The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 195 The Mysterious Army

The main camp at Zijin Mountain outside Yingtian Prefecture.

All the troops drawn from various places gathered here.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang formed the Grand General's Office with his most elite troops and stationed it near Yingtian Prefecture.

Later, the Grand General's Office was abolished and replaced by the Five Military Commissions.

Nevertheless, the troops gathered near Yingtianfu were still the elite soldiers and generals previously led by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang kept a very strict watch on his troops, and every troop movement required his order.

Upon hearing the news that Zhu Xiong Ying was going to mobilize troops for military exercises, Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and directly transferred all the troops from various places.

Fortunately, it was Zhu Xiong Ying. If it had been anyone else, they probably wouldn't have been able to mobilize a single soldier, and their heads would probably have been chopped off.

At this moment, a carriage, escorted by guards, was heading towards Yingtian Prefecture.

The person sitting inside was none other than Crown Prince Zhu Biao.

At this moment, Crown Prince Zhu Biao's eyes were filled with resentment.

Zhu Yuanzhang led a large army south, but worried that Zhu Xiong Ying could not handle the situation in Yingtian Prefecture alone, so he specially sent him here.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao was utterly speechless. Everyone says that grandparents and grandchildren are closer, and it was indeed true.

If anyone else had dared to mobilize troops in such a large-scale manner, Zhu Yuanzhang would have already returned to fight them.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang not only did not reprimand Zhu Xiong Ying for his unauthorized mobilization of troops, but also sent himself to keep order for him. Such a thing is truly unprecedented.

Poor Crown Prince Zhu Biao didn't rest along the way and headed straight for Yingtian Prefecture.

Inside the camp outside Yingtian Prefecture, there was a man dressed in light armor, wearing a black turban, with a sword at his waist and a crossbow in his hand, looking fierce and menacing.

The soldiers in the Zijin Mountain camp couldn't help but frown.

"Who exactly is this person?"

"It seems we've never met before!"

The others also shook their heads.

They had never heard of such a force in the Ming army.

Leading the group were Xu Zengshou and Chen Heng, followed by Qiu Fu and Li Jinglong.

At this moment, Li Jinglong's eyes were full of determination, a stark contrast to before.

When he first joined this army for training, he was extremely disdainful.

Duke Li Wenzhong of Cao was also a veteran general who had fought on the battlefield. There were few in the entire Ming Dynasty who could compare to his father.

Naturally, he had been exposed to many battle tactics since childhood.

They didn't pay much attention to the army that the Crown Prince had secretly trained.

However, after some training, Li Jinglong suddenly lost his composure.

The training methods of an army are completely different from conventional training methods.

He was curious; could it be some new tactic of the Duke of Wei? At present, the most prestigious general in the entire Ming Dynasty was the Duke of Wei, Xu Da, not to mention that the commander of this army was Xu Zengshou.

But when he learned that this new battle tactic was provided by His Highness the Crown Prince, he was filled with disbelief.

The grandson of the emperor, Zhu Xiong Ying, was only ten years old and had never been on the battlefield. How could he possibly have such a training method?

However, after some training, Li Jinglong also sensed that this army was unusual.

After arriving at the Zijin Mountain camp, Xu Zengshou immediately set up camp without getting too involved with other generals.

News of this special army quickly spread throughout the entire operation.

Inside a military camp, Commander Liao An frowned. Regardless of the army's actual combat strength, their equipment alone gave them an advantage. Moreover, he also saw Xu Zengshou, son of Duke Xu Da of Wei, and Li Jinglong, son of Duke Li Wenzhong of Cao, in this army.

Clearly, His Highness the Crown Prince had high hopes for this army. He was now wondering if he should go and sound him out.

Commander Liao An was a cousin of Marquis Deqing, Liao Yongzhong, and the army he led was once Liao Yongzhong's elite vanguard.

He was determined to win this military exercise.

However, upon hearing that a very special unit had recently been added, he was somewhat puzzled.

With that in mind, he decided to investigate further.

Liao An, accompanied by two guards, went directly to Xu Zengshou's tent.

Before they even reached the battalion commander, they suddenly felt a chill. Four soldiers with crossbows rushed towards them, standing at the four corners with wary eyes.

"who?"

Liao An was somewhat displeased; this was the first time he had been pointed at with a weapon by one of his own.

"I am Liao An, the commander of Jingjiang. I am an old acquaintance of Young Master Xu!"

"Report this immediately!"

At this moment, the two soldiers following Liao An were extremely displeased.

These two are veterans who followed Liao Yongzhong into battle.

After Liao Yongzhong died, the two of them followed Liao An. When they saw someone pointing a weapon at them, they were extremely displeased and grabbed their curved swords to block in front of them.

"Be bold!"

"The person before you is the commander, your superior. How dare you, inferiors, disobey your superiors?"

"Don't think that just because you're following the Duke of Wei, you're superior to others."

After saying that, he picked up the hilt of the knife, ready to beat these people to the ground.

Liao An was utterly speechless. These people were loyal followers of his, and they were all arrogant and fierce generals.

Many times, even I find it hard to control them.

He had come to Xu Zengshou to inquire about the situation, not to cause trouble.

If Duke Xu Da of Wei finds out about this, he will be in big trouble.

Just as he was about to say a few words to resolve the conflict, the armored soldier in black suddenly rushed over and snatched the weapons from the two guards beside him in a few moves.

In an instant, the curved blade in his hand was placed against the necks of the two soldiers.

The two were extremely surprised, as they were both quite skilled in martial arts.

Back then on the battlefield, they personally beheaded several Yuan soldiers, but now, before they've even started fighting, their weapons have been taken away by others.

Thinking of this, the two men's faces turned ashen, then liver-colored.

Liao An was also extremely shocked, never expecting that the two guards at the gate would have such abilities.

With such talent, it's a real waste that he's not a personal guard but merely a gatekeeper.

Just as Liao An was about to say something, the tent suddenly opened, and two people walked out: Xu Zengshou and Li Jinglong.

Xu Zengshou looked at Liao An in front of him and said with a smile.

"It's Uncle Liao! It's been a long time! How have you been?"

When he came out, he saw the tense situation outside and immediately felt a little embarrassed.

Liao An snorted coldly.

"Zengshou, you really have a good army to lead! You dare to point a knife at me? Are you asking for a beating?"

Xu Zengshou smiled awkwardly, but felt extremely pleased inside.

"Uncle Liao, what are you saying? Please step back. Uncle Liao is family; he won't do anything to us!"

(End of this chapter)