"Captain, we found traces left by a large vehicle in front of us. It looks like they were left not long ago."
A team leader from the team came to Cao Guang to report.
"Take me over and have a look." Cao Guang stepped forward.
Arriving at the front of the team, the squad leader pointed to the green grass lying on the ground under his feet and said, "Captain, look, the grass blades on the ground are all broken."
Cao Guang looked down.
There are indeed several wheel indentations on the ground left by the passing of large vehicles. Judging from the depth of the ruts, it is obvious that they are large vehicles pulling heavy objects, otherwise even the grass blades would not be crushed.
In addition to these ruts, there are many hoofprints and footprints of livestock around.
"Captain, it seems that this convoy is in front, not too far away from us." The squad leader said.
Cao Guang nodded slightly, and then said: "Take a few people and chase them along the ruts on the ground to see if it is Xu Ji's convoy. If it is Xu Ji's convoy, don't alert them and send someone back to deliver the message."
"Yes." The squad leader agreed.
Soon, a dozen soldiers broke away from the team and chased them along the ruts in the ground.
Cao Guang ordered the team to camp and rest on the spot.
The team of cooking soldiers began to bury pots for cooking, while the other soldiers, except for the patrolling team, set up tents.
Ma Lin came to Cao Guang and asked, "We are about to chase him, why don't we chase him?"
Cao Guang inserted the prong in his hand into the ground, straightened up, and said: "Knowing yourself and your enemy means you can fight a hundred battles. Even though there is news from the foreign intelligence agency's secret agents, we still have to investigate again. Besides, it only takes one night, and they can't escape much." Yuan, come here, help me wedge the peg."
Ma Lin bent down and picked up the hammer from the ground. He came over and helped Cao Guang smash the peg stuck in the ground. He hit the surface of the peg with the hammer again and again, smashing the peg into the soil.
After the prong was completely smashed into the soil, he put down the hammer, patted the soil on his hands, and then said: "Many of the people in the team are recruits who have only been trained for a month and have never even seen blood. I'm worried that if I do it, These people will be afraid of unexpected problems."
After hearing this, Cao Guang smiled and said: "Don't worry, this time I brought a lot of soldiers from my previous team. With them restraining the new soldiers, there won't be any big problems. And this time we The purpose is to rob Xu Ji's caravan and prevent them from doing business in various parts of the grassland. The task is very simple."
Marin spread his hands and said: "You are the captain, as long as you are sure, all I can do as the vice-captain is to cooperate with you."
"Come on, let's wash our hands and get ready for dinner. I'm already hungry." Cao Guang put down his work and greeted with a smile.
The two of them went to the cooking team together.
When they arrived, there were already many soldiers queuing up to prepare meals.
Cao Guang and Ma Lin carried their own big tea jars and walked to the back of the rice line to queue up.
Although the two of them had the highest positions in the team, they did not receive preferential treatment. They had to line up to get food from the cooks.
After finishing their meal, the two of them carried their own big teapots to a bonfire.
Ma Lin held the pancake in his hand and said, "In the past, people from the cavalry team were responsible for doing this kind of thing. I don't know what the Military and Political Department thought, but they gave this task to our brigade."
"Why, you don't want to?" Cao Guang glanced at Ma Lin and said, "Don't forget, the first rule of military regulations is to obey orders and obey orders."
"That's not what I meant." Marin explained, "Our brigade has not been integrated yet, and the other two squadrons have not arrived at the cottage. Even the squadron in the cottage has only been training for a month. I am also worried."
Cao Guang swallowed the pancake in his mouth and said, "This mission is a good thing for us."
Ma Lin looked at Cao Guang in confusion.
Cao Guang continued: "New recruits always have to see blood after training. This mission is just a good opportunity for our brigade to have an experience. Moreover, Xu Ji's convoy does not bring many guards, so it does not pose much threat to us. , is just a suitable training object.”
"Xu Ji's caravan is the property of Governor Xu Tong. His caravan is going to the grassland, and the guards must be people from the border army. Many recruits in our squadron were just ordinary people before. I'm worried that if they take action, our people will If we are defeated due to casualties, we may not even be able to complete our mission by then." Marin expressed his worries.
"We will not fail to complete the mission." Cao Guang took a bite of the pancake and took another sip of broth. After swallowing it, he said, "The guards of Xu Ji's caravan are all from Fubiao camp, and they are far inferior to General Zhang's men. The frontier troops are not as good as those personal soldiers, they are almost the same as the soldiers of Lingqiu garrison."
Ma Lin looked at Cao Guang doubtfully.
Cao Guang smiled and explained: "These are all messages sent by the Foreign Intelligence Agency."
Ma Lin suddenly realized, and then he understood why Cao Guang knew so much about Xu Ji's caravan. It was normal if there was news from the Foreign Intelligence Agency.
Although he didn't know much about the situation of the Foreign Intelligence Agency, he also knew that the Secret Service's spies were located in many places. He was not surprised that there were spies from the Foreign Intelligence Agency in Xuji Company, and even they were in the governor's office. Ziqi's spies are all normal.
Cao Guang tore the pancake in his hand into small pieces and threw it into the broth while tearing it. He said: "The Military and Political Department has kept you by my side as the deputy captain. To put it bluntly, it is to train you. When you are almost done, It’s time for you to be promoted to captain.”
Marin smiled and said: "The captain is joking. Our Tiger Flag has only three soldiers and a thousand soldiers. There is no vacant captain's seat. Besides, it's good for me to stay in Daliangshan as the deputy captain." .”
Cao Guang shook his head slightly and said: "You are a person who came from the martial arts hall. It is impossible for the Military and Political Department to let you be my deputy all the time. Unless you are the kind of boss who can't hold up a wall through mud, you will be promoted to the post in a short time." Captain."
"Then I'll borrow the good words from the captain. One day, I will treat the captain to a drink." Ma Lin put down the big tea vat in his hand and raised his hand to Cao Guang.
Cao Guang said with a smile: "Then I will definitely eat this drink."
"How did the captain know that I would be promoted to captain soon?" Marin asked curiously.
Cao Guang smiled and said: "Our Tiger Banner has established a baggage team of 4,000 people. I believe that it will not be long before a second baggage team will be established. By then, there will be more than a dozen captains." As long as you perform well here in Daliang Mountain, the Military and Political Department will definitely let you go."
"We also need to set up a baggage train!" Marin frowned.
Cao Guang said: "You don't believe it?"
"It's not a matter of belief or not." Marin said, "Our Tiger Banner already has three thousand-man teams, and has set up a four-thousand-man baggage team. There are also people like you, the captain, who have been placed in the name of bandits. There are brigades all over Datong and a cavalry team of several hundred people, totaling at least 39,000 people."
Cao Guang thought for a while and said, "The number you mentioned should be about the same."
Ma Lin added: "You must know that the border army only has 20,000 people. If there is some free money, the number will only be 10,000 at most. Our soldiers and horses of the Tiger Flag have already caught up with the border army."
Cao Guang had never thought about this before, but now that Ma Lin had calculated it, it was still true. Before he knew it, the number of soldiers and horses in their Tiger Flag was almost the same as the frontier army here in Datong.
