Chapter 33 - Preparations Before the Suppression

Chapter 33 Preparations Before the Suppression

Xiahou Yong kept his word. In the afternoon, he helped Chen Zhiyuan to train the local soldiers.

From armor binding to wielding a weapon, Xiahou Yong had personally demonstrated and guided them. It could not be said that he was not serious.

On the second day, he brought his personal soldiers over. Each personal soldier was responsible for training 50 people. Only then did Xiahou Yong finally have the chance to take a break from his busy schedule.

“Brother Chen. To be honest, the main force to suppress the bandits should depend on these local soldiers that you recruited. Although these people have never been on the battlefield, their victory lies in their pure hearts. They will become a first-class strong army as long as they are well trained and have seen blood on the battlefield.”

Under the tree, Xiahou Yong looked at the local soldiers who were training. Finally, he could not help but complain to Chen Zhiyuan, “The garrison guards are really useless. The last commander took his pay for nothing and did not report any soldiers’ deaths or retirement to such an outrageous extent. I don’t understand why such a person could still be promoted…”

“Brother Xiahou, let it go. Some things are beyond our abilities. Say, the drought in the county is so severe, and the county governor still has the mood to send birthday gifts to the empress dowager. Only after being robbed did he send us to suppress the bandits. Who can the common people reason with?”

Chen Zhiyuan took over Xiahou Yong’s words and said while looking into the distance.

He wanted to plant a seed of dissatisfaction toward the imperial court in Xiahou Yong’s heart.

At that time, he wanted to stir up trouble so that he could gain the sympathy and approval of this sworn brother.

“Sigh! It’s fine if you don’t say it. Oh right, Brother Chen, the time needed to train is not short, and I don’t know how long it will take to suppress the bandits. If you don’t get money and food from the county magistrate, can you still hold on until the suppression ends?”

Xiahou Yong did not want to talk about this matter anymore, so he changed the topic and asked.

“Haha, Brother Xiahou, don’t worry. You’ll know once you come with me.”

Chen Zhiyuan got up and left. Xiahou Yong followed behind Chen Zhiyuan with doubt.

They came to the cellar.

Chen Zhiyuan opened the door of the barn. Xiahou Yong stuck his head in and was immediately stunned. Looking around, he saw that it was full of small hills made of potatoes, and there was a corner with stacked bags.

“The food here is enough for us to eat for three months. There are grains like wheat and rice in the bag over there. When the war comes, the soldiers will be provided with additional food. Now that the production is insufficient, we can only eat these.”

Chen Zhiyuan looked at the bag and explained it to Xiahou Yong.

“So many grains? What is rice? Is it different from the millet that I know?”

Xiahou Yong was shocked, but he turned into a curious baby and asked.

He had already eaten potatoes, which he had never seen before, and now he heard the word “rice” from Chen Zhiyuan.

“It is indeed different. You will know when you eat it. I only have so much for the time being.”

Chen Zhiyuan closed the cellar, but he still did not explain the origin of rice to Xiahou Yong.

After all, it was a time of drought, and there were no examples of rice fields being developed in this era. The explanation for the origin of rice was a problem.

Although he and Xiahou Yong were sworn brothers, they were not close enough for him to reveal his biggest secret to him.

“That’s good too. Brother Chen, I’m relieved to see that you have enough food and provisions. I’ll go and see how the local soldiers’ training is going.”

Xiahou Yong did not pursue the matter. After all, everyone had their secrets. Some things would make both of them even more awkward if they were to ask too much. As an

adult, he understood this point.

A month later, Chen Zhiyuan received the news from County Magistrate Liu Qingshan. The county governor could not wait any longer and ordered them to immediately send

out troops to suppress the bandits. He immediately called Xiahou Yong and Wang Shan to discuss this matter.

“Although training for a month is a little short, it’s not a problem to send out troops now. If we go and suppress the bandits, it doesn’t mean that we have to attack the mountain. We have to gather intelligence and

get information about the bandits of Black Wind Mountain. We can train our troops at

the foot of the mountain and also intimidate

the bandits.”

Xiahou Yong pondered for a moment and voiced his opinion.

“Since Commander Xiahou said that there’s no problem, then there’s no problem for us brothers. It’s just that…”

Wang Shan held the letter in his hand. He looked at Chen Zhiyuan with a slightly

indignant expression. “Chief, why did the county magistrate send that Zhao fellow over to supervise the army? He wanted us to suppress the bandits, and now he wants to tie us with a noose. Since ancient times, many battles had been ruined because of those darned inspectors.”

Upon hearing Wang Shan’s words, Xiahou Yong also took the letter. His face instantly turned sour.

Everyone knew that it was because the higher-ups didn’t trust the generals who led

the troops that they set up this thing. No one would want to have an extra bridle around their mouth when they were going to lead the

troops to battle.

“It doesn’t matter. If Military Governor Zhao wants to supervise the troops, let him do it.

Anyway, no one here listens to him. If he can’t command a single soldier, what can he do to ruin things?”

Chen Zhiyuan smiled.

Although he was unhappy, the county

magistrate’s order had been given, and the county governor had agreed to it. A higher official could crush a person to death. He

couldn’t just run over to the county governor

and ask for an explanation.

“Alright, Chief, since you’ve already said so, let’s endure it. If he dares to ruin things, we

won’t allow it.” Wang Shan’s eyes flashed with a fierce light, and a murderous look appeared on his face.

“Mm, Wang Shan, the brothers that you picked who knows how to ride horses can be settled. Since Commander Xiahou said that we can still train the soldiers at the foot of the mountain, we’ll use the battle as training. Let our brothers ride their horses at the foot of the mountain to intercept anyone who has contact with the mountain.”

Chen Zhiyuan raised his head to look at Wang Shan again.

Over the past month, he had gone through great difficulty to build the stirrups and

saddles for the warhorses in the system space.

He had also equipped them with reins which was why the plan to train the cavalry had been delayed until now.

“Chief, there are only about 50 people who have ridden mules and horses. They are all

farmers. Normally, they wouldn’t be able to ride those things…’

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Wang Shan had a bitter expression on his face.

Chen Zhiyuan had mentioned it once and didn’t mention it again. He didn’t forget about it, but he hadn’t been able to find enough people, so he didn’t report it. “50 people… That’s more or less enough. Anyway, the cavalry can’t go up the mountain to suppress the bandits. They are only scouts. When the time comes, let them try one by

one. Just go down the mountain and kill the people that the bandits from Black Wind Mountain contact. If you want to ride, I’ll give

you a horse.”

Chen Zhiyuan was not surprised.

He did not think that he could find a hundred cavalry soldiers from 500 farmers. As long as

they could get on the horse, they would be able to train slowly.

“Then thank you, Chief. Hehe, I’ve wanted to learn to ride a horse for a long time. We don’t

usually get to use it, and we don’t have the time, so we delayed it. Now is a good

opportunity.”

Wang Shan rubbed his head and laughed, but he was very touched in his heart. The chief did not treat his own people

unfairly. He had made the right decision to follow him.

Only Xiahou Yong was confused. How could they afford a warhorse in such a remote

place?

After waiting for the two to calm down, he felt that he could finally ask.

“Brother Chen, you… are you trying to build a cavalry? That’s a gold-swallowing beast. A warhorse is more than a hundred strings of coins, and it needs to be nourished and fed with food and grass. I advise you not to have such thoughts now…”

Xiahou Yong stared at the two of them and

said hesitantly.

“I’m sorry, Brother Xiahou. I’m not trying to build a cavalry. I want to start training the

cavalry. The horses are ready, and we’re just

short of people. Oh right, I have a good Lion Cong here. If you need it, how about I give it

to you?”

Chen Zhiyuan looked at the dumbfounded Xiahou Yong and smiled.

This sworn brother knew so much about warhorses. It seemed that he was also a horse lover.

As the saying goes, “there is no such thing as a free lunch”. Once he took this horse, he won’t be his enemy even if he didn’t work for

him in the future.