Chapter 1292 - 318: Whirlwind_2

Chapter 1292: Chapter 318: Whirlwind_2

When the Yan officer inspected the trenches outside the camp, he found that they were not deep enough and did not have the required angles. Therefore, Guo Dayong was punished for negligence.

Getting whipped is not a big deal, but being whipped in front of so many people and your subordinates is truly humiliating.

In the county, the Guo family had some prestige; otherwise, even if Miss A-shui’s family fell from grace, they would not have agreed to marry their son.

But,

A beating is a beating regardless.

The strict military laws of Snow Sea Pass had been transplanted into this camp.

After the beating, you still had to carry on with your work. You had to lead your men to re-excavate the trenches properly. If not completed on time, the punishment would be more severe.

The auxiliary troops returned to camp, and the quartermaster began distributing food.

The meal consisted of one strip of cured meat per person, plus a big ladle of sauce.

It wasn’t a great feast, but for being on the move, having such a food standard was really quite good.

Guo Dong wept as he ate.

"Your father’s fine," Hui An consoled him.

"I’m crying for my horse, after all the care I gave it along the way."

"..." Hui An.

After the meal, the auxiliary troops were issued shields and began practicing formation runs under the officer’s command in the open field outside the camp.

The training this time was more rigorous; anyone out of position, too slow, or too fast would get whipped.

This monotonous shield-carrying training lasted for three days.

They would get up early each day, run drills, come back, eat, and after eating, start shield formation runs and practice various fixed formations.

Guo Dong was not someone who could endure hardships, but under the whip, he dared not slack off even slightly.

During a break, Hui An suddenly punched him lightly,

"Look, over there."

Guo Dong looked over and saw two people standing on a tower over there.

One was wearing armor, while the other wore a black long robe.

Although they were some distance away, it was clear that the other’s clothing was very clean.

The camp rules were strict; the only person who could dress casually here was that one.

Guo Dong excitedly shouted out,

"Look, Lord Pingye is watching us from there!"

"Quiet down!"

A soldier carrying a whip came over, but instead of striking, he kicked Guo Dong. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

After the break ended and everyone started their drills with shields, the change in their morale and spirit was palpable. They all put in their full effort to complete the training to the strictest standards, just to please the distant figure.

Even though,

that figure might not even be looking at them.

Lord Zheng wasn’t watching them; he was peeling an orange, standing next to Liang Cheng.

"Tomorrow, should all the troops have arrived?" Lord Zheng asked.

In fact, over ten thousand soldiers had already arrived. The forces from Jin Shuke, Keyan Dongge, and Gao Yi had arrived; Ding Hao and Zuo Jiqian’s troops were stationed to guard Snow Sea Pass, and Hsu Youcheng’s unit was still on its way.

The reason Hsu Youcheng’s unit was so slow was that it was responsible for overseeing and escorting nearly thirty thousand wild slave soldiers.

San Hu led thirty thousand tribal members to join, but only a bit over ten thousand were appropriate, and over ten thousand prisoners from the previous siege battle on the snow plains were gathered. Together, they numbered less than thirty thousand.

Additionally, there would be more coming, as the tribes from the snow plains were required to contribute young adults and livestock, but they were still en route.

This was only the initial force to be invested in by Snow Sea Pass.

In total, the original Snow Sea Pass army had eleven camps, amounting to about 16,000 soldiers.

There were thirty thousand wild slave soldiers, and fortunately, the composition of these 30,000 was different due to previous conflicts, allowing them to restrain each other.

Alongside Lord Zheng’s camp, there would also be other Yan and Jin forces stationed on both wings. In theory, it wasn’t just Lord Zheng’s 16,000 holding 30,000 slaves, but rather the entire surrounding army numbering in the hundreds of thousands assisting in overseeing them.

Additionally, over 6,000 civilian workers had been sent from Ying Capital City, and almost 10,000 came from Snow Sea Pass.

Out of these more than 16,000 civilians, 6,000 auxiliary troops were selected.

If counting the civilian workers as part of the military strength for a neat figure, Lord Zheng could very well claim a "hundred thousand army" banner.

However, what’s the point? It doesn’t mean anything.

Ultimately, with troop versus troop and leader versus leader, they were about to engage in a death struggle against the Chu defensive line centered on Town South Pass. What use was boasting?

"Tomorrow, they should arrive in batches. According to the reports from the messengers, all the forces should have already arrived, and the army provisions are still sufficient. The first round of battle should be able to commence."

The army was at the front line, and with the consumption of civilian workers and warhorses, every day, it was an astronomical number. Provisions would never be absolutely adequate, so one couldn’t just stupidly wait. As long as the supplies were currently sufficient, the war should begin.

Logistics should be replenished while the battles were fought.

Unless Tian Wujing intended to use tactics akin to the "Battle of Changping" to compare national strength;

But that was clearly unrealistic; the logistical pressure on the Yan Army was far greater than that on the Chu.

"Alright, it shouldn’t be long before the Central Army Commander’s Tent will......"

"Report!!!!!!"

A messenger soldier rode swiftly,

"Prince Jingnan orders all forces’ commanders to receive orders at the tent tomorrow!"