Tiger Guards

Chapter 521 Ignorance is bliss
As evening fell, smoke filled the makeshift camp.

The dried cow dung stockpiled by the Xianbei people burned, producing plumes of blue smoke that mingled and floated above the camp, drifting southward in the howling north wind.

Inside the temporary barracks, a dozen or so Han Chinese border residents were questioned by Zhao Ji, tearfully recounting their experiences over the years.

To prevent them from escaping, their shinbones were broken when they were young, making them lame.

Now in their early forties, they are all thin and have dark reddish-brown faces.

After Zhao Ji finished asking the questions, he glanced at Cheng He beside him. Cheng He stepped forward, spread his arms, and led the timid old men from the border region out.

All the able-bodied Xianbei men in the camp had been killed. These remaining elders, all wearing thick fur coats, trembled and limped away, helping each other along.

Zhao Ji withdrew his gaze and said to the dozen or so generals, captains, and camp commanders in the tent: "When the Xianbei came, the blood and tears of countless men and women were buried in the dust. Now that we have brought slaughter, it is the Xianbei's turn to cry. If we cannot defeat them in one battle, and the Xianbei invade our borders year after year, it will be our sons, wives, and daughters who shed blood and tears."

Wei Xing stood up and said, "Grand Marshal, please rest assured. Are we people who cherish our lives and fear death?"

He was usually jovial, but now he was unusually gloomy. The steady improvement in life in Hedong and Taiyuan over the past year had worn down too many of his comrades' sharpness.

Even Wei Xing, though not in a high position of power, was surrounded by a good life.

“Now my officers and soldiers number less than 30,000, while the Xianbei people are growing in number, three times as many as I do. If we want to return to our homeland in triumph, we must unite as one, and then we can be invincible.”

Zhao Ji gestured for Wei Xing to sit down and said, "Tonight we will launch a surprise attack on Huze with the entire army. We will not play any tricks; we will confront the enemy head-on. My goal is not Budugen's head, but simply to defeat the enemy and make Budugen's nobles and followers fear our army. If we kill them all, the other Xianbei people will not know the strength of our army and will naturally be ignorant and fearless, which is not good."

Liu Qubei, who arrived at nightfall, saw that everyone was silent after hearing this, so he spoke up: "Grand Marshal, the Xianbei are strong and resilient. If we only defeat them, their army will regroup within three to five days. In my opinion, we should pursue and kill them. Only by killing more than half of them can we make the Xianbei barbarians feel a sense of awe. In this way, we can negotiate after the battle."

The wars between the Xiongnu and Xianbei were like this: if negotiations failed, they would fight; after the fighting, they would negotiate again; if they were dissatisfied with the outcome of the negotiations, they would gather their strength and fight again.

"I share this concern, hence the pursuit of thirty li. We must assemble before noon tomorrow."

As Zhao Ji spoke, he pulled a dagger from his boot and pinned it straight to the table. He looked around at everyone and said, “Tomorrow at noon, the shadows will serve as evidence. Those officers and soldiers who return before noon will be rewarded normally. Those who return after noon will not be rewarded. Tell all officers and soldiers that I have brought you here to conquer the Xianbei and eliminate border troubles, to serve the country, to capture women, children, and servants, and to rescue the border people. In the end, we are here to make money and eat meat, not to die needlessly. If everyone understands, the meeting is adjourned.”

"Here."

Liu Qubei, Zhang Liao, and others responded with clasped hands. As people from the border region, they understood the meaning behind Zhao Ji's words.

Military officers who could be promoted to the rank of battalion commander or chiliarch would naturally be able to grasp the meaning behind Zhao Ji's words.

Budugen was just an appetizer; the real feast was the army of Qianman and the Xianbei royal court gathered in the Heyin City area.

A victory of around 50,000 is enough for all officers and soldiers in the army to be promoted one rank, and a small number of them can win two or three ranks in a row.

After all, in addition to these people, there were also their women, children, and tribesmen, all of whom could be captured and their merits counted.

Zhao Ji turned his head to signal them to leave. After leaving the barracks, they quickly returned to their respective small camps to begin their internal pre-battle meetings, aiming to convey the spirit of this battle to the lower-ranking soldiers.

This temporary camp can also be abandoned. Zhao Ji cannot allow the following troops to converge here. He has already ordered them to march towards Huze after nightfall.

In winter, the grasslands are covered with snow, and people use stars and compasses to find their way.

Again, relying on the Qin Straight Road for marching, they advanced in a general direction. Even if the error was more than ten miles, they could still make contact with the central army scouts and correct the direction of the attack in time.

Inside the barracks, Zhao Ji tied his scarf and face mask, put on his helmet, and turned to look at Cheng He, who was tidying up his short spears and bows and arrows: "Is there anything wrong with my fondness for night battles?"

"inappropriate?"

Cheng He thought he had misheard, but seeing that Zhao Ji did not correct him, he asked in return, "Our comrades in the army are all good at night fighting and like night raids. Isn't that a good thing?"

Cheng He paused for a moment, then reorganized his words and said, "Grand Marshal, the officers and soldiers in the army travel by sled. Apart from being a little cold, there is nothing else to be tired or weary about. Since we have followed the Grand Marshal, we have found it quite easy to kill bandits at night."

“Understood, but night battles are not the right approach.” Zhao Ji thought for a moment and then said, “When we return to the interior or fight in the Guandong region, if there are still suitable times for night battles, you must remind me to avoid night raids. Night raids on the snowy plains can be used to scout out changes in the enemy’s situation, and there are many knowledgeable military strategists in the Central Plains, plus the terrain is varied. If it is not necessary, we should build strong fortifications and fight a protracted battle, using a dignified formation to ensure stability.”

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have noted it down."

Cheng He nodded seriously, bowed deeply to Zhao Ji, and said, "I will inform my colleagues so that if I am negligent or forget, others can also be warned."

"can."

Zhao Ji fastened his helmet strap, picked up his gloves, and continued, "Those who are good at swimming drown. We didn't have a better choice before, but now the terrain and environment are suitable. If our infantry and cavalry are strong in the future, and we launch another surprise attack, we will surely suffer the consequences."

"Yes, Your humble servant will always keep in mind the Grand Marshal's teachings."

Cheng He responded and then carried the short spear and bow and arrows that Zhao Ji himself used to walk outside.

Zhao Ji tightened his gloves, reached out and pulled the dagger nailed to the table, put it back into his boot, and fastened the brass buckle.

He stepped out of the barracks and saw three large banners standing on a heavy sled chariot, with the white tiger, golden eagle, and stag banners lined up one after the other in the north wind.

When it's time to charge, the White Tiger and Golden Eagle banner chariots will accelerate forward, standing on either side of the White Tiger banner.

The banner was not easy to draw, and Zhao Ji was looking forward to the Xianbei people's reaction when his stag banner appeared on the battlefield during the decisive battle with Qianman's troops.

More than three hundred iron knights, wrapped in thick, warm bear fur and sheepskin cloaks, sat comfortably on their sleds, their warhorses tethered to either side of their respective sleds, while reserve iron knights who assisted them served as charioteers and archers.

The three cavalry units, each a hundred men long, were supported by over six hundred reserve and apprentice knights, forming a large camp of a thousand men.

Zhao Ji boarded the white tiger-bannered sled chariot, and the twelve draft horses, hearing the crack of whips, took the lead forward.

The Iron Cavalry Battalion followed him, followed by the Personal Guard Battalion, which Cheng He temporarily controlled.

Previously, Cheng He served as the sword bearer, while Zhao Ji temporarily appointed Pei Bao to fill the position, allowing him to stay by his side.

Pei Bao was sullen instead; he wanted to become a centurion even more.

Even so, Pei Bao, with dark circles under his eyes, looked overjoyed as the core troops of the central army set off.

All officers and soldiers, including the newly arrived Right Wing Xiongnu volunteers, wore black eyeshadow or oil paint. This was a spontaneous change in the army after the Battle of Fushi.

This effectively distinguishes between friend and foe, preventing situations where the heads of one's own officers and soldiers are used to claim credit.

Sometimes, taking credit for others' work is not intentional.

The Xianbei and Qiang people also had a tradition of headhunting, and the heads of their own fallen officers and soldiers would also be cut off by the enemy. After killing the enemy, the officers and soldiers often could not identify the other heads, or they would simply report them together.

Nowadays, not only do soldiers wear eyeshadow, but officers and soldiers of the Tiger Step Army also paint geometric patterns symbolizing their unit numbers on their faces.

Zhao Ji himself wore heavy black eyeshadow and had black face paint with diagonal lines, so all the officers and soldiers in the army naturally followed suit.

The Xiongnu followers painted their tribal totem patterns on their faces, and this practice likely evolved into permanent tattoos.

Soldiers and officers in the army were not averse to tattoos, which had a strong sense of team identity.

As Zhao Jizhong's core troops set off, other armies also departed from various gaps, riding sleds with spare warhorses, draft horses, spare equipment, fuel, and fodder.

On the south bank of the Yellow River, on the snow-covered plains, more than 20,000 people rode in nearly 10,000 sleds, rolling eastward like a black tide.

The north wind howled, and after traveling less than twenty miles, the vanguard scouts began to engage in battle with the Xianbei scouts.

(End of this chapter)