Zhao Xuance smiled mockingly to himself. Previously, he naively thought that he could delay the attack on the Sangshe clan by controlling the garrison at Yuemeng Mountain.
It's just a dream.
He could even imagine that if the compartment commanders and corps commanders belonging to different battalions had not announced their positions immediately last night, they would have been instantly regarded as rebels and killed.
Looking at the middle-level generals with most familiar faces, Zhao Xuance was still a little happy. Fortunately, most of those who had guarded Suzhou together were still alive.
For a moment, he didn't know whether he should be happy or sad.
From this perspective, it seems that Zhao Xuance's own situation is even more embarrassing.
The cavalry commander who had announced the takeover of the camp yesterday began to stand in front of everyone and read out the charges against the rebels.
The charges include corruption, absence from duty, etc.
However, the thing that Zhao Xuance couldn't accept the most was the conspiracy to rebel.
This means that these colleagues who were once closest to them will not only not receive any form of comfort after death, but it may even affect their family members.
Their names will be engraved on the pillar of shame in the history of this dynasty, and they will never be able to stand up again.
When Zhao Xuance heard this, he lowered his head. He clenched and unclenched his right hand, unclenched it and clenched it again. His body was shaking a little at this moment. He didn't know whether he was sad or angry.
After the charges were announced, the cavalryman who temporarily held the position of Governor-General of Yuemengshan Camp looked at Zhao Xuance with unabashed contempt and said condescendingly: "Sir Zhao, do you have any opinions on this decision?"
If last night's swift and violent action was the Wangye Office's attempt to drain the fire, the just-announced crime was unabashed use of power to oppress others. As for asking Zhao Xuance's opinion now, it would be a naked slap in the face.
Zhao Xuance raised his head and stared at the commander in front of him, as if he wanted to carve his appearance into the depths of his soul.
"What's wrong, Mr. Zhao, do you have any objections?" The cavalry commander looked at Zhao Xuance, still looking domineering.
Zhao Xuance raised the iron gun in his hand and took a step forward, but he did not intend to fight the opponent desperately.
I saw him clasping his fists, saluting the other party, and said loudly: "I don't dare, the general. These people deserve their punishment. It will naturally be very satisfying for the commander to eliminate the thieves on behalf of the prince."
Then he continued: "This general is not strict with his subordinates. Please punish me, Commander-in-Chief!"
There was silence in the school grounds. No one could have imagined that Mr. Zhao, who had always been upright and awe-inspiring, could endure it like this at this moment.
Forbearance sometimes represents an extremely noble quality. Gou Jian, the king of Yue, lay down on the firewood to taste his courage, Han Xin's humiliation, and Liu Bang's Hongmen Banquet all have the word forbearance.
Only by enduring this period can you soar into the sky and trample your opponents under your feet. That is a good story that will last forever.
However, in many stories, there is no way to reverse the situation through endurance.
The so-called word "forbearance" has another name.
It was at this moment that many people who looked at Zhao Xuance's frustration felt secretly happy and were about to blurt out that word.
Coward.
Coward, also known as "pee" in some dialects, is pronounced "although".
Some people started talking, and some people laughed out loud without any surprise at this time.
Whether it was comments or sneers, it was all harsh.
This thing is not that funny.
So these laughters were naturally intentional by those people.
If the commander's question to Zhao Xuance was a slap in the face, then the current discussions and laughter were a humiliation.
Not surprisingly, the commander did not stop these harsh sounds, but let Zhao Xuance just stand there and experience this humiliation.
Zhao Xuance was unmoved at all, still keeping his clasped fists and cupped hands, but the joints of his right hand holding the iron gun were slightly white.
The laughter and discussion finally stopped in this somewhat cold atmosphere. After all, there was nothing wrong with Zhao Xuance's current state.
"Mr. Zhao has worked hard and made great achievements for the country and the people. It is normal for him to be deceived by Xiaoxiao. It is the time when the court is employing people. How can the prince punish a pillar of the country like Mr. Zhao?"
Perhaps the commander felt that the humiliation of Zhao Xuance was enough, so he spoke slowly at this time.
"Thank you, Lord Commander. I will certainly live up to the prince's expectations!" Zhao Xuance said in a deep voice.
He stood up straight, his face neither sad nor happy, but as if the matter really had nothing to do with him.
The commander was slightly awestruck, and couldn't help but look at Zhao Xuance again.
This matter has been revealed.
Then he announced that the entire army would set off at noon and officially launch an attack on Sangshe.
It was noon when Sang Snake was at its weakest, and it did not surprise Zhao Xuance that King Xiangli knew this.
Now it's up to the teammates of Qi Zhen's team to see how they will block the sergeant's attack.
This is not so much a pre-war mobilization as a test against Zhao Xuance himself.
The officers and soldiers went down one after another to make final preparations before departure, but the commander came to King Xiangli's camp.
At this time, King Xiangli was looking at the topographic map of Yuemeng Mountain. On the map, the location of the Immortal Pit was marked with heavy black circles in charcoal.
"Your Majesty." The commander did not choose to clasp his fists in salute, but knelt down on one knee.
"How is it?" A faint voice came from King Xiangli's huge body. No matter how many times people heard it, they would feel that this voice could not match the real person.
"Reporting to your lord, Zhao Xuance is a very forbearing person," the commander said.
Afterwards, the commander recounted everything that happened on the school grounds to the prince, without even missing the smallest movement of Zhao Xuance.
"You go down." King Xiangli did not look back after hearing this, but just waved his hand casually.
"Your Majesty, this man is very scheming and must be guarded against. Why don't you let the general slaughter him on the spot to calm the army?" The commander thought for a while and then said.
"Um?"
A flash of panic flashed in the commander's eyes, and he immediately said: "I will make a mistake, and I will retire."
As the sound of footsteps left, King Xiangli still looked at the map and remained silent.
The commander exited King Xiangli's tent. He was blown by the mountain wind and found that his back was completely soaked.
Over the years, he had followed the prince on his expeditions to the north and south. He had no fear when facing the enemy, but now he was a little scared.
Whenever you hear the prince's "um", it feels like you are hearing the most terrifying sound in the world.
Yesterday evening, when the prince called him to the tent to give him a message, he left him with eight words - moderate humiliation, endure it and then retreat.
He didn't quite understand, but he could only follow the order.
The forest was not as good as the official road, and it was not suitable for mounting horses to fight, so the horses were left at the Yuemengshan camp, and the cavalry army turned into infantry to accompany the army.
Although they were traveling together, they were still far behind the team.
Zhao Xuance, on the other hand, led his battalion and walked at the front of the team.
There were soldiers who were familiar with the route leading the way, so even though the mountain road was difficult, the march was not slow.
After only about half an hour, the journey was halfway through.
A team of 1,500 people spread out in this forest is still as different as a drop of water from the sea, and cannot even hit a single wave.
But along the way, I still couldn't see any shadow of the mulberry snake, not even a living creature, which was very scary.
It was as if the forest had turned into a dead zone at this moment.
The sound of footsteps, the collision of armor, and the sound of weapons and trees were all amplified infinitely at this time.
The most unbearable thing is that after walking for half an hour, the surrounding scenery has not changed at all, except for the trees, just the trees. The sound in the soldier's ears, except for the footsteps, is still the sounds of footsteps.
In this forest where it was difficult to tell the direction, this silent march made most of the soldiers start to feel crazy.
Finally, another voice appeared in the forest, but this voice made all the soldiers' expressions change slightly.
The fluttering of insects' wings, the chirping of birds, or even the cry of apes will surprise the soldiers.
Two-thirds of the officers and soldiers of this brigade have never entered the hinterland of Yuemeng Mountain, and among the remaining one-third, only a few have been lucky enough to hear this sound.
The fate of this group of people was not very good. Most of them reported to the Suzhou government office on the pretext of being killed by Mulberry Snake. A small number of them are still recovering from their injuries in Suzhou City. It is more accurate to say that they were discharged from the army rather than recovering from their injuries.
There are only a few people left who are still in the team at this moment.
Upon hearing this voice, these people's faces suddenly turned pale and bloodless, and their legs were like sieving chaff.
The sound was somewhat like the sound of a mop dragging on the ground, some like the sound of wind-blown leaves rubbing against the ground, and some like the sound of a grizzly bear's back rubbing against the bark of a tree.
Swish, swish.
The sound gradually became louder, and everyone stopped at this time, raised their weapons, and prepared to face the enemy.
After only a short time, these enemies appeared in the sight of the first row of soldiers in front.
It's snakes, endless snakes, dense snakes, colorful snakes.
Their bodies were tangled together, rubbing, and stacked, like water waves, rushing towards the humans in front of them one after another.
No matter what kind of species it is, once it accumulates to a certain number, it will cause people to feel fear.
What's more, snakes are inherently unpleasant animals.
All the soldiers who saw these snakes became frightened, their scalps became numb, and they even began to think about retreating.
"Line up and meet the enemy!" Zhao Xuance's order caused the soldiers in front to instantly make conditioned reflex movements.
A row of iron shields was erected in front.
The iron shield was embedded deeply into the forest floor, with only a small distance between the shields.
The snakes were blocked outside the shield wall, and only a few snakes could get in through the gaps.
What was waiting for them at this time was the sharp blades of the soldiers in the back row.
There are many snakes in the group, but snakes cannot fly. They can only crowd in front of the shield wall, relying on a small number of their kind to get into the gaps, trying to cause damage to the enemies in front of them.
Snake blood splattered.
The soldiers even mastered the rhythm of exchanging attacks. When the soldiers in the front row got tired of cutting, the soldiers in the back would attack, so that no snake could enter the crowd and cause even a little panic.
This is the result of the special training developed by Zhao Xuance based on the characteristics of the snake tribe.
After the initial slight panic, the soldiers quickly adapted to the rhythm and techniques of this defense.
As a result, the movements of swinging the knife became more and more proficient, and even gradually became more and more handy.
When the soldiers at the back felt relaxed and even started to enjoy the fun of killing, they heard the sudden screams from the soldiers in the front row raising their shields.
This scream made all the soldiers in the back row tremble slightly with their knife hands.
Just when the soldier holding the shield lowered his head to prevent the snakes at his feet from biting him, he didn't realize that the snakes actually fell from his head.
