novelhk Chapter 199: Nanding Army
Chapter 199: Nanding Army
After a night's rest, we set out again the next day.
Shishuiyi was not far from the Nanding Army camp, only less than 200 miles away. Zhou Bo was concerned about military affairs and only took a break once on the way. It was almost noon when the sun was just past noon.
Chu Xiaomu and others were very excited when they thought about their upcoming military life.
About ten miles from the main camp, two teams of soldiers came to greet them on the official road. They were wearing silver armor and led horses to stand in two neat rows beside the road, looking mighty and majestic. On each side, a soldier held a flag with a big black "Zhou" written on it, which fluttered in the northwest wind on the grassland. They must have received Zhou Bo's eagle message, so they were waiting here early.
Two soldiers dressed as battalion officers stood in the middle of the road. When they saw Zhou Bo and his party approaching, they shouted, "Nanqian Camp's chief battalion officer Wang Gu and small battalion officer Quan Qingzhi, lead the troops to welcome the central army!"
Zhou Bo frowned slightly and said, "The military has a lot of affairs to deal with, and there are not enough people to guard the border. Why are you running here to do these empty ceremonies?"
Wang Gu showed an embarrassed look and said, "It was Deputy Lieutenant General Xiao who sent the young general here. He said...he said that the Lieutenant General was tired from the journey, so he asked us to enter the camp earlier." The Deputy Lieutenant General of the Nanding Army was named Xiao Zhenrong. Chu Xiaomu had heard about it on the way.
Zhou Bo said: "Zhenrong always likes these empty formalities..." When he addressed his deputy, he only said the name after his surname, which showed that he had a very close relationship with him.
Two battalion officers mounted their horses and followed behind Zhou Bo, riding side by side with An Wenyuan, the chief battalion officer of the Nanzhen Camp. The rest of the soldiers waited for Zhou Bo and his group to pass by and then followed at the end of the team.
Zhou Bo asked, "Did anything happen in the army during the few days I was back in the city? Did anyone find anything unusual at Humu Pass?"
Wang Gu replied, "Back to the central army, the army is stable and nothing major has happened. I heard from the eagle in Nankan Camp that in addition to the merchants trading between the north and the south, there was once a dozen people from the Claw Tribe of the Chisha Kingdom who wanted to pass through the Humu Pass and had an argument with our soldiers. These people were ignorant and were all blocked by our garrison."
Zhou Bu said: "The general said that if they are just ordinary people of the Claw Tribe, we can persuade them with kind words and don't need to embarrass them." The Claw Tribe and Bicheng have always been at odds with each other. He heard Wang Gu downplay it and just pushed the other party back. Maybe the defenders of Humu Pass have actually fought with the Claw Tribe.
Wang Gu said, "I will obey the general's order. I will send a message to them later not to embarrass the people of the Claw Tribe." He suddenly remembered something and continued, "I heard from the soldiers patrolling the border that many tribes have livestock killed by wild beasts, and it seems to be more frequent than usual. Some people even saw tigers coming down from the Beast Mountain..."
Zhou Bo frowned, hummed, and said nothing more.
After walking for about half an hour, they finally arrived at the Dingjun camp in the south of Bicheng.
I saw that the camp was surrounded by huge trees, standing like a cluster of sharp spears, with flags flying high, and the end was as far as the eye could see.
On the wooden wall, there was a large white-green flag with the word "Bi" inscribed on it every thirty meters. Every five or six meters there was a small black-green flag with the word "Zhou" inscribed on it. Each flag fluttered in the wind, looking as powerful as a tiger.
The main gate of the military camp was also built with huge wood. There was a small sentry tower on each side, on which stood two or three soldiers holding guns. On top of each sentry tower was a tall flag, and along the wooden wall were five small flags, each with the words "Nanding Military Camp" written on it.
The soldier guarding the gate saw Zhou Bo's entourage from afar, and he blew his horn, opened the gate and welcomed everyone in.
Chu Xiaomu and his party naturally followed into the camp, and saw that its layout was quite similar to that of the Zhongjing Army Camp. On the north side, there were countless large felt tents, arranged very neatly; on the south side were horse pens, racecourses, and martial arts training grounds; on the easternmost side, there was a large area with hundreds of straw men, presumably used for soldiers to practice.
After Zhou Bo spoke a few words to An Wenyuan, the chief officer of the Nanzhen Camp beside him, he led a few soldiers and left in the cart that Jinglan was riding in.
An Wenyuan took Chu Xiaomu and his group of ten people aside, saying that someone would come to make arrangements later, and then he led the horses away. Even the horses that Chu Xiaomu and his group were riding on were taken away by the soldiers and taken to the stable.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. They had never expected to be left out as soon as they arrived at the Nanding Army camp, but they dared not show any dissatisfaction. They could only stand by a tent and wait quietly. Zhou Weide was so angry that he gritted his teeth and glared. Although he had a bad temper, he did not dare to lose it here.
After a long while, a short soldier finally came over and led Chu Xiaomu and the others to an empty tent in the eastern corner. He said, "You all just arrived and have not yet been assigned to the camp. You should stay in this tent for now. Once the officer registers you, you can move into a larger tent according to the camp."
Chu Xiaomu and the others were born slaves and had endured a lot of hard work. Although this tent was shabby, it had a bed and a quilt, which was much better than the slave house in Jiaoshan. Naturally, no one complained.
The short sergeant briefly explained the military regulations of Bicheng and then went out.
Yingdan suddenly said, "There are ten of us, but there are only eight beds here. How are we going to sleep?" Everyone counted and found that there were only eight beds.
Chu Xiaomu said: "You guys sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the floor."
Zhang Hou said, "How can that be possible? You are the captain of our team, how can I let you sleep on the floor?"
Chu Xiaomu said: "Since I am the captain, you must listen to me. I said I will sleep on the floor, so it is settled."
Zhang Hou said again: "No, no, you are only the captain temporarily, I can't listen to you all the time."
Chu Xiaomu was helpless and said, "Then what do you say we should do?"
Zhang Hou pondered: "I think..."
Lin Zhen said: "I think it would be the simplest and fairest for the ten of us to draw lots." Yingdan and others agreed.
Chu Xiaomu said: "If you want to draw lots, nine of you can draw. I like to sleep on the floor, so don't grab it from me."
The crowd had no choice but to draw lots. The result showed that Zhang Hou drew the one sleeping on the ground. He was very dissatisfied and shouted, "I made a mistake. Let's try again..." Naturally, the crowd refused to accept his request, so he had to give up.
At dusk, three long bugle calls were heard in the military camp. Chu Xiaomu and others knew that it was time for dinner, so they followed the other soldiers to the kitchen and lined up for food.
The fireman was quite surprised to see ten new faces. He only gave each of them a piece of vegetarian dry biscuit and a small piece of mutton, and said, "There is not enough food today, so you guys just have to make do with what you have..."
Chu Xiaomu and the other ten people were furious and thought to themselves, "Aren't you bullying us because we're new here? Even if you were sending beggars away, you'd never be so stingy."