Chapter 1294 - 319: Terrible News

Chapter 1294: Chapter 319: Terrible News

Early morning,

Lord Zheng awoke, ℯ

He Chunlai was making breakfast.

This former Jin land restoration righteous warrior, after encountering Fanli, was forcibly developed into a new profession.

His culinary expertise was top-notch, and once acquainted with Lord Zheng’s taste, he could promptly prepare the corresponding dishes.

Frankly, when it comes to food, even over a millennium, the changes are actually minimal. Delicious and refined are the eternal themes.

The minimal change here refers to the aristocratic class.

You’ll find that what the nobility ate a thousand years ago is not much different from what they eat a thousand years later.

Lord Zheng’s breakfast was simple yet exquisite,

two fried eggs, to be fried till fluffy;

four pieces of fried steamed bun slices, golden and crisp;

a cup of sheep milk.

In the military camp, there was a separate place, specifically raising chickens for Lord Pingye’s eggs and sheep for milk production.

This is the advantage of the battlefield being close to home. Moreover, Lord Zheng didn’t feel he was being extravagant or wasteful. Sharing meals and hardships with soldiers is less effective than improving the soldiers’ food standards to garner their gratitude more practically.

While eating breakfast, the blind man came in, sat down directly, picked up a piece of fried steamed bun slice and took a bite, saying:

"My lord, Hsu Youcheng’s unit is already settled in the camp behind."

The number of wild people slave soldiers was too large. They were consumables on the battlefield. Historically, examples of driving slaves to war are countless.

But such a method also has instabilities; one misstep might even harm oneself.

For instance, if slave soldiers are placed near the central military camp, a slight disturbance, or if the slave soldiers rebel inside, could easily trigger a chain reaction.

Therefore, placing them in a camp behind ensures risks can be minimized with zero-stored retrieval.

Of course, the most crucial reason is because it’s a siege battle. Both sides in a siege are actually constrained, fighting a rigid battle, so Lord Zheng can place them this way. In a skirmish or maneuver battle, this arrangement would completely expose the weakest link to the opponent.

The Eldest Prince’s first defeat at Wang River occurred this way. Lord Jingnan once kicked the Eldest Prince, reprimanding him for not dispersing the Left Army. If there were ten thousand Northern Stabilization soldiers in the Left Army at that time, they wouldn’t have been forcibly pushed into Wang River by the wild people.

"Hmm, will the armor and weapons keep up?" Lord Zheng asked.

The blind man shook his head, saying: "The auxiliary soldiers’ armor and weapons can keep up, but the slave soldiers’ cannot keep up, and pre-preparing weapons for them is also inconvenient to manage.

When driving them to attack the city, let the people behind pick up the weapons and crossbows of the fallen soldiers in front and continue using them."

Lord Zheng took a sip of sheep milk and nodded.

"Subordinate suggests delaying Gou Moli’s arrival at the front line. When it’s time to truly start the siege, let Ah Li escort him here. Gou Moli understands those wild people and excels at inciting them to die.

Bringing him here too early might cause accidents.

Let him incite several waves of wild people to attack the city and die, and the possibility of him causing accidents will be much smaller."

"Hmm, next time let me finish breakfast before discussing such topics. You know, early morning I felt refreshed, but after discussing these, I feel somewhat depressed."

"Yes, it was my oversight."

"No, it was my fussiness, haha. Do you want to eat more?"

"I already ate before coming, yesterday the scout captured a Chu army alive, I interrogated him this morning, but didn’t get anything."

"Alright, let’s go for a walk."

"Okay, my lord."

Lord Zheng and the blind man walked out of the tent.

To go to the King’s Tent for discussion should be at dusk. Going now is too early.

"The weather has rarely cooled down these days."

Lord Zheng said, stretching lazily.

"My lord, the rainy season is approaching. Right now, Ying Capital City and Wang River should have already entered the rainy season, and here, it’s likely soon."

"I asked A Cheng, during the siege, this won’t affect us much. The impact is mutual, and moreover, the defenders might end up unable to use some defending equipment due to rain.

But the Chu people’s camps, in the rainy season, will be troublesome. Once the ground becomes muddy and forms mud pits, our war horses won’t be able to charge. If infantry charges on foot, they’ll easily be hindered."

"Yes."

"Additionally, prepare more medicinal supplies. During the rainy season, people easily get sick."

"Rest assured, my lord, I’ve already prepared it, and also specifically sent people to Skybreak Mountain to gather herbs. It’s impossible to supply the entire army, but supplying ourselves should be just enough."

"I’m always reassured when you handle matters, hmm? What’s happening over there?"

Not far away, a group of civilians and a group of auxiliary soldiers were gathered together, with the occasional sound of crying coming from inside.

Lord Zheng gestured to an armored warrior in front, and the warrior immediately approached.

"What’s wrong?"

"Responding to Lord, yesterday, a civilian team went out for lumbering and encountered a Chu scout party, and several were killed by the Chu people. The bodies were only brought back today."

"Oh."

Lord Zheng nodded, remembering Liang Cheng had mentioned this to him yesterday.

The Chu people were unwilling to be passive from the beginning. So now they are showing their last stubbornness, and the scout battles are one of the manifestations.