Wei and Jin did not submit to Zhou

Chapter 107 Rotten Fish and Shrimp
In a valley between Baishuiguan and Hanshou, Shi Shouxin ordered his army to set up camp.

We'll rest for the night and set off tomorrow morning. Based on our pace, we should arrive at the pass of Hanshou by evening.

Tomorrow he would meet Zhong Hui, and Shi Shouxin felt somewhat uneasy. These old foxes of the late Three Kingdoms period were full of wicked schemes. Especially Zhong Hui, who was a restless and treacherous man.

Having already entered Sichuan, Zhong Hui, this ticking time bomb, has begun his countdown.

Just thinking about it gives one a headache. Shi Shouxin dared not be careless at all, let alone be complacent.

Late at night, none of the army's generals were asleep. They were summoned to the commander's tent for a meeting by Shi Shouxin. He sat upright at his desk, his face solemn and unsmiling.

Half an hour later, Meng Guan, accompanied by a hundred personal guards, patrolled the camp while simultaneously beating drums and sounding gongs.

Upon seeing red lanterns hanging on a small hill outside the camp, they immediately took action, using the lanterns as a signal.

Shi Shouxin looked at Meng Guan and gave him instructions.

"Yes, sir. I will carry it out immediately."

Meng Guan immediately got up and left the military tent, very decisively, without raising any questions.

However, his lack of questioning didn't mean others had no thoughts. Ma Long looked at Shi Shouxin and asked, "General Shi, what's the point of beating the drums and sounding the gongs at the same time? Won't the camp be in chaos?"

"I can't say what the significance is yet, but you must immediately select one hundred elite soldiers to collect all the weapons from each unit, pile them up, and guard them at the camp gate. Go now!"
Guard the weapons and do not allow anyone to take them away; never leave your post without authorization.

Shi Shouxin continued to issue orders.

Malone was somewhat confused, but he still accepted the order and left.

"Xi Zuo, select one hundred men to stand by. When the gongs and drums sound, if any soldiers leave their tents, arrest them and keep them under guard. Afterwards, send them to the main camp gate for my judgment."

Shi Shouxin gave his orders methodically, appearing very calm and unhurried.

"Yes, sir. I will carry it out immediately."

Xi Zuo also left.

Now, besides Shi Shouxin himself, only Zhao Lun, Li Liang, and Liu Qin's deputy general Wang Jian remain in the military tent.

Shi Shouxin looked at Zhao Lun and said, "You also take a hundred men and wait in the military tent. As soon as you hear the gongs and drums, immediately leave the tent, go to the place where the weapons are stored, and take the weapons. Then, go from tent to tent and count the soldiers, leading them to the main camp gate to form ranks. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir! I will go and prepare immediately."

Zhao Lun didn't say anything and simply accepted the order and left.

"Your unit is seasoned in battle. Now lead your troops out of the camp and guard the main camp."

If the camp breaks out in half an hour, your soldiers should take sticks and clubs to quell the unrest; just keep fighting.

Shi Shouxin gave instructions to Wang Jian.

"Supervisor Shi, you're conducting military exercises without prior notice. Forgive my bluntness, but I fear it will cause an uproar in the camp."

Wang Jian looked at Shi Shouxin and said with a worried expression.

"It's better to break up the camp now than to break up it when the enemy launches a night attack with open fire. No need for further explanation, just go and do it."

Shi Shouxin waved his hand lightly, seemingly not caring much.

Wang Jian sighed softly. Such incidents were commonplace for the border troops. But these local strongmen and hereditary soldiers of Hanzhong had never witnessed anything like this. It was hard to say what trouble might arise tonight.

Well, it's only right for new recruits to suffer a bit; everyone makes a fool of themselves sometimes.

"That's fine too. How about this, I'll send someone to protect the commander's tent to prevent any accidents from happening."

Wang Jian bowed to Shi Shouxin.

"That's not necessary. I'll go wait outside the main camp now and clear out the central command tent. Then I'll see if any mutinous soldiers rush in and cause trouble."

You don't need to send troops to protect me. Just pick a few clever soldiers to wait inside the command tent. Whoever rushes in, arrest them.

Shi Shouxin smiled mysteriously.

Upon hearing this, Wang Jian was stunned, and then a look of bewilderment appeared on his face.

"Go then. Doesn't General Wang understand the principle that jade must be carved to become a work of art?"

Shi Shouxin waved his hand, signaling Wang Jian to hurry up and get things done.

Before long, he led his personal guards, numbering several dozen, along with his four concubines, Xi, Li, Zhao, and Yang, to rest on a mound outside the camp.

There were many mosquitoes on the summer night. The short Zhao Xiangfeng swatted at the mosquitoes while complaining about something, pacing back and forth restlessly as if he had ADHD.

Shi Shouxin glanced at her and thought the child was quite interesting.

No, it should be said that the child has a keen intuition and subconsciously senses that something bad might happen.

At that moment, Li Qiu was holding his arm, asking in a low voice why he had come here so late at night to feed the mosquitoes. Xi Chun was telling jokes with Yang Ying, seemingly not worried at all about what was about to happen.

Time passed little by little, and the hourglass, which kept the timer, had less and less sand at the top.

After all the sand had leaked out, the scheduled half hour had passed.

"Hang up the lanterns, the martial arts demonstration begins!"

Shi Shouxin gave instructions to his personal guards. On the hill outside the camp, a huge red lantern was held up by a bamboo pole. Its scarlet light was clearly visible to all the soldiers patrolling the camp at night.

Just then, Meng Guan appeared in the passageway of the camp with a group of men. Behind him were soldiers carrying drums and gongs.

dong dong dong!dong dong dong!
Dang, Dang, Dang! Dang, Dang, Dang!
Like a demonic cacophony, the sound of gongs and drums resounded from within the procession, their sharp yet muffled notes piercing the silent night sky.

Shouts and clamor came from every military tent, and the entire camp became noisy and bustling in a very short time, just like cold water suddenly boiling!
Soon, some people rushed out of the tent to see what had happened.

One after another, the aisle was packed with people, all of whom were confused about what was going on.

"oops!"

Someone shouted, and the sound seemed to be a stimulating signal. Upon hearing the shout, the soldiers began to run around haphazardly, trying to rush out of the camp.

In the blink of an eye, the entire camp was filled with soldiers running around in a frenzy. Some of them didn't even have time to put on their robes and were only wearing trousers.

Xi Zuo and Zhao Lun's men were trying to maintain order and arrest people in the camp, but there were just too many people running around, and they couldn't stop them at all. Soon, they led their men to the camp gate to protect themselves, and they couldn't control the crowd anymore.

At this moment, Ma Long was leading a hundred men to guard the army's weapons. Seeing that the camp was in chaos, he wanted to go to the rescue but was afraid that the weapons would be seized by the rioting soldiers.

Anxious, he sent someone to inform Shi Shouxin.

On a hill not far away, Shi Shouxin looked at the chaotic camp and couldn't help but sigh.

When Jiang Wei launched a night attack on Zhong Hui's camp, the Wei army responded calmly. All soldiers stayed in their tents and were not allowed to go out. Elite troops were assigned to patrol the camp and organize counterattacks.

If you see anyone wandering around the camp, shoot them on sight, no matter who they are!

Tonight's situation is a result of the local tyrant Shibing of Hanzhong lacking training and experience in dealing with such situations. By beating gongs and drums in the middle of the night, he managed to set his camp in chaos.

Only through countless battles can an elite army be forged.

Having a loyal and victorious team is clearly not something that can be achieved overnight.

This goal can be described as a long and arduous task.

At this moment, the situation inside the camp changed again. Wang Jian had already led his troops into the camp from outside. His soldiers, armed with clubs, attacked anyone running around with their clubs, beating them indiscriminately.

The noisy camp was soon filled with cries of pain. Only a few people had been beaten; most of them either retreated back into their tents or stood to the side, too afraid to move, trembling with fear.

Due to the strong intervention of the external forces, the camp quickly fell silent, with only faint groans of pain echoing in the air from time to time.

The military exercise revealed the true nature of the army, leaving Shi Shouxin with a helpless sigh. He instructed his personal guards, "Return to the main camp and treat those who were injured."

He was somewhat disappointed; the loyalty of this army could probably still be guaranteed.

The four powerful families maintained a balance of power among themselves and strengthened their bonds of trust through marriage. Furthermore, the local tycoons of Hanzhong were unlikely to be accepted by the elites of Wei.

They follow me; it's the only ladder to advancement, an environment fertile ground for betrayal.

However, a loyal army and a battle-hardened army are two different things. A unit that panics at the slightest sign of trouble in the middle of the night has questionable combat capabilities.

Shi Shouxin returned to his command tent and summoned all the generals for a meeting. Except for Wang Jian, everyone else's face was filled with dejection. They had not expected that this army was so weak, truly unable to withstand the slightest disturbance.

"This is a manual I wrote about night duty after encampment. You should all take a look at it and then explain it to the soldiers in the army."

Having learned their lesson tonight, I'm sure they'll remember it quickly.

Shi Shouxin handed a piece of paper to Meng Guan, who was closest to him, and then asked them to pass it around and read it.

The atmosphere inside the command tent was somewhat heavy.

Shi Shouxin had actually made arrangements beforehand. If the camp wasn't in too much chaos, those arrangements would allow the restless soldiers to gradually calm down.

However, when everyone was startled and tried to rush out of the camp, the previous arrangements were useless. Only Wang Jian could lead two thousand old soldiers armed with clubs into the camp to forcibly quell the situation.

This is a safe marching route, and generally speaking, nothing will go wrong, so tonight's exercise can only be considered a lesson.

But what if this marching route is unsafe? What if we're preparing to launch a surprise attack on the enemy? What if there really is an enemy night raid tonight?

It might not be so easy to deal with then.

"Add one more to those ten military laws: When camping at night, no one may leave the tent without a military order."

Shi Shouxin looked around at his generals and said.

Meng Guan stood calmly to the side; he had known about this rule for a long time. But Xi Zuo and the others all nodded in agreement, completely convinced.

If it weren't for tonight's test, they would never have taken this matter to heart; they would probably have just heard about it and let it go in one ear and out the other.

However, after tonight, the harsh reality taught them a lesson, as well as the officers and soldiers in the army. I believe they will not joke with their lives.

Although this army is not yet up to par, the effect of tonight's military exercise should be quite obvious, as can be seen from the expressions on the faces of Xi Zuo and others.

This was finally good news. Shi Shouxin waved his hand gently and said, "It's late at night, and you're all tired. Go back and rest. Tomorrow we'll break camp and set up camp. We must reach the city gate of Hanshou before dark."

After all the generals had left, Shi Shouxin lay down on the cushion, a gruesome scene of blood and flames flashing through his mind.

"These lousy bums, if they don't train properly, they'll just be throwing their lives away if they go to Chengdu."

He couldn't help but sigh. He couldn't be idle on this journey; he had to give these soldiers a good beating and loosen their bones.

(End of this chapter)