Tiger Guards

Chapter 31: General of the Western Expedition
Outside the camp, by the stream, the Tiger Guards began to change their clothes and wash their armor and bloody clothes.

In the open space, people with a little status came to participate in the meeting.

If you are not qualified to sit in the front, you can stand on the side and listen.

Wang Zhi's main seat was vacant, and eleven people from the five Caos and seven Tuen sat around it.

Gong Cao Wei Gu was in high spirits. On his left and right were Fa Cao Pei Xiu and Cang Cao Jia Kui. On both sides of him were Qi Cao Wang Qi and Infantry Cao Xue Yu.

Among the seven garrisons, the commander of the first garrison is Zhao Ji, on the left are the commander of the cavalry garrison Jia Tong, the commander of the chariot garrison Xiang Li Bao, and the commander of the third garrison Jing Chun. These are the three teams of Fenshui; on the right are the commander of the second garrison Wang Fu, the commander of the fourth garrison Chang Mao, and the commander of the fifth garrison is vacant.

The fifth garrison was planned to be composed of the Huben troops from two counties south of Zhongtiao Mountain. The distance was too far and they had not yet arrived.

Even the Fourth Garrison had only come to Duanshi County. After encountering a battle last night, they elected Chang Mao as the garrison commander.

Therefore, there were only eleven people in this meeting.

After everyone was seated, Pei Xiucai spoke, "Since the camp was attacked last night, Sima Wang first sent envoys to request assistance. The Jiangyi defenders were wary and refused to send reinforcements. After dawn, Sima Wang went in person to borrow herbs and utensils, but was pursued by Tiele Xiongnu cavalry and has since fled south."

After hearing this explanation, Jia Tong and Xiang Li Bao remained silent.

Pei Xiu was about to continue explaining Wang Zhi's disappearance when he suddenly saw Zhao Ji and others sitting opposite him looking up and staring into the distance in a daze.

Pei Xiu also turned his head to look, and saw smoke rising from the hilltop on the west side of Zijin Mountain, close to the main road, and gradually rising higher.

Jia Tong said, "Could it be that Sima Wang set the fire as a warning?"

Zhao Ji placed his hand on Jia Tong's shoulder for support, then stood up and examined the beacon fires: "Perhaps the bandits from Jishan have arrived. Let's prepare for battle."

Wei Gu also stood up and watched the fireworks, frowning and asking, "Captain Zhao, is there any good news now?"

"One thing is that the Tiele Huns have taken the ship, and Xu Huang on the north bank is having trouble taking action right now."

Zhao Ji turned to Jia Tong and said, "Brother Wenzhen, lead the cavalry to escort the prisoners back to the camp. I will meet them here."

"Okay, we'll discuss the rest after we enter the camp."

Jia Tong agreed, bowed to everyone, turned around and mounted his horse. He took the iron halberd handed to him by his fellow Hu Ben, and pointed the halberd at the ravine with his arm outstretched: "Follow me!"

Zhao Ji also said to Wei Gu and Pei Xiu: "Big brother, Seventh brother, lead the troops into the camp first. I will stay here to support Brother Wenzhen."

"it is good."

Wei Gu responded and waved his arm to signal the people around him to evacuate.

Zhao Ji saw the Huben soldiers gathering around him. Many of them were cleaning their armor and were wearing their daily clothes.

He looked around and said, "Those with armor, bows, crossbows, spears, and halberds, stay here! The rest of you, hurry into the camp and prepare for battle!"

"Here~!"

A dozen or so Tiger Guards around immediately responded loudly, most of them were officers and soldiers from Zhao Ben's team.

At the fireworks display area on Zijin Mountain, two bonfires were covered with tree branches. The smoke was soon engulfed by flames, leaving only flames and smoke.

Li Le led more than fifty knights to arrive, and the Huben camp could be vaguely seen in the distance.

Seven or eight miles away, we saw two or three hundred mixed knights retreating towards the camp, without any obvious flags or formations.

Li Le observed for a moment, turned his horse, and said, "The Huns have invaded, and the Huben camp has been damaged and dispersed, and has been captured by the Huns. Report to the court quickly, the Chen Pass is impassable!"

Zhao Yan, the accompanying counselor, stretched his arm across Li Le's horse. "How can the General who conquers the West make such a hasty conclusion without actually investigating? In my humble opinion, a group of brave soldiers must have broken through the siege. They should have interrogated several people and ascertained the true situation before reporting to the court."

"Does Lord Zhao think that the newly formed Tiger Guards defeated the invading Xiongnu?"

Li Le pointed at the two burning fires, glaring confidently, "The mountain folks also said there were over thirty Xiongnu knights here, and there were over thirty scouts just for reconnaissance and warning. You can imagine how many troops there are!"

Li Le was also frightened by this information. Seeing that the riders were also uneasy and unwilling to investigate further, he whipped the horse lightly and led the horse down the mountain.

Only Zhao Yan and a rider were left. The rider helped Zhao Yan dismount and said, "Mingsir, what Li Le said makes sense."

"Don't listen to his words. There are at least 700 Tiger Guards. How could they be wiped out in one battle?"

Zhao Yan refused to believe Li Le's inference. He was nearly sixty years old and his eyesight was not as good as when he was young. He could not see the camp in the distance clearly at all.

He gasped and said angrily: "There are also the Xihe Yulin soldiers. Will they also be attacked by the Huns?" Xihe County is one of the six Yulin counties. The county magistrate Liu Xuan is also actively recruiting new Yulin knights. This guard force has already set out and will protect the emperor together with the Hedong Huben.

The cavalryman looked pessimistic. "Mingsir, all the circumstances have proven that the Bo generals are colluding with the Xiongnu. How can these treacherous generals sit idly by and watch the Tiger Guards and Imperial Guards come to defend the emperor?"

Zhao Yan refused to evacuate and stood on the edge of the ridge, looking to the north. Two piles of flames were burning on the side slope about twenty steps away, and his thin back seemed like he might fall down at any time.

Li Le led the knights down the mountain and joined the infantry who were resting on the road, then immediately turned south.

In the Jishan area west of Zijin Mountain, there are steep cliffs and forests covered with cypress trees.

Wang Zhi lay on the ground, squinting his eyes as he watched the six or seven hundred people led by Li Le turn around and head south.

Only after he was sure that the army had withdrawn did he let out a long sigh, crawled backward, and turned over to lie on the dry cypress leaves and grass, feeling hungry and dizzy.

The Imperial Guards handed over a wheat cake, and Wang Zhi took a bite. "I didn't expect Pei Xiaoqi and Zhao Aji to be so brave and powerful. They actually scared off the bandit general Li Le."

The head of the personal guards crouched beside him and handed him the water bag. "Sima, is Li Le retreating like this?"

"If I were him, I'd be in trouble too."

Wang Zhi took a sip of water and handed the water bag back. "Without an imperial decree, he can't mobilize his troops to attack the camp. And if he retreats, what other options does he have?"

The Baibo Army had already been severely damaged by Li Jue and Guo Si, and many veterans did not dare to return to their base after their defeat.

Although some soldiers were recruited and supplemented during this period, with the imperial court by their side, these soldiers would not blindly follow orders.

Even in the army led by Li Le just now, a small half of the soldiers were from Hedong County.

Without a clear imperial edict, Li Le could not drive the county troops to attack Huben.

If the emperor really gets the newly recruited Hedong Huben and Xihe Yulin, the Baibo generals will be doomed.

The Huben and Yulin are both in such danger, not to mention Zhang Yang of Hanoi. If Zhang Yang's troops enter to defend the emperor, the Baibo generals who are part of the rebel army will die even more miserably.

Zhang Yang had a very clean background. He was a Wumeng attendant under the Wumeng Commander Ding Yuan. The Wumeng Commander was one of the three cavalry commanders and was in charge of the Hanoi Knights Battalion.

Basically, Zhang Yang himself is one of the Beijing camp troops.

During the chaotic times, Zhang Yang stayed in Hanoi and did not attack other counties. This was much better than the other parties in Guandong.

If they had not been concerned about the emperor's safety, the Hedong County soldiers would have killed the Baibo generals.

But what happens next?

The emperor stayed in Hedong and refused to leave. Li Jue and Guo Si led their troops to attack Hedong. What should we do?
Wang Zhi felt a little fuller and his mind calmed down.

The Huben's performance last night was so shocking that the Jiangyi garrison believed that the Huben camp had already been captured by the Huns and that the Huns were trying to trick the garrison into rescuing them and opening the gates.

Even after daybreak, Wang Zhi personally led people to knock on the door, but Captain Ma Zhi refused to open it.

Worried that the Huns who attacked at night were just the vanguard, Wang Zhi simply took a detour.

He never expected to see the battle flag of "General Zhengxi, Governor of Liangzhou", which was different from what he expected.

I thought the first person to come here was Han Xian, the 'General of the Eastern Expedition and Governor of Youzhou', whose residence was closest to Jiangyi.

Li Le's sudden appearance meant that they had crossed Han Xian's base. Either Han Xian was dead or he agreed to this action.

We can retreat now and turn around and attack again at any time.

Should we return to camp?
Once we get this important information back to camp, we can report it satisfactorily.

If I return to Anyi directly, what will be left?
Most of the Hu Ben soldiers are illegitimate sons, second sons, or brave and strong people in the clan; what is the essential difference between you and the Hu Ben soldiers who volunteered?
Gritting his teeth, Wang Zhi said to his men, "Li Le will never give up easily and will definitely come again. In my opinion, he leads a ragtag group and is no match for the Tiger Guards. I want to return to the camp. Where will you go?"

A dozen guards fell into deep thought for a moment. Their mental burden was not as heavy as Wang Zhi's.

But as members of the Wang family, how would Wang Yi view them after they left Wang Zhi and returned to Anyi?

　新年 快乐

　　
　
(End of this chapter)