Chapter 40: White Wolf Mountain Water Interval (7)

  After a long time, Li Chengzhong still couldn't make up his mind about whether to stay or not. In fact, he had two points of entanglement that he was too embarrassed to say out loud.

  Here is the translation:

  One of them was that if he could finally stay, then within this abandoned military fortress, along with the civilians and soldiers, everything would be under his control! This was a very attractive idea. In the previous defense of Yu Guan last month, he deeply felt the benefits of being in charge, which were not about how much benefit or wealth Li Chengzhong gained, but rather that he could arrange people to do things according to his own ideas, scold or praise subordinates' words and deeds at will. He had a sense of satisfaction from "being the master of my domain", which made him feel very comfortable. Especially in this era, as a small military leader, he had already begun to feel the power that came with having brothers under his command, and this dependence was not just about benefits, but rather a complete dependence on him personally! The entire team revolved around him, and the entire Yu Guan operated according to his will. This was true power, even the power to decide life and death with one word!

  A somewhat shameful thought, which could be considered as entanglement, or even a hint of fear. Outside the isolated Yu Pass, within the military coverage of the Khitan people, he didn't know if he stayed behind, whether these soldiers could withstand the Khitan attack, whether they could guarantee the safety of the civilians in the army camp to spend this winter safely, or more secretly, whether they could guarantee his own safety. This somewhat selfish thought he couldn't express openly, and could only entangle himself silently. Because these soldiers were too weak, they didn't have the bravery like the brothers from the former Jianzuoying Camp, those fearless young men from Yan and Zhao who dared to rush into enemy lines at the first battle, dared to take up knives and guns and fight against their opponents, seeing blood. The soldiers in front of him were selected from refugees outside the pass, they had already lost their courage in the face of the Khitan people's slaughter, even could be described as sheep. Even after a bloody battle with the Khitan people on the city wall of Yu Pass, Li Chengzhong didn't have much confidence in them. He deeply understood that without his mechanical training and targeted deployment, the small victory on the city wall of Yu Pass would not have been achieved. Leaving the solid and towering pass castle, he really didn't have the confidence to rely on these soldiers to fight against the Khitan people. Was it just because of that stone wall? He looked at the low and broken stone wall, and couldn't help but sigh silently.

  Feng Dao sat beside the bonfire, chewing on a blade of grass, looking quite unlike a scholar. He gazed at Li Chengzhong pacing back and forth by the fire and suddenly smiled: "Li, you still haven't thought it through?"

  Li Chengzhong sighed and brought up a few superficial doubts, such as whether the brothers would follow him, how to solve the problem of food and grass, and whether Pingzhou should be allowed.

  Feng Dao smiled and looked at Li Chengzhong, who had a guilty conscience and felt more and more uneasy as he was stared at. He could only open his mouth to ask: "Can you tell me, little brother, what do you think?"

  Feng Dao asked: "After the battle of Yu Guan, didn't Li Yu insult everyone at the military council meeting? If you're worried that your brothers won't follow you, you can gather everyone to ask. I think the key issue lies with Zhang Shijie and Zhou Bingmashi..."

  Li Chengzhong nodded, thought for a moment, and finally called Wang Dalang to gather the battalion commanders and above for an emergency military meeting. After giving the order, he asked Feng Dao: "I don't know about Zhang Shijie and Zhou Bingmashi, but do you think it will be okay?"

  Feng Dao listened to Li Chengzhong gathering military officers above the rank of partner, and his thoughts about Li Chengzhong were already roughly clear. He said: "It's better for someone to write a letter, explain the situation clearly, and let those two gentlemen decide." After speaking, Feng Dao didn't delay any longer, took out the pen, ink, paper from his package, found a cave, leaned against the fire pit below, and began to concentrate on writing.

  Li Chengzhong's military council was convened in a larger cave, with 23 military officers above the rank of deputy lieutenant attending, including one commander, three deputy commanders, and 19 squad leaders. Due to the hasty nature of this expedition beyond the White Wolf Mountain, only Li Chengzhong, Jiang Miao, Zhang Xingchong, and Zhou Kandao received promotion appointments, while other meritorious personnel had not yet been promoted, so most military officers' ranks remained unchanged, including Liu Jinhou, the newly appointed squad leader, who had not yet received his appointment certificate.

  "That's the situation, everyone can say what they think." Li Chengzhong said after finishing, he spread his two hands and looked at these military officers. Because this is a very important decision, no matter who it is, they must carefully consider it, so Li Chengzhong was not in a hurry, he planned to leave some time for everyone to weigh it carefully. "Of course, whether we can stay or not is not just what we say, it's up to Zhou Bingma and Zhang Cishi to decide in the end. I just want to ask you all, if we stay, are you willing?" Li Chengzhong added another sentence. The last sentence he added actually revealed his true thoughts, with a hint of trying to persuade everyone.

  Li Chengzhong expanded the scope of participants in the military council to include officers above the rank of partner, because he had no confidence that Zhang Xingzhong and Zhou Kandao were truly willing to follow him. These two officers had more seniority in the Lu Long Army than Li Chengzhong, with Zhang Xingzhong being from an old military family and Zhou Kandao being exceptionally brave. In this small group initially formed under Li Chengzhong, these two men had a relatively independent style of doing things and had a heavier say in the matter, belonging to subordinates that Li Chengzhong found difficult to truly grasp.

  In his calculations, among the four top-level officers, Jiang Miao should be unconditionally supporting himself. Even so, it's only 2 to 2, he needs more voices to support him in the military council, including Wang Dalang who has been following closely behind him, Zhong Silang whom he personally recruited into the army, and Liu Jinhou whom he promoted with his own hands. As for Meng Xuxing and Jiao Chengqiao, Li Chengzhong estimated that they should be more inclined to follow him, after all, he had always reused them in his hands. In addition, he also predicted that Zhao Da would likely follow him, because without him, it would be difficult for this partner-in-charge from a humble background to get by elsewhere. Putting aside the above people, he also believed that he had established a certain prestige among the partners-in-charge level officers and thought that most of them should not oppose his decisions.

  Apart from suppressing Zhang Xingzhong and Zhou Dandao, two senior military officers with the support of the majority in the military meeting, he had made preparations that gradually emerged from nothing to something. When the military meeting was held and he said the above words, this mental preparation finally took shape. This preparation is that even if Zhang Xingzhong and Zhou Dandao strongly opposed it, he would still insist on staying behind, even if these two former comrades-in-arms had a falling out with him and left in the end, he would still insist!

  Li Chengzhong's eyes scanned the scene, and he saw Zhou Kan standing up with a knife in his mouth. He put his hands on his hips and began to shout loudly: "General, I've wanted to discuss this with you for a long time! Let's set up camp here, this place is a natural stronghold, even stronger than Yu Pass! We'll guard it, and if those Khitan bandits dare to come in, I'll take care of them one by one for the general!"

  Unexpectedly, the person he had initially thought would be his greatest opponent was the first to stand up and support him. Li Chengzhong was taken aback for a moment, and before he could regain his composure, Wang Dalang, who always loved to show off, loudly chimed in: "Well said! We were able to win at Yu Guan, and we can win here too! I don't believe those Khitan bandits can do anything to us."

  As soon as Wang Dalang finished speaking, the other officers also chimed in, one after another expressing their agreement. Meng Xuxing and Jiao Chengqiao were a given, but even Zhong Silang was jumping up and down in support. The atmosphere was so heated that Li Chengzhong couldn't help but feel taken aback. Even Jiang Miao, his most loyal supporter, couldn't get a word in edgewise. Zhao Da, normally so reserved, was shouting at the top of his lungs, his voice hoarse from excitement. It felt like...Li Chengzhong couldn't shake the feeling that these people were all vying with each other to pledge their loyalty to him.

  Li Chengzhong turned his head to Zhang Xingchong, and saw that although he didn't say a word, he nodded in agreement without hesitation. At the moment when this most important officer under him expressed his support, Li finally let out a sigh of relief. This military meeting was perfect, both in process and result, exceeding Li's imagination. Such perfection eventually exceeded Li's control at the end of the meeting, causing a large patch of cold sweat to break out on his back.

  At that time, Zhang Xingzhong raised a question about the views of Zhou Bingma and Zhang Cishi on the matter of stationing troops in the White Wolf Mountain barracks. Zhang Xingzhong reminded Li Chengzhong to think carefully about the countermeasures. After Zhang Xingzhong finished speaking, everyone calmed down, and this problem was indeed a bit puzzling. Who could say whether those two dignitaries would agree or not? If they didn't agree, wouldn't all the discussions tonight be in vain? Just as the atmosphere was cold, Jiang Miao, who had read books, suddenly spoke up: "When the general is outside, there are times when military orders cannot be obeyed..." The meeting fell silent.

  However, the military council reached a perfect unity, and this high degree of unity made Li Chengzhong somewhat bewildered. After the military council, he began to talk to people with some trepidation, and in the process of conversation, everything that had been discussed at the military council was repeated again. The only difference was that these officers were more fervent and enthusiastic in their support when they spoke privately to Li Chengzhong. When Li Chengzhong finished talking with Zhou Kan Dao, he finally understood where the reason lay. At that time, Zhou Kan Dao patted his chest again, lowered his voice, and smiled slyly at Li Chengzhong, saying: "Don't worry about it, boss! Our old comrade-in-arms has finally established a foothold, and everyone will definitely support you!"

  Good heavens! It turns out that Li Cheng's little abacus in his mind had long been seen through by his subordinate officers! He finally understood why everyone's behavior during the military meeting seemed like they were showing off their loyalty - it wasn't just an act, it was the real deal!

  It turns out that Li Chengzhong still can't fully understand the mindset of this era's military men. He thinks that the little thoughts that should be hidden and not mentioned, are actually the usual practice of this era's military men. Through the retreat from Wei State, the defense of Pingzhou, and the battle at Yu Pass, his subordinates have already been imprinted with Li Chengzhong's mark according to the usual practice of this era, becoming a force attached to him. In this era where regional states are everywhere, in the old and renowned Lu Long Military, there also exist big and small factions. His subordinates showed great enthusiasm for Li Chengzhong's actions as a faction leader. They will take his career as their own, and his honor as their own. The greater Li Chengzhong's power becomes, the higher their achievements will be; if Li Chengzhong doesn't make progress in the future, their prospects will also be bleak. This relationship is just like Zhou Zhiyuan to Liu Rengong, and Li Chengzhong to Zhou Zhiyuan.

  Of course, this "small hill" is not so easy to stand up, without the emotional ties of being comrades-in-arms at that time, without the difficulties of the northward retreat, without the choice of leaving Pingzhou and entering the local place, without the bloody battle on the city wall of Yuanguan, this small hill cannot be formed in the end.