Tiger Guards

Chapter 33 Reorganizing the Team
After the meeting, the Tiger Guards immediately became active.

Take your identity bamboo slips and call your friends to choose a team.

Zhao Ji is the most popular here, and more than half of the Tiger Guards in the camp want to join him.

There was really no other way, Zhao Ji could only test the courage of the Tiger Guards in the training ground.

An arrow embankment was set up, and the Huben soldiers stood in front of it, thirty steps away, and Zhao Ji shot arrows.

However, many of the Tiger Guards trusted his archery skills very much, and were worried that they would be laughed at by their fellow villagers and companions if they dodged the arrows.

Basically, they can stand still without dodging or evading.

So we can only raise the standards further and choose the unblinking Tiger Guards.

This is also like a test of courage. Tiger soldiers with successful experiences will naturally be inspired with confidence and courage, have a guaranteed morale bottom line, and will be more likely to gain the recognition and trust of their partners.

When Wang Zhi led his men back, he saw people in the training ground watching Zhao Ji shooting arrows, as if it were a game.

Wang Zhi looked at the heads arranged in a square formation on the training ground, and then at the process of Zhao Ji selecting team members, and guessed what he was doing.

The five Caos welcomed Wang Zhi to an open space, where he recounted his experiences: "Jiangyi refused to open its gates, mistakenly believing we had been captured by the Xiongnu. They were trying to trick the garrison into coming to its aid so they could seize the city. Li Le also led his troops north, but upon seeing the beacon fires on Purple Gold Mountain, he was unsure of their true nature and withdrew."

He observed the mental states of Wei Gu, Pei Xiu, and the others, and asked, "Li Le is camping in Beixiang today. He must have sent scouts to investigate. What should we do?"

Wei Gu remained silent at this moment, pretending not to hear.

His family was in Anyi, which would not give the Baibo generals an excuse to attack.

Pei Xiu also had similar concerns. After all, they were all afraid that war would destroy the area around Anyi.

When Wang Zhi's eyes fell on Jia Kui, Jia Kui said, "The Xiongnu suddenly attacked, and Li Le followed closely behind. This shows that he is colluding with the Xiongnu to murder us and is suspected of kidnapping the emperor. In my opinion, we should attack Beixiang tonight and capture Li Le."

Wei Gu still frowned. The actual number of troops under Bai Bo's command was more than 2,000, all of whom were old thieves and veterans who had escaped from the brutal battles. It would be very difficult to wipe them all out.

Unless you mobilize the powerful and round up the enemies together.

But without the deterrence of Baibo's generals, Li Jue and Guo Si would definitely send troops to launch a tentative attack.

Leading to further escalation of the war.

Guanzhong is still short of food this year, and Li Jue and Guo Si originally wanted to lead their troops into Hedong and eat up the food stored there.

Without Wei Gu and Pei Xiu expressing their opinions, the Infantry and Cavalry Caos did not dare to express their opinions easily.

Wang Zhi didn't want to push Jia Kui too hard, so he said to him, "This matter is of great importance. Let me change my clothes and then we can discuss it."

"Yes."

Several people bowed and watched Wang Zhi leave with his guards.

Pei Xiu said, "Aji is quite courageous. Let's see what he says."

"That's how it should be."

Wei Gu also agreed. If Jia Kui's strategy was to be implemented, it would have to be Zhao Ji who led his men to attack the camp.

As long as Li Le is caught, the situation can be controlled.

Including the old soldiers around Li Le, they are all from Hedong, so there is no need to kill them.

Then Wei Gu said, "I am going to go out of the camp to visit the Hou brothers. I need Liang Dao and A Xiu to take care of the affairs in the camp."

Jia Kui simply bowed in agreement. Pei Xiu then asked, "Brother, is this about the weapons?"

"Well, the Hou family has been smelting iron for generations. Whether it's repairing war equipment or replacing equipment in the camp, we have to start with the Hou family."

Wei Gu said solemnly, "I think Aji is quite magnanimous. He gave the little prince's head to Axing so casually. If you take this little prince's head to see the Hou family, his brothers will not dare to treat it lightly. It can be exchanged for many weapons."

Liu Hedu's head has its own uses. After the Hou brothers get it, they can report their merits to the court and ask for official positions.

Even if we take a step back, we can give it to Liu Hedu's other sons in exchange for his gratitude.

Pei Xiu also knew the personalities of the Hou brothers and immediately nodded in agreement: "Aji is easy to talk to. You saw it during the fight last night. Aji lacks a good weapon."

"Well, go ask Aji what kind of weapons he's good at. I'll go change my clothes."

Wei Gu did not intend to ask Zhao Ji in person. After making arrangements, he quickly left surrounded by several tiger guards.

Pei Xiu also came to Zhao Ji and saw him shooting light arrows with a soft bow, so he no longer worried about his physical strength.

Zhao Ji also noticed it, stopped shooting, and took two steps closer: "Seventh brother, what does Wei Zhongjian want to do?"

"He wants to trade Liu Hedu's head to the Hou brothers for weapons. What kind of weapons does Aji specialize in?" Pei Xiu saw Zhao Ji pondering and continued, "Wang Zhi just came back and said that Li Le led 700 to 800 men north, but retreated when he saw the beacon fire on Purple Gold Mountain. Jia Kui believed that Li Le would be stationed in Beixiang and sent scouts to investigate. He proposed a night raid on Beixiang to capture Li Le. Wei Zhongjian is now looking for information from the Hou brothers."

"Beixiang..."

Zhao Ji blinked, weighing the feasibility, and whispered, "It's over thirty miles away. If we don't take action, Li Le will. Seventh Brother, without a clear imperial edict, it will be difficult to convince everyone to attack Li Le."

"Then wait for Li Le to attack?"

Pei Xiu looked like he was asking, but in fact he had already made up his mind.

He did not doubt Li Le's courage. Even if the attack on the camp failed, given the status and knowledge of the Baibo generals, they would naturally find some excuses to justify it.

In the current imperial court, no matter how arrogant and unreasonable Li Le is, he will be tolerated.

The bottom line of the Hedong people is also very clear: as long as a large-scale war does not break out or Li Jue and Guo Si are attracted, then everything can be handled vaguely.

Zhao Ji also felt that it was safer to play a defensive counterattack. The only downside was that veterans like Li Le who were able to survive to this day either had a strong intuition about danger.

Either you have strong escape skills, or you have the disadvantage of defensive counterattack, which makes it difficult to catch Li Le.

If Li Le escapes back, it will create variables that are even more difficult to control.

Pei Xiu then asked, "What kind of weapon does Aji want?"

"The horse-slaying sword, a heavy sword that can truly cut down a horse."

Zhao Ji didn't think twice and also wanted a lance, but it was too expensive and it didn't seem like something the Hou brothers could make.

The strongest state now is still infantry combat, and a heavy horse-slashing sword is enough.

If you rashly learn cavalry warfare, you will most likely be killed by other experienced knights who are good at rogue tactics.

Continue to use your infantry combat expertise and stay in the crowd, then you will be safe.

Soon, Zhao Ji completed the selection and organized 128 tiger soldiers into his first garrison.

Ximen Jian and Yang Ji were chosen as team officers. Each team consisted of 52 people, including a team officer and a flag bearer.

Last night was special. In order to boost morale and facilitate command, these garrison commanders and team officers had to hang flags on their backs.

If they were fighting with other regular Han troops or rebel forces, they would have become targets for archers and snipers long ago.

The remaining twenty-four people comprised two squads, a clerk, a flag bearer, a drummer, and a personal messenger.

These two squads are also divided into categories, one is the personal guard squad and the other is the flag guard squad.

After he completed the reorganization, these Tiger Guards began to move their personal belongings to the new camp.

This place is close to the parade ground and opposite the gate of the baggage station.

The thatch on most of the barracks roofs had been burned and needed to be repaired before dark.

After finishing all this, Zhao Ji came to Jia Kui's camp.

The horse meat soup stewed here is given priority to the wounded soldiers. After all, the space in the big pot is limited, so the others can only get horse meat, which the team cooks by themselves.

Seeing Jia Kui writing something on the bamboo slips, Zhao Ji checked the wounded soldiers.

Most people are in good spirits and feel optimistic after eating meat.

Guan Shang was shot in the back of the neck and could only lie on the haystack.

Turning around and seeing Zhao Ji coming in, Guan Shang asked, "Aji, is Jiangyi City still sealed?"

"Yes, the defenders thought we were captured by the Huns and were trying to trick them into opening the city."

Zhao Ji was helpless. He sat down beside Guan Shang, looked at the oozing fluid from the bandage, and continued, "That jerk Ma Shizhi doesn't even recognize Sima Wang. It's useless to send someone else. We can't count on the doctors and medicine in the city."

"Dog thief!"

Guan Shang cursed, "His nephew is in the Third Village, why doesn't he show up?"

"Sima Wang initially sent Ma Shitong, but it was dark at the time, so Ma Shizhi refused to open the city gates. Later, Sima Wang took Ma Shitong with him, along with two men from Beijiang, but they still refused to open the city gates."

Zhao Ji looked at the wound on the other side of the Huben. "There's nothing we can do about it. The Xiongnu are invading, and the people of Jiangyi are often attacked. My parents, wife, and children are all in the city. How can I dare to open the gate so easily?"

A Tiger Guard sitting opposite, bandaging his calf, cursed, "Fuck him! Why didn't they send someone out of the city to check?"

Zhao Ji just smiled, and another Hu Ben asked in return, "Who dares to leave the city? It's not worth it. General Zhao Tun can treat injuries. Why would we need help from the people of Beijiang?"

(End of this chapter)