Tiger Guards

Chapter 353 Entrusted with important tasks
At dawn, the camp bells rang.

A wisp of smoke drifted into the military tent, and Jia Tong sat up, feeling rather annoyed.

After a while, the restlessness subsided, and people missed the life they had spent in the separate camp a few days earlier.

He especially fondly remembered those blonde Hu women from the Hujie tribe.

After tidying up his clothes, Jia Tong put on his sleeveless leather armor, picked up his helmet, and went out of the tent. He saw that the troops had piled up dried cow dung, which they then set on fire to cook breakfast.

The two guards saluted him, and the boy nodded in return, then strode toward the makeshift toilet that had been dug and erected.

After releasing the water, he went to Zhao Jizhong's army camp, where there were waterwheels. He washed up and then went to a group of military officers.

These military officers were either serving tea or salty milk tea. There were also a few strong young men who had been promoted from Xiongnu to military officers. They sat in a corner eating yogurt curds.

As Jia Tong sat down in the front row, a military officer brought him tea: "Right Commander, this morning's soup is mutton soup and wheat cakes."

"I don't want trash."

The servant gave a brief instruction, took a sip of tea, and asked, "Where is the Grand Marshal?"

"The Grand Marshal has gone out of the camp for morning exercise. We will have dinner when he returns shortly."

The officer replied and then presented the wooden tray to Wei Xing, who had just arrived: "Captain, this morning's breakfast is mutton soup and wheat cakes."

Wei Xing sat down, reached out and picked up the wooden bowl, looking around: "Give me two pieces of bread to fill my stomach first."

"Here."

The officer took a few steps back before turning and leaving.

Wei Xing had no interest in drinking tea. He turned to look at Jia Tong and said, "Brother Wenzhen, I can't figure out what the Grand Marshal was thinking last night. The more I think about it, the less I understand."

"It doesn't mean anything else, it's just about using Guanzhong as a route, going through Hongnong and Luodu before sending troops to Guandong."

Jia Tong smiled and countered, "If we were to attack Li Jue and Guo Si this year, and they held their city and our army couldn't take it after a long siege, would we retreat or engage in a stalemate?"

Wei Xing fell into deep thought: "They are not a concern. Many people in Guanzhong have already sent their families and hostages to our army. Even if we hold our city and besiege it, we can starve them to death. No one will send troops to rescue them."

In such a desperate, isolated city with no outside reinforcements, the defending army faces immense pressure. If several key military officers and leaders are overwhelmed by the mental pressure, the city cannot be stably defended.

Wei Xing then added, “I think it’s not important whether we can kill the two traitors Li and Guo in Guanzhong this time. We should join forces with the various armies and determine the hierarchy and lords. After that, let them confront Li and Guo. We’ll come back when the fruit is ripe.”

"Yes, just as Zi'ang said, Li and Guo are already dying men, who would be willing to risk their lives to follow them?"

Jia Tong laughed: "But if they live, our army cannot focus on the affairs of Guandong and Hebei. If the army stays in Guanzhong to fight against the two traitors Li and Guo, then Yuan Shao and Cao Cao will definitely harass Chenliu, Hanoi, Shangdang and Dai County. Rather than waiting for them to attack from multiple directions, we should take the initiative to fight out."

Jia Tong looked at Wei Xing and shared his views: "Since the General took refuge in Nanyang, the situation in Guandong has changed drastically. First, Prince Chen was killed, and now Zhang Yang is struggling to hold on alone. Chenliu and Henan have become dead ends. If our army continues to march through Zhiguan Pass, we risk being ambushed. From now on, when we leave Guandong, we should go through Heluo and Hulao Pass."

Wei Xing listened and pondered for a moment, then agreed with Jia Tong's reasoning and nodded slowly.

After a moment, he said, "No matter how we get to Kanto, we can't let them gain any advantage in this battle."

If outsiders take more, those inside will get less.

Although Zhao Ji advocated eating one bite at a time, swallowing the food before taking the next bite.

The thought of others taking advantage of him made Wei Xing feel uncomfortable all over.

Many people feel uncomfortable, which is a normal mindset under the current system where the military dominates the allocation of resources.

Seeing that Wei Xing was still like this, Jia Tong just smiled.

How much benefit can Lü Bu and the imperial court actually gain?
As a descendant of nobles from the Spring and Autumn Period, Jia Tong lost his father at a young age, but his education within the clan was not neglected.

With his knowledge and experience, he naturally sensed and anticipated that Zhao Ji wanted to swallow the Xiongnu whole.

With such a large manpower, the Xiongnu would naturally seize many resources.

It cannot be said that the Xiongnu people had an advantage, but rather that the Xiongnu had the advantage of manpower and animal power; after joining the Grand Marshal's shogunate, under the normal war distribution mechanism, the growth of others would be suppressed.

Jia Tong didn't care how much he could acquire in the future. Since the establishment of the Pingyang Marquisate and the subsequent control of five nearby counties, Jia Tong had become the de facto head of the household.

Another war would be an additional risk for him.

So he thought about leaving the army, becoming a county magistrate, and then taking a regular official career in a prefecture or county.

However, the shogunate established three commanders: the Left, the Central, and the Right. Kado thought it was none of his business, but Zhao Ji insisted on making him the Right Commander.

Even the armbands were changed to a single gold star; while the fake Sima Han Shu still had two bars and four stars.

Looking back at the Tiger Warriors' seniority, Jia Tong was a garrison commander; Wei Xing was a team leader; and Han Shu was only a squad leader.

Seeing that he had nothing in common with Jia Tong, Wei Xing took his teacup and went to chat with the other military officers. A dozen or so of them gathered together, and they all shared similar views: they were willing to fight anywhere, but they couldn't let someone like Lü Bu take advantage of them again.

Occupying a small portion wouldn't have made much difference, but after the riots in Xuchang, Lü Bu retreated to Nanyang, directly causing the collapse of the situation in the Central Plains.

The death of Prince Chen was actually one of the aftereffects of Lü Bu and the emperor's retreat to Nanyang.

If Lü Bu's army were still in Yingchuan, how could the generals and officers of Chen dare to openly collude with Yuan Shu?

If these officers and generals had not rebelled collectively, even if the Prince of Chen had been assassinated, there would have been a crown prince to succeed him, preventing the country from collapsing and becoming irrecoverable.

While they were chatting, Zhao Ji led his attendants and knights to finish their horseback riding and returned to the camp.

"No need for formalities, please sit down."

Zhao Ji walked through the crowd, took his seat at the head of the table, and waved to signal everyone to sit down. After everyone was seated, he said, "You all already know about the affairs of Chen, so I won't go into details. After the meal, return to your unit, pack your belongings, and we'll set off early tomorrow morning. After crossing the river, we'll take the Qin Straight Road into Guanzhong. Li Jue is in Huangbai City, Chiyang; don't keep him waiting."

Jia Tong cupped his hands and asked, "Grand Marshal, besides our five thousand cavalry, how many troops do you have?"

"There are also five thousand Tiger Infantry equipped with chariots and cavalry, and Xu Chu and Zhang Xiu each lead two thousand troops. They will cross the river at Puban and head to Weinan and Huayin to form the Southern Route Army with Duan Wei and Pei Mao. Duan Wei will be the commander-in-chief, and Pei Mao will be the protector of the army. If we win the battle, Pei Mao will be stationed in Jingzhao Prefecture, and Zhang Xiu will be the Left Fengyi."

Zhao Ji looked around and said, “Our army is the Northern Route Army. After the war, I hope Wenzhen will serve as the Right Fufeng and govern Huaili. I don’t have time to thoroughly eliminate the bandits in the Three Auxiliary Regions, so I will leave this matter to you. I will select elite troops from the surrendered army and take them to fight in Guandong. All that can be left for Wenzhen is a thousand infantry and cavalry.”

Jia Tong breathed a sigh of relief, his face showing gratitude: "This subordinate understands. With a thousand infantry and cavalry, we can wipe out all the bandits, big and small, within the year."

The biggest bandits in Guanzhong were the various warlords. After defeating Li Jue and Guo Si, it was impossible to leave their old troops to continue stationing in various places.

Those with larger numbers of troops would definitely have their elite forces withdrawn by Zhao Ji, and the remaining troops would be relocated to various irrigated areas for garrison duty.

Having armed forces and being able to reorganize were both conditional; granting Toda and Kouda these privileges was a basic requirement.

Only the elite troops selected by Zhao Ji could be granted military land and included in the military register.

Everyone else was envious of Jia Tong, who was the first high-ranking official of the commandery and state level with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain).

Wei Xing, on the contrary, felt that Jia Tong was not promising, even though You Fufeng was one of the Three Prefectures and his status was higher than that of a normal prefect.

However, Youfufeng faces Tianshui directly, so defenses need to be set up in Chencang to guard against the invasion of Ma Teng and the Tianshui chieftains; to the northwest is Anding County, where the Beidi Hu, Lushui Hu and other rebellious Qiang tribes are active.

Jia Tong's task was heavy. If the various Hu tribes invaded in winter, with only a thousand infantry and cavalry, Jia Tong could barely hold Huaili and wait for Pei Mao, Zhang Xiu, and Duan Wei to come to his rescue.

This is military pressure, and politically, it also involves severing Pei Mao, Zhang Xiu, and Duan Wei's connections with Liangzhou.

If these people were to form an alliance with Ma Teng, Han Sui, and the powerful leaders of Tianshui, and produce a fake imperial edict ordering the attack on Zhao Ji, things would get complicated.

In any case, Wei Xing didn't like this arrangement, while Jia Tong was eager to try it out.

If he were to be attacked, Zhao Ji would certainly send more reinforcements.

The thousand-plus infantry and cavalry were there to clear out bandits and block the roads, not to fight a decisive battle against the invading barbarian tribes.

If there is a significant enemy threat, he can simply hold his position and wait for reinforcements.

Seeing that he had no other requests, Zhao Ji said, "Let's eat."

Seeing this, Han Shu, who was waiting outside, had his guards bring him mutton bone soup and baked or steamed wheat cakes.

They didn't exchange any more words. They were both at the age where they had a good appetite, so they ate to their hearts' content without worrying about indigestion.

After the meal, Zhao Ji returned to his military tent to prepare for meditation and practice his skills.

Jia Tong, however, did not leave and followed into the tent: "Grand Marshal, what should be done with Liu Xuan?"

"He has done nothing wrong in managing the West River, so it is not advisable to act rashly."

Zhao Ji sat down on the couch, and Han Shu stepped forward, knelt down on one knee, and helped him take off his battle boots.

After Zhao Ji changed into comfortable wooden clogs, he said to Jia Tong, "He has already been punished, but now he has neither made any merits nor demerits and his performance is mediocre. If we deal with him arbitrarily, it will make Tu Bei and others uneasy. There are less than a thousand registered households in Xihe. What bad intentions could he possibly have?"

Jia Tong nodded, took off his boots, sat cross-legged nearby, adjusted his breathing, and began to meditate.

During this time, he also collected some guiding techniques, and even kept pills made from the little green locust on hand.

Zhao Ji had gotten used to this. These people always thought that by getting close to him during meditation, they could achieve some kind of 'resonance' and produce the effect of practicing together.

He closed his eyes and began to circulate his level four Qi-cultivating skill.

After sleeping with Cai Zhaoji and Du Shi, he was promoted one level each, but the efficiency of the promotion was negligible.

(End of this chapter)