In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

Setting off in six hours is a huge challenge for all the escort personnel!

Li Yuanchang was also in a great hurry, and quickly assembled his four hundred men, one hundred of whom were his personal guards who had come with him, and the other three hundred were logistics soldiers from Lantian County.

Although they were both soldiers of the same garrison, they were in charge of logistics and their equipment was inferior. Unless the front-line troops were exhausted, these people would not go to the front line and were essentially "substitutes".

As the crowd gathered, two tall, strong, dark-skinned men, resembling calves, emerged from the group of three hundred people.

At first glance, it's clear that this isn't someone who could be trained as a regular reserve.

"First Brigade Commander, Yuchi Baoqi, greets Your Excellency!"

"Second Squadron Commander Cheng Chuliang greets Your Excellency, Captain!"

"Third Brigade Commander, Tu Sitong, greets the Captain!"

The three bowed, and Yuchi Baoqi and Cheng Chuliang couldn't stop smiling.

Li Yuanchang smiled knowingly and said that he hadn't seen the two of them before and thought they had been assigned to another captain's command.

But he underestimated Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong.

However, this is hardly considered taking advantage of connections. Escorting is hard work, it's difficult to earn military merit, and it's risky. Moreover, he's just a brigade commander, and a reserve logistics personnel.

If there's really going to be some good treatment, it's usually directed towards the commander-in-chief's camp.

When the news reached Li Shimin's ears, he would only think that the two were being harsh on their son and that it was purely for military training.

"very good!"

"Everyone's here, and there are still less than six hours left, so let's do it in five hours!"

"This shipment of grain and fodder totals 3,200 shi (a unit of dry measure), along with 700 livestock and various supplies and cooking utensils. The task is large and demanding, and there is no time to lose!"

"Act immediately!"

"yes!!"

At his command, a massive, dark-skinned escort team surged into the warehouse.

According to the conversion, more than 3,000 shi is equivalent to nearly 400,000 jin, and this is only the food rations for the soldiers of Lantian Prefecture on their way to Youzhou.

The food supplies that were actually needed to support the war effort were never transferred from Chang'an. The basic orders were issued and the supplies were allocated from dozens of states on the front lines.

With a shortage of horse-drawn carts, at least one-third of the grain had to be carried by laborers and escorting soldiers.

In just Lantian County, thousands of logistics personnel were mobilized. How many logistics personnel would be needed to support the entire army of over 100,000?

Indeed, in ancient large-scale military operations, the number of logistics personnel might have exceeded the number of soldiers.

Just coordinating everything is a huge hassle.

Li Yuanchang led four hundred men and eight hundred laborers, and was immediately overwhelmed with trouble!

He had truly witnessed it; compared to this expedition, the bandit suppression and rebellion quelling he had participated in were nothing at all.

The warehouse was already overcrowded and in complete chaos.

"quick!"

"Make way, make way!"

"What are they doing up there? Which battalion is that?"

"Get out of here!"

The large volume of supplies being shipped out and loaded onto trucks caused congestion among people and horse-drawn carriages!

Everyone wanted to get going as soon as possible, and with people crowding together, conflicts inevitably occurred, as everyone wanted to leave first.

"You son of a bitch, are your eyes in your ass? Didn't you see we got here first?!"

Even from a hundred meters away, Li Yuanchang could hear Cheng Chuliang's booming voice.

Seeing that a fight was about to break out, he quickly ran over.

boom!

Li Yuanchang blocked Cheng Chuliang's fist, which was as big as a sandbag. His whole body swayed; this guy was incredibly strong.

"Big brother..."

"In the military, you are addressed by your official title!" Li Yuanchang shouted.

"Yes, Captain!" Cheng Chuliang stiffened, sensing Li Yuanchang's murderous intent.

"What happened?"

"Captain, they cut in line!"

"Your Highness, we arrived first!" The two sides immediately started arguing, creating chaos, and Li Yuanchang couldn't even hear what they were saying.

But one of them was Gong Zi, the captain in charge of transporting supplies, who was the same person Cheng Chuliang had just wanted to beat up.

The brigade commander beat up the captain; Cheng Chuliang is a real tiger. On his very first day in the army, he wanted to fight his superior. That punch really landed, and Cheng Chuliang will be court-martialed.

But Li Yuanchang's face almost turned black.

"That's enough!"

"Cheng Chuliang, get to the back."

Cheng Chuliang glared at the other person defiantly, then walked away sullenly.

"Captain Gong, you go first."

"It was my fault, please forgive me."

Seeing that Li Yuanchang was being so polite, Gong Zi, though displeased with Cheng Chuliang, didn't say anything more: "Thank you, Your Highness!"

Soon, under Li Yuanchang's arrangement, the congestion at the scene was slightly relieved, and operations began.

Li Yuanchang found Cheng Chuliang on the stone slab in the corner.

"We're all from the same granary, so if we go to the battlefield, we'll die in the same pit. What's all this fuss about?"

"Brother, why are you siding with outsiders?" Cheng Chuliang said gruffly.

Li Yuanchang laughed in anger: "If I don't stop you, you'll be heading to jail!"

"You're just a brigade commander, and you're immediately demoted to a colonel. If you were made a general, wouldn't you be leading men to attack the commander-in-chief?!"

"How could you even think of that? If it weren't for Duke Lu's foresight, you would have been finished before you even set off!" he said irritably.

"Yes, Brother Cheng, the army is not your home. Military law is ruthless; it applies to everyone."

"Your Highness is doing this for your own good," Tusitong said as he approached.

He was of mixed Han and non-Han descent and did not come from a distinguished family, but he was the most reliable of the three brigade commanders under Li Yuanchang.

Cheng Chuliang, feeling guilty, asked, "Is it that serious?"

"What do you say?!" Li Yuanchang said curtly.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Cheng Chuliang smiled sheepishly and said, "Well... I was just anxious, wasn't I? If we don't set off within six hours, you'll get a beating, brother."

"You know that too!"

"Alright, stop talking nonsense and get up quickly, there's no time left." Li Yuanchang frowned.

Although Cheng Chuliang had a bit of a temper, he still listened to Li Yuanchang's every word.

"yes!!"

Although everyone was racing against time, Cangcao was an enclosed building with only four relatively narrow exits.

Due to the sudden urgency of the military situation, all the escort teams were piled up together, making it impossible to move quickly.

Large quantities of grain and fodder were loaded onto carts, but they couldn't be transported out. Not only could they not get out, but they were also taking up space, preventing the laborers behind them from even getting in.

"Brother, what should we do?"

"Damn it, those groups are veterans, they're too good at cutting in line!" Cheng Chuliang cursed.

When Li Yuanchang climbed to the top, he looked out and saw a dark mass of people, no less than a "rush hour".

He frowned and made a quick decision.

"Chu Liang, Bao Qi, just push this wall down!"

Did you push it?

The soldiers were astonished.

Li Yuanchang doesn't care whether it's appropriate or not; he never plays by the rules.

Cheng Chuliang and Yuchi Baoqi's eyes lit up – a job had come!

"yes!!"

The two men shouted loudly, without even calling out to anyone. They stood on the left and right like black demon gatekeepers, exerting their strength together, their muscles taut like rocks.

"ah!!"

The two roared, and the wall began to tremble, shaking off dust and even cracking!