Tiger Guards

Chapter 32 Self-contained

In the military camp, those who were responsible for burying the Hun captives who died in battle were not idle even after returning.

Holding various tools, they cleaned up the bloodstains in the camp and picked up arrows under the supervision of the Huben. Among them, the captives who could communicate participated in repairing the barracks.

Before dark, at least barracks that can shelter the wounded soldiers from the rain must be built.

Inside the training ground, everyone sat together again.

Liu Fu handed over the statistics of the captures, and Warehouse Officer Jia Kui held up the bamboo slips. "A total of 237 people have been captured, with more than ten lightly wounded. They should recover within ten months. One hundred and eighty-three heads have been beheaded, including the young king Liu Hedu and his son Liu Ping. In addition to the armor and weapons, there are thirteen good horses and thirty-two inferior horses. Five unusable injured horses have been slaughtered, and ten more are waiting to be slaughtered."

Minor injuries on a horse's body can usually be healed, but injuries to its legs and feet cannot be saved at all.

Horses are stubborn and cannot lie still for long periods of time, which will cause their injuries to worsen repeatedly and is also a form of torture for the horses.

Even if the horses brought by the Huben were old and had a strong affection for their families, they would be slaughtered if their legs or feet were injured.

Glancing around at everyone, Jia Kui continued, "After all the war equipment is repaired and stored in the public warehouse, it will be distributed to the various teams. The difficulty now is how to distribute the prisoners and horses."

As he said this, he went to see Wei Gu, who nodded and said, "Pei Facao has also discussed this matter with me. We are short of military supplies. I have two solutions. The first is to sell the prisoners and exchange them for food, fodder, and equipment. The second is to reward meritorious soldiers in the camp. I will divide the funds among the teams according to their merits, and each team will divide them again."

He went to see Zhao Ji, who nodded. "Jiangyi has refused to open its gates yet, and there are warning signals from Purple Mountain. We have no choice. Even if it's just internal division, we still have to be wary of Chun Hu causing chaos."

If we really encounter high-intensity combat, the Huns among the captives will become a hidden danger.

Everyone is aware of this problem, but they are prisoners after all. Many of them are participating in such a large-scale battle for the first time and have many concerns.

Just like Jia Tong, who beheaded Liu Hedu, but was worried about bringing trouble to his family and clan, so he gave the head to Zhao Ji.

The same applies to killing prisoners. Whoever proposes this may face revenge from the Huns in the future.

Pei Xiu then spoke up, "Let's do as the Gongcao and I have discussed. The pure Hu people will be assigned as coolies, the captured good boys will be assigned as auxiliary soldiers, and the Han and Hu children who can speak will be assigned as servants to the meritorious men. But what about the horses?"

He turned his head to look at Wei Gu, who also wanted this batch of horses.

The problem was that the inexplicable beacon fire had sounded an alarm, and time was running out in the camp. Otherwise, he could take these horses to the nearby manor of a wealthy family and exchange them for a lot of equipment and food.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, the cavalry leader Jia Tong and cavalry officer Wang Qi were staring at him.

Wei Gu coughed dryly twice and said, "Prioritize replenishing the warriors whose horses have been damaged, and distribute the rest to those who are good riders. This way, we can increase our gains during the next pursuit."

Jia Tong then spoke up: "Gong Cao is wise. If there had been more than a hundred cavalrymen chasing them last night, the Tiele Xiongnu would have had difficulty escaping."

Seeing no one else had expressed an opinion, Wei Gu went to see Jia Kui. "Liang Dao, you sort out the list of prisoners and categorize them. We will then assign servants to each team based on their merits. If there are no other opinions, let's discuss how to prepare for battle tonight."

Wang Fu, commander of the second garrison, spoke before the others did, "Compared to us, the Xiongnu are not strong. Last night's tactics were too conservative. I think we should strengthen General Zhao's forces. If the enemy attacks again, General Zhao will be the spearhead, with the left and right flanks following suit, and the knights flanking. I believe that even if the enemy number is less than a thousand, we can still crush them in one fell swoop!"

Just as Jia Tong was about to speak, the transport convoy commander beside him, Xiang Libao, spoke first, "I think so too. Our team joined the battle late. If a hundred of us had followed General Zhao last night, it would have been difficult for the Xiongnu to break through to the training ground."

He turned to look at Zhao Ji and said, "When General Zhao Tun assigns tactics, he must also consider our caravan. We only have horses and carts assigned to transportation and baggage. It doesn't mean that we dare not fight or are weaker than others."

Seeing this, Pei Xiu said, "Aji, don't refuse. As long as we can defeat the enemy, don't worry about the details."

Wei Gu also nodded. If the spoils were not distributed, the Hu Ben army might collapse; and if they were distributed without a decent prospect, they would also collapse.

Zhao Ji listened attentively and seemed to agree. He turned to look at Liu Fu and said, "Brother, can the soldiers from each county be incorporated into the baggage train?"

Everyone's attention shifted, and Liu Fu immediately stated, "I will lobby the county officials in each county. I'm confident."

Hu Ban, who was listening nearby, immediately spoke up and said loudly: "As long as we can defeat the enemy and kill the Hu people, my Wenxi County soldiers can be incorporated into the baggage train."

Immediately afterwards, the county official sent from Anyi also expressed his support. The surrounding county officials also expressed their opinions one after another. Liu Fu smiled and said, "This matter has been settled. Zhao Tun will continue to discuss your arrangements."

"Yes."

Zhao Ji drew the dagger strapped to his boot and sketched on the ground. "The fifth battalion hasn't arrived yet. We currently have four infantry battalions, one cavalry battalion, and one baggage battalion, with the baggage battalion taking up the most manpower. This isn't enough; the newly recruited auxiliary troops and coolies must also be incorporated into the baggage train." Jia Kui, the warehouse officer in charge of the baggage train, raised his hand and asked, "Is Zhao's battalion about to be relocated?"

"It can't be said that this is to relocate the camp, but rather to allow the combat troops to be more focused, freeing them from the hassles of camp duties and allowing them to concentrate on the war effort."

Seeing no one else interrupt, Zhao Ji said, "We must break down the prejudices of our own clans and regions. We should recruit those who excel in foot combat. Captain Shentu, for example, excels in cavalry, so he could join the cavalry. With this reorganization, the cavalry will be swift and the infantry will be elite. If another 500 Xiongnu come, we will march out of our camp and fight them squarely!"

Jia Tong looked up at Shen Tulan, who was standing nearby listening, and smiled, "I think that makes sense too. If that's the case, the cavalry is strong, but the infantry is divided into four parts, so it's bound to be weak."

Even though nearly a hundred county soldiers had combat experience, no one would agree to incorporate them into the Tiger Guards.

The Tiger Guards had their own glory and political privileges, but the starting salary of "two hundred stones" was not something that the county soldiers could get involved in.

The commander of the county military garrison had an official rank of two hundred stones, which was equal to the lowest-ranking Jieconghu Ben.

What are the promotion conditions for Jieconghu Ben? What are the promotion conditions for Junbing Tunzhang?
Jia Tong's words made sense, so the commander of the second garrison, Wang Fu, said, "Why don't we merge our troops into the first garrison, and send some men to strengthen the third and fourth garrisons? That way, with the hundred or so men under the command of General Zhao and the three infantry companies of over three hundred men, we can barely form a battle array."

Several leaders of the Second Tun Team's Tiger Guards who were listening nearby had no objection and all went to see Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji shook his head. "That's not right. Teams shouldn't be cut or merged so easily. Merging is easy, but creating another team is difficult."

As he spoke, he went to look at the convoy and asked the generals and ministers: "Can the convoy send some Tiger Guards to strengthen the teams?"

"That's as it should be. The convoy will be combined with over 200 county soldiers, auxiliary soldiers, and coolies, which will allow us to allocate 50 Tiger Guards."

Xiang Libao readily agreed. The personnel diversion and reasonable matching would only benefit him, not harm him.

Although they are from the same hometown, there is a difference in closeness.

Diverting most of the Tiger Guards away would also make it easier for him to manage the baggage train.

Zhao Ji then turned to Wang Fu and said, "Four infantry divisions, each with its own role. I'd like to select a special division of swift and skilled Tiger Guards, skilled in mountain terrain. The first three divisions will meet the enemy head-on, while the mountain division will attack from the flanks. Once the Tiger Guards from Dayang and two counties arrive, we'll reorganize the division based on the situation."

Wang Fu glanced at Liu Fu and nodded when he saw that Liu Fu had no objection. "Yes, my team is willing to reorganize."

Zhao Ji then looked at Wei Gu and said, "Brother, is this formation okay?"

Wei Gu looked thoughtful and turned to look at Pei Xiu: "How is it?"

"feasible."

Pei Xiu knew that this was implementing the mixed-integration strategy originally proposed by Jia Kui.

The reason for opposition at that time was that the Hu Ben troops were unfamiliar with each other, and would fight on their own when encountering a battle, and would collapse at the slightest defeat.

Now that we have experienced a glorious victory in which we almost completely annihilated the enemy, we have laid the foundation for a complete reorganization.

The Tiger Guards who participated in the war also had meritorious service and their mental state had changed. When they were mixed together, the squad leaders with meritorious service could convince the others and quickly gain a foothold.

Pei Xiu thought for a moment and said, "Distribute the identity slips to the Tiger Guards. After reorganizing the troops, make a list and copy it. After the list is made, promote them to new positions according to their official rank."

He also went to see Wei Gu and said, "How about we, the Caos, temporarily assume the posts of Pushe; the garrison commanders assume the posts of Zhonglang, the team commanders assume the posts of Shilang, and the sergeants assume the posts of Langjiang?"

"That's how it should be."

Wei Gu stood up and looked around: "The enemy will come at any time, reorganize the army and re-allocate the camp as soon as possible."

"Here!"

Everyone stood up one after another to respond. Jia Kui smiled bitterly. Now the Tiger Guards really became a group of their own.

Even if they were to guard the emperor, how many of the ministers and officials who accompanied him would dare to dismantle and adjust it?
(End of this chapter)