The horn sounded, interrupting Wang Wenzuo's thoughts. He frowned and looked towards the place where the sound came from. He saw that the flag of the Silla Central Army stopped moving. Could it be that he encountered some accident?
"Captain Wang!" Silla Hwarang, who served as the liaison officer, said in blunt Chinese: "It should be the order to set up camp and rest!"
"But it's still early!"
"We are not far from Pyongyang now. We should station the camp early and let the soldiers eat and rest well so that we can deal with the unexpected tomorrow!"
"That's fine!" Wang Wenzuo nodded. Jin Ren asked that this kind of war is indeed different for kings and grandsons. Such subtle details in the military are not mentioned in military books. They can only be learned by fighting in the military. , obviously he has been good at rolling on the blade since he was a child. No wonder the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty valued him so much and let him lead all the troops.
"I understand, please also inform our military camp!"
The campfire crackled, and a skinned goat was rotating on the grill above the fire. The fat was dripping and the aroma was permeating.
"It would be great if there was another bottle of good wine!" He Bayong said, licking his lips.
"Would you like another Orchid to accompany you?" Cui Hongdu was sitting cross-legged by the fire, applying wax to his bow string. He had the habit of maintaining his own weapons. In his own words: If a warrior even handed over his own bow and arrows, If someone else takes care of it, then he is not far from death.
"Pyongyang is only fifty or sixty miles away from here, and the eyes of Goguryeo people are everywhere!" Wang Wenzuo cut a small piece of meat on the back of the sheep, put it into his mouth to check the heat, chewed twice and swallowed: "It's not even close to the heat. , let’s move on, forget about the wine, tonight the three of us will take turns checking the sentry, I’ll choose the last one, how do you two divide it?”
"I'll take the second shift!" Cui Hongdu carefully turned the grill so that the goats could be heated evenly: "He Ba will be on the first shift. I'm afraid he'll doze off in the middle shift!"
"Nonsense, when did I doze off?" He Bayong: "Is the meat cooked? I'm almost starving to death!"
"Wait a minute, um, it's almost done now!" Cui Hongdu took the goat off the fire and began to cut off the meat piece by piece and put it on a large wooden plate. After cutting enough meat for three people, , the remaining skeleton was taken away by the soldiers on the side, it belonged to them. He Bayong swallowed a piece of mutton and suddenly laughed: "It's better to follow Sanlang out. At least his stomach will be rounded. Those who stayed in Sixi City like Master Shen are probably eating mice again now!"
"You can't stuff your mouth with so much mutton?" Cui Hongdu picked up a piece of mutton and threw it to He Ba Yong, his voice became deeper: "Sanlang, do you think what He Ba said makes sense?"
Wang Wenzuo didn't speak. He worked hard to cut the mutton on his plate into small pieces so that it would be easier to swallow. Cui Hongdu waited patiently until Wang Wenzuo finally finished his work.
"He Ba's words are a bit excessive!" Wang Wenzuo paused for a moment: "But he is right in what he said. The situation of Liu Shijun and others in Sixian City is not optimistic!"
"Things should have been fine before we left, right?"
"After a hard battle, Imcun City was not captured! Japanese people came to help again. What do you think the Baekje bandits would think?" Wang Wenzuo snorted coldly: "Let's put it this way, to the Baekje people, we are bandits from afar. Nine out of ten people want to drive us away and kill us. It’s just that some people dare to do it and some people don’t. There are many mountain cities here, and it’s impossible for us to kill all the Baekje people. The best way is to behead or capture their heads, cut off their evil thoughts, and then treat the remaining people with benevolent policies. But now that the thieves have defended their lair, and Japanese people are coming to help, the Baekje people can only think of resistance. It will be more prosperous.”
"Sanlang, what do you mean over there in Sixian City——"
"It shouldn't be a big problem to defend Sixian City, but the war will definitely drag on. After the Japanese appear, some of the villages that were originally attached to us will sway back. The key to the war right now is Pyongyang. If Pyongyang City can be captured this time, To annihilate Goguryeo, it is estimated that most of the Baekje rebels will surrender without a fight.”
"Then what if we can't attack this time?" He Bayong interjected.
Wang Wenzuo smiled, but did not answer. He pointed to the mutton on the plate: "The meat is cold, eat it first!"
He Bayong and Cui Hongdu exchanged glances. The two people who usually bickered the most stopped talking and started eating meat.
When Wang Wenzuo woke up, it was still early. He put on his cloak and walked out of the military tent. There was darkness all around. His breath condensed into frost in the air. Water dripped from the snowdrifts high up and fell to the ground, forming a small frozen pool. , there was a soft crackling sound when I stepped on it, a few weeds struggled to get out of the cracks in the rocks, and sometimes there were a few bits of pale lichen. I actually had to bleed for such a ghost place. Wang Wenzuo couldn't help but smile bitterly.
The sentry stood on a high place with a spear in his hand. There was silence all around. You could even hear the sound of dripping water. Wang Wenzuo tightened his cloak tightly. It was bone-chilling in North Korea in December, but the underworld must be even colder. After all, there is nothing there. Sunlight.
"Colonel Lieutenant!" The sentry spotted Wang Wenzuo and hurriedly stepped in to salute Wang Wenzuo. Wang Wenzuo waved his hand: "How is it? Is there any movement?"
"No!" the sentry laughed and said, "Don't worry, Lieutenant, I am a veteran. I followed the late emperor on his expedition to Goguryeo. I know the importance of it and I will never get distracted and doze off!"
"Okay, okay!" Wang Wenzuo then noticed that the sentry had a beard and no little finger on his left hand, so he asked, "How old are you this year?"
"I left the country at the age of eighteen, so I'm already thirty-five this year!"
"Thirty-five?" Wang Wenzuo was surprised. According to the rules of the military system, veterans of this age are generally only responsible for garrison tasks. Those who go on such cross-sea expeditions are usually selected from unmarried young men, because Adults need to run their families and raise their children.
"There is no way!" The veteran showed a wry smile: "There are really no young people left in the house where I live, so we old guys can only be recruited. The military has been too frequent in recent years, and only ten of our children can come back from the expedition. There are three or four, it’s really——" At this point, he remembered that the person in front of him was the captain of Yifu, and quickly bent his knees: "Captain, you talk too much, please forgive me!"
"You are telling the truth. There is nothing to apologize for!" Wang Wenzuo supported the veteran: "But even if it is the truth, you must be more careful next time. Do you understand?"
"Yes, yes!" The veteran nodded repeatedly: "Thank you, Captain, for your kindness!"
Wang Wenzuo patted the veteran on the shoulder and walked to the next sentry post, "Only three or four out of ten of our children will come back from the war!" The veteran's words have been lingering in his mind, and he can't get rid of it. He will belong there. "Thirty-four out of ten"?
Lewen
