The Ming Dynasty: Starting with bandits, it swept across the land.

After discussing it with Master Qin and the others the day before yesterday, everyone agreed that we needed to find a backer for the time being, and Xu Youlu was the most suitable person in Wang Er's team.

Through two days of investigation, Li Chengye discovered that Xu Youlu did not have his own base of support; he was in charge of the team's logistics and the distribution of provisions.

They approached without fear of being swallowed whole; on the contrary, the other party might even rely on them.

As it turns out, Li Chengye's prediction was correct.

After presenting them with silver confiscated from Zhao Shouren's house, the other party indeed accepted their offer.

Unexpectedly, Xu Youlu assigned them a task: to guard the rear camp's provisions.

This is a bit troublesome.

Back at the camp, he told everyone what had happened.

Master Qin spoke first: "Why don't we hire some more people? As long as they're fed, there are plenty of people out there."

"No," Yang Chongwang retorted. "How can we know if people recruited from outside are reliable? In the military, we are not afraid of having too few people, but we are afraid of a lack of unity among the troops."

"Besides, hiring too few people won't help. If we hire too many, can we manage all the people we have right now?"

Li Chengye agreed with Yang Chongwang's view that the difficulty of things in the world is not the problem, but the problem of people working on them having different ideas and getting into internal conflicts.

"Brother Yang, how do the border troops take care of their provisions when they are marching and fighting?"

Yang Chongwang pondered for a moment: "In the second year of the Tianqi reign, the Turks invaded the border. Yulin Town sent troops out of the border city to pursue them. That time, eight thousand men were dispatched, carrying half a month's worth of provisions, more than four hundred carts. The entire battalion of soldiers, two thousand men, were responsible for protecting the provisions."

"So many people!" Wang Laoqi exclaimed in surprise.

Han Sanhu, standing nearby, explained: "The Turks' strategy for dealing with border troops is to cut off their supply lines. As long as the supply lines are cut off, they will win the battle. Therefore, when they go beyond the Great Wall, they prioritize protecting their supplies."

Yang Chongwang nodded and continued, "Let's talk about the march first. There are scouts at night to scout ahead, and cavalry patrols on both sides. The grain carts are divided into three groups, each group being half a mile apart."

Ten vehicles form a fire, with a fire leader; fifty vehicles form a squad, with a squad leader. Vehicles maintain a distance of ten paces from each other; this is primarily to prevent them from being too close to maneuver or too far apart to provide adequate protection.

Li Chengye pressed further, "And what about setting up camp?"

"There are also rules for setting up camp. The vehicles are linked end to end to form a circle, and the vehicles in the middle are connected with iron locks. The outer sides of the vehicles are also raised to serve as a protective wall. In addition, a trench is dug 30 paces outside the vehicles, and deer antlers and barbed wire are placed outside the trench."

Hearing this, everyone clicked their tongues in amazement.

Yang Chongwang said with a wry smile, "Of course, that's how the proper border troops do it. Right now, we have neither manpower nor equipment."

Li Chengye: "Although we lack manpower and resources, there are some methods that can be imitated."

For example, when setting up camp, we can use vehicles to form a wagon array and dig a trench around it. Although we don't have deer antlers, we can use bamboo to make fences. When setting off, we can put the bamboo fences on the vehicles and then put them down when we arrive at our campsite.

Furthermore, Brother Yang, the shift patrols you mentioned earlier can also be implemented. We also need to set passwords, changing them twice a day, morning and evening.

As Qin Ye listened, his brows furrowed even more deeply: "Chengye, this...this looks like they're really going to have a war? We're just protecting some grain!"

Li Chengye looked at him: "Master Qin, what do you think those starving people will do when they see the grain on our bodies?"

He stood up, scanned everyone around him, and said, “We need to change our mindset. We can no longer see ourselves as civilians fleeing from disaster, but as an army. Starting tomorrow, after we set up camp, everyone will start training. We’ll practice marching and formations, and if possible, we’ll also practice the martial arts of the border troops. I’ll have to trouble Brother Yang to take care of that.”

Yang Chongwang did not respond immediately, but hesitated for a moment before saying, "I think training is necessary, but to start like this right away, since everyone has never been in contact with each other before, will there be any complaints?"

Master Qin, Old Seven Wang, and the others remained silent.

Looking at them, Li Chengye's gaze was solemn: "Although it is somewhat cruel, I still want to tell everyone. Our world is about to change. In the past, when the weather was good, everyone took up their hoes and worked hard in the fields. Although there was exploitation by officials and gentry, we were still able to survive. But look at this world, from now on only those who hold knives tightly in their hands will survive."

"Whoever can change their mindset first will gain the upper hand."

Everyone present felt a chill run down their spine upon hearing Li Chengye's words.

Is the world really about to change?

At this moment, the third blast of the trumpet sounded, and Wang Er's main force set off, followed by the rear camp, and then the following refugee groups also began to move.

"Everyone, pack your things and get ready to leave."

As soon as Li Chengye gave the order, everyone temporarily suppressed their thoughts and joined the large marching group.

Xu Youlu's rear camp was located in the middle and rear of the entire army, with endless streams of people in front and behind.

Originally, Li Chengye wanted to suggest to Xu Youlu, as Yang Chongwang had just said, that the caravan be divided into three groups. However, the entire caravan was surrounded by crowds of starving people on both sides. Even with guards on the side, they could not be driven away, so he had to give up.

However, Li Chengye still sent Han Sanhu with two archers half a mile ahead to scout out the situation in advance.

The team set off at almost nine o'clock, and stopped around three or four in the afternoon, having covered a distance of about twenty miles.

The army set up camp in an open area.

When setting up camp, Li Chengye suggested to Xu Youlu that they form a wagon-shaped camp at night, and Xu Youlu thought it was feasible.

The hundred or so supply wagons formed a large circle, with sandbags piled up in the middle, creating a wall together with the wagons.

In addition, following Li Chengye's instructions, the group collected some bamboo and wood to make fences, which they placed at the two entrances to the camp.

Then, Yang Chongwang said to Li Chengye, "The four sentries will stand at the four corners of the wagon formation, the two hidden sentries will lie in ambush in the grass outside the formation, and the patrols will be divided into two groups of two, patrolling around the camp about a hundred paces apart. What password do you need to know?"

Li Chengye thought for a moment: "The command for the first half of the night is 'Ambition,' and the response is 'Unity.' Switch it for the second half of the night."

"What does this password mean?" Yang Chongwang scratched his head, puzzled.

"Just a beautiful hope."

Yang Chongwang still didn't quite understand, but he didn't press further. "Then we'll switch shifts every two hours, and I'll take the first shift."

As night deepened, faint sounds of crying and arguing drifted from the refugee camp outside the caravan. Some were fighting over food and shelter, and a fight even resulted in a death.

At this moment, Yang Chongwang quietly walked over, handed him a water bag, and asked, "Chengye, do you think what I did today was useful?"

Li Chengye answered honestly, "I don't know, but at least we have to try to live, instead of waiting to die."

In the distance, from Wang Er's central command tent, faint sounds of drinking and frolicking could be heard; there was wine, meat, and women.

Outside the caravan, there were only starving refugees.

Li Chengye suddenly asked, "Brother Yang, what were you most afraid of when you were protecting grain supplies on the border?"

Yang Chongwang remained silent for a long time before uttering two words:

"An inside man."