Chapter 245: Xiping Hou's Urgent Order, Advance Westward

Chapter 245: Xiping Hou's Urgent Order, Advance Westward

Chapter 245: Xiping Hou's Urgent Order, Advance Westward

As night fell, the last ray of sunset light in the sky was quickly swallowed up by the thick clouds, leaving the earth with a deep blue-purple color.

The air is filled with a faint scent of moisture and earth.
After a long journey, the Beijing army finally arrived at Luoxiongzhou, the easternmost part of Qujing Prefecture, Yunnan, when the sun was setting.

At this moment, the camp was bustling with activity.
The soldiers acted quickly, holding long poles, and firmly drove the gray tents into the soil, setting up camp.

As the tents were set up one by one, torches were lit one by one. The flames jumped, bringing a touch of warmth in the cold night.

After the tent was set up, the soldiers immediately got into the tent, changed their wet lining, dried it in front of the campfire, and then put on dry clothes and continued to work.

The soldiers were sitting in all directions, talking about all sorts of things, and smelling the increasingly fragrant aroma of meat in the air, they couldn't help but look expectant.

In the front army scout tent, Lu Yunyi was standing behind a simple table, looking at the map of Yunnan Provincial Administration.

On the west side of the map, thin red lines have been drawn, indicating the direction of Si Lunfa's military movement.

On the other side, blue threads are entwined in Yunnan.
It converged towards Dali Prefecture, Chuxiong Prefecture, and Jingdong Prefecture near Luchuan.

Lu Yunyi looked at the map with his hands behind his back, adding a stroke on top from time to time, and finally wrapping Dingbian with a huge red line.

Although Silunfa has troops stationed on the entire western front and is attacking Etao in Baiyachuan,
But in Lu Yunyi's eyes,
The location of Si Lunfa's attack this time was particularly clear, which was Dingbian, where the three prefectures converged.

Once Luchuan Silunfa took Dingbian, the entire western side of Yunnan would be lost in an instant.

In order to defend these three prefectures, at least 300,000 troops must be stationed.

The Ming Dynasty is doing the same thing now, but Silunfa's attack speed is too fast. Before the troops from various places arrive, the Luchuan Kingdom has already shown signs of mobilizing troops.

Just as Lu Yunyi was thinking, faint footsteps sounded outside the military tent. He looked in the direction of the sound.

Li Jinglong appeared at the entrance of the military tent, his face solemn, holding a document in his hand.
"Yun Yi, news has come from Xiping Marquis's Mansion."

Lu Yunyi's eyes swept over like a sharp sword, his face changed slightly, and he asked loudly:
"For whom?"

"Of course it's for you. Marquis Xiping personally ordered the front army scouts to rush to Kunming and be incorporated into Feng Cheng's front army!"

Li Jinglong's face was also a little solemn. He walked over quickly and handed over the document.

Lu Yunyi didn't waste any words. He took the document and quickly opened it. His face suddenly became serious.

[Since I heard that there are bandits hiding in Luchuan, they have gathered a mob and are wantonly invading the territories of the three prefectures, causing unrest among the people and turmoil on the border.

This marquis has been ordered by the Emperor to guard the southwest, pacify the people and put down the rebellion. It is my unshirkable duty.

This decree is now issued to clarify military orders.

One is a forced march.

Order your vanguard scouts to immediately organize their troops, put on armor and wield sharp weapons, and march day and night straight to Kunming.

We must arrive as quickly as possible and not miss the opportunity to fight.

The second is to be incorporated into the front formation.

After arriving in Kunming, he joined forces with Feng Cheng, the vanguard army, and vowed to unite and face the national crisis together.

Your scouts are known for their alertness. You should fight side by side with the elite troops in the front line and work together to devise a strategy to defeat the enemy.

The third is strict discipline.

When the army is on the march, discipline comes first.

I hope that you, the soldiers, will strictly abide by military regulations, care for the people, and do not let weapons harm innocent people.

War is a matter of great importance to a state, a matter of life and death, a road to survival or destruction, and it must be carefully considered.

This instruction must be obeyed immediately.

Xiping Hou, Mu Ying.]
After reading the letter, Lu Yunyi quickly turned his gaze to the map and scanned it.
It is only December now, and there are already small-scale troops harassing around the three prefectures. Luchuan is gathering troops faster than he imagined.

Li Jinglong, who was standing on the side, stared at the letter intently. He soon read it all. His face immediately became solemn and he could not help asking:

"Yun Yi, we need to march quickly to Kunming."

Lu Yunyi nodded: "Since there is a military order, we will execute it immediately."

"Immediately?" Li Jinglong's eyes widened and his voice changed a little.

But before he could react, Lu Yunyi spoke loudly:
"Someone is coming."

Guo Quan, who was standing quietly at the door, ran in quickly and said, "Sir!"

"Order the entire army to gather their weapons and equipment immediately, eat quickly, bring enough food and supplies for each soldier, and set out in an hour. Then call all the generals over."

"Yes!"

Guo Quan seemed to have changed after hearing the military order.

His eyes became sharp, and his dark face exuded murderous aura.
Li Jinglong was shocked and seemed a little unfamiliar.

He looked outside and saw that Xu Zengshou, who was always smiling, had changed his expression.
His face was solemn, his back was straight, he stood at the entrance of the military tent, his hand was on the hilt of the knife, his head was shaking constantly, and his sharp eyes were scanning the surroundings!

The sudden feeling of tension made Li Jinglong feel unfamiliar.

He hesitated and stammered, "Yun Yi, are we leaving tonight?"

"Military orders are as heavy as a mountain and must not be delayed." Lu Yunyi said in a heavy voice.

Then he seemed to realize something, and moved his eyes away from the map and looked at Li Jinglong:

"Marching and fighting is a serious matter.
Especially for our front-line scouts, one mistake could cost them their lives, and one hesitation could lead to the death of the entire army.
We must immediately and resolutely execute any military orders from our superiors.
If you understand, you must execute. If you don’t understand, you must execute even more. Deepen your understanding through execution.

The brothers have rested for nearly half a year, so it is inevitable that some of their weapons have been slacked off. If war breaks out, they will have to set out within half an hour."

Li Jinglong's face was solemn and his eyes were filled with doubt.

In the 20th year of Hongwu, he followed Feng Sheng, Duke of Song, to Liaodong.

At that time, he was in the central army tent, and he had seen a lot of the deployment and execution of military orders.
However, the scouts of the front army attached much more importance to military orders and their attitude towards execution was much more serious than the elite troops of the Northern Expedition at that time.
Li Jinglong felt a sense of tension for no reason.
Although they were the only two in the military tent, they were still in a safe place in Yunnan.

But at this moment, Li Jinglong felt that there was a long sword hanging at his side, and there were overwhelming enemy troops outside.

"Yun Yi, I don't quite understand."

“You’ll understand as you go along.”

Lu Yunyi quickly packed up, and suddenly remembered something, with some questions in his eyes:

"Jinglong, are you following us or the majority?"

Li Jinglong almost jumped up, and his voice became a few tones higher:
"Of course we are together. I am here to learn how to fight from you, not from them."

Lu Yunyi nodded slightly, and then his expression became serious, his face was like frost, and his eyes were like long swords:

"Okay, from now on you will be the deputy commander of the front army scout department. You will follow me and assist me.
Furthermore, there can only be one commander in the front scout unit, and that is me. Can you do it?"

Li Jinglong has sharp eyes and a straight figure:
"can!"

"Very good. Now hang up the map and bring over the personnel rosters of each department."

Li Jinglong stood there in a daze. What was all this?
A trace of helplessness flashed across Lu Yunyi's originally cold face. He sighed softly, raised his hand, pinched his brows and shouted:
"Xu Zengshou, hang up the map and bring over the rosters of each department."

"Yes!"

Xu Zengshou hurried in and started working without saying a word.

Lu Yunyi looked at Li Jinglong and said:

“Watch and learn well, a successful general is irreplaceable in the military.

You should know what others can do, and you should also know what others cannot do!

If you want to become an elite general, you must be familiar with all the duties in the army, from making strategies to counting casualties and drawing maps. I will give you a military duty. "

"Okay!" Li Jinglong's eyes sparkled with a brilliant light.
He had never known how to be a good general.
Now that I've said this, I have some clues.
All things are difficult at the beginning, but finding the beginning is even more difficult.

"Within half a month, record the names, ages, appearances, and specialties of the 5,132 scouts of the front army."

In an instant, Li Jinglong's face fell, and the burning confidence in his chest was extinguished in an instant.

Xu Zengshou, who was hanging up the map, blinked repeatedly and secretly took note of the military affairs.

"Yun Yi, what's the point of remembering this?"

Lu Yunyi stood behind the table, sorting out the documents in his hands and holding the troop transfer list, and kept saying:
"During this Southwest War, our front-line scouts will be carrying out individual combat missions.
Emphasis is placed on individual ability and the ability to coordinate within a ten-man team, rather than the traditional organized attack and kill.

As a general, if you want to control the overall situation and win the battle,

You must understand the soldiers' combat habits, their strengths, and even their temperaments and personalities.

In this way, we can unite the ten-man team and make full use of its combat power.
Instead of hindering each other, they can only play three points out of ten points of strength! "

As he spoke, Lu Yunyi handed over a piece of paper:

"Take a look, this is the basic strategy for this war in southern Xinjiang,"

Li Jinglong took the document with a dazed look on his face, and immediately saw the few crooked small words on the top.

The words "first edition" were added after "the battle plan of the scouts of the front army to follow the army to conquer Luchuan".

Lu Yunyi looked at Li Jinglong and said in a deep voice:
"You may not understand why we have to go through so much trouble.

But the front scouts only had 5,000 soldiers.

If you and I want to achieve great achievements, we can only rely on these five thousand soldiers.

If you want to win merit and make great achievements, you must take an unconventional approach and make surprising moves.

Let these five thousand people burst out with even greater energy than before, and live up to the trust of the court and the general.

You may not know what 5,000 cavalrymen mean in the army.
It can be the backbone of an army of 100,000 people, a trump card, or it can be a commander in charge of all mobile forces.

Now that these 5,000 soldiers have not been defeated and are in our hands, we must make great contributions.

Therefore, when elite troops fight, military discipline must be strict.

It’s not too late for you to follow the majority now.”

Li Jinglong's expression changed back and forth as he looked at the battle plan in front of him.
He just felt that there were huge mountains in front of him waiting for him to climb, and memorizing names was just a small mound of earth in front of him.

He never thought that fighting would be so difficult
But he soon thought of his deceased father, who joined the army at the age of nineteen, died of illness at the age of forty-six, and fought for twenty-seven years without stopping. He was enshrined in the Taimiao, and his meritorious service was ranked third in the Temple of Imperial Ancestral Worship.

He didn't understand the hardship before today. When he was a child, he always complained that his father was not at home.
He also made some arrogant remarks, saying that fighting was just giving orders, but his father just laughed it off.

But at this moment, I was in the army, feeling the pressure from inside and outside.

He suddenly understood something.
Why does my father look so tired every day, silent all day, and has a head full of white hair at the age of 40?
Li Jinglong clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles dug into his palm, leaving bloodshot marks.
But he didn't feel any pain, his eyes became more determined, and he said to himself silently:
"Father, since your death, I have been able to gain popularity in the court.

But they all looked down on me and despised me.

The child knows, but I don’t tell him because I’m a little scared.

The boy can't fight a war and is terrible at handling government affairs, so he can only rely on his father's influence.

This year, I am also 19 years old. It is a bit difficult to join the army for the first time, but I am not that afraid. "

The scenes in my mind flash by in the blink of an eye.
Li Jinglong's eyes were a little moist, and bloodshot began to spread.
But his eyes became more determined, he pursed his lips and spoke loudly:
"I, Li Jinglong, inherited the title at the age of seventeen, but have achieved nothing so far. If I want to revive the glory of my Caoguo Mansion, I must take an unconventional approach and make a surprising move!"

The sound was so powerful that Xu Zengshou, who was arranging the map, was moved. He couldn't help but look back.
He also pursed his lips and moved even faster.

Lu Yunyi's face was calm and he nodded slightly:

“Even if you have great ambitions in your heart, they are just empty talk if you don’t take action. I hope you can do the same when facing difficulties.”

Not long after, some generals from the front scout unit came in hurriedly.

Each of them was wearing armor, holding a long sword, with a solemn look on their faces.
Following on one side were the quartermaster, disciplinarian, clerk, and messenger.

After everyone arrived, Lu Yunyi did not say anything polite. Instead, he pointed at the map with a long pole in his hand and said loudly:
"The troops from Luchuan have already been harassing the three prefectures, and our front scouts must hurry to Kunming in two days.

After a short rest, they continued on their journey, arriving at the front line of Sanfu before the vanguard army and clearing out the surrounding harassing troops.

Therefore, the food and fodder we carry must be sufficient for seven days, so be prepared.

In addition, backpacks were issued with full loads of military supplies, and all rotating war horses were loaded with food and fodder.
The No. 2 marching map was distributed to each 100-man team, and the telescope was also distributed.

Those who are unwell and unable to travel quickly will stay with the main group and reunite later.

Alright, everyone, get moving, we'll set off in an hour!"

"Yes!!"

"Go and make arrangements."

A group of generals left the military tent in a hurry. The previous noise was gone and the atmosphere became extremely solemn.

Soon, the outside of the military tent became noisy. Rapid roars came from all directions, and the sound of armor colliding was even more frequent.

Lu Yunyi put down the long pole and the documents in his hand and walked out. Xu Zengshou also walked out in a hurry.
Li Jinglong quickly asked, "Where are we going?"

Lu Yunyi was stunned on the spot, a trace of helplessness flashed across his face, and he explained in a deep voice:

"Going to the toilet, most of the troops had a time plan for getting on and off horses, and the soldiers had a fixed time for eating and going to the toilet.

Now it is winter, the weather is not hot, so I have to run for a longer time, and I have to rest once every hour.
If you ride at full speed in the summer, the horse will have to rest for half an hour."

Li Jinglong then realized something and nodded repeatedly before following.
I felt a little upset because these basic things were not learned at all in my family education!

"Dad, remember everything next time!!"

The night was as dark as ink, the wind was cold and biting, and a pale moon hung in the sky, casting a thin, cold silver glow.

The drizzle that had just passed made the soil wet and muddy, and the air was filled with the smell of soil and grass.

At this moment, the military camp was brightly lit, spreading densely to the east, with no end in sight.

But the front scouts were in darkness.
At this moment, a rapid and powerful horn sounded through the night sky, breaking the silence.

Five thousand soldiers rushed out of the camp like a black torrent.

They were wearing black armor, which shone coldly in the moonlight.

The feathers on the red helmet fluttered in the wind, like flames, jumping in the cold night.

The soldiers held long swords in their hands and kept rising and falling on their horses.

Every step was accompanied by the collision of armor.

Behind him, the colorful green camouflage backpack is not conspicuous in the night, but its bulging shape gives people a sense of security.

The night is still dark, and the wind is even more fierce.

The sound of horse hooves, at first sporadic and fragmented, followed the team's gallop.

The iron hooves stepped on the wet ground, making a dull "dong dong dong" sound.

As the team moved forward, the sound of horse hooves became more frequent and shocking, and the splashing water was like starlight, shining with the stars in the sky.

Faintly, a loud young voice could be heard:

"Go west!"

(End of this chapter)