Chapter 29 First Squad

  Although Chen Kui had repeatedly assured him, even if it was Wen Tianxiang's troops who came, they would be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived. However, Yuwen Huaji, who had already been frightened out of his wits, still refused to return to his own tent.

  In his view, since he couldn't leave for the time being, the safest place in the entire camp would naturally be beside Chen Kefu and other generals. If by any chance the Goguryeo people broke into the camp, he could also follow Chen Kefu and others to escape with his life. So although he found it very boring that a group of old men sat in the tent at midnight without talking about romance or drinking fine wine, he still stubbornly sat in the tent and refused to leave.

  As for Yuwen's eldest son, it was naturally impossible for everyone to drive him away. He wanted to sit down and follow him. Everyone was just discussing the possible situation they would face and discussing various strategies that should be changed. Everyone also completely regarded Taipus Temple Xiaocheng as air, as if there was no such person.

  Nearly an hour after the news of the enemy's trail was first discovered, when everyone thought it was another false alarm, the sound of several horses' hooves rushed to the vicinity of Chen Kefu and others discussing military affairs. Before a few people went out to check, Luo Lin lifted the curtain and came in, "Sir, the people from the first squad have returned, they brought news."

  Chen Kefu immediately dropped the map in his hand and led a group of officers to rush out of the tent. As soon as they came out, the cavalrymen had just dismounted and drank several big mouthfuls of water handed over by their comrades, calming down their urgent panting breath.

  "What have you found out? Tell me quickly." Chen Kefu said somewhat anxiously to the scout, who was already drenched in sweat from head to toe, amidst the firelight.

  That cavalryman was a man in his thirties, and behind him were two young cavalrymen with sweat-drenched collars. It's likely that the team leader sent them back when they were intercepted, so three of them came back at once.

  "General, we were the first to discover the enemy cavalry's tracks. After reporting back to our commander, we followed those tracks and soon caught up with them. There were only about a dozen of them, so we continued to follow them for tens of miles south until they entered a mountain valley. We went in to take a look and found that there were approximately three thousand cavalrymen inside, but no infantry. However, it's still unclear whether this is the vanguard of Goguryeo or their entire force. Our commander ordered us three to return and report back to Your Excellency, while they remained behind to continue monitoring the movements of the Goguryeo cavalry."

  Chen Kefu patted him on the shoulder, "Good job, what's your name?"

  "General, I'm from the First Battalion of the Second Brigade of the Broken Army Camp. Our team leader is called Zhang Yong, and I'm called Zhang Meng. These two brothers who came back with me are Liu Da and Liu Er." The man wiped the sweat from his head excitedly and said.

  "Is Captain Zhang Yong your brother?" Listening to the names of these four, Chen Kefu knew without guessing that they were definitely two pairs of brothers. Looking at the guy's sturdy build, it really looked quite fierce.

  Zhang Meng nodded, "Our family has seven brothers. Except for my sixth and seventh brother who are still at home serving our mother, the other five brothers have already joined the army with their long spears. We've been to this Liaodong city twice before. Last time, my second brother didn't make it back, so this time we must avenge him. Our team leader Zhang Yong is my older brother, and my third and fourth brothers are also on our team, currently keeping watch with my brother to monitor the movements of the Goguryeo people."

  Chen Kefu did not expect that this was a family of seven brothers, and unexpectedly five brothers were all in the same unit. This could only be possible in ancient times. However, he didn't expect that it would be like Li Benlei again, another kind-hearted warrior who lost his loved ones during the conquest of Liaodong. He couldn't help but have a deeper understanding of the sentence "The Sui dynasty's four invasions of Goguryeo resulted in one million deaths and injuries" which was only briefly mentioned in history books.

  "You Zhang family are all good, the intelligence you discovered this time is very important, everyone in the first battalion of the second brigade will be rewarded. Do a good job and when the time comes, I'll let your Zhang family have four generals to bring glory to your ancestors. As for your second brother's revenge, we will definitely take it. You're all so tired, go down and rest well now, I'll send someone to replace you brothers soon." After that, he also praised Liu Da and Liu Er, the two young brothers, and let them all go down to rest.

  Everyone left, as soon as he returned to the account, Lu Shide immediately couldn't control his mouth, and said loudly, "General, since we have already detected that the opponent is hiding in the valley, why don't we take advantage of it and kill them off guard, trapping them in the valley like a turtle in a jar?"

  As soon as Lu Shide's words came out, several campus officials were somewhat moved, and a kind of eager light burst forth in their eyes. Recently, following Chen Kefu, they had been too smooth. In the field battle with 3,000 people against 11,000 people, they almost won completely, and even captured a large city without bloodshed, capturing nearly 20,000 Goguryeo troops. Every general who followed Chen Kefu was promoted one rank, and also received so many rewards, which greatly stimulated their desires. So as soon as they heard that there were only 3,000 people, they immediately came to spirit, if it was really like Zhang Meng said, the other side had only 3,000 people, and was hiding in the mountain valley, then if they launched a surprise attack at night, maybe they could really win a big victory. At least these broken army officers no longer felt that facing Goguryeo cavalry one-on-one would be difficult.

  If it were a night raid, the three thousand people would not have suffered too much damage and could take down the three thousand Goguryeo cavalry. This is a great achievement, and perhaps everyone present can be promoted one level higher, even if they cannot be promoted, various rewards will not be less. Faced with such temptation, those officers who had risen from the bottom step by step were somewhat moved.

  Chen Kefu saw everyone's thoughts in his eyes, although he also had a 10% chance of devouring the cavalry hidden in the valley, but without considering it, he had already vetoed this tempting idea. He is now the commander-in-chief of an army, not a partner or team leader. Every decision he makes must consider more. Now their most important thing is the big camp, guarding the big camp, successfully sending these supplies, captured civilians to Liaodong City, that is a great achievement.

  Shaking his head, Chen Kefu said to the crowd, "For now, we have only detected this group of people, and we still don't know if there are other troops hiding nearby. Moreover, our main goal at present is to defend the main camp. If we see a small gain but neglect our own safety, it's a situation that every general should avoid. If something goes wrong, we might fall into the enemy's trap of 'luring the tiger away from its mountain', and if the main camp suffers losses, it would be a loss that outweighs any gain. Everyone, gather intelligence on the enemy's movements and whereabouts, but for now, let's defend the main camp and wait for reinforcements to arrive. Once they do, we can then engage in battle with the enemy again."

  "After finishing, he glanced at the still somewhat restless officers and said loudly, 'Pass on my order: without my permission, all personnel in the military camp are strictly forbidden from taking private actions. Anyone who dares to disobey will be severely punished. Everyone can disperse now. The 1st to 8th battalions will go on high alert tonight, while the soldiers of the 8th to 15th battalions can rest and recharge first.'"

  After the crowd dispersed, Chen Kefu also inspected the strengthening of the defense work in the camp. Finally, he pulled Ru Shideep, Mao Yu, Chen Qing, Chen Feng, Chen Lin, Chen Huo, Chen Shan, Chen Fu, and Chen Gui, these nine family members who followed him out of Chenjiazhuang, and leaned against a bonfire in the camp to chat with his current generals. For Chen Kefu, although these people, except for Mao Yu and Chen Qing, were not very clever and didn't think things through like Ru Shideep, they were still his trusted confidants in this chaotic world.

  The fifteen teams of the Broken Army Camp, they brought nine teams, so for these guys, he also had to take out some time to teach them from time to time. Since it has been decided to start a team in this chaotic world, these loyal family members will be his greatest helpers. Especially in the early days, only these people are the most reliable.

  Gathering around the bonfire, they roasted flatbread with a wooden fork, and although they couldn't drink tonight due to the enemy situation, everyone was still chatting happily together.

  The youngest Chen Qing smiled and said, "When we return to Chenjiazhuang in triumph, I wonder if Uncle Mao will be startled when he finds out that our general has become a third-rank official."

  Lu Shishen munched on the fragrant, freshly baked pastry while chuckling and saying, "I don't know if Uncle Mao will be surprised or not, but I do know that Old Man Niu from the village will definitely be overjoyed. For generations, his ancestors were all farmers who tilled the land, and now suddenly one of them has become a fifth-rank official's son-in-law - this is on the same level as the Magistrate of Zhongjun County! The old man has never even seen a county magistrate in his lifetime, yet he's suddenly become the father-in-law of a high-ranking official. I bet he'll faint from excitement."

  Chen Qing had been in love with Niu Er since childhood, but Niu Lao Han had always been reluctant to agree. He thought that if one day a wealthy landlord like Chen Ke Fu took a liking to his daughter, even if she became a concubine, her future and his would be better off than marrying Chen Qing, who was just a poor scholar.

  Everyone burst out laughing, even Chen Kefu was grinning from ear to ear, feeling more relaxed than ever before, feeling like he had truly blended in with this era. He no longer felt like an outsider looking in, but rather as if he had become a true Sui Dynasty person.

  He was not alone in this Sui Dynasty, he had so many family members who had been with him since childhood, and there were also several elderly people in the family who were as close to him as his own grandfather. Although they did not have a blood relationship, these people were his relatives in this era. Even if it was just for these people around him, he had to find a place for everyone to live in this chaotic world. The night in the mountains was still cool and breezy, but the whole night was no longer quiet, with the bonfires burning everywhere, the shouts of the dry firemen, in the mountains, as if a town had been moved here by the gods with great magic power.

  The night wind was still blowing gently, but the birds and beasts that lived here had all fled far away. The entire mountain was dotted with sparks of fire, lively yet with a sense of solemnity and killing intent.

  It's so depressing, got up early in the morning to find that the keyboard is broken again, this year's third broken keyboard. Fortunately, I had prepared for it last time and bought a spare one. Brothers, please vote for support, the book may be a bit slow to heat up, but after some plot development, the protagonist will truly take over, lead the team, and won't let everyone down, hehe. The new book list is going to pass this week again, Mu Zi has only climbed to over 20th place, still far from the top 12, hoping that next week everyone can pull Mu Zi up and let me rush up too.