Tiger Guards

Chapter 531 Blue Sky and White Snow
Snowflakes fluttered as the sled-chariot convoy, which had ventured out to plunder in the wind and snow, escorted prisoners, fodder, grain, and herds of animals back to the newly built temporary camp.

They were filled with passion and a murderous aura.

The Han Chinese civilians and their descendants who were rescued from the camp were wearing new leather clothes, many of which were stained with blood. Although they were called new, they were actually clothes that had been used for many years, and the dirt could be picked off with fingernails.

But for these people who had been slaves for more than ten or twenty years, these were newly acquired clothes, clothes that were extremely rare in their lives.

They distinguish themselves by either wearing purple or red headbands or scarlet and purple cloth strips on their arms.

At this moment, they seemed to feel no fatigue, and began to screen the herds of beasts that were being escorted into the camp.

Apart from ewes, ewes, and rams, all other sheep were selected and slaughtered on the spot.

The sheepskins were piled up on the sleds, and once they were nearly full, they were transported to various tents and laid out to protect the weak points of the tents from the wind, or distributed to the soldiers inside the tents as padding.

The Xianbei prisoners, under the supervision of officials and soldiers, shoveled away the snow or dug out the river to transport ice water and ice blocks, and reinforced the defensive fortifications on the southwest side of the camp.

After summarizing the experience of several battles, the ice and snow defense fortifications are no longer designed to be tall or long.

The new defensive fortifications consisted mainly of low ice spikes, which served a simple purpose: to obstruct the charging Xianbei cavalry and prevent them from moving at high speed and in an orderly manner.

The well-trained battlefield movement rules of the Xianbei knights meant that upon colliding with fortified areas, they would inevitably slow down and be interrupted.

Every now and then, there were Xianbei slaves who could not bear the labor and attempted to rebel, as well as those who died from exhaustion or were directly whipped to death by the Xianbei overseers.

The dead Xianbei people were buried in the ice cones, which became part of the defensive fortifications.

Winter supplies were precious, and some of the Xianbei volunteers who had made military achievements still remembered these dead Xianbei prisoners of war.

When the ice and snow melt and everything comes back to life next year, people should be sent here to bury these corpses. It would be best to strip them of their clothes and distribute them to the other slaves.

Otherwise, the thousands or tens of thousands of maggots hatched from fly eggs would devour everything, leaving only some bones behind.

That's how it is on the grasslands; everything except bones, swords, armor, and wood will be eaten clean by maggots.

Even tanned and lacquered leather armor cannot escape the gnaws of maggots.

In addition to sheep, injured or weak cattle and horses are also subject to slaughter.

As night fell, Zhao Ji's personal guards brought him a lot of mutton fat. Not only Zhao Ji's camp, but also all the other tents had bright mutton fat lamps.

The mutton fat coated the torch, making it burn brightly and vigorously. Apart from some smoke, it was an excellent tool for lighting and heating.

The freshly rendered mutton fat was also distributed to the officers and soldiers, who continued to apply it to their hands, legs, feet, face, and neck.

As for mutton and similar products, they are still supplied in limited quantities.

The concern is that many people might experience acclimatization issues, and eating too much mutton at once could make them sick and affect their ability to fight the disease.

This is also why mutton fat is removed separately; the less fat in mutton, the easier it is to digest after it is distributed.

In this cold weather, after a long journey and feeling exhausted, eating too much mutton and mutton fat, and then drinking some ice water... will make your stomach explode.

As dawn broke, more and more teams returned, and the herds of animals amassed in the camp, numbering no less than 100,000, not counting the original warhorses.

Zhao Ji emerged from his meditative state, picked up a bamboo slip, and found the food recipes he had prepared before his cultivation.

Eating more doesn't necessarily mean being more efficient.

A balanced diet of meat and vegetables is essential; the more comprehensive the nutrition, the better.

Eating mutton to feel full is not as effective as a balanced diet of five parts grains, two parts vegetables, and three parts fatty meat.

Furthermore, the food should not have a strong odor, otherwise, when one enters a state of concentration and mental clarity, one's senses will be heightened, which may affect emotional stability.

Zhao Ji casually tossed the meaningless bamboo slip into the fire pit, got up and walked out of the barracks. He saw that the sky was a clear blue with no clouds, and about two or three inches of fresh snow had fallen in the camp.

Much fresh snow had accumulated on the cart shafts, tent tops, and flagpole peaks. Zhao Ji looked up at the three great banners—the White Tiger, the Golden Eagle, and the Male Deer—in front of the barracks, gazing at the golden mythical beasts cast on the flagpoles.

Some military officers were waiting in a tent on one side. When they saw that Zhao Ji had woken up, they quickly came to see him.

Li Ying stood at the front, cupping his hands in greeting: "Grand Marshal." "How will Linwo City respond?"

Zhao Ji turned to observe these people. Among them, Zhu Chenglong, the commander of the Xiongnu Yicong, was not wearing a helmet. His bald head was steaming, and he was holding a sesame cake in his hand.

These people were generally full of energy, but some had slight frostbite marks on their faces and dark circles under their eyes, yet their eyes were bright, as if flames were burning in their pupils.

In Zhao Ji's eyes, these people were like this.

However, in the eyes of ordinary officers, prisoners of war, newly recruited laborers, and auxiliary soldiers, these mid- to high-ranking military officers all appeared imposing and domineering.

When Zhao Ji asked the question, Li Ying drew an arrow from his waist, held it in his palm, and showed it to Zhao Ji: "Grand Marshal, this is Linwo City's response."

This was a brown-feathered arrow with a bronze arrowhead. Zhao Ji reached out, picked it up, and weighed it in his hand: "The garrison responded to my surrender offer with an arrow?"

"Yes, the garrison organized several squads of elite cavalry at night to attack our grain requisition team, but they were all repelled."

Li Ying went to look at Zhu Chenglong. Zhu Chenglong had just finished eating the wheat cake, swallowed hard, and stepped forward to bow: "Yes, fifty-two men died in battle under my command, but we gained over a hundred."

"Since they refuse to surrender, are their suicide soldiers even capable of fighting again?"

"I am willing to go through fire and water for the Grand Marshal!"

Li Ying cupped his hands and called out loudly. Several military officers belonging to the daredevil corps also stepped forward. Gao Yanglong stood behind Li Ying, his figure as tall as a tower, but Gao Yanglong's face was red from the cold, looking like it was cracked and sore.

Some people are not tolerant of the cold, and this cannot be avoided simply by taking precautions against the cold.

Zhao Ji nodded: "Continue to rest and reorganize. After collecting the surrounding timber, build more siege weapons. We have plenty of time, so let's play with them slowly."

"Here."

Li Ying cupped his hands and said, "During the rest and reorganization period of the Daredevil Battalion, we should focus on training so that they can obey strict orders."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ji looked up at the azure, pristine sky and said, "Such fine weather is perfect for a battle between two armies. For a man to die under such a blue sky, lying on the pure white snow, would not be so unromantic."

Li Yingqiang resisted the urge to ask questions and listened patiently.

He knew very well why the son of the Dou family was killed. It wasn't that the Grand Marshal didn't respect talented people, but that the shogunate's foundation was expanding, and in many cases, status mattered.

As long as Li Ying remains the commander of the daredevil troops, his original sins have not been cleansed, and he does not have full political rights.

Li Yingben was a seed cultivated within his family in this generation, focused on his official career.

However, due to the chaos of the times, his cousin Li Jue rapidly expanded his power, which disrupted the power dynamics within the Li family.

In fact, as long as Dong Zhuo was alive, Li Ying's future potential would not have been inferior to Li Jue's, given that he was a protégé and former subordinate of Zhao Wen's brothers.

Li Jue and Li Ying are somewhat similar to Cao Ren and Cao Chun; they had different career paths and different personalities.

Li Ying, who came from a noble family, was born to be law-abiding.

However, circumstances are unpredictable, and he became the commander of the strongest suicide squad and vanguard force in the world.

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Ji made a decision: "Let them rest, eat and drink well, sleep well, and then fight a good battle."

"Here."

Li Yingying accepted the order, then bowed deeply again with hands clasped, displaying impeccable manners.

At this moment, the scout captain, with two flags slung over his back, rode alone into the central camp gate, dismounted, and galloped towards Zhao Ji, shouting, "Report!"

Zhao Ji turned to look at him. The scout captains were all former personal guards of his. The man took a few steps forward, slipped, and looked up at Zhao Ji: "Grand Marshal, the Xianbei of Heyin have come out in full force, and their vanguard is already thirty miles away!"

"Take him to rest."

Zhao Ji spoke gently, then turned to look at the officers and soldiers: "The entire army is ready for battle!"

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)