The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 132 Crossing the River on a Raft

Guerrilla General Tian Jiu had no choice but to admit it.

That woman, Jade-Faced Rakshasa, is incredibly powerful!

He was the strongest individual combatant he had encountered in his more than ten years of military service.

Even General Zhao Muyun is no match for him.

Her effortless and deadly killing style was truly a sight to behold.

This delighted all the onlookers, filling them with excitement and fervor.

When the topic of grouping came up, the three thousand boys he brought were clamoring to be grouped with the Jade-Faced Rakshasa.

Hmph, there's no such thing as a free lunch!

The result reached after discussing it with the garrison commander was as follows.

Two-thirds of Gan Minglan's group consisted of new recruits who had just joined the army a dozen days or so ago!

They were all boys between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, with impatient and impetuous personalities.

He had no prior experience on the battlefield.

However, these greenhorn recruits were incredibly obedient when facing a powerful figure like the Jade-Faced Rakshasa.

Behind her back, they all called her General Yu.

General Yu's words carry more weight than anyone else's.

Do whatever you are told to do.

Gan Minglan knew very well how she acquired her skills; she had no killing techniques to teach.

They only allowed him to learn one move.

They specifically selected a few loud-voiced individuals from this group to be responsible for shouting slogans.

"one two Three!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The recruits responded loudly to the slogans and gripped their spears tightly, practicing the bayonet thrusting motion repeatedly against the straw dummies.

Such simple commands and movements would likely become tedious for most people after a few sets.

But General Yu had already made his statement.

She said that the techniques for killing enemies don't need to be too fancy; focusing on just one ruthless move can benefit you for a lifetime.

With her as a precedent, the new recruits did nothing but eat, sleep, and train non-stop!

kill!kill!kill!

They shouted and killed at the same time, which was very intimidating.

Everyone wanted to test the results of their practice.

To everyone's surprise, in these past few days of constant fighting, Hu Jun only sent archer cavalry to attack from a distance with arrows, and was no longer interested in climbing the walls.

Tian Jiu gazed in the direction of the enemy's main camp and said to the scouts, "No matter how well-protected their outposts are, find a way to scout again!"

Any unusual phenomena on the battlefield should be taken seriously.

Unfortunately, Yaqub Beg moved the horsehide raft workshop indoors.

The Bei army scouts tried everything, but still couldn't figure out what these people were up to.

As the new recruits became increasingly skilled in spear thrusting, the relentless twelve-hour battle entered its seventh day.

This day was the morning of the Laba Festival in the lunar calendar.

The prefect of Jinzhou sent dozens of buckets of Laba porridge to reward the troops early in the morning.

The Guanzhong Plain, the eastern Henan Plain, and the Jiangnan water towns are now all in turmoil.

Local officials in counties and prefectures either fled or faced certain death, while those who did flee were in grave danger.

Now that there are no government officials to maintain local order, wealthy people are easy targets for exploitation.

Because the border prefectures were relatively remote and guarded by troops, there were few incidents of ordinary people causing trouble.

Therefore, the prefect stated.

Even if the people of the prefecture city have to tighten their belts, they must ensure that the soldiers guarding Jinzhou Pass are well-fed!
I've only had a few bites of Laba porridge.

The answer to the enemy's confusing behavior these past few days has finally been revealed.

The north bank of the Zhuohe River.

Upstream of Jinzhou Pass.

Outside the range of the cannon.

Several giant leather rafts were being carried by a group of Hu soldiers as they ran towards the river.

The soldiers on duty at the city gate immediately reported to Tian Jiu. The garrison commander and Gan Minglan, who had been summoned for a meeting, roughly understood Hu Jun's intentions upon seeing his actions.

The garrison commander said, "They're trying to bypass our Jinzhou Pass and aim their swords at Guanzhong!"

Tian Jiu: "If we want to protect the prefectural city, we have no choice but to go out and intercept them. The enemy has at least 80,000 to 100,000 elite troops. This is definitely a well-laid plan!"

Gan Minglan shook her head: "Whether it's a conspiracy or a legitimate plan, as long as a solution is found, an army of 100,000 is not so scary."

The two generals stared intently at her: "How do you solve this?"

Gan Minglan pointed to the other person's raft and asked:
"We'll only know how skilled the Hu people are at making rafts after they've been tested on the river. Even if their rafts are usable and can transport hundreds of soldiers to the south bank at once, why should we risk our lives fighting their main force on the north bank?"

Tian Jiu: "."

Perhaps his brain has been locked up by Jinzhou Pass!
Defender: "."

What a talent! Such a brave and resourceful person, why can't he stay in their Jinzhou Pass? General Tian Jiu really got a great deal!

A quarter of an hour later.

The bugle call for the Bei army to assemble sounded.

General Yu personally reviewed the troops on the battlefield.

She wanted to select nine hundred soldiers to cross the Zhuohe River ahead of the main Hu army force at the main gate ferry.

Although the pontoon bridge at the ferry crossing has been dismantled.

However, there are hundreds of sheepskin rafts that travel between Jinzhou Pass and the prefectural city every day.

Furthermore, this section of the pontoon bridge is half the width of the upstream section.

It’s still not too late!

Of the nine hundred men she selected, three hundred were raw recruits, three hundred were archers from the pass, and three hundred were musketeers from the border town.

Compared to the veterans' composure.

The new recruits who were called upon were so excited that their faces turned red.

After practicing for several days, it was finally time to test my skills.

They didn't even have time to be afraid!

Just as these 901 people were being successively transported to the other side by the raftmen (those who steered the rafts).

The horsehide raft, which was personally supervised by Yaqub Beg, was finally launched into the river.

The first one successfully floated to the surface.

The second one also went smoothly.

Article 3, Article 4.
On the first try, all ten rafts were successfully tested!

The Hu people on the riverbank exclaimed in surprise.

As the water boiled, they looked towards the west gate tower of Jinzhou Pass.

Quietly, without a sound.

The Hu people found it hard to believe:

"Are these Han Chinese like turtles? Are they just going to stand by and watch us cross the river?"

"Their scouts have probably already ascertained the number of our elite troops. How could they not understand that going out of the pass is tantamount to suicide! They're not stupid!"

"Hehehe, once we take Jinzhou on the other side, we'll cut off their supplies immediately! Their houses are burned down and they have no food. I want to see how long these Guan soldiers can hold out!"

"Great idea, great idea! I can't wait to get to the other side."

The elite soldiers of the Tatar Tumed tribe showed great enthusiasm for this amazing river-crossing tool.

However, the difficulty of riding horses in the desert and grasslands is vastly different from that of riding horses on a raft in a river.

Despite having great strength, it's not easy to control the direction of the raft.

They took turns struggling on the riverbank for half an hour before they finally managed to grasp the basics of paddling on the raft.

Then, two hundred people eagerly boarded the rafts.

In the summer when rainfall is heavy, the Zhuohe River could teach these novices a lesson they would never learn, especially since they were navigating a rubber raft.

It was the dead of winter.

The slow-moving river gave them a chance to live.

Row, row.

Row, row.

It took a tremendous amount of effort.

The first group of elite Tatar Tumed soldiers finally arrived safely on the south bank.

(End of this chapter)