Wang Wenzuo's words caused an uproar among the military slaves. The military slaves whispered to each other in low voices. Wang Wenzuo waited patiently until everything calmed down again before continuing: "I know you may not believe what I just said. , but the time is still long. You can use your own eyes to see and your ears to listen to see if what I say is true or false. Now I need twenty smart young men. These young men must walk in front and on the two wings of the army. When When we discover the Baekje ambush, send out a signal first to prevent us from falling into a trap, and those who are willing can come forward!”
The military slaves remained silent. Just when Wang Wenzuo was about to speak again, he saw someone raise his arm and say a few words.
"Then we get paid too?"
"Of course!" Wang Wenzuo took out a book: "Did you see this? This is the roster of my Datang army. The names of those who are willing will be listed on it. From now on, you are no longer military slaves, but our Datang army." The vassal soldiers! My wife and children are no longer slaves!"
People exchanged glances, but no one spoke. Just when Wang Wenzuo was considering whether to add more chips, someone finally came out. It was the man who raised his arm to ask questions. He nodded to Sancho and spit out a syllable.
"He said he had no name, but because of his long arms, his companions called him ape!" Sancho whispered.
"Ape?" Wang Wenzuo raised his head and looked at the person up and down. He had a lean figure, slender arms, protruding cheekbones, sunken cheeks, and a pair of melancholy eyes under his thick black eyebrows. He looked a bit like a monkey. He clicked He nodded: "This name is a bit inelegant. Why not call him Yuan Fei instead! He is as light and as flying as an ape. What do you think of him?"
After hearing Sancho's translation, the man knelt down and kowtowed several times excitedly, leaving Wang Wenzuo stunned.
"Master, he is thanking you for giving him such a good name!"
"That's it, let him eat meat. Does anyone else want to sign up for the next one?"
After half a cup of tea, Wang Wenzuo put away the book. Behind him were twenty newly recruited vassal soldiers gathered around the fire and eating meat. Sancho loudly scolded the military slaves who gathered around and wanted to sign up. Open a way for Wang Wenzuo.
When morning came, the soldiers poured water on the bonfire, packed up their gear, and began to move on. The stream beside the road is rushing and cold as ice, and the large swaths of walnut and cedar on the hillside are like silent sentinels, quietly staring at these strange visitors. Unlike yesterday, the hillsides on both sides and the front already have eyes for themselves - hopefully yesterday's meal of wild boar will take effect! Wang Wenzuo thought to himself.
Yuan Feifei walked in the forest with light steps and no sound, just like his nickname. From a very young age, he discovered that he had this special ability, and used slings and some clever traps to get some small prey - his father died early, otherwise his mother's strength alone would not have been able to feed him. and two younger sisters. He liked the name Wang Wenzuo gave him very much. For ancient people, names, especially the words written on paper, had some special mysterious power. Most of the slaves of the Three Korean Army like Yuan Fei were born in He never had a proper name until his death. Yuan Fei felt inexplicably excited when he thought that the two Chinese characters written by the unfamiliar Tang Army officer on the paper were exclusive to him.
Snap!
Yuan Fei almost subconsciously hid in the shadow of an old maple tree. This is a necessary skill for a poacher. After a moment, he carefully stuck his head out, listened attentively, and observed carefully. The forest gave him the answer: the leaves rustled, the cold stream pulsated, and the cry of the snowy owl came from the distance.
The target appeared silently. From the corner of his eye, Yuan Fei spotted a wisp of white passing through the woods. He turned his head and followed the wisp of white, but could not see anything. The branches were trembling slightly in the wind, and he stretched out his wooden fingers. They scratched each other, maybe they saw it wrong, maybe it was just a bird, or the reflection on the snow, or maybe it was an illusion caused by the moonlight. What did he see?
A few minutes later, a shadow suddenly emerged from the darkness of the woods, standing no more than ten meters away from Yuan Fei, overlooking the road down the mountain. He is tall, wearing a gray-black fur robe and a black gauze round hat. Only a piece of white is exposed on his chest, which should be the collar of his middle coat. He holds a horn bow in his hand, and a horizontal knife and a sword hanging on his waist. Quiver.
Yuan Fei held his breath and leaned against the tree trunk tremblingly. His cheek was pressed against the bark of the tree, and the sticky and sweet sap flowed onto his face. After a while, he heard a few more footsteps.
"How far is the Tang army from here?"
"According to the report, there is still about half a day's journey!"
As the conversation outside became faster and faster, Yuan Fei gradually couldn't understand what was being said. However, the only thing he could do was to hold his breath and stick to the tree trunk to avoid being discovered by others. After a long time, he finally dared to When I plucked up the courage to poke my head out, there was no one there.
"Sanlang, do you think what this guy said is true?" Liu An glanced at Yuan Fei who was kneeling on the ground. This guy was thin and withered, dressed in ragged clothes, exuding a stench, and looked panicked and frightened. , he really doesn’t look like a qualified spy.
"I think the possibility is very high!" Wang Wenzuo replied slowly: "What's the benefit of spreading this panic on us? Make us more alert? Isn't this counterproductive?"
"Yeah! That's true!" Liu An nodded.
"And I have another reason. According to what he said, the enemy's conversation mentioned 'Dasu'. If he heard correctly, the situation in Zhenxian City is very bad!"
The muscles in Liu An's cheeks suddenly tensed up. Dasu was the highest-ranking official in Baekje after Dazuo. He was probably equal to the governor of Dazhou and the general manager of the Tang Dynasty. Anyone who could hold this position was a noble chief of Baekje for generations. A person with deep prestige. If there is a leader of this level among the rebels besieging Zhenxian City, their size and combat effectiveness will definitely not be able to cope with the few hundred reinforcements of his own.
"But if we hesitate to move forward, it will be a sin of failure and we will definitely die!"
"I think it can be like this!" Wang Wenzuo said: "First send the cavalry in front. If there is any change, use fireworks as a signal. The team will retreat to yesterday's camp, where trenches and fences are all ready-made, and close to The water source and the terrain are good. If you use strong crossbows to defend it, you won’t be afraid even if it is attacked by ten times the enemy!”
"Well, let's do it!" The muscles in Liu An's cheeks suddenly relaxed. What Wang Wenzuo said about "tabai" meant investigation in the Tang and Song Dynasties. The borrowed word "Bo" means "overgrown vegetation, do not go deep". The two words together mean to explore the place where the enemy may ambush. Failure to arrive on time is certainly a violation of military law, but if something happens along the way and you encounter a powerful enemy, that's another matter.
