Extreme Frontier Army: Starting from the bottom ranks, conquering the chaotic world

"You...you're shameless!"

Ji Ruxue was so angry that her mouth was half open.

The noble and holy Princess of the Great Yan was now surrounded by a group of low-ranking soldiers who reeked of urine, sweat, and blood.

dilemma.

Her prized political acumen and the imperial strategies she had learned since childhood were utterly laughable in the face of Lu Jing's shameless, thuggish tactics.

Lu Jing wiped the mud off his face, revealing his clear and sharp eyes.

He grinned at Ji Ruxue and lowered his voice.

"As long as I lack morals, you can't hold me hostage."

He stood up from the mud puddle, patted the mud off his buttocks, and casually slung the steel saber over his shoulder.

"No one leaves the Eighth Battalion until they return the embezzled grain and provisions!"

"Deliver the grain!"

"Spit it out!"

The soldiers on the perimeter joined in the commotion, their shouts growing louder and louder.

Even the supervisory team maintaining order in the distance looked over, only to see that it was the Eighth Battalion, this group of most reckless lunatics, causing trouble.

The members of the supervisory team turned their heads in unison, pretending to admire the scenery.

Ji Ruxue gritted her teeth.

She knew that Lu Jing was blackmailing her.

Blatant extortion in front of hundreds of people.

But she had no choice.

If a mutiny were to break out among the soldiers, she, the princess traveling incognito, would die in an "accidental" riot.

At that point, there won't even be anyone to collect the bodies.

What's worse, Lu Jing's words, "When Zhao Baihu came to check the rooms, she was so scared that she didn't dare to fart," have completely shattered her last bit of authority.

In the eyes of these soldiers, she was not some princess of the Great Yan Dynasty.

She was just a noblewoman from the capital who had fallen into a quagmire.

There's something good about a person who's influential.

"it is good."

Ji Ruxue closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the air mixed with a sour, foul smell.

When he opened his eyes again, the murderous intent in them had been forcibly suppressed to its deepest point.

"Sergeant Lu protected Your Majesty last night... He was meritorious."

"I... will reward you."

Ji Ruxue turned her head and looked at the head guard beside her.

"Take out twenty catties of the dry rations we brought with us and give them to him."

The head guard looked up.

"Your Highness! That's our last ration! If we give it to him, what will we eat!"

"Give it to him! That's an order!"

Ji Ruxue's voice rose, filled with determination.

The head guard gritted his teeth, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

He glared at Lu Jing fiercely before sheathing his sword.

He turned around and pulled out two heavy cloth bags from the inner compartment of his luggage.

Inside, it was filled with tightly packed roasted refined wheat and air-dried meat jerky.

The food was not much, but it consisted of high-quality rations that only senior generals of the Northern Xuan Army could afford.

Two bags of grain were thrown into the muddy water at Lu Jing's feet.

Lu Jing was a sergeant who was complaining about being robbed just a second ago.

The next second, he bent down and quickly picked up the two bags of grain.

I weighed the weight.

"Twenty catties, not an ounce more, not an ounce less."

He grinned, looking like a shrewd businessman who had just closed a big deal.

"Thank you for your generous gift, Your Highness. Your Highness is truly a blessing to the Great Yan and a source of pride for the border troops."

He turned around and waved to the soldiers around him.

"Alright, alright, everyone disperse! It was all a misunderstanding. The distinguished guests from the capital not only didn't rob us, but they also showed compassion for our hard work guarding the border and specially rewarded us with fine rations!"

"Everyone line up for some porridge! Anyone who dares to cause trouble here, I'll be the first to beat them up!"

The soldiers swallowed hard as they looked at the two bulging grain sacks in Lu Jing's hands.

But Lu Jing's ruthlessness in killing people last night is still vivid in my mind.

This kid is not only a mad dog, but also a living devil who can extort grain from nobles in the capital.

We can't afford to mess with them.

The crowd slowly dispersed, grumbling as they went back to queue.

A potential upheaval was averted by Lu Jing in the most shameless way, which also solidified his "mad dog" persona.

Ji Ruxue narrowed her eyes as she watched Lu Jing turn and walk towards the camp with the grain in his arms.

But she cannot leave the Eighth Battalion for the time being.

Going out now, without any tokens or supplies, means you could be assassinated at any moment by a traitor lurking within the Northern Xuan Army.

Zhao He was forced to retreat in public by Lu Jing last night, and he dares not openly take action against this camp for a short period of time.

Although Lu Jing was a rogue, a scoundrel, and full of rebellious spirit...

But he had fighting power, territory, and the nascent sense of awe among these soldiers.

This is the most disgusting, yet most secure, piece of rotten wood she can grasp right now.

The most dangerous place is often the safest.

She wanted to stay in this stinking soldiers' camp and watch this bastard named Lu Jing struggle in this hellish place.

Given the chance...

She vowed to skin the mad dog herself and make it into a foot pad.

Lu Jing carried twenty catties of fine grain and walked happily toward his dilapidated tent.

This extortion scheme was incredibly lucrative.

Twenty catties of fine grain, in a place like a soldiers' camp, is enough to buy several lives.

As I passed by the kitchen, I happened to see Skinny Monkey peeking half his head out of the tent, his eyes fixed on the grain sacks.

"Brother Jing, some dried meat?"

Lu Jing took a small piece of dried meat from the bag and casually tossed it over.

The skinny monkey caught it in one gulp, like a starving dog. He took a bite and almost burst into tears.

"Damn it, it's salty!"

Lu Jing tore off a small piece himself, put it in his mouth, and chewed it a couple of times.

It's so hard it hurts your teeth.

But once the aroma of meat and the taste of salt blend together, it's truly the most delightful experience.

Suddenly, the sound of wheels rolling over frozen mud came from the other end of the drill ground.

Lu Jing turned his head to look.

A dozen or so soldiers from the supervisory team were escorting two grain transport carts out from behind the Eighth Battalion's mess hall.

The cart was supposed to be loaded with brown rice and beans for today and tomorrow, but now only a few empty sacks are hanging by the cart shaft.

Several cooks stood by, their faces ashen, not daring to utter a single word.

Two soldiers tried to stop them, but were whipped into the mud by the supervising officer.

"Commander's Order from the Main Camp!"

The leader of the supervisory team was shouting at the top of his lungs.

"The Eighth Battalion's defense was inadequate last night, suffering over half its casualties; it is no longer a vanguard battalion. By order of Gu Changfeng's staff, the remaining supply wagons of the Eighth Battalion are temporarily seized and will be redeployed!"

"Anyone who dares to obstruct this will be treated as a rioter and executed on the spot!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers who had just dispersed looked at each other in bewilderment.

The thin porridge in the broken bowl was still steaming.

But that little bit of cornmeal porridge mixed with sand wouldn't even last half a meal.

A blind veteran stood in the crowd and muttered a curse under his breath.

"That venomous snake Gu Changfeng has long wanted to devour the Eighth Battalion's territory."

Someone nearby asked in a low voice, "Who is Gu Changfeng?"

"The top advisor in the commander's tent."

The veteran spat out a mouthful of saliva.

"That dog Zhao He suffered a loss last night, and before dawn he sent a report on the battle losses to the main camp, saying that the Eighth Battalion had suffered heavy losses and was no longer capable of leading the vanguard. Gu Changfeng took advantage of this and cut off our supplies first."

"Without food, we won't even need it for three days, and we'll be in chaos."

Lu Jing stood still as the grain truck slowly passed by him.

Hundreds of soldiers, holding broken bowls, watched helplessly as their means of survival were taken away.

The crossbows in the hands of the supervising team had all been raised.

Lu Jing narrowed his eyes, turned around and stepped into his tattered tent.

It was very quiet inside the tent.

The skinny monkey huddled in the corner, his eyes glazed over, as if he had lost his soul.

Shen Qingqiu stood beside the straw mat, her lips pale.

Hearing Lu Jing enter, she turned her head.

Those beautiful eyes, which usually held a hint of wariness, were now filled with barely suppressed terror.

"You saw it?"

Lu Jing threw the grain sack on the ground and raised an eyebrow.

"Is the kitchen empty?"

Shen Qingqiu nodded and pointed to the other side of the training ground outside the tent.

"Grain trucks..."

Her voice sounded a little weak.

"The supervising team just relayed the command from the main camp. After returning to camp last night, Commander Zhao handed a report on the battle losses to Staff Officer Gu, saying that the Eighth Battalion has suffered more than half its casualties and has lost its qualification as the vanguard battalion."

A deep despair was evident in Shen Qingqiu's eyes.

"Gu Changfeng's staff ordered that all the remaining grain transport wagons of the Eighth Battalion, along with the last few bags of coarse rice in the mess hall, be taken away."

The smile on Lu Jing's face faded.

The entire camp ran out of food.

Outside Yanmen Pass, where heavy snow had blocked the gates and a bloody battle had just taken place.

Running out of food means that thousands of soldiers will have to turn into cannibalistic monsters over the next three days.

Lu Jing looked at the two bags of twenty jin of fine grain that he had just extorted from the ground.

This little bit isn't even enough to fill a tooth gap.

"Gu Changfeng?"

His eyes darkened, and he walked to the broken window of the tent, looking towards the direction of the main general's camp in the distance.

"This old bastard is trying to starve the entire Eighth Battalion into worms in a gu pot."