Men, listen, grab the top of the mountain and stand in the center position

When Qin Xiuyuan entered the room, he saw his fiancée leaning against the headboard. Her thick braided hair was half disheveled. The lively and pretty girl before was gone. Her face was pale, her eyes were drooping, and she looked listless, but she was still in good spirits. There were several bite marks on her lips. He couldn't help but move closer to her and whispered, "Are you okay?"

"Still alive..." Wangshu, who was only half dead, was weak and did not forget to order, "Fan..."

Even though he was sick, he remembered to ask for a fan, and he didn't even remember to call me Brother Qin...

He didn't care about the taboos between men and women, as boys and girls shouldn't sit at the same table after they were seven years old. He moved a stool closer to the bedside. She was usually talkative, but now she was listless. Qin Xiuyuan made small talk, fanning himself: "I'm leaving tomorrow. I'll come visit you when I get back."

"Well, I asked the tailor to make two pairs of shoes... and a curved bayonet..." Wangshu pointed to the place under the table in the middle of the room.

Qin Xiuyuan bent down to examine the contents, unpacking the hidden bundle and opening it. He found two pairs of animal hide mid-shoes, each with a thick, woven sole. The outer soles, where the material touched the ground, had iron shavings sewn into them. Perhaps this was to increase friction while walking? It made walking easier and more effortless. At the very top of the boots, a continuous leather cord held the boots in place.

"Put them on." Wangshu had long wanted to make him marching boots, but unfortunately she didn't understand the principles of military boots. She wanted to make boots that were wear-resistant, non-slip, and that would make walking clean and neat. She got the measurements from her mother and went to a tailor shop to make two pairs of boots.

Changing shoes in person was impossible, so Qin Xiuyuan ran outside to change his shoes and came back, asking her softly, "It's light and saves effort. Wangshu, is this what you were thinking?"

The four gentlemen also wore similar leather boots, but the soles were made of thick thread with uneven patterns...

It was the first time that Wangshu heard him call her by her name directly. She didn't feel anything. As a young man, of course he couldn't hold back when receiving a gift! The old lady nodded calmly, "Someone is wearing something similar... Make it more wearable..."

Qin Xiuyuan praised her sincerely again, "You're so clever!" He unwrapped the thin, curved bayonet. It was made of tempered steel, a curved spike in a cast-iron scabbard resembling a hollow bamboo tube. From the handle to the tip, like sharp icicles in the cold winter, it was round and tapering. It was essentially a giant, curved needle, but with a scabbard.

"Put it in your boots for close-quarters self-defense."

Qin Xiuyuan had brought a dagger with him, so he would use this small spike when he got back to test its effectiveness. He packed up, washed his hands, and came back to fan her. "Wangshu, take good care of yourself. Xiuyuan will not let you down."

"Hmm." Wangshu stared at him and hummed weakly: "You are not saying this because you know that I can have children, right?"

Man, you better not be a pig!

"No. Xiuyuan is sincere." He expressed his opinion quickly, fanning himself quickly.

Although... he has finally let go of the major concerns in his heart.

"Humph, just because I can give birth doesn't mean I will."

...What do you mean? She's not going to give birth? ... Qin Xiuyuan wanted to ask, but seeing that she was very uncomfortable and weak, he stopped asking.

"You go back. I want to sleep. Ask Weiwei to come in and fan me."

...He followed the order. The girl, who was usually careless and sharp-tongued, seemed to have used up all her strength just to blink. He moved very carefully as if he was handling fragile glass. Qin Xiuyuan gently helped her lie down and walked out with light steps.

"Come back alive. Otherwise, the property will be replaced by a new owner."

……

Qin Xiuyuan paused and looked back at her. She had closed her eyes and mouth.

Things become someone else's, and people also have to change new fiancés? Like his mother, from his father's wife to General Qin's woman, one of them.

Thinking of his mother, Qin Xiuyuan felt a rare pang of gloom in his heart. He went to ask for a meeting with her that morning, but was refused.

How many men shed tears and said goodbye when they left home and said goodbye to their families, embarking on a journey with an uncertain, dangerous and unknown future. But when they gathered in the military camp and arrived at the familiar environment, they met their brothers who had eaten and slept with them day and night, and after they had a good talk, most of their emotions calmed down.

The first garrison troops generally escaped unscathed, so most of the second garrison were more relaxed, chatting and laughing on the march, trying to boost morale through such deliberate laughter and noise, demonstrating their unique bravery and fearlessness, and their relaxed demeanor.

As a member of the vanguard battalion, Qin Xiuyuan was qualified to ride horses the entire way. He had the right to lead a team of 20 people, riding back and forth to inspect the marching troops. He was tall and straight, with a perpetual expression on his face, making it impossible to find fault with him. Even his orders were strict and precise: "Pass the order down, rest here for a quarter of an hour!"

Unlike others, Qin Xiuyuan didn't dare to relax even a little. Most of the troops led by the First and Second Vanguard Battalions were veterans with actual combat experience, and their second round of garrison had twice as many new recruits as veterans...

Choosing the lesser of two evils, the Dashi State chose the second round as its target for a breakthrough, which would increase its chances of success. Since the new ruler ascended to power, the Dashi State had torn up all agreements with the Daliang Dynasty regarding paying taxes and coins, and had ceased paying homage. Over the years, the two sides had frequently infringed on the border, and conflicts had occurred from time to time.

The two cities were not far apart, and at a normal speed, they arrived at Xuanwu in three days. They were stationed in the first batch of tents that had been set up, and they continued patrolling in small groups every day. They traveled back and forth on a fixed section of road every day, enduring the wind and sand...

The Dashi Kingdom was a purely nomadic people. People followed cattle and sheep, and the cattle and sheep ate grass. After eating up one grassland, they moved to another. Some grasslands did not have time to recover, and sandstorms were easily blown up when strong winds came.

A strong wind blew up, sending sand and gravel flying. The dust kept blowing, instantly covering the sky and the sun. Everyone's mouths and noses were filled with sand, and the sky and the earth were suddenly "thousands of miles of yellow clouds, dimming the sun"...

"Fuck, this piece of damn sand!" Li Fugui couldn't help but swear again and again, "Sand blinds me every day, and just now a piece of dried animal feces hit my face. It really makes me angry!"

"Boss, we are so unlucky. Sandstorms blow through this hole every day!"

"That's right! I'm full just by eating sand, and it smells terrible! Eating sand and pooping sand can also save military rations!"

Qin Xiuyuan silently shook the sand off his clothes, picked up the feces from Huren's face, and rubbed it in his hand as he looked at the obscure gray north. The patrol team he was in charge of was always hit by a few small dust storms on windy days, leaving them covered in dust and dirt all day, which was very frustrating. Later, they learned their lesson and wrapped themselves in a wide cloth scarf covering everything except the eyes, tied at the back of their heads, and called each other the Masked Hero. In this scorching heat, the stifling heat was unbearable and really uncomfortable.

After a brief rest, Qin Xiuyuan suddenly focused his attention, lying on the ground with his right ear silently listening, "Brothers are coming!" Their uniformity and light hooves indicated they were one of our own. If it were the Dashi Kingdom, their hooves would have a stronger grip and a slight advantage in speed.

In the distance, horse hooves gradually appeared. The man in the lead was no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, with square brows and a clear, upright figure. His large red cloak fluttered in the wind. His hearty laughter and greetings were clearly transmitted through the newly subsided sandstorm. "Thank you for your hard work, brothers!"

"General Qin San!" Everyone dismounted and saluted. Qin Xiuyuan, the junior leader, stepped forward to report on recent border patrols and made a reasonable guess, "The wind and sand along this stretch of road have been carrying a stronger smell of cattle and sheep manure lately. There's also a faint whiff of horse manure, and the smell is primarily wet manure."

The presence of cattle and sheep wasn't surprising, but the persistent smell of horse manure was a cause for concern. "Oh, tell me more." General Qin San glanced at his left and right guards, exchanging glances. In the current situation, any clues needed to be thoroughly investigated. With a large army present, it was better to believe it than not.

"This area is very windy and dusty, and visibility is usually low. Ever since our team took over patrol, the wind and sand have been carrying all kinds of feces and debris towards this large opening. Firstly, the semi-dry riverbed here easily hides the wind, and secondly, I suspect there are fixed grazing tents upstream of the water source. But for the past two days, the wind direction has not changed, and the wind has not been strong, but it has brought the smell of horse manure. I suspect a herd of horses is stationed not far upwind."

Qin Xiuyuan then elaborated on the differences between cow and sheep manure and horse manure:

Of all the feces, horse feces tend to be the coarsest and most fibrous, while cow feces is the finest. This is because cows chew their cud repeatedly after eating their grass, digesting it more thoroughly. Cow feces lack traces of grass, while horse feces often show remnants of grass.

"General, please look. I couldn't confirm this before, but this is proof. I found this by crushing the feces that was carried by the wind and sand."

Qin Xiuyuan opened his hand, revealing half a black bean in it. Black beans are a northern crop that can be used as food, but they are also great as warhorse feed. The resulting warhorses have lush, fat, and powerful hair.

Everyone was shocked and immediately decided to send people back to reinforce this section of the road. Only the best war horses would be fed with black beans, which undoubtedly showed that the war horses of the Dashi Kingdom appeared not far from the border here.

The atmosphere on the battlefield changed because of this black bean hidden in the feces.

The Third Young Master Qin was completely absorbed, sitting erect like a statue. His father, General Qin, treated him equally, arranging for his son to live and eat with his fellow soldiers and personally leading the charge. He was asking him to, like his two brothers, carve out a name for himself on the battlefield, lead by example, and lead loyal and experienced troops to truly live up to the Third Vanguard Battalion's reputation. And now, the faint smell of excrement on the wind was the half-bright, half-faint sound of battlefield horns.

His Third Vanguard Battalion, with its swords drawn, was ready for battle at any moment.