Chapter 2: Inspecting the Military Camp

  The next morning, Yue Yun felt that his physical and mental state had improved a lot compared to the previous day. At least getting out of bed and walking was no problem. Yue Lei, Guan Ling, and Niu Tong still came to visit him as they did yesterday.

  However, Yue Fei and other high-ranking generals such as Niu Gao, Zhang Xian, and Tang Huai may have been too busy with the arrangements for the retreat to come visit.

  Yue Yun also learned a lot of information he wanted to know from Yue Lei's mouth.

  The entire Yuejia Army has twelve armies, divided into: ① Baoye Army; ② Front Army; ③ Right Army; ④ Central Army; ⑤ Left Army; ⑥ Rear Army; ⑦ Youya Army; ⑧ Taba Army; ⑨ Xuanfeng Army; ⑩ Shengjie Army; ⑻ Po'di Army; and ⑿ Water Army. The total number of people is around 150,000. Each army has a three-level organization of camps, battalions, and teams. One army governs five to ten camps, one camp governs ten battalions, one battalion has ten teams, and each team has ten soldiers.

  Yue Yun commanded the most elite Ba Wei army in the Yue family, with eight camps under his command. He and Yue Lei were the commander-in-chief and deputy commander of the Ba Wei army. In addition to Yue Lei as his deputy, there were also Niu Tong, Guan Ling and other eight camp leaders in the Ba Wei army.

  In personal matters, he has already married a wife named Hong Yuemei. As for what she looks like, Yue Lei didn't say, and he also didn't dare to ask. Anyway, without having to pay the down payment, he was able to marry an old lady, so Yue Yun was still relatively happy in his heart. And it seems that this wife of his, whose appearance he still doesn't know, has already given birth to a son named Yue Fu, who is now three years old. Currently, the mother and son are both settled in the main camp of the Yue Family Army in Ezhou.

  In addition, Yue Yun also learned that their current garrison location is next to Zhuxian Town, only 45 miles away from the old capital of Song Dynasty, Bianjing. The Yue Family Army's garrison location required by the court to withdraw is in Ezhou, Hubei Province. If they were to return from Zhuxian Town, it would take at least half a month.

  Alas, the situation is indeed urgent! Yue Yun thought to himself, he didn't want to die unjustly with Yue Fei under the name of "Mo Xuyou" in Fengbo Pavilion a year later.

  It seems that he still has to think of a way to get through the difficulties. He thought to himself that the top priority should be to let Yue Fei not rush back, as long as the army is still on the front line, the court will have no way with the Yue family army. With this buffer time, he can then think of ways to save his life.

  It's just that, from what I've learned about Yue Fei's character in history books, he was still very loyal to the imperial court. Although he had his heart set on a northern expedition to recover lost territory, he wouldn't completely disregard the imperial edict. And judging from yesterday's situation, withdrawing troops is already a done deal, it's just a matter of whether to withdraw early or late.

  Even if we take a step back and say that we can persuade Yue Fei not to withdraw his troops for the time being, once the imperial court cuts off their supplies, the Yue family army will collapse without a fight. The current situation is extremely tense. If we cannot come up with a good strategy to respond to this crisis, next year I will be reporting to Fengbo Pavilion.

  Yue Yun thought for a long time, but still couldn't think of any solution. However, this is not surprising, as Yao Yuan in his previous life was just an ordinary urban white-collar worker. It's already quite a stretch to ask him to come up with a plan for advertising and promotion, let alone something that requires strategic military thinking.

  Yue Yun couldn't help but secretly lament, although he had thought of countless ideas in his mind, but found that none of them were practical. After thinking back and forth, he discovered that the most discreet way to save his life was actually to lead a group of people up the mountain to become bandits.

  As soon as this idea emerged, he himself found it somewhat amusing. If Yue Fei knew that his own son had the mind to become a mountain bandit, he would probably immediately push him out and behead him.

  After chatting with three brothers for a while, Yue Yun proposed to inspect his own subordinates.

  Yue Lei and others heard about it afterwards, and they also thought it was a good suggestion. They took Yue Yun to stroll around the big camp, maybe he could recall some past events.

  Yu Lei, Niu Tong and Guan Ling accompanied him to start patrolling in the big camp of Bei Wei army.

  Yue Yun's performance was really making it hard for people to flatter him, he looked around all the way, his eyes kept turning. Everything in this military camp was very novel to him.

  He occasionally touched the armor of this soldier and scratched the long gun of that soldier, making the Beiwei military soldiers who originally saw him very happy and somewhat embarrassed.

  Fortunately, Yue Lei and others mediated on the side, and the soldiers only knew that their superior officer, the eldest young master Yue Yun, had lost his memory.

  They were secretly worried about Yue Yun at this time, fortunately the commander and the military law enforcement officer were not present, otherwise the young master's impolite behavior would have been punished with twenty military rods.

  Yue Yun and others circled around the camp of Bei Wei's army for a lap, and the whole morning was gone.

  Yue Yun didn't feel tired at all, because everything was new to him. But Niu Tong and Guan Ling couldn't take it anymore, they felt extremely bored, yawning constantly along the way.

  Before long, it was high noon. Yue Yun and others also returned to the center of the camp.

  At this time, he saw that on both sides of the main passage in the camp, large iron pots with a diameter of about four feet and a large bowl filled with rice had been set up. Under each pot, a fierce fire was burning. Then, next to each pot appeared a cook-like soldier wearing a white apron, holding a large ladle and a gong, beating out a "ding-ding" sound, shouting: "Dinner is ready!"

  Soon, from the various tents ran out thousands of black-armored soldiers, each holding a large ceramic bowl and a pair of chopsticks. They formed an orderly queue in front of the large iron pot, where the quartermaster ladled out food for them. After receiving their portions, the soldiers then took turns scooping rice from a nearby rice tub into their bowls before squatting down to eat with relish.

  Seeing this rare ancient military camp meal scene, Yue Yun was very interested and immediately went to the front of the large pot to carefully examine it.

  All that could be seen in the pot was a mixture of rice bran and some wild vegetables, which gave off a very unpleasant smell, making Yue Yun feel somewhat nauseous. However, these soldiers ate it with great relish.

  They saw Yue Yun and Yue Lei walking over, hastily stood up in unison, and saluted the two with tense expressions. Their mouths also called out: "Young Master! Second Young Master!"

  Yue Yun glanced at these soldiers, and saw that most of them were pale and thin, obviously the food couldn't fill their stomachs. But from their honest and simple faces, Yue Yun felt a pure and straightforward atmosphere.

  They looked at each other with a gaze that was somewhat tense, but beneath it, there was a hint of respect, even a bit of reverence.

  Seeing so many people bowing to him, Yue Yun couldn't help but feel a little flustered. On the other hand, Yue Lei, although young in age, was already accustomed to such situations and skillfully returned the bows one by one to the soldiers. Then he said to Yue Yun, "Big brother, you must be hungry too! Let's go eat at the east camp!"

  "Dongying? What's that place? Why can't we just eat here?" Yue Yun asked with some curiosity.

  Yu Lei and the other two were stunned as soon as they heard it. Even the surrounding Bei Wei soldiers who were eating lunch were also stunned.

  At that time, the army was very particular about hierarchy and rank. Officers ate in one place, while ordinary soldiers ate in another. Although Yue Fei was known for treating his soldiers like sons, he also didn't eat with them together, but instead had meals with a group of generals.

  This has also been the tradition of the army since ancient times. In this era, whether it was the Yue Family Army, the Imperial Guard, or the local militias, even the armies of the Jin and Western Xia dynasties were all like this.

  In the Yuejiajun camp in Zhuxiantown, generals like Yue Yun and Yue Lei ate separately in the east camp.

  "Dongying is where we high-ranking officers eat, this is where the soldiers usually eat!" Yue Lei quickly explained, remembering that his big brother had lost his memory and didn't remember these rules.

  "Is this military regulations?" Yue Yun asked.

  "It's not a military regulation or anything... but that's just how it's always been in the army!" Yue Lei said, looking stunned for a moment before speaking up.

  "That's it! From now on, we'll eat here! In the future, whether we're officers or soldiers of the Eighth Route Army, everyone will eat together!" Yuke Yun said loudly.

  At this time, all the soldiers of the Wei army around him put down their bowls and stared blankly at Yue Yun. Yue Yun saw from their astonished eyes that they were also amazed by his actions.

  Hehe, it seems that people in this era never thought that officials and soldiers eating together would make them more united, even Yue Fei was like that. Yue Yun secretly felt pleased with himself.

  Yue Yun suddenly had this idea, which was also derived from his experience with the changes in food at his previous company. The company he used to work for didn't have a cafeteria, so everyone either went out to eat or brought their lunch. As a result, employees and leaders didn't eat together, and they always felt somewhat estranged from each other.

  Later, the company hired an old mother to cook meals. At noon, from the boss to department managers and ordinary employees, everyone ate lunch in a large hall. Chinese people always like to chat and joke when eating together. After telling a few jokes and interesting stories, people at all levels of the company felt closer, and employees no longer felt afraid or awkward around their leaders. Leaders also didn't feel displeased with employees anymore. Everyone's work efficiency improved, and team cohesion strengthened.

  Yue Lei and Guan Ling, Niu Tong three people to Yue Yun's decision is nothing. Their age are still young, from childhood with his father together to war, wind and rain is common, for where to eat did not like their parents feel there is a high or low distinction. Moreover, the food standards of officers and soldiers in the Yue family army are also the same, they go to Dongying to eat and eat here are almost the same.

  After exchanging glances, all three nodded in agreement, thinking that this was also good and would save them from running an extra distance.

  Yue Yun and the other three then sat down with these soldiers on the ground in the camp and ate together.

  When everyone was half full, Yue Yun started chatting with the soldiers and even told a few adapted jokes, making everyone laugh loudly. The soldiers also felt that this young master was more approachable than before after his injury.

  Just as Yue Yun and others had just finished their meal, they heard many chaotic footsteps and shouts coming from far outside the camp.

  Yue Lei's reaction was extremely swift, and he immediately stood up, ordering the soldiers to put down their bowls and chopsticks, pick up their weapons, form a square array, and prepare to meet the enemy. At the same time, he also ordered a team of scouts to go out of the camp to investigate the situation.

  Just as everyone was in a state of uncertainty and doubt, a messenger soldier waving a red command flag came galloping over on horseback from the other side of the main camp.

  He quickly ran to the front of Yue Yun and Yue Lei, then dismounted his horse, panting slightly after making a military salute, saying: "Eldest young master, second young master... many civilians have arrived at the main camp gate, claiming they want to see the commander-in-chief! But... but right now the commander-in-chief is discussing arrangements for withdrawing troops with General Li and has no time to meet them. The commander-in-chief has ordered second young master to lead the army to maintain order at the main camp gate and not allow civilians to rush into the military camp, causing chaos..."

  Yue Yun stood up as soon as he heard it and tried to step out of the camp to take a look.

  Yue Lei saw that Yue Yun also wanted to go, so he hastily pulled him back and advised: "Big brother, your injury has just healed, rest for a while! It's just maintaining order, I can go! Look at Commander Yue's orders, it's calling me to go too!"

  After that, he glanced at the crowd around him and said: "Guan Ling, take two battalions of soldiers with me to the camp gate! Niu Tong, you lead the others to guard our big camp. Hurry up! Don't eat what's left, I'll have the quartermaster give it to you tonight!"

  Immediately, the Beiwei army was like a precise machine, quickly getting into motion. The soldiers in the camp were like grains of sand gathering together, assembling in an orderly manner according to their respective units.

  In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Guan Ling had assembled over two thousand elite troops from the Bei Wei army. They were all dressed in black helmets and armor, standing before Yue Lei with an air of sternness that was both majestic and intimidating. Even Yue Yun couldn't help but feel a tremble, thinking to himself that this was truly an elite force, and he had finally seen one for himself.

  Although they knew it was just to maintain order at the gate of the main camp, these soldiers still marched in a neat and solemn formation, with high spirits, under the leadership of Yue Lei, and left the camp in an orderly manner.

  Yue Yun was like a dream come true, and immediately followed. Although he knew that Yue Fei and Yue Lei did not let him go for his own good, hearing that many civilians had arrived at the gate of the Yue Family Army's camp to ask for Yue Fei, it made him very curious, wanting to understand what the people were doing.

  But when he followed the soldiers of the Beiwei army to the entrance of the big camp, he was really frightened.