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

A rustling sound came from the darkness.

Dozens of soldiers from the Eighth Battalion emerged from behind the wall, the woodpile, and the dilapidated shed, with the blind old soldier leading the way.

"Corporal?"

He reached for the car and placed his hand on the sack.

"Real grain?"

The blind veteran pressed his face close to the burlap sack, as if afraid of touching the wrong thing, and then bit open the sack a little with his teeth.

A few golden roasted wheat grains rolled into the palm of my hand.

The one eye turned red.

"Damn, it's real grain! Brothers, it's really high-quality wheat!"

A group of soldiers, their faces pale with hunger, surrounded them from behind.

Someone reached out to grab it.

Lu Jing slashed his sword horizontally, striking the man's hand.

"Don't you want your hand anymore?"

The soldier immediately retreated.

Lu Jing glanced at the crowd.

"We'll switch people and push the cart through the secret passage. Anyone who dares to steal a bite on the way will have their hand chopped off. Back at camp, we'll cook everyone together; no one will starve."

The blind veteran nodded, his voice choked with emotion.

"Listen to the sergeant! Anyone who dares to break the rules, I'll be the first to beat them up!"

Several young soldiers took over the handlebars, and the wheels began to roll again.

Shen Qingqiu followed beside Lu Jing, lowering her voice.

"The pursuers aren't coming?"

Lu Jing glanced back in the direction of the quartermaster department.

"They dare not pursue them now."

Why?

"That pot in the yard is worth more than this cartload of grain."

Shen Qingqiu fell silent.

After a while, she spoke softly.

"What do you plan to do with that thing?"

Lu Jing touched the thing wrapped in rag in his arms.

"Let the men of the Eighth Battalion open their eyes and see who fed the dogs the food they've been starving for the past three days."

.......

Half an hour later, torches crackled and popped in the quartermaster's courtyard.

Gu Changfeng stood in front of the cellar door, wearing a blue robe with a white fox fur cloak over it, and only half of the feather fan remained in his hand.

The cellar is empty.

The batch of fine grains intended for the storefront was gone, leaving only tire tracks and bloodstains on the ground.

The guard captain knelt in the snow, half his face swollen, and blood was still seeping from under his nails.

Gu Changfeng's gaze shifted to the edge of the black pot. The lid was off, and the meat inside was turned inside out by the knife sheath. A piece of grayish-white pork skin was draped over the edge of the pot, with half of a tattooed character remaining on it.

Snapped.

The fan ribs broke in his palm.

The armored soldiers all knelt down.

Gu Changfeng looked down at the guard captain.

"Minesweeping?"

The guard captain's shoulders twitched.

"Sir, I didn't believe it, I really didn't believe it. I ordered them to go up there, but as soon as they saw the Thunderclap Bomb, they all scattered. I couldn't stop them."

Gu Changfeng squatted down and gently tapped half of the fan bone on the guard captain's helmet.

"Several hundred people were forced out of the gate by a man pushing a cart."

The guard captain's lips were pale.

"The lightning has caught fire, and the flames have reached the shell. The brothers dare not gamble."

"So you don't dare to gamble either."

The guard captain kowtowed violently.

"Sir, spare my life! I'll take men and give chase right away! Those hungry devils from the Eighth Battalion can't have gone far; I'll go and retrieve the grain right now!"

Gu Changfeng closed his eyes.

The courtyard was even quieter.

The guard captain pressed his forehead against the snow, not daring to lift it.

Gu Changfeng looked at the tire tracks on the ground.

"Should we pursue it now?"

The guard stepped forward.

"Sir, if we deploy cavalry immediately, we might be able to block the alleyway."

Gu Changfeng raised his eyes, and his personal guards immediately lowered their heads.

"The Eighth Battalion has been without food for three days. I'm waiting for them to fall into chaos. If they do, I can justify massacring the entire battalion and settle the score."

The fan ribs tapped lightly against the palm.

"Now that they have the food, they won't panic. If we chase after them and corner them in the alleys, hundreds of starving soldiers will band together and fight desperately, and the news will spread."

The guard captain's voice trembled.

"Then...the matter in the pot..."

Gu Changfeng's gaze returned to the edge of the pot.

"He saw it."

No one dared to speak.

"Perhaps it's more than just seeing."

The guard spoke in a low voice.

"Sir, shall we silence you?"

Gu Changfeng gave a forced smile.

"Of course we should silence them. But first I need to know who led the operation, how many they saw, and what they're still holding onto."

The guard captain looked up.

"Sir, I remember the man's face. He was impersonating a patrol officer, had a wound on his waist, and was accompanied by a woman."

Gu Changfeng nodded.

"check."

"yes!"

"Before dawn, seal off the three roads outside the Eighth Battalion. Move the archers from the Third Battalion over there, and have the shield carts block the roads first, but don't rush to shoot."

The guards were stunned.

"Sir, shouldn't we surround and kill them immediately?"

Gu Changfeng used his broken fan to lift the piece of food from the edge of the pot, then let go and let it fall back down.

"Killing people is easy. Shutting them up is hard."

Gu Changfeng turned and walked out of the courtyard, his cloak sweeping across the snow.

"If they were willing to hand over the grain and swallow their words, they could live another half a day."

"If they refuse, let the Eighth Battalion, men and their bowls, rot on the drill ground."

......

The next day at noon, at the Eighth Battalion's drill ground.

Several hundred soldiers, each holding a broken bowl, formed a large circle.

Everyone was focused on the three large pots in the center of the circle.

The firewood burned brightly, the water in the pot boiled, and white steam rose.

Lu Jing sat on a broken armchair, his saber resting on his lap, a rough porcelain teacup beside him.

The side of his waist was wrapped in cloth, and blood seeped out again.

Outside the distant camp wall, shield carts blocked three roads, archers were lined up, and the supervising soldiers cautiously peeked out, not daring to approach.

A blind old soldier came along carrying a burlap sack. He untied the sack, revealing a golden expanse of roasted wheat.

"Sergeant, the water's boiling."

Lu Jing stood up.

Several soldiers made gurgling sounds in their throats.

Someone spoke in a low voice.

"It's really raining?"

The people around immediately started cursing.

"Nonsense, you'd eat it raw if you didn't cook it?"

"I'm afraid I'm dreaming."

"Even in your dreams you can hold the bowl steady; if you spill it, I'll lick the soles of your shoes."

A few dry laughs came from the crowd, but then it quickly fell silent again.

Lu Jing grabbed a handful of refined wheat and weighed it in his palm.

Someone from the supervisory team shouted in the distance.

"Eighth Battalion, listen to my orders! Taking military rations without authorization is a capital offense! Put down your pots and pans immediately and await Mr. Gu's judgment!"

"Lu Jing! If you dare to cook this grain, you're committing rebellion!"

Lu Jing raised his eyes.

"I'm starving to death, and you're still accusing me?"

A few low curses rang out in the training ground.

"Damn it, they starved us for three days, and now they're thinking about military law."

"They have meat in their pots every day, while we don't even have bran."

"Quiet down, listen to the corporal."

Someone from the supervisory team was shouting at the top of their lungs.

"Mr. Gu has ordered that the Eighth Battalion must not gather in groups or cook!"

Lu Jingyi poured the fried wheat into the boiling water.

As the wheat grains were added to the pot, their aroma spread with the rising steam.

Hundreds of soldiers simultaneously pushed forward one step.

Lu Jing tapped the edge of the pot with the back of his knife.

"Stop right there!"

The crowd stopped immediately.

Lu Jing looked at the shield vehicle in the distance, his voice not loud, but everyone in the training ground could hear him.

"This pot of rice today will not only fill you up."

He paused for a moment.

"We still need to understand what we're eating."

The blind veteran frowned.

"Sergeant, what does 'understand thoroughly' mean?"

Lu Jing took out a tattered cloth bag from his pocket.

Shen Qingqiu stood at the edge of the crowd, saw the cloth bag, and gritted her teeth.

Lu Jing untied the rag, revealing a piece of frozen meat.

The meat was covered in grayish-white fat, and a piece of bluish-black skin was stuck to the cross-section.

The skin was curled up, with the boiled character "囚" (prisoner) tattooed on it.

The drill ground fell completely silent.

A young soldier holding a bowl stared at the word, his lips trembling.

"What...what is this?"

The blind old soldier took half a step forward, his one eye fixed on the edge of the pot.

"The character '囚'?"

Someone in the crowd gasped.

"The tattoos on the prisoners?"

"Meat specially supplied by the quartermaster?"

"Shut up......"

Lu Jing draped the object over the edge of the pot, the tattered cloth hanging down, and when the wind blew, it revealed more of the bluish-black skin marks.

Suddenly, the supervisory team in the distance panicked, and some people turned around and ran away.

Lu Jing raised his saber, pressing the back of the blade against the edge of the pot.

"Look carefully."

Lu Jing stared at the hundreds of faces sunken from hunger and spoke slowly, word by word.

"You were starving for three days, while they ate meat."

Lu Jing then looked at the piece of meat with the character "囚" (prisoner) on it.

"Now tell me, do you still want to know the truth about this meal?"