Chapter 5 Is this my soldier?

  "What? Is this my troops?" Li Qing was speechless, staring blankly at the scene before him. Where were the 300 soldiers he had expected to see? Instead, there were 300 wounded men, groaning and bleeding all around him. Some of them lay silently on the ground, their fate uncertain.

  "Ah, yes! " Lü Daibing's face was full of smiles. "Li Xiaowei, you see, I've just established the Vanguard Regiment and we're severely short-handed. To be honest, these soldiers are all top-notch, and their injuries aren't serious. With a bit of rest, they'll be as good as new, and they've all been in battle before, seen blood... it's a pity that General wants me to support you with all my might, or I'd really hate to part with them. Now, I'm afraid I have no choice but to let Li Xiaowei have them at a bargain."

  Seeing Lv Dabing's smiling face, Li Qing couldn't help but want to punch this face into a pancake immediately. However, he also knew that if he threw this punch, his newly acquired title of Zhenwu School Lieutenant would be gone, and maybe even the Yunwei School Lieutenant would be gone too, instantly turning him into a small soldier.

  "Thanks for the vote of confidence!" Li Qing forced a smile onto his face. Although he was wounded, at least he was still human, and Lv Daibing wasn't wrong - as long as they could stay alive, they would definitely become good soldiers. But the premise was that they had to be kept alive, after all, this era didn't have antibiotics, and the chances of surviving an injury weren't high.

  Wang Qini, Jiang Kui and Feng Guo stared blankly at the wounded soldiers who were entering the camp. A large group of people supported each other, some were carried on stretchers, and even Li Qing, who had brought several soldiers to select the vanguard, was now carrying a wounded soldier on his arm.

  "Is this our soldier?" Wang Qinyan stared at Li Qing.

  "For a long time, they will be my soldiers." Li Qing said gloomily.

  "Preposterous!" Wang Qinyan slammed his fist on the table, causing everything on it to jump up. Li Qing looked at him with dissatisfaction, "Old Wang, I know you're strong, no need to show off in front of me."

  "Fortunately, General Dai agreed to give us 300 soldiers."

  "Yes, it's three hundred soldiers, but the general didn't say that three hundred wounded soldiers wouldn't work. Lü Dabing played this trick on us and we had no one to complain to. Besides, do you think the general would bother to argue with Lü Dabing for our sake? If things really get out of hand, the general might just laugh at Lü Dabing's narrow-mindedness, but we'll have gained an enemy. Lü Dabing is Lü Fang's brother, after all."

  "Sir, these 300 soldiers are all wounded. I just went to check on them and found that over 200 of them have light injuries, while a dozen or so have severe injuries and won't make it. As for the others, who knows how many will survive?" These men were all seasoned veterans and knew what being injured meant.

  Li Qing nodded and said, "Yes, this is the problem we need to consider first now, how can they survive as much as possible. Oh, right, Feng Guo, did you bring back the military equipment and food I asked you to get?"

  "Sir, they've brought back 200 long spears, 100 battle knives, 100 leather shields, 100 stone of grain, and 300 sets of military uniforms. Everything has been delivered." Feng Guo nodded and said, "The commander issued the order, these things were not deducted from us, they gave them to us very readily."

  "Hmm, it seems we won't be needing these weapons for now. Tell the brothers to gear up first and get some spirit. Jiang Kui, go find a doctor to treat the brothers' injuries."

  "Yes, sir, but we need money to see a doctor and we are penniless now!" Jiang Kui looked at Li Qing with difficulty.

  Li Qingyun angrily raised his head, "Now the entire Dingzhou has become a war zone, I think our Changsheng Camp has the right to requisition local doctors, go find them immediately, brothers can't wait, even if you have to tie me up."

  Jiang Kui smiled and licked the corner of his mouth, "Got it, sir. With this sentence, I guarantee to bind one for you."

  Li Qing rolled his eyes and turned to Wang Qinyan, saying: "Qinyan, take some men to tidy up our camp. With so many wounded soldiers arriving, don't let the camp become a mess. Separate the wounded into different sections according to their injuries."

  "Yes." Wang Qiniang turned around and walked away with big strides.

  "Feng Guo, you went to the armory today, did you hear any news?" Turning his head to ask Feng Guo who was standing idly by.

  "The adults, the city of Dingzhou is very tense now, and it's being rumored that the barbarian army will arrive soon. The three battalions in the Zhongxie have all entered first-level combat readiness. I heard that even the newly reorganized Xuanfeng Battalion will be incorporated into the reserve team. Governor Fang is still mobilizing young men, in short, Dingzhou is preparing for a big battle."

  Li Qing wiped his teeth and said, "The barbarian soldiers are good at fighting in the open but not at besieging cities. I think that Dingzhou is so dangerous, as long as the leader of the barbarians has not been kicked by a donkey, he will definitely not come to kick this iron plate."

  Feng Guoxiao said: "I'm afraid that the leader of the barbarian tribe will go berserk."

  Li Qing let out a laugh, "Brutal? Feng Guo, look at this time on the grassy plain, that guy deployed his troops and horses, and had Vice General Ma eaten alive, with 50,000 soldiers and horses, he completely devoured our 30,000 strong troops. Is that the kind of person who only knows brute force? This guy is not simple at all!"

  Feng Guo's eyes lit up: "Does the general think that the barbarian troops won't come?"

  "It's hard to say for sure, but at least coming to Dingzhou to show off his military strength is still possible. In any case, the Dingzhou army won't be able to leave the city and engage in a field battle with him."

  "Hey!" Feng Guo clapped his palms together, "To be honest, sir, fighting the barbarian army in a field battle is really frightening. Don't laugh at me, but during the Grassland Battle, I saw tens of thousands of war horses charging forward, and even the ground was shaking from their hooves. My legs went soft. Our cavalry in Dingzhou is insufficient, and engaging in a field battle with the barbarian army is indeed not advisable."

  Li Qing glanced at him lightly and said, "Infantry training is easy, gathering cavalry is as easy as turning over one's hand."

  Feng Guo shook his head in disbelief, just wanting to refute, when suddenly a burst of noise came from outside, mixed with cries and wails. Li Qing's brow furrowed, "What's going on? Let's go take a look."

  Two men strode out of the camp.

  Seeing Li Qing arrive, Wang Qiniann finally saw a lifesaver and said loudly: "Alright, alright, the master is here, you can tell whatever you want to Master Li directly!"

  Wang Qiniann is now in a very sorry state, surrounded by a large circle of wounded soldiers, with two seriously injured men lying on the ground, one of whom is holding onto his leg.

  "What's going on?" Li Qing cautiously glanced at the wounded soldiers gathered in a group, his scalp tingling with unease. Could it be a mutiny or an explosion? No way!

  "Sir! We may be injured, but we're not seriously hurt. We'll definitely get through this. Please don't give up on us!" Before Li Qing could understand what was happening, his two legs were firmly grasped by the two wounded soldiers. His scalp went numb and he almost drew out his waist knife.

  Looking down at the two wounded soldiers hugging their legs, one had a knife pressed against his chest and abdomen, only roughly wrapped with a cloth strip, blood was seeping out from the torn fabric, the other had lost an eye, fresh blood was oozing out of the eye socket.

  "Let go of the master, what do you want to do?" Feng Guo suddenly drew out his waist knife and shouted: "Do you want to rebel?"

  Two wounded soldiers let go of Li Qing's legs, fell to the ground and cried loudly: "Sir, don't kill us, we'll be fine soon, we can still fight for you."

  Li Qingqi said: "Who wants to kill you?"

  Feng Guo suddenly came to his senses, and whispered in his ear: "Sir, I understand. In the military, it's common for seriously wounded soldiers to be given a coup de grace, so they can die quickly and avoid further suffering. Just now, sir, you ordered Wang Qiannian to move the camp, these heavily injured men must have thought they were going to be killed."

  Li Qingxin's heart skipped a beat, "Who set this damn rule?"

  Feng Guo looked at Li Qing in surprise: "Sir, this is a military convention. These seriously injured men will definitely not be able to return to the battlefield again. Even if we spend money to save them, it's likely that they still can't be saved. In order not to waste money, in such situations, it's usually just a matter of adding another knife."

  "Fart." Li Qing cursed and squatted down, saying: "You two can rest assured, how would I, Li Qing, kill my own sworn brothers? You can be at ease."

  "Why does the officer want to put us in a separate account?" asked the wounded soldier with injured eyes.

  "I've already gone to ask a doctor, and setting you two up in a separate camp is so that we can first treat your serious injuries." Li Qing said kindly.

  "Is what the grown-up said true?" The two looked at Li Qing suspiciously.

  Li Qing smiled and stood up: "Brothers, today in front of everyone, Li Qing makes a vow. From now on, no matter what kind of harm you have suffered, Changsheng Camp will never abandon any of you. If I break this vow, let me be pierced by chaotic arrows and die a terrible death."

  All the commotion ceased with Li Qing's words, and the entire camp was quiet. After a while, a wounded soldier suddenly knelt down and said: "Thank you, sir, I am willing to die for you." As the first one knelt down, one by one, the wounded soldiers all fell to their knees, saying: "I am willing to die for you, sir."

  Li Qing waved his hand: "Everyone get up, listen to Lord Wang's arrangement for relocation, the doctor will arrive soon."