ebookland Chapter 494: First Appointment as Central Army
Chapter 494: First Appointment as Central Army
The day after Bi Ye's battle with Yan Zhua, he ordered Yang Dou to order the entire army of Bi Cheng to search for Xiao Zhenrong's whereabouts, but after searching inside and outside, there was no trace of him. Xiao Zhenrong was alone, without any family or servants, so he must have fled to another city long ago, and the Dragon Spine Sword must have been taken away with him.
Two days later, Bi Ye issued an order to promote Chu Xiaomu to the position of central commander of the Nanding Army, commanding the existing more than a thousand troops.
When Chu Xiaomu received the order, he was speechless and blushed. He couldn't understand why the general let him be the central army on an equal footing with Li Qi, Yang Luo and others.
Yang Dou, the officers of the Nanqian Camp and the Nanqian Camp Wang Gu and Quan Qingzhi, the chief officer of the Nankun Camp Zhu Chengsong, the chief officer of the Nanzhen Camp An Wenyuan, the chief officer of the Nandui Camp Yang Sui and others came to pay their respects and congratulate them.
Chu Xiaomu was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to do. He thought that he was just a small sentry captain before. According to the normal organization of Bicheng, he was at most a half-sergeant captain. He didn't expect that he would become the central army of Nanding Army. Firstly, he was afraid that he was not capable enough to command so many people, and secondly, it would be difficult to convince them. So he dragged Yang Dou to find the general and asked him to withdraw his order.
After entering the tent, he met Bi Ye and looked at the general who looked much older and haggard. He couldn't say anything when he was about to speak. He thought that Zhou Bo was dead and Xiao Zhenrong was a traitor. The general probably saw that his original force had been opened, so he made this decision. Now he had no choice but to bite the bullet and take it one step at a time. If he couldn't control the central army of thousands of people, he could just find an excuse to resign.
He had no choice but to say a few words asking the general to take care of his health and then prepared to leave the general's tent.
Bi Ye suddenly said, "Xiao Mu, you are so young, it is indeed difficult for you to shoulder the heavy responsibility of commanding the central army of the Nanding Army, which was once so powerful in the south. However, your ancestor Chu Xiong was also a central army commander when he was 27 or 28 years old, and Huan Zhizheng of our Xiyi Camp is only in his 30s now. They are only a few years older than you, but they can also manage the entire central army in an orderly manner. You are the descendant of Chu Xiong, and you can definitely revive the power of the Nanding Army."
Chu Xiaomu had no choice but to thank the general and then return to the barracks to meet several battalion officers who came to meet him.
The Nanding Army originally had sixteen officers of various camps, but more than half of them were killed in the battle of Humu Pass, several battles in the Nanding camp, and the siege of the city by the Red Soldiers. Now there are only five left: Wang Gu, Quan Qingzhi, An Wenyuan, Yang Sui, and Zhu Chengsong. Yang Dou was also appointed not long ago.
Chu Xiaomu thought of the more than 4,000 Nanding Army soldiers who died in the battle, many of whom he had seen before, and he almost shed tears again.
Wang Gu and other camp officers were quite impressed by Chu Xiaomu's ability to bring back nearly 2,000 horses while herding more than 100 horses, as well as his ability to intercept secret letters from the Claw Clan assassins, spy on the Claw Clan assassins' camp, and capture their leader Li Ji alive. However, these achievements were far from enough to make him qualified for the position of the central army.
Therefore, everyone was very polite to him on the surface, but they couldn't help showing dissatisfaction or dissatisfaction. They thought that the general was injured by a surprise attack, and he must be a little confused. So many battalion officers did not get promoted to the central army, but promoted a young man like him. It seems that it will be very difficult for the Nanding Army to regain its glory.
Chu Xiaomu didn't know how to receive these battalion officers, so he just asked about the current situation of the Nanding Army. He learned that there were only more than 1,100 soldiers left in the entire army, and the original eight battalions were only organized into four battalions.
Wang Gu and Quan Qingzhi still led the Nanqian Camp, Zhu Chengsong led the Nankun Camp, An Wenyuan led the Nanzhen Camp, and Yang Sui and Yang Dou led the Nandui Camp.
Chu Xiaomu asked about the wounded and the horses, and everyone told him roughly. After that, he didn't know what to say. The camp officers were bored, so they left one by one, using the excuse that they had something to do in the camp.
His role as the Central Army was indeed extremely boring. Apart from a verbal word from General Bi Ye, he did not even have a written order with a seal, let alone military uniforms, armor, swords, and spears. However, Chu Xiaomu did not care about these. Military uniforms and armor were not only useless to him, but also extremely inconvenient to wear. As for swords and spears, apart from the general's Dragon Spine Sword, who else could beat his Dome Stone Sword?
The biggest problem facing the Bicheng Army right now is the shortage of food and fodder. The food distributed to the soldiers has been reduced again in the past few days. Not only have the dry biscuits become smaller and thinner, but the meat has also changed from mutton chunks to mutton soup.
Although the soldiers had not yet complained, their expressions showed that they were very dissatisfied. And if they didn't have enough food, how could they fight against the Red Army?
Chu Xiaomu was worried, thinking that if things continued like this, even if the Red Army didn't cross the river, the Green City Army would starve to death sooner or later. He went to see the general two or three times to discuss the matter with him, but Xiaoxuan only told him that the general was at a critical time of healing and must not be disturbed.
He had no choice but to go to Li Xi, Yang Luo and Huan Zhizheng to discuss the matter, but the three central armies had no good ideas.
Li Xi said that he had ordered the people nearby to reclaim wasteland and plant more round-leaf wheat straw, but now everyone is starving, and many seeds reserved for spring planting have been taken out and eaten. The soldiers persuaded him in every way, and even had to use force to keep more than ten loads of seeds. Even if they were sown in time next month, it would take another four or five months before the autumn harvest. Now that the food supply has been reduced by half and then reduced again, it can only last for another month and a half at most.
Huan Zhizheng said that if there was no other choice, they would have to kill the army horses for food. Although there were not enough horses now, killing 800,000 horses would not be a big problem. Moreover, according to the horse officer, the fodder was also starting to run low, and by then not only would the soldiers starve, but the horses would also starve.
Yang Luo immediately expressed his objection and said, "Xiao Zheng, you are talking nonsense. My Bicheng uses horses to establish its army. Soldiers and horses are one. If you kill the horses, you are killing the soldiers. I, Yang Luo, would rather starve to death than kill the horses!"
Li Xi was weighing how long the fodder could last and the consequences of killing the horses.
Huan Zhizheng could only sigh and said nothing more.
Yang Luo suddenly had an idea and said, "Xiao Zheng, isn't there a place called 'Crocodile Swamp' about a hundred or two hundred miles from your Western Yi Army camp?"
Huan Zhizheng immediately understood what was going on and said, "Uncle Wu, you want to eat crocodile meat? That stuff is fishy and smelly, it's not something that humans can eat!"
Li Qi said: "As long as it fills my stomach, I will eat any kind of meat. Why would I care if it smells fishy or smelly?"
Huan Zhizheng said, "That's right. Now it's enough to have something to eat. Let's put the taste aside for now."
Chu Xiaomu couldn't say anything, but he was very happy. If there were enough crocodiles, perhaps they could solve the urgent problem.
Li Qi also thought of this and frowned, saying, "But we still have 11,200 soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians. It is unlikely that we can survive by eating alligators in the swamp."
After much discussion, the four men decided that it would be safer to transport food from other places. Firstly, the autumn harvest could not wait, and secondly, there was not enough newly reclaimed land. Killing crocodiles for meat could only be a last resort.