Chapter 11: United We Stand

  He Daqi made an appointment, Li Chong led his men back to the camp, waiting for Liao Hua to return with news. As it was a matter of life and death, these Yellow Turbans were extremely efficient in handling matters, and within less than half a day, all flammable materials such as torches and dry firewood had been gathered.

  The next night, Liao Hua rode back under the cover of darkness. As a result, all the leaders left their warm beds and gathered in Li Chong's tent to discuss their next move.

  Li Zhongxian asked: "Yuan Jie, has the grain transport team of the Zou family been investigated clearly?"

  Liao Hua was eating dry rations with big mouthfuls, when he heard Li Zhongwen's question, he took a big gulp of hot water before answering: "The scouting is almost done, the total number of people in Zuo's army is over 200, among them about 50 are civilians, and there are about 100 carts. The rest are guards, and the leader is indeed Zuo Fang, Zuo Zong's cousin."

  Li Chong calculated that if one car was loaded with 500 catties of grain, and there were a total of 100 cars, the amount of grain transported by the Zhao family this time would be approximately 4 to 5 thousand dan, which was close to his own estimate.

  Li Chong continued to ask: "How much grain is loaded on each vehicle, and how fast does it travel?"

  Liao Hua patted his thigh, somewhat annoyed, and said: "The people of the Ma family are very strict, I've tried several times but couldn't get close. However, judging from the marks on the ground, there should be around 300-500 catties! The official road to Qing and Xu provinces is very flat, their marching speed is fast, and they will probably arrive here by tomorrow night."

  The big and small heads heard this, suddenly excitedly shouting and almost immediately wanting to take up their knives and rush to Xuzhou.

  Li Chong was making his final calculations when he heard the commotion in the tent, and suddenly felt annoyed and disheartened, his face involuntarily darkening.

  Guan Hai saw Li Chong's face change, and he also knew why Li Chong was like this. He himself felt a bit ashamed. The Yellow Turbans were an army aimed at overthrowing the Han court, not bandits. Now these leaders' behavior was no different from that of bandits, and they couldn't accomplish great things. It's no wonder Li Chong looked gloomy.

  "Shut up, all of you! What kind of behavior is this? You're not bandits." Guan Hai suddenly flew into a rage and shouted loudly.

  Liao Hua was eating dry rations and got such a fright that his hand shook, almost throwing away the dry rations in his hand.

  The big head suddenly closed his mouth, staring at Guan Hai with a cold face. Guan Hai was very famous in the Yellow Turban army and had high martial arts skills, killing people without blinking an eye. These heads were very afraid of him.

  Li Chong saw that everyone had quieted down and said in a low voice: "Guan Hai and Liao Hua stay, the rest of you can go back and rest first."

  The two leaders exchanged a glance, saw that Guan Hai was looking out the door, and quickly retreated quietly.

  When the tent became quiet, Li Chong finally revealed a wry smile and said slowly: "Guan Hai big brother, look at this army, what can it achieve? It's completely a mob, no wonder Da Xianliang lost."

  Gan Haiqi's face was flushed with anger, his fists clenched and crackling with rage.

  Liao Hua ate two mouthfuls of dry rations, took another sip of water, swallowed hard, and then spoke up: "Who says it's not? These people are fine when they win, but if they lose, they can't be restrained at all. Often, as soon as the vanguard is defeated, the entire army collapses, leaving one to grit their teeth in frustration."

  "In winter, let's practice military training!" Li said with a sigh, saying helplessly.

  "Just listen to Zi Hui." Guan Hai said in a low voice, thought for a moment, and suddenly asked: "Will Zi Hui practice martial arts again?"

  Li Chong thought for a moment, and the only time he had contact with the military was during military training. He certainly couldn't command troops, but military training could indeed improve one's discipline greatly. Thinking of this, Li Chong replied: "As for deploying troops, I have no experience, but to train an army with strict military discipline, I'm 70-80% confident, it's just..."

  Guan Hai was overjoyed and hastily asked: "Deploying troops and forming battle arrays can't be learned from books. On the battlefield, military situations change in countless ways, and one can only rely on experience and innate talent. However, being able to train a strictly disciplined army means we have the capital to survive in this chaotic world. What's troubling Zi Huan?"

  As soon as Guan Hai spoke these words, even Liao Hua perked up his ears, afraid of missing a single word.

  Li Chong sighed and said to Guan Yu: "When orders are given, they must be obeyed. In an army with two commanders, how can the soldiers be convinced?"

  The tent fell silent, Li Zhong's meaning was somewhat obscure, but not difficult to guess. That is to say, the soldiers are now listening to me and also listening to you, Gan Hui, telling me how to train the troops.

  It can also be seen from the scene just now that these leaders do not fear Li Chong, and they dare to act recklessly in Li Chong's account, or their respect for Li Chong is based on Guan Hai.

  Guan Hai picked up the water cup, drank it all in one gulp, wiped off the water droplets on his mustache, and said loudly: "I, Guan Hai, am not a person who is greedy for power. Now, I can also be called your master if you'd like. However, can you keep these big and small heads under control?

  Li Chong did not suspect Guan Hai's words, and there was no need for Guan Hai to deliberately pretend to be willing to give up power. If he really had this idea, Guan Hai would not have invited Li Chong to join forces at that time.

  "After some thought, Li Zhong helplessly said: 'If we win tomorrow, perhaps the situation will be a bit better.'"

  In this world, the hardest thing to get is not money, nor beauty, but people's hearts. Li Chong couldn't do it, and neither could Gan Hai - you can't force people to worship you after all.

  The next day at noon, Taishi Ci came alone on horseback. Li Chong took a look and was stunned to see that Taishi Ci's originally rosy complexion had turned waxen yellow, clearly having put on makeup.

  "This world doesn't have the internet, human flesh search, what are you afraid of?" Li Zhong felt amused in his heart, but his face didn't show any expression, and he quickly invited Ta Shi Cai into the tent.

  Around the late afternoon, Liao Hua had already investigated the exact route of the Zou family. Today at around 5-7 pm, the Zou family will definitely enter the territory of Donglai. Since it is currently October 12th, which is a full moon festival, it is not ruled out that the Zou family will travel through the night.

  Li Zhong said, "This is perfect. We'll set up an ambush at the border of Donglai. Guan Hai, you lead 150 strong men and hide by the side of the road. The official road of Donglai has trees on both sides, it's easy to hide hundreds of people. When the Ma family's troops pass by, you immediately block the road with dry firewood. As soon as they turn back, set fire to cut off their retreat."

  Guan Hai nodded and said: "I'll set off right away, but what if the people from the Jiang family escape in all directions?"

  Li Chong let out a cold laugh and waved his hand, saying: "People can run, you don't have to chase and kill, but can the big cart leave the official road? What we want is food."

  Guan Hai burst out laughing and said loudly: "Not bad, still thoughtful of Zi Hui."

  Li Chong then said to Liao Hua, "The remaining people will be led by you, the strong in front and the weak in back, many torches will be lit to create a false impression of a large crowd."

  Liao Huamei said with a flying color: "Scare these sons to death, it's best for us to pick up food for nothing."

  Li Chong smiled slightly and said, "Don't underestimate the Miao family. If we can't scare off Miao Fang, this guy will struggle like a trapped beast, and then we'll have to trouble Elder Tai Shi to take action."

  Taishi Ci nodded and smiled, but didn't respond. In his heart, he looked up to Li Chong a few more points. Although it was a small-scale battle, Li Chong's thinking was meticulous and his arrangements were well-organized, and he didn't rely solely on numbers to win. He didn't seem like someone who had just stepped onto the battlefield for the first time. Taishi Ci knew what Li Chong had been through. In modern times, big or small battles from ancient and modern China and abroad have almost all been broadcast on TV screens. Li Chong's experience was a notch above that of some bookworms.

  Liao Huaxiao said: "General Taishi takes action, naturally there is no mistake, are we leaving now?"

  "No!" Li Chong stood up and said: "We need to have a talk now."

  There were over 200 sturdy men, forming a square array in the middle of the camp. The small heads couldn't help but whisper to each other, "Isn't it time to fight and plunder? Why are we still forming an array?" As time went on, the crowd grew restless, the October weather was already very cold. A thin layer of snow remained on the ground, and the thinly dressed bandits felt a chill rising from their feet.

  They stomped their feet and rubbed their hands, and some of the bolder ones had already left the group, quietly slipping away to find a place to warm up.

  Li Chong stood in front of these people with a gloomy face and didn't say a word. Seeing some people wanting to slip away, he suddenly burst out laughing loudly.

  The fleeing bandits immediately stopped in their tracks, staring at Li Chong in surprise and quietly backing away. The remaining people in the group also suddenly fell silent, involuntarily looking around at their companions, and the formation slowly took on some shape.

  Li Chong suddenly stopped smiling and loudly scolded: "You are all a bunch of **!"