Twelve hours before Ma Chengta heard the cannons, in the Fushun military camp.
The Imperial Guard was ordered to prepare for battle at all times except for morning exercises. Everyone rested, but their weapons and armor never left their hands. They even had a good lunch at noon. The meat dishes were plentiful, and everyone was in high spirits. After all, they had never rested since they joined the team and were exhausted every day.
But after an hour's rest at noon, everyone found that the atmosphere in the camp was not right. Several officers of the Imperial Guard were summoned for a lecture. When they came back, their faces were all tense, as if they were going to eat someone.
Li Yanxi had just come out of the Imperial Guard's camp office and received a combat mission. Due to his outstanding performance a few days ago, his squad was also used as the vanguard squad in this battle — a frontal assault, tearing apart the enemy's defense, and opening a path for the follow-up troops.
It sounded very mysterious, but to put it bluntly, it was the first to go up.
Five days ago, Li Yanxi had given Zhou Qingfeng a lot of face. Zhou Qingfeng trained him as the next Gao Daniu and Wu Daimen. He hoped that he could continue to work hard and make more contributions. But now that the pressure was on his shoulders, he was actually very uneasy.
After the small encounter at the dock, no one cared about the title of 'First Battle Hero Squad', but the reward of fifty taels of silver made people jealous. It was happy to get the silver, but Li Yanxi was really scared afterward, the kind where his legs turned to jelly. The Jurchen barbarians who had just come ashore were really fierce. Seeing the spear squad rushing over, they didn't panic at all. They immediately drew their bows and shot several arrows.
Because it happened so suddenly and they were too close, Li Yanxi and the others stabbed the barbarians with their spears before they could show off their combat skills. Later, they found that three of the ten spear bearers were shot. The enemy's shots were accurate and fierce. Two were hit in the chest, and one was injured in the arm. All the arrows were shot accurately and fiercely. If it weren't for their good armor, they would have died.
Thinking of the battle at the coal mining village, more people were injured. Fortunately, the medical facilities of the Imperial Guard were good. Otherwise, the casualty rate would be terrible. This time, the Imperial Guards were actually initiating a night attack on a powerful enemy. Li Yanxi, who was being used as a knife, immediately felt her scalp go numb. Her breathing became chaotic, and her emotions fluctuated violently before the battle. She even regretted being too rash previously.
In ancient times, being a soldier was a very unlucky thing. The quality of the soldiers was very poor. For example, if they committed a crime and were sent to the border, they would be given the title of 'Traitor Army'. In order to prevent deserters, they would have to tattoo the words on the soldiers' faces. In the Ming Dynasty, the military household system was implemented, and the soldiers were treated like slaves. Only a ghost would actively fight. It was better to be a bandit than a soldier.
When Zhou Qingfeng was recruiting soldiers, he deliberately didn't accept those who were from the military. Instead, he chose young people from the villages and cities who didn't have too many bad habits as soldiers. In order to ensure their combat effectiveness, they spent a lot of money on education, training, food, and equipment. But the idea of 'good men don't become soldiers' was not so easy to get rid of.
The Imperial Guards could still keep their composure when they were on the defensive. But now, if they wanted to take the initiative to attack, they needed to be mobilized. This time, the entire Imperial Guards were mobilized. Not only did they include the three combat platoons, but they also included all the logistics personnel. Even the cooks had to follow them into battle. All of them mounted for the raid and dismounted for the battle. They wanted to withdraw from the battle before daybreak and return to Fushun.
In order to ensure that the entire battle could proceed smoothly, Zhou Qingfeng had been training for night raids for three days in a row. The first night, they ran on foot for fifty kilometers. The next two days, they rode horses for eighty kilometers around the city.
Today, they had a meeting to assign specific combat tasks and emphasize battlefield discipline. All the squad and platoon leaders had to memorize the terrain and buildings of the Gulei Mountain stronghold. This was because the maximum distance of Zhou Qingfeng's military chain was only a hundred meters. In battle, the distance between the platoons would definitely exceed a hundred meters. Therefore, the basic commanders had to be familiar with the battlefield environment. They had to be able to disperse and retract their forces.
"Li Yanxi." A voice called out. Zhou Qingfeng strode into the dormitory of the Second Platoon, Class One. This was an old-fashioned barracks converted into a house. It was filled with large bunks. He had thought that he would only be able to find Li Yanxi after entering the house, but this person was actually sitting at the door with a frown on his face. "How's the combat preparations?"
Combat preparations?
Li Yanxi straightened his back and stood up. Only then did he remember that he had to go through combat preparations after returning from the meeting and organize all the platoons to mobilize before the battle. However, he had no idea how to mobilize them at all. He had only joined the Imperial Guard for two months and hadn't even graduated from the elementary literacy class. Sometimes, he couldn't even speak fluently.
Seeing Li Yanxi in a daze at the door, Zhou Qingfeng knew that he couldn't place too much hope on these soldiers who hadn't even washed their muddy legs yet. He had come down to inspect the work because he knew that it was already good enough for his subordinates to be able to fight the enemy. There was no need to think about propaganda or anything like that.
"You're a little nervous and scared, right?" Zhou Qingfeng patted Li Yanxi's shoulder and said, "Don't be afraid of war. You have to be like how you did in your first battle a few days ago. There's only hot blood in your heart. Don't think too much about anything else. If you think too much, you'll die faster. Find something for yourself to do. At the same time, tell your subordinates that we're going to fight. We'll be setting off in two hours. "
"Yes, Sir." Li Yanxi straightened his back and responded. He then realized that Zhou Qingfeng didn't seem to have any intention of leaving immediately. He looked at his fellow soldiers in the dormitory again and tried hard to keep himself calm. "Brothers, we're going to fight the Jurchen barbarians tonight. We're going on a horse raid …"
Li Yanxi said a few words and ran out of words. He turned his head and hoped that Zhou Qingfeng would leave so that he wouldn't have to do anything. However, Zhou Qingfeng was standing at the door and smiling at him to show his encouragement. He could only continue to rack his brains and say, "Don't be afraid, everyone. The Jurchen are also human. We stabbed one to death a few days ago. This time, we'll just stab a few more to death. If we stab them to death, we'll get a reward. "
He ran out of words again. Li Yanxi turned his head again. Zhou Qingfeng still didn't leave. He took a deep breath and hesitated for a long time before he braced himself and shouted, "In this damned world, even if you kill me and I kill you, it's probably useless. We don't have precious lives. It's better to kill our way out with weapons in our hands.
I've always heard how powerful the Jurchen barbarians are. This time, we'll let them see that there are also good Han men. Many people said that we got the reward because we were lucky last time. I'm not convinced when I heard that. We got the money based on our own abilities. This time, we'll kill a few more barbarians and shut those gossipers up. We're the heroes who achieved merit in the first battle. We can't be cowards today. We must kill to our heart's content. "
Li Yanxi became more and more fluent as he spoke. In the end, he was full of killing intent. When the soldiers in the squad heard that they were going to go to the battlefield and find trouble with the Jurchen, their faces turned ashen. But as they listened, their expressions changed. By the time Li Yanxi finished speaking, their morale was already at its peak.
After Li Yanxi finished, Wu Daimen, as the platoon leader, gathered everyone in the platoon to give a lecture. This boorish man was strong and spoke loudly. He shouted fiercely, "The first platoon said that they want to get the first merit this time. Who do they think they are? I've already patted my chest and promised Sir that we'll still be the ones to get the most credit.
Some people's legs go soft when they hear about war. I, Wu Daimen, am really ashamed of these people. What's there to be afraid of about the Jurchen barbarians? Do they eat as well as we do? Do they have better weapons than us? Do they have better armors than us? Do they have better training than us? Those barbarians are so poor that they don't have anything except their cheap lives. But their cheap lives are worth money. They're just waiting for us to kill them for the reward. "
Hearing this, everyone in the platoon burst into laughter ….
Wu Daimen's body was talented. He was big and liked to bully others. He came from a family of hunters in the mountains. He was not like Gao Daniu who grew up in bitter water. He did things with fewer rules. He was brave but not meticulous. But he was more liked by the soldiers than the strict Gao Daniu. The soldiers under him were full of morale and made more mistakes.
On the other side, Gao Daniu was also doing the final battle mobilization. He carefully checked all the soldiers' equipment and requested that all the details be done according to Zhou Qingfeng's plan. He did not want anything to go wrong.
"Tonight's battle must be carried out according to Sir's plan. No mistakes are allowed. No one is allowed to underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. Sir said that fighting a war is a matter for all of us. A single person's bravery is useless. If we can fight with numbers, we will fight with numbers. If we can fight with strength, we will fight with strength. As long as we are united, no matter how strong the enemy is, we will not be afraid.
This time, we are attacking at night. The enemy will not expect us to go so far to kill them. We have practiced this two or three times. We are clear about the problems we will encounter during the battle and know what to do. As long as we are prepared, there is nothing to be afraid of. Everything will go according to the plan. We will win. "
The people in the first platoon were very quiet. They were as quiet as their platoon leader. But they did do it. They knew what was going to happen. Their fear was greatly reduced. Most of the people who were injured in the previous battle at Coal Mining Village were from the first platoon. These injured people had now recovered and returned to the platoon. Those who had walked the line of death were all very calm and could be used as the backbone.
Compared to the two male platoon leaders who had completely different personalities, the female soldiers of the third platoon of the Imperial Guard were all teary-eyed. Unless it was archery. The third platoon leader, Chai Jie, was a person with a very low sense of presence. She was helping the female soldiers in the platoon pack up one by one. She hugged them and encouraged them in a low voice. The female soldiers were crying not because they were afraid of death, but because they were ready to sacrifice themselves.
"The reason why we women have always been bullied is because we are too weak."
"The bad guys order us around like cattle and horses because we will not say a word until we die."
"In order to prevent more women from being bullied, sisters have to stand up and fight."
"We will not be worse than those men. We can also kill, and we can even kill more than them."
"We must make those who look down on us tremble in fear when they hear our flag!"
The female platoon originally only had about a dozen people, but now it had expanded to more than 30 people, becoming a complete mid-range support unit. This was a team specially formed to embody the politically correct topic of equality between men and women. Anyway, everyone in Fushun City who had seen this team of female soldiers was extremely surprised. There were all kinds of reactions, most of which were negative.
In the past, the women in the military camp were all prostitutes, which was really the lowest of the three religions and nine strata. Now, women actually wanted to kill people with knives and guns in their hands. This change was too strong.
But no matter how rejected they were by society, the female platoon was the most united in the Imperial Guard. When they were bullied, they would definitely resist together. They looked up to the male soldiers in everything. Even if they were physically weak, they gritted their teeth and persisted. They were the ones who worked the hardest in training. They forced Zhou Qingfeng to strengthen their nutrition and improve their physique. It was too rare to see such a group of people with such high revolutionary enthusiasm.
The hardcore of the hardcore, the die-hard of the die-hard.
This team did not need Zhou Qingfeng's special mobilization at all. He only needed to order them to go to war, and the female soldiers took the initiative to fight and rushed to do the work of the sharp knife squad. All of them were born with a bitter background. They really wanted to turn the tables and become their own masters.
At five o 'clock in the afternoon, the sun was about to set.
All the Imperial Guard had gathered, and Xu Bing gave a final morale boost. She used all the spiritual power in her body to compress her strong fighting enthusiasm into a sentence — — Go to war. Use your knives and guns to obtain glory and victory!
Each of us is a child of the Han family who does not want to be a slave.
Although we are weak …
But we also have to be surrounded by strong enemies in the darkness …
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