Volume 1: Kyoto Winds and Clouds Chapter 44: The Eve of the Battle of Tsuruga Castle

  Liu Yan was shocked upon hearing Liu Zhang's words and said: "My son, you want to go to war with the Wuhuan people?"

  "Father, it's not that I want to go to war with the Wuhuan people, but I need the merit of conquering them." Liu Zhang smiled and said: "If I hadn't met my teacher in Youzhou, two years ago I would have let Huang Zhong and Yan Yan cut down those Wuhuan bastards! Now I've let the Wuhuan be arrogant for two years, it's time to collect interest. Huo Qubing is not my idol, but my target to surpass!"

  "Liu Yan looked at Liu Zhang in great surprise, he didn't know where Liu Zhang got such great confidence. To be aware of this, even the veteran generals of the current dynasty are very fearful when facing foreign tribes, otherwise with the military power of the Great Han, Wuhuan would have been destroyed long ago. After all, Wuhuan is not the Xiongnu of those years, they do not have the power of the Xiongnu."

  "Father, why are you looking at me like that?" Liu Zhang asked, seeing the strange look in Liu Yan's eyes: "Is there something dirty on my face?"

  "No! It's just strange that you're so confident in defeating Umaru!" Liu Yan asked doubtfully: "In the 400 years of the Great Han, except for Emperor Wu of Han, no one has dared to say that they will take the initiative to attack foreign tribes! Even those famous generals were all defensive-minded!"

  "Father, it's not that Emperor Wu of Han is capable, but rather the noble families are useless!" Liu Zhang coldly sneered: "Take a look at how Emperor Wu uses his generals - Wei Qing was just a horse slave, and Huo Qubing was the son of a servant! Everyone knows that heroes don't ask about their origins, but who can really do it? The border defense generals are all from noble families, they don't seek to have achievements but rather to avoid mistakes. Hoping for these people to risk their lives and defeat the foreign tribes is no different than hoping for heavenly thunderbolts to strike down those foreign tribes! This time I'll be taking out the troops on an expedition against the Wuhuan, I will eliminate all the noble family members from the army. Since they're only here to get rich, let them stay behind and guard the city!"

  "This..." Liu Yan exclaimed in surprise: "My son kicked out those young masters from noble families, what would you do if they gave you trouble?"

  "Father, rest assured. If I can't even handle this little thorn, what's the point of leading an army and fighting a war?" Liu Zhang sneered: "I hope they cooperate with me, otherwise I will not be polite. In the city, I couldn't deal with them, but outside the city, it's very simple to find an excuse to kill someone!"

  "Good!" Liu Yan looked at Liu Zhang's sinister expression with great satisfaction. If Liu Zhang was timid, he would be very disappointed. Liu Yan smiled and said: "Do whatever you want to do, your father supports you!"

  "Thank you, Father!" Liu Zhang bowed and left the governor's mansion with Zhao Yun and others, heading straight to the Ji County drill ground.

  In the drill ground of Jiuquan, Huang Zhong and Yan Yan were training troops. Suddenly, a small school came to report that Liu Zhang had arrived, and they immediately went out to welcome him. Liu Zhang came to the middle army tent of the large camp, sat on the commander's seat and said: "I won't say any nonsense! From today on, all troops in Jiuquan will be taken over by me. Huang Zhong, go get the troop register, I'll come to inspect the troops tomorrow morning. Yan Yan, you've learned a lot from my training methods over the past five years, recruit another 10,000 troops and train them, just in case! If there's any problem, speak up!"

  "This..." Yan Yan and Huang Zhong looked at each other in dismay, they had no idea what Liu Zhang was up to. Yan Yan stepped forward and said: "Young master, recruiting and training soldiers is easy, but I'm just one person, how..."

  Liu Zhang smiled and said: "Don't worry, tomorrow I will select a portion of the 20,000 men to give to you. You must train them into an elite army for me!"

  "Yes!" Yan Yan was very excited, he could see that Liu Zhang wanted to divide the 20,000 troops among his younger brothers, which would almost leave Huang Zhong empty-handed. But Yan Yan didn't know that it wasn't Huang Zhong being left out, but rather Liu Zhang had a big move!

  The next day, Liu Zhang arrived at the school grounds early and saw that there were 20,000 people packed in. He leapt onto a high platform and shouted: "Soldiers, do you still recognize me?"

  "Little General! Little General!" The soldiers below shouted in a tidal wave of cheers. Perhaps some new recruits did not recognize Liu Zhang, but the old soldiers remembered him vividly. It was this little general's training methods that allowed them to survive in the wars against Wuhuan. Although they didn't understand the reasons behind running, standing, turning left and right, it didn't hinder their reverence for Liu Zhang.

  Listening to the cheers from below, Liu Zhang was very pleased. He said slowly: "Since everyone still remembers me, I won't say more nonsense! After a while, I'll take you to fight against Wuman. Maybe some of you can't come back, maybe we'll fail, but I'll be with you, even if it's death, I'll die with you together. Now, those who are willing to go to death with me, move to the left! Those who don't want to follow me, move to the right! You have three drumbeats to consider, come on! Beat the drums!"

  Boom... Boom... Boom...

  The loud drumming sound started on the school field, and the soldiers on the field were already stunned. Until the second drum was about to end, the 20,000 soldiers slowly dispersed. The Chinese never lacked brave warriors, nor did they lack people who were not afraid of death. Except for the aristocratic young masters who came to gild, most of the common people who were willing to be soldiers were doing it to make a living and protect their families. However, in Youzhou, the common people had a long-standing feud with the Wuhuan and Xiongnu tribes. When they heard that Liu Zhang was going to attack the Wuhuan, the aristocratic young masters slowly moved to the right side, while the left side was packed with soldiers.

  After the three drumbeats, the left side of the drill ground was packed with soldiers, while the right side had only a few hundred people, looking sparse and isolated. But this was exactly what Liu Zhang wanted. Many young men from noble families were arrogant and disobedient, even refusing to listen to orders. At the beginning of training, some young men from noble families had even taken charge. If Liu Zhang hadn't been extremely powerful, it's possible that these 20,000 people would have been defeated by Wuhuan long ago! But now, Liu Zhang was going to lead these people into a desperate battle and couldn't afford to be the slightest bit careless, because he couldn't afford to lose!

  Looking at the soldiers divided on both sides of the school field, Liu Zhang smiled and said: "Yan Yan, the people on the right side will be your basic training team. Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Zhang Ren, Huang Xu, you each choose 20 teams, 4,000 people form a combat force, and leave the rest to Shi Ah as my guard! Han Sheng, you are their general manager, responsible for teaching them military training!"

  "Yes sir!" Huang Zhong and others knelt down to receive the military order, Yan Yan was almost in tears!

  Liu Zhang actually wants to use troops against Wuman! Perhaps others don't know how formidable Liu Zhang is, but Yan Yan has been by his side for three years and is very familiar with his endless sinister ideas. If it's said that Liu Zhang doesn't have a grasp on something before doing it, Yan Yan wouldn't believe it even if he was beaten to death. But now Liu Zhang actually kicked him out of the expedition team, what does this show? To know that fighting represents military merit. If the war against Wuman is won, the benefits gained will be immeasurable.

  Yan Yanzhi knelt down in front of Liu Zhang and said: "I am willing to follow the young master to fight against Wuman, I hope the young master will not abandon me!"

  Liu Zhang smiled and said, "Yan Yan! It's not that I don't want to take you with me, but here only you and Han Sheng can train soldiers. Moreover, except for Han Sheng, only your prestige can command the crowd, and defense is also a very important matter. In this Ji County city, there are not only civilians, but also my parents. Tell me, if someone else were to guard the city, could I be at ease?

  "I... Yan Yu knew that Liu Zhang was still entangled in the fact that he had not been loyal at first, but who would have thought that a five-year-old child could reach such heights in just eight years! Challenging foreign tribes is the business of great men. Even Huo Qubing, the most famous general under Emperor Wu of Han, was only 16 when he followed the army and 19 when he made his name. But Liu Zhang is only 13 this year, and the oldest of the brothers he brought with him is only 19! Although Yan Yu had some doubts, he knew that if Liu Zhang succeeded in conquering Wuhuan, these brothers would all surpass Huo Qubing!"

  Yan Yan knelt on the ground, filled with regret in his heart. He regretted not having followed Huang Zhong's example and surrendered to Liu Zhang as a slave, otherwise he would have had a place among those who went out to battle today. Even if they failed, he would have had some merit; if they won, he would have had great merit. It was a gamble that could only win and not lose, but now he didn't even have the qualifications to join!

  Looking at Yan Yan's changing facial expression, Liu Zhang understood that the intimidation had reached its limit and it was time to offer some sweetness. So Liu Zhang smiled and said: "Yan Yan! You don't have to be so disheartened, after Wuhuan is destroyed, there will still be Xiongnu, and after Xiongnu is destroyed, there will still be Nanyue. Moreover, I won't be able to wipe out Wuhuan in one battle, and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Let's wait until I come back and then decide what to do next, how about that? Do you still remember the first point I mentioned when teaching you military training methods? Tell me, what is a soldier's duty?"

  "Obey the order!" Liu Zhang shouted loudly, and Yan Yan roared out like a conditioned reflex. Yan Yan looked at Liu Zhang in front of him, who was not particularly tall, and suddenly felt that he could only be loyal to him in order to have better development. Yan Yan shouted: "The subordinate will strictly follow the lord's orders!"

  Jian Yan sincerely submitted, Liu Zhang smiled and said: "Since you understand, guard Jizhou well for me. If there's even a slight problem in Jizhou..."

  "The end will come to see!" Yan Yan finally stopped underestimating Liu Zhang from this moment on, and instead treated him as his own master!

  "Good!" Liu Zhang ordered: "Huang Zhong! Take the troops for a month of intensive training, and make sure that Zhang Fei and others are fully integrated into the army. One month later, we will prepare to attack Wuhuan!"

  A month's time passed quickly, and in fact, Liu Zhang didn't even need to send troops, the Wuhuan people would have come to attack anyway. Generally after the deep autumn, before the winter solstice, the Wuhuan people would come to raid the Great Han's grasslands, it was just that the number of people and tribes were unknown. But this time, the Wuhuan people were unlucky, because a sinister guy had set his sights on their heads.

  There was no grand ceremony, nor any pre-war mobilization. On a dark dawn, Liu Zhang set out with 20,000 troops, and nobody knew where he was headed or from which direction he planned to attack. Whether it was Yan Yan or the aristocratic young masters who had been expelled by Liu Zhang, they all believed that Liu Zhang would create another miracle. However, they were not destined to participate, nor did they dare to participate. War, even a battle with certain victory, requires people to die, and no one can guarantee their own survival in the chaos of war; they didn't dare gamble, nor did they want to gamble.

  Wu Ge brothers really look up to Qing Feng, they even cast four "hurry-up" votes, Qing Feng can only work desperately now. If he can't keep up, it can only be said that Qing Feng's typing speed is a bit entangled!