Tiger Guards

Chapter 43 Please enter the urn
As the sun gradually rose higher, Li Le led his troops along the highway.

The Huben camp appeared in sight, and Li Le sent knights to negotiate.

The gate of the Huben camp was wide open, and more than a dozen knights rushed in, waving their whips.

It was almost noon at this time. The knights entered the camp and headed straight for the training ground. When they passed the east and west camps, they saw the injured Tiger Guards sitting in the sun after being bandaged.

Li Feng also noticed traces of fresh blood on the ground. When he passed the small camp of Cang Cao, he saw some military officers bandaging the wounds of some wounded soldiers.

The boy who led them into the camp had a grim expression on his face. "After defeating the invading Xiongnu the night before, we took quite a few prisoners. Last night, they suddenly rebelled and fled eastward, and we've only just captured and killed them all. Even though there are a few more casualties in the camp, I wonder if the General Zhengxi will come forward to ask for medicinal herbs from Jiangyi?"

"I will explain this to the general."

Li Feng agreed verbally and looked around: "You are also negligent. You actually made such a mistake."

Jia Tong said nothing and led Li Feng to the training ground area.

Li Feng and his group saw a pile of new and old heads on one side of the training ground, as well as a pile of various clothes, armor, equipment, etc.

What Li Feng was most concerned about was the fenced stable on one side of the training ground. There was no awning, just an open-air fence.

There were no less than five hundred horses of all kinds, and there were also horses kept in small camps on both sides of the road.

I estimated in my mind that there were no less than 800 horses... This was enough to change the balance of power in Hedong!

Even though the Huben came from wealthy and humble families in various counties in Hedong, Li Feng had already made up his mind.

This batch of horses is extremely important. If we get these horses and take some soldiers with us, we can really let Li Le take up the post in Liangzhou and become the governor of Liangzhou and the general of Zhengxi.

Why stay in Hedong and live a precarious life?
They are worthy of the court, but is the court worthy of them?

The veterans of Bai Bo all hold the rank of captain, making it seem as if people like Li Le and Li Feng like this kind of devalued official position.

As Li Feng observed, Wang Zhi came down, leaning on a rough cane and supported by his personal guards. He looked uneasy and asked, "Excuse me, sir, where is the General Zhengxi?"

"There are still several miles to go."

Li Feng did not dismount either. Several knights around him were alert. He observed Wang Zhi's injured left foot, which was wrapped in linen. The blood that had seeped out had dried up and was dark red.

Only then did he take in Wang Zhi's expression and, understanding his fear, he said, "By imperial decree, my general is traveling to Xihe to discuss matters with the new Chanyu. Yesterday, as we were passing the pass, we saw beacons on Purple Gold Mountain and learned that the Xiongnu were harassing our Huben troops. We camped for the night and have come today to inspect the situation. Tell me, how is the battle going?"

"Yes, when the Xiongnu attacked, they came via the Rui River. At that time, there was a special guard in the camp named Zhao Ji, who was a skilled archer and could shoot at a distance of 120 steps. Wei Zhongjian of Anyi was delighted to see this and offered a prize to Zhao Ji. He also sent the special guard from Jiangyi back to his hometown to buy sheep and wine. It was only after the villagers alerted us that we learned of the Xiongnu bandits' attack."

Wang Zhi recalled the events and said, "So we set an ambush in the camp that night and defeated the Xiongnu. We killed many and even captured the head of the Xiongnu king."

Wang Zhi turned and looked at a guard: "Go and get it."

The guards walked away quickly, their steps hurried.

Li Feng saw this, but he didn't think it was strange. He asked, "How many casualties did the Tiger Guards in the camp have?"

"Over a hundred men were wounded, and dozens more were injured last night, bringing the total to two hundred. The rest are exhausted, and the camp has run out of medicine. The commander of Jiangyi mistakenly believed we were captured by the Xiongnu and refused to let us in. Now that the General Zhengxi has arrived, the wounded in the camp can finally be saved."

Wang Zhi sighed, and Li Feng just smiled.

Jiangyi will open the city gate after they have investigated the matter thoroughly, but now that they are here, the matter of opening the gate is another matter.

Li Feng never got off the horse. If anything unexpected happened, he could just pull the horse back and run away.

Looking at the old man the other party brought over, he carefully identified him and nodded: "Kill this little king, and the Xiongnu tribes will inevitably take the opportunity to cause trouble. The court has taken refuge in Anyi, the evil bandits Li and Guo are threatening Hedong, and the Xiongnu are threatening the north. You are bringing trouble to the court."

Wang Zhi looked frightened and was speechless.

Seeing his expression, Li Feng changed the subject: "Prepare food, I'll go see the general."

At this time, the leader of Wang Zhi's personal guards stepped forward, took a leather bag from his waist pouch, and held it in both hands with a smile on his face: "Your Excellency, my son is new to the army and does not understand human relationships. Now that he is injured, please speak well of him to the General of the Western Expedition so that my son can take off his armor and return home. When his injuries are healed, he will serve the court again."

Li Feng did not avoid suspicion. He picked up the leather bag and weighed it in his hand. He pulled open the rope at the bag and took a look. He saw that there were broken gold pieces inside.

Immediately, a smile spread across his face: "No problem, quickly prepare the food and horse feed."

"Yes, Lord, take care."

The leader of the guards bowed and saluted, and Wang Zhi smiled apologetically. Li Feng no longer found Wang Zhi an eyesore. He hung up the leather bag, pulled the reins with his left hand, turned the horse's head, and leisurely kicked the horse away, leading a dozen knights.

Seeing them all leave the camp, Wang Zhi stopped smiling and asked Jia Kui, who was approaching, "Liang Dao, is it possible to hide this from Li Le?"

"Nearly half of the camp is wounded, and there are many horses. Sima is also injured and has lost his fighting spirit. Even if I were Li Le, I would be happy to come."

Jia Kui spoke in a gentle voice and seemed very confident, and this mentality also infected the people around him.

He immediately ordered his men to start cooking. Noticing the noise, Zhao Ji opened his eyes in the nearby barracks.

More than twenty Tiger Guards were lying lazily on the haystack in the barracks, and only a few of them had their eyes open.

The others were forcing themselves to close their eyes and take a nap. The most dangerous test was right before them, and it was difficult for them to fall asleep.

Zhao Ji walked out of the barracks, and the armor and leather on his body were already black and red.

Pei Xiu also walked out from the barracks next to him, with a serious expression.

If we kill Li Le here, there will be no room for maneuver.

If people like Yang Feng go crazy and threaten the emperor with force, the situation will get further out of control.

Up to this point, the emperor still lived in the suburbs of Anyi and was unable to enter the city.

It’s not that Wang Yi doesn’t want to, but the bottom line of the Baibo generals is this. They are afraid that the emperor will enter Anyi and unite with Wang Yi.

At that time, whether they enter the city to meet the emperor or do something else, they will be in a very passive position.

The big families in Hedong were not happy to see this kind of scene. Things were so absurd that they had no choice.

Don’t underestimate the fact that each of Baibo’s generals has only a few hundred men, less than a thousand.

But if they really go crazy and plunder everywhere, and order is disrupted, all kinds of troublemakers will emerge and will naturally join forces with the Baibo generals.

It is normal for a rebellion of more than 10,000 troops to break out. These people cannot defeat Li Jue and Guo Si, but they can definitely wipe out all the trouble near Anyi!
The emperor, the imperial court, and the Baibo generals were all very poor, and Wang Yi, a northerner, was not rich either. However, the big families in Hedong had considerable assets and really did not want to fight.

Zhao Ji sensed Pei Xiu's intention to retreat, so he said, "Seventh brother, the three marquises have surrendered, Wei Zhongjian has made his choice, and now Sima Wang has no way out. Do you think Seventh brother still has a way out?"

"Kill Li Le, then what?"

Pei Xiu spoke softly, fearing that others might hear him and affect morale.

Zhao Ji took a small bite of a wheat cake from the leather pouch at his waist, chewing as he spoke, "Then we'll use Li Le's head to knock on Ma Shizhi's door. We have a secret decree, and he'll make the right decision. And then there's Xu Huang. He's recruiting troops for Yang Feng. If he refuses to raise an army to support the king, we'll attack and destroy him."

"After that, select five hundred knights and march directly to Nanxiang. I hope to persuade Han Xian and, through him, reach an agreement with Yang Feng and others to allow the emperor to enter Anyi."

In this way, Wang Yi can be pulled onto the chariot and the county soldiers can be mobilized.

And there is Zhang Yang. According to Zhao Ji's plan, there is really no need for Zhang Yang to stay in Hanoi.

But the alliance between Zhang Yang and Zhang Yan seemed to be similar to a defensive alliance. Now Yuan Shao was on the offensive and Gongsun Zan was on the defensive.

Zhang Yang and Zhang Yan were unwilling to sit idly by and watch Gongsun Zan perish. After Gongsun Zan's demise, Yuan Shao would take action against them after he had reorganized Hebei.

Therefore, it is difficult to obtain any decent reinforcements from Zhang Yan and Zhang Yang, but sending one or two thousand people to each of them will be enough.

It is necessary to make the forces in the court more complex and check and balance each other in order to buy time for the next action.

As long as the Huns are killed severely enough, Li Jue and Guo Si will naturally weigh the risks of crossing the river; and the internal situation will gradually stabilize.

We must never let the emperor fall into Cao Cao's hands, otherwise Lu Bu and Liu Bei will be in a very passive position.

With them around, it would be difficult for the alliance between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao to expand rapidly.

The emperor was in Hedong, and every year the filial and honest people recommended by each county, as well as scholars and loyal people would gather in Hedong, bringing with them valuable talents and manpower.

Any scholar who travels thousands of miles to Hedong is a good soldier once he puts on armor.

The quality of the Tiger Guards is very strong, which is a quality that cannot be matched by ordinary conscription and recruitment.

(End of this chapter)