Chapter 29: Three Thousand Elite Cavalry

  "Huh?" Hearing Wang Xu mention two new troops, Xu Shu's eyebrows rose in dissatisfaction and he immediately said: "What are the Sanhe Knights and the large camp north of the Yellow River? Why didn't you say that earlier?"

  Facing Xu Shu's slightly accusatory question, Wang Xu suddenly said in a bad tone: "They are not the central army of the imperial court, and you didn't ask me just now, why should I say?"

  Feeling Wang Xu's discontent, Xu Shu couldn't help but stick out her tongue and said in a soft voice: "Husband! I was also in a hurry at the time and didn't pay attention to my tone. Why are you being so serious?"

  "Alright! Don't I know your personality? You only know how to use this old trick." However, judging from Wang Xu's facial expression, he was actually very pleased.

  "The Sanhe Knights and the large camps north of the Yellow River, although not part of the Central Army, were also directly under the central government. The Sanhe Knights actually referred to the cavalry in the three regions of Hedong, Hexi, and Hebei. The large camps were garrisons established by the Eastern Han court in strategic locations and border areas, with a force of between 1,000 to 10,000 soldiers. The intention was to control each region locally, suppress rebellions in a timely manner, deter the four directions, and defend against invasions. However, this measure is not desirable from a later perspective. Because it dispersed the strength of the central main force, allowing others to be defeated one by one. Among them, the most famous ones are the Liyang Large Camp, Yongying, and Yuyang Camp."

  "Oh!" responded a voice, just as Xu Shu was about to continue speaking, when suddenly Ma Fu's voice came in.

  "Master! The manor has arrived."

  "Alright! I understand. You guys help me move the stuff from the horse carriage in the back first!"

  Wang Xu shouted a sentence outside the carriage and then turned his head to say, "Don't mention these things for now, let's go! Go take a look at the manor."

  "Hmm!"

  As soon as the two men entered the manor's gate, they immediately felt the pre-war tension. The clanging of armor and weapons echoed incessantly in their ears. The soldiers were also busy with their own affairs, until they discovered Wang Xu and Xue Shu, at which point they stopped what they were doing and turned to salute!

  He waved his hand to signal that everyone didn't need to worry about him, and Wang Xu inspected the entire outer garden. Seeing everything going on in an orderly manner, he also felt at ease, thinking that Wang Fei had already made all the arrangements.

  As he walked back and forth without anything to do, Wang Xu was about to go to the inner courtyard when Wang Fei's call suddenly came, making him stop in his tracks immediately.

  "Third brother! Third brother......"

  Turning back, Wang Fei saw King Hua's majestic stride walking towards him. Wang Xu couldn't help but smile in satisfaction: "Second Brother, you're really quick! Just arrived and I see the brothers are already preparing for tomorrow's expedition."

  Wang Fei smiled casually, his right hand resting on the hilt of the knife at his waist, and his left hand patted his chest: "I'm also afraid that time won't be enough, so I made arrangements in advance. How is it? Shouldn't there be any mistakes?"

  "Good! Alright, let's go into the inner garden first!" Wang Xu said as he took the lead and stepped forward.

  After sitting down in the main hall of the inner courtyard, Wang Xu spoke again and asked: "Second brother, you go first, have you counted our current supplies?"

  Hearing the question was serious, Wang Fei's face also turned solemn. "I was just counting this earlier, and as soon as I finished, I heard you came, so I rushed to find you."

  "Hmm! Do you still remember the specific number?" Wang Xu didn't beat around the bush and nodded before getting straight to the point.

  "Of course I remember!"

  After responding, Wang Fei immediately continued fluently: "At present, the materials we have are very sufficient. In addition to the three of us, there are a total of 3,065 combatants in the manor, each with a set of standard tube-sleeved armor, a long spear, a long bow, and a war horse. Each brother's quiver is also equipped with ten arrows. In addition, there are hundreds of sets of spare equipment, more than 10,000 arrows, and hundreds of war horses. As for the grain in the manor, the specific quantity has not been measured yet. But according to Wang Jian, the responsible house minister, it can probably supply our army for about three months. However, it hasn't been loaded onto carts yet."

  "Ah, supplies are indeed abundant." Wang Xu saw that the supply issue was guaranteed and also let out a sigh of relief.

  But he suddenly realized what Wang Fei meant by his last words, and immediately asked in surprise: "Second brother, you won't be planning to take away all the supplies, will you?"

  "Yes! These things are all very important." Wang Fei not only agreed, but also explained to Wang Xu with a bitter tone: "Food is not necessary to mention, that thing is precious, no food can't fight? As for weapons and equipment, arrows and war horses, these spare materials are also needed. On the battlefield, there may be wear and tear at any time. If there is no backup replacement, many brothers will be sacrificed in vain!"

  Seeing Wang Fei's reasonable and well-founded appearance, Wang Xu was stunned and swallowed his saliva, hastily waving his hand to stop him. "Second brother! Of course I know these things, but our first task this time is to rescue my father, what we need is speed. Can we get there faster with all these extra supplies? Moreover, we are not a large army on an expedition, after rescuing my father we still have to go find the imperial court's main force, it's very likely that we will be fighting for thousands of miles. With so many things, by the time we arrive the battle will already be over! Besides, once we lose the mobility of our cavalry, what do we do if we encounter the Yellow Turban bandits' main force? Are we going to abandon our supplies and run away?"

  Here is the translation:

  "Up to here, not wanting to strike Wang Fei too much, Wang Xu smiled and opened his mind: "I know what the second brother means, you're right, but some things also need to be seen in actual situations. What we need most this time is speed, so everything unnecessary doesn't need to be brought."

  Wang Fei seemed to have never thought of these issues, and when Wang Xu said so, he suddenly became speechless. Embarrassed, he smiled at Wang Xu and then spoke up: "Still, third brother is more thoughtful, I almost made a fool of myself."

  He fell silent for a moment, but couldn't help asking anxiously: "What if the soldiers' equipment is damaged in battle and supplies are consumed? Especially when there's not enough food to eat, the soldiers will mutiny!"

  "Hehe! We should think about this problem in a different way. Isn't the loss of materials due to war? Since we're at war, there must be enemies, and with enemies, aren't there always materials?"

  Wang Fei wasn't stupid, and upon Wang Xu's reminder, he suddenly had an epiphany! Laughing loudly, he took over the conversation: "So, in this situation, our best method is to use war to nurture war, take whatever we want from the enemy's hands."

  "Right!" A comforting nod, Wang Xu smiled slightly: "So, the only thing we can't be sure about is food. Whether or not we encounter enemies, food will always be consumed. Therefore, how much food to bring is what we should consider. As long as we hold out until we meet up with the imperial army, we'll naturally receive supplies from the imperial court."

  "That's right, this is the most famous guerrilla tactic in history. It will definitely work, Second Brother, don't worry!" Xu Shu saw Wang Xu and others discussing the matters related to the expedition with a smile, but she was frustrated that she couldn't join in. When she heard Wang Xu's words just now, she suddenly became excited and took over the topic, but what she said made Wang Xu jump in fright.

  Before he could react, Wang Fei looked at Xu Shu with great curiosity and asked strangely: "Guerrilla tactics? How come I've never heard of it? Which dynasty is it from? Is it the Spring and Autumn or Warring States period? And what does guerrilla mean?"

  Wang Fei was driven silly by Xu Shu, and then a big problem emerged. Wang Xu couldn't help but glare at her with a mixture of laughter and tears.

  Xu Shu also knew that she had misspoken, and awkwardly stuck out her tongue, lowering her head to say nothing more.

  "Second brother, this question is not important, what's important is that you understand the current situation?" Wang Xu naturally wouldn't go explain the origin and meaning of guerrilla warfare to him. So he could only cough twice, pretending to be serious, and changed the subject.

  Wang Fei is a straightforward person, and seeing the situation, he didn't ask any more questions. He smiled immediately: "I understand, then I'll go instruct them now. But how much food should we bring again?"