A Complete Explanation of the Negative Textbooks of the Imperial Examination

Chapter 93: Set Off

The eyes are full of yellow sand, and an army is like a black cloud, winding forward in the Gobi.

Yesterday, General Geng Rui led the army to leave the cloud and continue to go deep into the Gobi.

“General Xiao!” A soldier ran over to report, “The general has an order, we need to camp in the oasis ahead today, and now we have to travel ten miles. General Geng also said that the generals should restrain their soldiers. If you are left behind, the whole army will sit together.”

Geng Rui manages the army very strictly, and the army is very powerful. Xiao Jingduo has deeply experienced it in the past few days. It was dusk now, the whole army had been walking for a day, and they were already exhausted. General Geng also made the whole army rush and sit behind each other, which was extremely unsympathetic.

After the soldiers who reported the news left, Xiao Jingduo urged the right wing army to rush along with the large army. He was younger than many soldiers, and many people in the army disapproved of him. Now that the entire army is rushing to attack, Xiao Jingduo did not dare to neglect, and urged the soldiers more and more closely, restraining them to keep up with the team.

Nearly 20,000 people ran until the sun went down and finally reached the place designated by Geng Rui. The whole army has been marching in the Gobi for several days, and now seeing an oasis, they relax their nerves, and they are talking and laughing and camping, ready to rest.

Now that they have entered the Turkic territory, they are most alert, but they are not allowed to make fire, and they can only eat dry food these days. Since leaving Yunzhong, the whole army has not eaten a few hot meals, but the army command is like a mountain. Even if many people complain in their hearts, they dare not say anything on the face, and they dare not disobey the orders of General Geng.

Xiao Jingduo was in charge of the right wing army. He personally urged more than 2,000 people to camp and did not dare to relax for a moment.

“General Xiao, the Dongying and Southeast battalions have already been stationed. Will the patrol tonight still follow the original arrangement?”

The soldiers went to communicate.

This time the coach is the old general Geng Rui Geng. He leads the central army and camps in the middle. Xiao Jingduo was the commander-in-chief of the Right Wing Army and was called a general by his soldiers.

Not too far, in case of emergency at night. And every day, weapons and armors are counted, and the identities of everyone in the army are checked to prevent soldiers from stealing and hiding weapons or sneaking in. Although these things are trivial, they are not sloppy at all. If there is any problem with the Right Wing Army, the chief accountability is Xiao Jingduo.

A round of red sun slowly sinks into the west mountain, and a layer of dark blue haze blooms on the horizon. In the end, the dark color also fades, and only the dark sky and the winding horizon can be seen rolling green hills.

Now that they are on the Turkic territory, they will encounter the Turkic troops at some point. The Turks lived by grass and had no fixed place to live. Geng Rui set out from the clouds with the army and carefully searched for the traces of the Turks, while another army set out from Jizhou. people. If anyone encounters the enemy first, he will immediately report to the other team.

Now is a critical moment. It is strictly forbidden to burn and make noise in the camp at night, so as not to expose the location. Therefore, once the night falls, only the sound of frogs and patrols can be heard in the army camp of Nuoda. Anyone who goes out must show their documents and identity. Proof to pass.

Xiao Jingduo took his personal soldiers to patrol the camp of the Right Wing Army and made sure there was no problem, so he planned to return to the camp to rest.

As soon as he walked into his military camp, he saw a man dressed as a personal soldier standing at the door of his military tent, and it seemed that he had been waiting for a while. Xiao Jingduo recognized that this was General Geng’s personal soldier. He felt the difference and walked up quickly and asked, “But what orders does the general have?”

“The general summoned the chiefs of each army to the main account to discuss matters.”

At this time, I went to the main tent to discuss matters… Xiao Jingduo’s face became serious, he didn’t care about returning to the camp, and immediately walked out.

General Geng Rui’s handsome tent was in the very center, surrounded by six thousand army troops, and outside the Yuhou army and the left and right wing army in a hexagonal shape. Xiao Jingduo walked quickly to the main tent, and saw an oil lamp burning in the main tent, emitting a dim light in the night through the tent.

Deliberation late at night, and the lights are lit, obviously things are very important. Xiao Jingduo opened the tent and entered. Sure enough, he saw that there were several chief executives standing inside, surrounded by General Geng, arguing fiercely about something.

When General Geng heard the sound, he looked up and saw Xiao Jingduo, with a displeased expression: “Why are you only here now?”

“Xiaguan went to inspect the camp, missed the call of the general, and asked the general to convict.”

General Geng snorted: “Okay, come over to discuss things.”

Seeing Xiao Jingduo coming in, the others did not intend to stand up to greet him, and Xiao Jingduo didn’t take it to heart, and sat in the military tent in order.

This expedition, General Geng is the head coach, and there are six general managers, three of them are from General Geng, and two of them are from the noble family of the Qing Dynasty, the only one Xiao Jingduo is incompatible with these people.

General Geng pointed to the military newspaper in front of him and said: “Just now, the scout reported that he saw a Turkic tribe ten miles ahead. It seemed that there were about 10,000 people. The fighting strength is only more than 6,000 people. The most important thing is that their tribe seems to be celebrating something tonight. Everyone in the camp is unconscious, even the guards are drunk. We are new to the Turks, and we need a victory to improve. Morale, this tribe is the most suitable.”

The Turks are famous people on horseback. They live together in tribes and live by water and grass. The men in the tribe are people on horseback, and they are warriors on horseback. These people are all outstanding in riding skills, fierce and aggressive, and often fight in small groups.

In addition, due to the great chaos in the Central Plains in the past few years, there have been continuous wars for hundreds of years, while the Turks have unified the various ministries. The Turks recklessly expanded their territory. At the worst time, the Turks’ horses hit a place only forty miles away from Chang’an. When Xuan Guogong raised his army, he listened to the advice of his advisors and made good friends with the Turks. He promised a lot of wealth and silk to ensure stability in the north. When the Rong family entered the Central Plains, the separatist forces in the four seas were wiped out one by one, but there was still no way to take the strong neighbors in the north. In the time of Emperor Gaozu, the Turkic Khan led his envoys to visit Chang’an, and that was the invitation of Gaozu to seek to sign a peace treaty. Now that Emperor Gaozu died of illness and Emperor Wenzong died of illness, only an eight-year-old emperor and a sixteen-year-old princess ruled the Xuan Dynasty.

This time, Geng Rui took the army to fight against the Turks, and it can be said that he shoulders a heavy responsibility. This is the first time the Xuan Dynasty took the initiative to attack the Turks, and the significance of this battle is self-evident. Since the founding of the Xuan Dynasty, the Turks have been showing goodwill to the Turks. If this attack cannot be won, it will be a huge blow to the national prestige and the people’s hearts.

So everyone in the army, from General Geng Rui to ordinary soldiers, is eager to win.

They don’t leave a piece of armor, so they can get a good start!”

The right wing army is divided into two armies, one of which is under the command of Xiao Jingduo, and the other army chief is a son of an aristocratic family. This person came from an aristocratic family, and this was his first time to go out with the army in earnest.

Geng Rui is also thinking about this: “The other tribe feasted until the night and the defense was negligent. Now the enemy is clear and secret, it is indeed a good time for a sneak attack. I’m afraid morale is low.”

“General!” The rest persuaded emotionally, “Opportunities on the battlefield are fleeting, and tonight is a heaven-sent opportunity, what is there to hesitate!”

How can there be such a coincidence, be careful with deceit.”

“Humph, you’ve complimented others in the DPRK and you are greedy for life and fear of death, I’m not!” Another right wing army chief sneered, glanced at Xiao Jingduo disdainfully, and clenched his fists at Geng Rui Said, “General, don’t miss this opportunity, you have to seize the opportunity!”

Xiao Jingduo ignored the faint crowding of others, but looked at Geng Rui and said earnestly: “General, we have traveled a long distance today, and the whole army is exhausted. If we wake up the whole army now , there must be serious military resentment, not to mention morale, it is not wise to rashly attack! Moreover, if the information of the scouts is wrong, the consequences are simply unimaginable, the general thinks twice!”

“What you said makes sense.” Geng Rui was silent for a while, and affirmed Xiao Jingduo’s words. The rest of the people looked anxious and wanted to persuade them again, when they heard Geng Rui continue: “But when you are marching and fighting, you can’t always seek safety in everything. The scouts are my personal soldiers who have followed me for more than ten years, and I can trust them. The whole army listens. Order, sound the horn immediately, wake up the soldiers, and immediately line up to attack!”

Xiao Jingduo wanted to persuade again, but Geng Rui waved his hand and said, “I have made up my mind, you don’t need to persuade again. If you dare to say it again, it will be punished with the crime of disturbing the morale of the army.”

The rest of the stewards walked out in arrogance. When the son of the right wing army passed by Xiao Jingduo, he smiled provocatively at Xiao Jingduo.

Not long after the soldiers fell asleep, they suddenly heard the horn to get up, they hurriedly got up, put on their gloves and clothes and ran out.

The laws and regulations in the military are strict and cruel. Many soldiers lined up with sleepy eyes and half-open eyes, not even knowing what was going on.

Xiao Jingduo could not go out with the army because of “delaying the military aircraft and disturbing the morale of the army”, and was left to guard the baggage.

This is a punishment that anyone can see.

When the soldiers in the Right Wing Army returned to Xiao Jingduo’s control knew that they could not go on the expedition and wanted to stay to guard the baggage, the disappointment in their hearts could be imagined. They could only watch the other six armies set off heroically, roaring into the night.

“General Xiao, what should we do now?”

The personal guard is extremely lost, so close to the battlefield but unable to participate in the battle, this is more difficult to accept than death in battle. Xiao Jingduo didn’t know how to comfort him, he was silent for a moment, and said, “You take the brothers in the army to run two laps first, you can’t lose morale because you stay behind, send the order to let the captains of each team be vigilant, and it is strictly forbidden for anyone to sneak back to sleep. .”

“General Xiao, we are all left behind, and we don’t have to fight, why do we do this?”

Xiao Jingduo always had an ominous premonition in his heart, but he explained these things to his soldiers, he could only say: “We stay at the camp and guard the entire army’s food and grass, this is the most important thing, how can we negligence?”

As soon as the personal soldiers heard it, they knew that this was a cliché. Guarding the baggage and escorting food and grass has always been done by the old, the weak, the sick, and the young and strong right wing troops? But when Xiao Jingduo said this, the soldiers did not dare to refute, so they gave a military salute and said, “Yes!”

After the personal soldiers ran away, Xiao Jingduo was wearing a full set of armor and patrolling the military camp. Xiao Jingduo was afraid that someone would be lazy, so he deliberately walked outside the barracks, took a few steps, and met a patrol team head-on. The patrol team stopped and saluted Xiao Jingduo uniformly: “General Xiao!”

Xiao Jingduo also stopped and asked, “Is there anything abnormal on the patrol tonight?”

It is July, and the grass grows best on the grassland, and it will turn yellow in a few days. The place where they are stationed is an oasis, and the momentum of the vegetation is particularly good, and the highest point can even reach the waist. Xiao Jingduo saw a slight movement of the grass spike not far away. Although it was only for a moment, it was enough to arouse Xiao Jingduo’s vigilance.

He and the patrol stood at the outermost perimeter of the camp, beyond which was the meadow. Xiao Jingduo kept his expression still, and made a secret gesture with his inward hand. The patrol team recognized the military code and knew it in their hearts.

Xiao Jingduo asked a question at random and dispersed with the patrol. The person in the grass found that the person talking not far away walked away without realizing it, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

As wished to inquire about the situation of the Xuan army, the spy was slightly relieved, bowed his body, and slowly retreated into the distance. After retreating from the sight of the Xuan Dynasty people, he stood up and was about to run out with all his strength, when suddenly his ankle hurt and he fell to the ground.

He turned his head in pain, and saw an arrow feather pierced through his ankle into the ground, and the feather at the end was still shaking slightly.

He was in a bad mood, just as he was about to continue running, he felt a chill on his neck.

“Don’t move.” The patrol captain pointed the spy with a knife and held him away.

“General Xiao, there are indeed people in the grass!”

Xiao Jingduo stood outside the grass, the strings on the bow and arrow were still shaking slightly. He handed the bow to the personal soldiers behind him, walked up to the spies, and asked, “Tell me, who are you? Why did you come here late at night?”

The spy stalked his neck, spat bitterly, and shouted something in his mouth.

“What is he talking about?” Several soldiers looked at each other, confused.

If so, why did you only speak after I asked?”

The spy was shocked, Xiao Jingduo has continued to say: “You are proficient in lurking, and you don’t say a word when you are shot through your ankle, obviously you are only a member of the military. If you understand Chinese, you must be in a good position in the army, and there are many Han people in your tribe.”

Xiao Jingduo took two steps with his hands behind his back, his eyes suddenly sharp, and cut the spies like a knife: “You are a member of the royal court!”

The scout’s back was already stiff, but he refused to show weakness, and still babbled some Turkic words. But the spy’s abnormality was so obvious, not to mention Xiao Jingduo, even the ordinary soldiers next to him could see the clue, and they hated to give the spy a scabbard: “You turned out to be a member of the Turkic royal court! Then why did you touch our camp? ”

Seeing that his whereabouts were exposed, the Turkic spy stopped pretending, but sneered and said: “If you want to kill, you will kill, if you want to cut, you will cut, what do you do with so much nonsense.”

Everyone in the group was furious and glared at the Turk, vowing to soften the man’s bones. Only Xiao Jingduo took two steps and said in horror, “No, General Geng has been tricked!”