Chapter 9: The First Expedition

  At this time, Ye Xuan, Sun Yu, Chen Fei and Zhao Jie, as well as the two battalion commanders Yang Xiao, were all seated in the conference hall, discussing how to attack the current Ganzi Army and Zhuangzi.

  Ye Xuan looked at the materials in his hand, furrowed his brow and said: "Brothers, now we have three rod armies and two Zhuangzi near Tianlong Mountain in southern Hebei. Tell me, should we attack the rods first or the Zhuangzi first?" This was also a habit Ye Xuan had since his previous life. When he was the captain of Team A, whether it was a drill or a real battle, Ye Xuan would always listen to the opinions of his subordinates before making a plan, to see if there were any good ideas.

  Yang You touched his own head and said: "I say General Ye, in the eyes of the end general, we should first hit Zhuangzi."

  Ye Xuanjiao took a look at Yang Xiao with interest, since the last time Yang Xiao had mustered up the courage to stand out, Ye Xuan had been appreciating him more and more, even entrusting the management of the Second Team's Criminal Heaven Division to him.

  Ye Xuan smiled and nodded slightly, indicating for Yang Xiao to continue speaking.

  Yang Xiang paused for a moment, then continued to say: "It's like this, I think although we are now the Ye family army, but everyone also knows that after all, the government and the people have not yet recognized our status. So isn't our actual situation just a stick military? In the stick military, although black eating black is a common thing, but we must have some legitimate reasons, otherwise if it gets out, it will have a great impact on our reputation. This may have some unfavorable influence on our future development."

  After listening to Yang Xiao's words, Chen Fei immediately shook his head in disapproval: "I don't agree with Brother Yang's view. You all think about it, our current military strength is not many, only over 100 people. You must think clearly, the Zhuangzi is not easy to attack, one death is one less, we can't afford it. If those wealthy households in the Zhuangzi insist on defending their strongholds, we really don't have a good solution, after all our food and grass are limited. But attacking the Zhangzi would be relatively easier for us, so I suggest we attack the Zhangzi instead!"

  Ye Xuan nodded and said, "En, third brother is right, our troops are indeed more suitable for fighting against those rod armies. Everyone must not forget that the purpose of the Ye family army is to fight for the people. Although those Zhuangzi are not good things, they are slightly better than the rods. At least they don't have open burning, killing and looting. As for reputation, hehe, if we operate well, we can still get a good reputation! So, General Ye has decided that our Ye family army will attack the remaining rod armies!"

  Ye Xuan said, opening the map of the surrounding area, "There are three gangs in this area. The closest and largest one is led by a man named Di Yu, also known as Nine-Headed Dragon, who is based on the slope of the moat mountain. He poses the greatest threat to us. However, I have carefully considered it, and although he has been in the army for some time, he is just an arrogant and self-important person, so we don't need to worry. Next, I will assign tasks."

  "This time, I'll take Xuan Yuan's team to attack Di Yu, Third Brother and Xing Tian's team will help me secure the Tian Long Fortress. Don't worry, Yang Xiao, your task is not easier than ours. The main camp is our foundation, we can't afford to lose it. Chen Fei, you have a lot of prestige, only you can calm down those unruly kids." Ye Xuan said, stroking his chin.

  Ye Xuan's words made a lot of sense, and Chen Fei and Yang Xiao, who were initially eager to try, suddenly shut up. Although they also wanted to go into battle and kill the enemy, they understood that Ye Xuan's words were reasonable, so they didn't say anything else.

  Everyone heard that the Ye family army was finally going to go out and fight, and they couldn't help but get excited. Of course, the reactions of the soldiers in the two battalions were quite different. The Xuan Yuan battalion's soldiers were all eager to try, while the Xing Tian battalion's were all dejected...

  The deployment of troops has been decided, and Ye Xuan is prepared to launch a lightning-fast campaign. Since the enemy's strength is not particularly strong and the distance between the two locations is not too far, Ye Xuan did not bring much food, only enough for one day's rations.

  Because there were not enough mules and horses in the mountain stronghold, the food had to be carried by each soldier himself. As a result, Ye Xuan's method of having everyone run 10 kilometers with heavy loads every morning was very effective, and everyone felt that it was a piece of cake, too easy!

  Apart from the logistics team, the soldiers of Ye's army naturally had to bring their own weapons. To minimize casualties, Ye Xuan decided to take out all the armor in the warehouse for use. Unfortunately, even after taking out all the armor, there were only a few sets, so first Ye Xuan himself had one set, then Sun Yu and Zhao Jie each had one set, and the remaining sets were given to the two knife-shield soldiers in each small team. Seeing this situation, Ye Xuan secretly vowed that one day their Ye family army's equipment would also become excellent and uniform!

  When Ye Xuan led the Xuan Yuan army to expedition, all the people of Tianlong Mountain came to see them off. The crowd's expression was reluctant to part with, because most of the soldiers here were born and raised in Tianlong Mountain since childhood. Some women and old men even wiped away tears, after all, this time they went out, it was unknown whether the men at home could come back or not. However, their tears were only behind their backs, on their faces they encouraged their husbands and sons to fight well, follow General Ye to eliminate bandits and make merits, and revive the glory of the Ye family army.

  Those soldiers were answering impatiently, compared to them, the young people who went out to battle were all excited, they had been practicing hard for many days and had long looked forward to this day.

  It's almost winter now, the sky is cold and the ground is frozen, but no one complains, they keep moving forward step by step towards their destination, climbing up the mountain slope. Along the way, not a single person falls behind, they march in neat rows, without anyone speaking or complaining. It can be seen that this short period of training has at least made Ye's army flawless in terms of formation.

  The distance between the two places is not very far, and since Ye Jiajun set out, it's only a few dozen miles away. After walking for several hours, Ye Jiajun arrived at the slope of Heishanpo, but along the way, no one received any harassment from bandits. Perhaps the enemy army had already investigated the news and decided to hold their ground. However, even so, relying on the strength of Ye Jiajun's army, facing this group of mobs, it seems that not even a strategy is needed to achieve victory. Ye Xuan thought to himself secretly.

  Then he looked at the slope of the mountain and laughed coldly, saying: "No matter what kind of person Di Yu is, from now on, the surname of this mountain will be changed to Ye!"