not attack the Xiongnu tribes in the Pingyang area, these Xiongnu will also organize looting teams to steal supplies.

Fortunately, the current Tiger Guards are all young, generally unmarried, and passionate, so they don’t need to worry about military pay for the time being.

Military structure can be maintained when the spoils of war sustain survival and organizational growth.

Zhao Ji thought that these things were not suitable to be discussed with Xiang Libao for the time being.

Tactics can be discussed, but the development and route of the Huben must be discussed with Pei Xiu, Jia Kui, and Wei Gu.

Even Guanqiu Xing's influence is higher than that of Xiangli Bao, Jiatong, Jingchun and other generals.

Involving these people in discussing this issue is asking for trouble.

If the emperor and the ministers are weak and cannot be relied upon, then we can unite with these generals.

It's a very unpleasant feeling to be controlled by others, but the righteousness of the court is really useful.

Without the encouragement and call of the imperial court, the Hu Ben soldiers would not have been able to bring their own horses and equipment to fight alongside him.

Therefore, we must capture the Hou Manor before dawn, that is, before Wei Gu arrives.

We cannot allow any decent heirs to the Hou family’s assets, otherwise these powerful people will be able to arbitrarily divide the spoils after a few private conversations.

The armor, weapons, horses, and food in the warehouse can certainly alleviate temporary difficulties, but the endless productivity of the Hou family manor is the most valuable.

Only by grasping these can the Tiger Guards continue to grow stronger.

Only when the Hu Ben organization grows stronger will there be room for further negotiations and mediation.

While Zhao Ji was thinking, the Huben soldiers began to search for armor and equipment suitable for their own use.

The county soldiers also freed up two empty vehicles and loaded them with spare equipment.

In less than half an hour, Zhao Ji set off with his own team and Wei Xing's team, followed by the Second Battalion led by Wang Fu.

Wei Gu looked at the pile of Han and Hu skulls, with the heads of Hou Mo and Hou Chen placed near him. If he didn't want his head to be placed at other people's feet like this, he would have to be very careful.

In the afternoon, he also had a drink with the three Hou Jing brothers.

Unexpectedly, the sudden passage of locusts disrupted everything.

There were not many locusts passing through, but they would definitely stimulate the Huns, and it was almost a foregone conclusion that various Hun bandits would plunder the area south of the Fen River.

If the Fen River line was lost, how could the Huns let go of the relatively wealthy Anyi?
The Huns came and went freely in Anyi, so how could Li Jue and Guo Si politely queue up?

At this moment, the imperial court sent an edict to the Xiongnu Chanyu. Even if the Chanyu promised to restrain his people... how effective it would be was something both sides knew.

But this link cannot be skipped, as it can avoid the emergence of a coalition of various Hun tribes.

With this link, the Huns who were killed in the subsequent battle between the two sides were naturally Hun bandits who disobeyed the orders of the Chanyu.

How to fight the war is the responsibility of Zhao Ji and other generals.

How to suppress and restrict the Huns on a large scale is what he and his people should consider.

Pei Xiu, Guanqiu Xing and Jia Kui also have their own roles. Jia Kui's role is to continuously mobilize the children of the wealthy and powerful in Pingyang area.

Not only can you obtain support in terms of manpower and equipment, but you can also mobilize your troops to arm themselves and assist in the battle, as well as various critical intelligence.

Once Li Le is killed, Jia Kui will be able to take advantage of his intelligence.

By then, the Pingyang gentry will not dare to look down on Jia Kui and will cooperate with Jia Kui's work.

What Pei Xiu had to do was to continue to gain Pei Mao's support. Although Pei Mao could not get equipment and food, he could make the emperor support the Huben.

The situation was simple with Guanqiu Xing. With Guanqiu Xing around, Pei Xiu would not be able to monopolize the channels for negotiation with the emperor.

It remains a mystery how far Huben can develop in the future.

But after leaving Huben, what can I do?
His family is rich and powerful, but in the future the bulk of the profits will belong to his elder brother, as he is only the second son.

Even though his branch of the Wei family was wealthy and could fly the banner of the Hedong Wei family, its reputation was not good and was far inferior to that of Wei Ji.

The Wei Ji branch was frugal and had an excellent reputation in the local area. They attached great importance to the inheritance of knowledge and their development focus was on official careers.

As long as the Wei Gu branch exists, people like Wei Ji who focus on their official careers will not starve to death.

The wealthy and powerful families in the county have their own division of labor.

Even if the Wei Ji lineage took the wrong path in official career, with powerful figures in the same clan like Wei Gu, it would not be difficult to support another Wei Ji.

Wei Gu thought about his own future and felt more and more the importance of Zhao Ji and Huben.

Even the defeat of the Hu Ben army is not that important, even if the military fails and the Hu Ben army is disbanded.

But the living Hu Ben is also a partner for future entrepreneurship.

Especially for Zhao Ji, having such a partner will make it convenient for him to do anything in the future.

At the very least, it can protect the country and the people, maintain the family's status and avoid decline.

Thinking of Zhao Ji's background, Wei Gu felt more anxious.

In a few days, especially after Li Le is killed and the road to the pass is clear, the Pei family is so close that they will definitely find a way to strike first.

The Zhao family and the Pei family had a very close relationship. Zhao Ji's father and brother married daughters of the Pei family, and his sister also married into the Pei family.

Fortunately, Pei Xiu is the only one in the family and has no sisters, otherwise how would he have the chance to intervene?

But it is difficult for me to make decisions about family matters.

After thinking about it, Wei Gu decided to send a letter home immediately after returning to the camp.

At this moment, he hoped that Li Le would come quickly after dawn, and that he would be killed. Then the road would be clear and his followers could return to Anyi smoothly.

Inside the military camp, Pei Xiu was on night duty.

In the second half of the night, Jia Kui came to take over and escorted Pei Xiu back to the barracks.

The two men whispered and discussed the attack on the Hou family.

Jia Kui grabbed Pei Xiu's arm and said, "I've asked Jia Wenzhen to supervise Wang Zhi's barracks. If Wei Zhongjian and Zhao Aji fail to defeat the Hou family and Li Le arrives, we can do this..."

Pei Xiu listened quietly, then said, "I'm worried that after Li Le enters the camp, he'll lose his mind and harm us as well."

"How can everything be perfect in the world?"

Jia Kui asked in return, and bowed to Pei Xiu: "We will do our best and have a clear conscience."

(End of this chapter)