Chapter Eleven: The Clear Wind on the Mountain Summit

  At this time, the setting sun was like blood. The tens of thousands of soldiers standing in the Qiansang military camp were stern and solemn, quietly waiting for something.

  The crowd of generals followed Li Guang into the general's tent, and by now half a time had passed, but there was still no news coming out. In this half-time, two more military reports were sent to the general's tent. One came from the left north side of Shangdu County Castle, and one came from the right north side of Duokai County Castle. The content of the military report was roughly similar: Xiongnu invaded, with more than 5,000 bowmen, burning, killing and looting all the way.

  If Qin Cheng saw these three military reports, he would find that the current situation facing Shanggu County was not different from what he had analyzed with Yue Yi. The Xiongnu army divided into three routes and advanced in three directions. The left route of the Xiongnu was the army that had previously invaded Dai Prefecture; the right route of the Xiongnu was naturally the army that had previously invaded Yuyang. After these two armies burned, killed and looted in Dai Prefecture and Yuyang, they did not directly withdraw northward, but instead came to encircle Qiansang from both sides! And the more than 5,000 troops in the north were the Xiongnu army led by the Left Wise King himself!

  The Shanggu County has many beacon towers and watchtowers. Once the Xiongnu army invades, the beacon tower will sound the alarm and transmit information along the way to Ganquan, while the watchtower is used as a shelter for the surrounding military and civilians! This is also the anti-Xiongnu strategy implemented by Li Guang after he was appointed as the governor of Shanggu County after the Battle of Maweicun, which can be traced back to the anti-Xiongnu strategy of Li Mu during the Warring States period.

  Unlike before, this time the army invading Shanggu was not only led by General Zuo Xian from the north, but also had troops entering from Daijun and Yuyang on both sides of Shanggu County. This three-pronged attack was truly unexpected, putting Shanggu County in a very passive situation for a while. The soldier who came earlier was from the county seat of Shangdu, because he received an unexpected blow from the Xiongnu army, so his appearance was miserable. Otherwise, like the two soldiers who came later, they were guards of the county city who came quickly after seeing the beacon fire.

  How to send troops has become the most testing problem for Li Guang at present.

  Half a time later, Li Guang led the way out of the general's tent and stepped onto the roll-call platform. He scanned the more than 10,000 soldiers in front of him with a stern expression.

  The Qiansang military camp was shrouded in a solemn and murderous atmosphere. Occasionally, a few small birds would fly out of the forest, letting out a few startled cries before quickly flapping their large wings to flee in panic.

  The eyes of more than 10,000 soldiers fell on Li Guang's face at the same time, their eyes filled with indignation, hatred, fervor, expectation and excitement.

  "The Xiongnu has invaded our Shanggu with over 15,000 cavalrymen from three sides, the situation is extremely critical. Now, I order that except for a small group of infantry left to defend the city, all officers and soldiers will follow me out of the city to attack the Xiongnu! Tomorrow at noon we will have rice, eat at three quarters, and depart at four quarters! The whole camp must prepare immediately!"

  "Promise!"

  Li Guang finished speaking, and the tens of thousands of soldiers who had been waiting for this moment for a long time shouted in unison.

  ……

  After they dispersed, the entire Qiansang army camp unfolded a hot and busy pre-expedition preparation.

  The newly promoted officers of the garrison in Qin City didn't have to wait until tomorrow, they took office that very night. Fortunately, Qin City was only directly promoted by two ranks and wasn't transferred to other troops, so the procedures were much simpler. When returning to the barracks, the moon was already high in the sky.

  As they approached the barracks, nine sentries were standing in a row in the moonlight with standard military posture on the empty ground outside the house. The first one was Dong Zhuo.

  Qin Cheng took big strides towards this row of people and stood before them.

  These nine men were none other than the nine garrison soldiers of Qin City. Qin City also knew that, according to convention, on his first day in office, they would be waiting outside the barracks to receive his instructions.

  Before crossing, Qin Cheng would always gather everyone together to train and talk whenever he received a batch of younger brothers or absorbed a batch of younger brothers from the enemy's side. If nothing else, at least let them know who their boss was.

  After Qin Cheng's station was fixed, the nine garrison soldiers all saluted in unison and shouted loudly: "What orders!"

  Qin Cheng returned a military salute, but didn't speak immediately. Instead, he looked each of the nine guards up and down from left to right. He undoubtedly knew all of them, as they had lived together in the same barracks for nearly a year. Some were close to Qin Cheng, some had disagreements with him, and some had even bullied him - like Dong Chui. But from today on, they were his soldiers, the first batch of subordinates he had after arriving in this era, his initial capital in this era.

  As Qin Cheng's gaze swept across each soldier's face, although no one could see his eyes clearly at this time, every soldier he looked at still felt the cold aura emanating from Qin Cheng. After a round of scanning, surprisingly, no one dared to meet his gaze.

  Just yesterday, this man was called a "deserter" by them.

  The most complicated feeling in his heart was probably Dong Zhuo, but now Qin Cheng obviously didn't have the leisure to ponder his psychological feelings, or rather, what Dong Zhuo was thinking in his heart was already clear to him.

  A mediocre soldier who has been bullied by himself for a year, actually became an unattainable hero overnight under his own eyes, and from then on, he had to look up to him with admiration, no one could accept it immediately, if there was no idea in mind, that would be weird!

  "If anyone has any doubts about my abilities and thinks I'm not worthy of being their commander, then step forward now and I'll give you a chance to hit me." Qin Cheng walked from left to right and back to the front of the formation, looking at the soldiers in front of him with a faint smile on his face, his previous cold demeanor suddenly disappearing.

  Looking at Qin Cheng's faint smile, everyone felt a sense of relief in their hearts, and the oppressive feeling that Qin Cheng had just brought to them suddenly disappeared. At this time, some people who originally had ideas about Qin Cheng as their leader were moved in their hearts, and even someone had an urge to stand out.

  "Fisticuffs, long knives, even archery - I'm happy to oblige. If someone can best me in any of these disciplines, I'll vacate this position." Qin Cheng's smile looked harmless and sincere.

  However, the soldiers who heard this were shocked in their hearts. Just now, some of them were still thinking that with their usual understanding of Qin City, it was impossible for Qin City to win against themselves. But when Qin City suddenly mentioned three subjects at once, they suddenly realized that Qin City had already become the champion of two of these subjects!

  This "deserter", this coward, is no longer the mediocre Qin City of before! Right, he's no longer the him of before! He's changed! The him of before couldn't even beat himself, how could he be the leader of the entire camp?!

  But now standing in front of him is no longer the former Qin Cheng, but rather, a proud son of the military!

  "Isn't anyone here?" Qin Cheng asked again, and after confirming that no one responded, Qin Cheng suddenly withdrew his smile, and the expression on his face immediately turned cold and stern, just like when he had just returned. Suddenly, a repressive atmosphere slowly spread out once more.

  "So you all acknowledge that I am the strongest soldier?" Qin Cheng's smile disappeared, and his tone immediately turned cold.

  No one responded, and no one dared to look straight at Qin City. Everyone's eyes involuntarily looked down at the ground. They all felt that the Qin City in front of them was very strange, as if they had never seen him before. The aura of his whole body had completely changed.

  "Can't you all speak up? Answer me, yes or no?" Qin Cheng suddenly bellowed.

  "Yes." The crowd of soldiers in Qin City were startled by the sudden roar and immediately responded.

  "Very well, it seems that the military order is still effective in front of you all, is that right?" Qin Cheng's tone was icy cold, and his heart felt a chill.

  "Yes!" The nine guards said in unison. It has come to this, who dares to say no? At this time, can you say no? You can't even beat them.

  "The war is imminent, and I will lead you all to victory. If there are any unresolved troubles in your families, please inform me tonight, and I will report them to the military. However, once we set out, our hearts must not have any distractions, and defeating the enemy and achieving merit will be our only mission. Can you understand?" Qin Cheng's tone softened, and his gaze was no longer sharp.

  "Yes." The soldiers saw the good expression on Qin Cheng's face and felt relieved in their hearts, immediately responding.

  "Disperse!" Qin Cheng shouted an order, but didn't say anything else. He stood still in his original position without moving.

  "Yes!" The soldiers responded in unison and returned to their barracks, but not a single person spoke, because everyone had just discovered that each other's forehead was already covered with sweat.

  Qin Cheng followed the crowd and finally entered the barracks.

  ……

  At the moment when the war really broke out, Qin Cheng's mood calmed down. Before crossing over, he had experienced countless such nights. Every time he made a plan of action and prepared to lead his brothers in battle after midnight, Qin Cheng would lock himself alone in a room before taking action, quietly smoking, without saying a word.

  No one knew what he was thinking in his heart at that time.

  Qin Cheng slipped out of the barracks after all the soldiers had fallen asleep. As he walked out, Wu Daliang, who had been still and quiet, turned his head, his eyes falling on the door of the barracks.

  At this time, the barracks were empty except for the soldiers on duty. The burning torches illuminated the camp, making it seem even more desolate and quiet. Qin Cheng walked alone in the camp, the cool breeze blowing by, stretching his shadow a bit longer.

  He came to a small hill in the camp and sat down casually, then raised his head and gazed at the starry night sky.

  This is already his sixth consecutive night coming to this place.

  The entire hill was overgrown with weeds, except for a bare patch at the top. Around the hill, several trees that had lost their leaves stood, their fine branches swaying gently in the cool breeze.

  Qin Cheng just sat there like that for a long time, he didn't know how much time had passed, and his posture hadn't changed throughout.

  After a long time, Qin Cheng moved, but he was facing south and knelt down, knocking his head three times.

  "Mother, your son is unfilial, take care of yourself..."