pappabearbooks Chapter 97 Scattering Beans to Create Soldiers, Secretly Crossing the Chencang Pass
Chapter 97 Scattering Beans to Create Soldiers, Secretly Crossing the Chencang Pass
"It's precisely because the journey is difficult that the barbarian soldiers won't ambush us here." The soldier spoke very quickly, clearly having already rehearsed the plan countless times in his mind. "Thirty men, armed with ropes and machetes, will take turns clearing the way. Though slow, their advantage lies in stealth. Once we cross this ridge, we can bypass the most dangerous pass."
"Wait a minute," Li Jing interrupted. "This 'narrow passage' is a shortcut. Why don't you take it? Perhaps a trap to lure the enemy would work."
The soldier shook his head, a hint of disdain on his lips: "A place like 'A Narrow Gorge' is a deadly trap. Any knowledgeable opponent would place even three rolling logs or boulders here, and we'd all be mincemeat. It's foolish to gamble with our brothers' lives on the enemy. I won't do it."
The light in Li Jing's eyes grew brighter, and he unconsciously sat up straight: "Continue."
"Although we won't go through the 'One Line Sky,' I will send two of my fastest brothers to the entrance of the 'One Line Sky' valley to create some false traces of camping and marching, such as abandoned stoves and broken tree branches, to make it look like a large force has just passed through. We'll make the illusion real and the real illusion fake, so that the pursuers will find nothing in that empty valley."
At this point, the soldier pointed to a water source on the sand table.
"After crossing Wild Boar Ridge, we must camp overnight to recover our strength. I will choose this sheltered spot near the water. However, we need to fetch water upstream and bury our excrement downstream to prevent the barbarians from poisoning us and to prevent the odor from leaking out."
"The most crucial element is the sentry."
He gestured with his hands on the sand table, explaining: "The visible sentries should be placed on high ground upwind, so they can be seen; the hidden sentries must be concealed in the grass downwind, with tripwires and dry branches laid out. If the enemy sneaks into the camp, they will kill the visible sentries first, and the hidden sentries can then use this opportunity to warn the enemy, or even kill them in return!"
After finishing speaking in one breath, the soldier licked his chapped lips and looked at Li Jing with some trepidation.
He not only planned the route, but also considered every detail, including weather conditions, psychological warfare, hygiene and epidemic prevention, and camp layout.
This is hardly the insight of a common soldier! This is clearly the quality of a seasoned commander!
Li Jing didn't speak, but instead walked around the table and strode up to the guard, looking him up and down for a long time.
That look in his eyes was like that of a master connoisseur who had suddenly discovered a dusty jade disc in a garbage dump.
"What's your name? What's your current occupation?"
"Reporting to the Chief Secretary, my name is Shen Guang, and I am currently a cook in the Left Guard Office."
"A cook?" Li Jing chuckled, then burst into laughter, "What a fine cook! If the cooks of my Great Sui Dynasty were all this good, how could we worry about unrest on the borders!"
He patted Shen Guang's shoulder hard, so hard that Shen Guang almost lost his balance.
"From this day forward, you are no longer a cook. The thirty-man scout team is yours! Go to Lingnan, and if you achieve even the smallest merit, I guarantee you a real brigade commander position! In the future, even a colonel or a lieutenant general might not be out of the question!"
Shen Guang's eyes widened suddenly, and he knelt down with a thud, trembling with excitement: "Thank you for your promotion, sir! Shen Guang... Shen Guang would gladly die for you!"
……
The afternoon flew by.
As the sun set, it dyed Daxingyuan a blood red.
On Li Jing's side, only 217 men were ultimately selected from the more than 10,000 remaining soldiers.
These people may not be the strongest, and some even look rather thin.
Without exception, they were all among the most intelligent, observant, and methodical people in this group of ten thousand.
The setting sun, like blood, dyed the vast loess training ground of Daxingyuan a deep crimson.
The training ground was clearly divided into three parts.
The largest group naturally consisted of the dejected majority who left like defeated roosters; the other two groups were the two hundred-plus people selected by Li Jing and the three thousand-plus people selected by Qin Qiong.
On the command platform, Yang Yan stood with his hands behind his back. He did not look at the cheering soldiers, because what followed was not his concern. What he needed to do was to give Li Mi a good talking-to.
"call……"
Standing beside Yang Yan, Li Mi let out a long breath. His face, which originally carried the arrogance of a noble scion, was now flushed with an unusual redness due to excessive excitement.
He turned around abruptly, bowed deeply to Yang Yan, his voice trembling with barely concealed fear:
"Your Highness! This method of selecting soldiers is unheard of, yet... it speaks directly to the heart! Mi, I am truly impressed!"
Li Mi straightened up, his gaze fixed intently on the two figures below the stage, and spoke rapidly: "That Qin Qiong fellow, though he may seem like a brute who only knows how to use brute force, his move begins with 'Crossing the Mountain of Knives,' combined with 'Lifting the Stone Lock.' Those who remain are all fearless and incredibly strong warriors!"
"And Li Jing..." Li Mi paused when he said this name, the contempt in his eyes had long since vanished, replaced by a complex expression as if he were seeing a fellow human being, or even a towering mountain.
"His sand table simulation didn't consider martial arts skills, only strategy. This was like weeding out the reckless among thousands of troops, leaving only the best scouts."
"Qin Shubao is suitable to be a general, and Li Yaoshi is suitable to be a commander."
Li Mi clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles turning white: "Your Highness, both of them are outstanding talents of our time. I...I am utterly in awe!"
Hearing Li Mi's rapid-fire remarks, Yang Yan smiled slightly.
He was satisfied not only with finding these 1,500 fierce soldiers, but also with the fact that Li Jing understood the biggest crisis in Lingnan on the very first day and found a solution.
"Xuansui, you only saw the brilliance of the selection of soldiers, but you did not see through why Pharmacist Li went to such great lengths to select these two hundred people."
Yang Yan turned around, his gaze sweeping across the training ground and landing on the south: "On this trip to Lingnan, the imperial court is only allowed to send a guard of about one hundred men according to regulations. But because of my status, I will only have five hundred guards."
"How do we manage the remaining thousand people?"
Li Mi was taken aback, then frowned deeply: "Your Highness means..."
"Break the whole into smaller parts, and scatter beans to form soldiers."
Yang Yan stretched out his hand, his five fingers suddenly spreading as if trying to grasp something in the void: "These thousand people must be dispersed. They may disguise themselves as refugees, merchant caravans, or infiltrate security escort agencies. They may travel south in groups of several or dozens, eventually reuniting in Lingnan."
"After the troops were divided, they were like kites with broken strings, without anyone to command them, and they had to improvise in everything they did."
Yang Yan pointed to Li Jing, who was surrounded by Shen Guang and others below the stage, and said meaningfully, "If the leader is a reckless brute who only knows how to obey orders and kill, what will we do when we encounter inspections? What will we do when we run out of food? What will we do when we encounter bandits blocking the road? I'm afraid that soon after entering Lingnan, all one thousand of us will be dead!"
"Therefore, I need these two hundred quick-thinking, tactical, and adaptable frontline fire chiefs. They are the 'brains' of those one thousand people."
Li Mi's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, and his left thumb, which was resting on the hilt of his sword, unconsciously pressed down hard on his index finger joint again.
This vast and secretive military operation has a potential and danger that far exceeds his initial expectations.
He stared blankly at Yang Yan, a cold sweat instantly seeping down his back.
That's it!
He only saw the ruthlessness of the training, but not the strategic planning behind it.
This prince and that Li Jing, they take one step and look three steps ahead, or even ten steps ahead!