Chapter Six Inside the Main Tent

  "Huh? Boss, I feel like we've been given a bunch of useless people?"

  "Idiot! What I'm afraid of is that we've been given a flock of sheep! Do you know what I mean?! Only those who can really fight won't buy anyone's account!" I turned my head towards

  Captain Liu said: "Sorry, Brother Fa Wu, we don't know where our troops are now. Can you take us there?"

  ※※※

  A group of soldiers were lounging on the ground, sunbathing in the barracks. We walked past them and not a single one paid attention to us, as if we were just a gust of wind that couldn't stir up any interest in them at all. Damn! They're really not ordinary people!

  "What about the other team captains?" I asked as we walked.

  "I'll call someone, they'll call him." Fa Wu replied while turning around to the person lying on the ground and said: "Monkey, Hei Tan! Go! Bring the captain of your vanguard right camp!"

  "It's like this, my mom hasn't even lain down yet and you're calling me to work! This place really isn't treating people as human beings!" The dark-faced guy slowly got up while muttering to himself. Another skinny guy didn't move at all, as if he hadn't heard anything.

  "Monkey! Aren't you getting up?! If you don't get up, I'll go call someone to skin you!" Liu Fa Wu roared.

  "You're not even my captain! You don't have the right to strip me! Screw you! What are you being so arrogant about?" The monkey shot a glance at Fa Wu, his mouth curled in disdain.

  "Can't I strip your skin?!" Liu Fa Wu sneered: "This is the new commander you've brought! You don't respect your superiors, can I strip your skin?"

  "Never mind, Law Five." I advised, turning around and squatting on the ground to say to the person nicknamed "Monkey": "Brother, do you think you could invite your team leader over? I have something to discuss with them. Thanks for the trouble!"

  "Alright! I'll go take a look!" The monkey stood up with a flip of his tail.

  "Law Five, let's go inside and wait for them!" I said to Liu Law Five.

  Liu Fa Wu led us into the big tent, where four sentries stood guard outside.

  "Captain Liu, what wind has blown you here?" one of the sentries said with a smile.

  "Seriously! This is your new travel companion!"

  Crack! The four sentries straightened their bodies and looked at us curiously.

  "Is anyone in the room?" I asked.

  "Report to General! None!"

  We went in.

  "By the way, Commander Fa Wu, didn't the Right Camp have a brigade commander before?"

  "Yes! However, he was sacrificed when attacking the city of Cixi County. The right camp originally had 2,500 people and five team leaders. In the battle of Cixi, more than 300 people were injured and over 100 people escaped. The chief and deputy commander of the brigade and three team leaders also sacrificed."

  "What? So now we only have two usable team captains?!"" Shi Bingyu said in surprise. "How come the marshals and team captains are sacrificing so much?"

  "It's still the foreign guns and cannons in the hands of the Qing troops! They're specifically targeting our commanders! But somehow, it seems like the casualties are always the highest among the battalion leaders on the right flank!" Liu Fa Wu replied.

  "Law Five, I don't know how many casualties your troops suffered when fighting in Cixi?" I asked.

  "My troops were in Sanqi City at the time and did not participate in the battle to attack Cixi." Fa Wu said with embarrassment. "At that time, we were mainly defending against the foreigner's marine corps, but they didn't come, so we didn't fight either!" He explained further.

  "How many troops did you have defending against the Foreign Gun Troops at that time?" I asked.

  "The Right Army has 20,000 troops from the Shunde division, the Central Army has more than 5,000 troops led by Li Tianchen's fire gun team, and the Rear Army has more than 7,000 troops led by Li Shigui, totaling 23,000 people."

  "How many?! How many were in the foreign gun squad?"

  "Over 1,000 people from Zhèn Hǎi's Huá'ěr"

  ……

  It's no wonder that the Servant King Li Shixian wants us to eliminate the Western gun team leaders who will be delighted by our misfortune! Damn it! The Servant King doesn't have a good heart either! Is he purely letting us send ourselves to death? It seems that the Servant King is using the foreigners' hands to eliminate these troops that are causing trouble for him!

  "Does General Wang really trust us to annihilate Howard's foreign rifle troops?"

  "Get rid of the fake! The King of Qi must have sent a large army behind us!"

  Me too! Even if I were a marshal, I wouldn't believe that an army of 2,500 could defeat an army of 23,000!

  "Captain Zhang Haiqiang has arrived!"

  "Captain Li is here!"

  The sentry standing guard outside the gate shouted.

  The curtain was drawn, and two men with waist knives walked in from outside. Both of them were about 1.7 meters tall, the one on the left had a short mustache and looked around thirty years old, while the one on the right looked only seventeen or eighteen - really young! They looked at us suspiciously after entering.

  "First let me introduce myself. My name is Yang Huisheng, and from now on I will be your commander-in-chief. This is Shi Bingyong, he will be your deputy commander-in-chief." I said to them: "May I ask how you two are addressed?"

  "See General Travel! I am Zhang Haichang!" said the younger one on the left.

  "See General Travel! I'm Li Cheng!" said the young man on the right, clasping his fist.

  "Alright! The two captains, let's get down to business!" I said to them: "The order of the Shì Wáng..." I paused for a moment. Those two captains puffed out their chests.

  "We will annihilate Wall's foreign rifle troops with the cooperation of our vanguard right camp and Fah Wu's fire gun team!" I said solemnly.

  "......?! Commander Zhang, I don't know... are there any other troops?" Captain Zhang Haiqiang said hesitantly.

  "There were only two thousand five hundred of us."

  "What?! I'm not doing it!" Li Cheng jumped up in anger: "Whoever wants to go and get themselves killed can go ahead! I haven't lived long enough yet!"

  "Captain Li! Calm down! Let General Liu finish speaking!" Liu Fa Wu advised.

  "What were Captain Li and Captain Zhang's family backgrounds?" I asked seriously.

  "What's your birthdate?" Zhang Haiqiang asked, looking at me with a slanted gaze.

  "What were you doing at home? Were your parents landlords or poor farmers? Did you have land to cultivate or rent a landlord's land?" Shi Bingyu explained beside him.

  "My father is a poor farmer, so what?!"

  "And you, Captain Li?"

  "I used to herd cattle for the landlord when I was a kid!"

  "What's the law?"

  "My family has two mu of land, but it's not enough for food. We also rent land from the landlord to cultivate."

  "How was your life before joining the army, roughly as you thought?"

  "That's naturally bitter!"

  "What about the landlord's life compared with yours?"

  "They're much stronger than us! What's the point of asking?"

  "It's all because of the landlords, local tyrants and corrupt officials that the common people can't live a good life! It's all because of those foreign devils that China is becoming more and more backward! The people's lives are becoming more and more miserable!" I became more and more agitated as I spoke.

  "Damn it! Why do those local tyrants and evil gentry have to ride on the heads of us ordinary people, flaunting their wealth and power? Why must Chinese people always be bullied by foreigners? We came to this army to lead everyone in overthrowing those Manchu Tartars! Overthrow those local tyrants and evil gentry who oppress the people! Drive out those foreigners who bully Chinese people! We will strike down the local tyrants and distribute land! We will overthrow all unreasonable social systems!"

  Li Cheng, Zhang Haiqiang and Liu Fa Wu's eyes slowly lit up.

  "But...," Zhang Haiqiang hesitated, "don't the foreign gun squad of Wahl have foreign guns and cannons? We brothers with big knives and long spears are no match for them!"

  "Don't be afraid! You can listen to General Yu's explanation on how to eliminate them!" Shi Bingyu said beside him.

  "Doesn't the brother below fear death?" I asked.

  "What's the point of being a soldier if you're afraid of death?!" Li Cheng shouted.

  "All right! I'll ask everyone another question: why did our army suffer losses when fighting against the foreign rifle troops?"

  "It's still not as good as the foreign devil's foreign guns with their long range! That big cannon has great power!" Fa Wu said from the side.

  "What if we were to fight the devils with our big knives and long spears face-to-face?"

  "...the foreign devil's gun is just a single shot! How can we, who have practiced martial arts, be afraid of him?!" said Li Cheng.

  "Right! We're going to engage in close combat! Let's see if those foreigners' heads can withstand the chopping of our big knives!"

  "But... how can we rush to the front line and engage in close combat with the devils? Their foreign guns have already beaten us badly before we even get close!" Zhang Haichang asked.

  "How stupid... Is it that all we Chinese have left of our war wisdom is just a stubborn fight to the death?! War is supposed to be fought with brains!" I fumed.

  "Marshal," Liu Fa Wu said: "The terrain in Zhenhai is all flat and open, with no obstacles. How can we hide our soldiers from the enemy without being discovered?" - It seems that this guy is smarter than those two useless ones! Should I remove their official positions?

  "If we can't get our soldiers close to the devils, then let's have the devils come to where our soldiers are lying in wait!" Shi Bingyu said.

  "My plan is Law Five!"

  "Agreed!"

  "Have your musketeers go out and lure Wallenstein's arquebusiers! Remember to form them into a large unit, but not too big either. Just make sure that Wallenstein's arquebusiers dare to come out and pursue you!"

  "Right! So you're saying we should just lose the battle? Haha, anyway, my troops are no match for the foreign gun squad, we'll definitely be defeated!"

  "Damn it, don't get too many people killed! If more people die, I'll skin you alive!" I cursed.

  "Zhang Haiqiang, Li Cheng!"

  "Agreed!"

  "You two lead 1,600 people to ambush on the road from Zhenhai to Luotuo Town. How do you set up an ambush? Let the soldiers dig a hole in the field and jump into it! Use straw or branches to camouflage above, when you hear the signal, come out and fight with the devils!"

  "Take four hundred men and hide them behind the Wall's army, blow up the bridge as soon as you hear a dozen shots! I'll go see how Wall crosses the river in this cold weather! Believe me, our army will surely win!"

  "What about your trip?" Excitedly asked Fahwusei.

  "What? I'm just watching you guys fight from the side!"

  “……？！”

  "Damn it! Old man! You're not just ordinary sinister!" Shi Bingyu jumped over in anger, swinging his fist.

  "Stop! Stop hitting! Listen to me explain! Ah! Why don't you guys pull him away! Stop fighting!" I shouted while running away.

  "Give us a reasonable explanation! Otherwise we will refuse to fight this battle!" The guys next to him threatened sinisterly.

  "Whoa! Stop it! Damn it! I'm gonna snipe that Waluigi! And then I'll have the trumpeter blow his horn to launch an attack!"

  "Damn it! Why didn't you say so earlier?! I've hurt my fist so much! You're treating me to dinner tonight!" Shi Bingyu said with a scowl.

  "You little brat! I haven't even blamed you for hitting me, and you're already counter-attacking?! Damn it! Your ammo clip belongs to me now! Consider it compensation for my losses!"

  "Stop! Big brother stop! Can't you just forgive me?" Shi Bingyu immediately ran away.

  "Damn it! You hit me so hard! Remember this!"