On the official road leading to Pinggu County, flags were flying high, and the six thousand men of Yanshan Wei were hastening their march.

  "Speed up, everyone is following behind! Lord Qianhu has ordered that we must arrive at Pinggu County Town before nightfall!" The mounted messengers on both sides of the procession shouted loudly.

  The soldiers, who had been rushing for four days, were exhausted. At this moment, hearing that they were about to arrive at their destination slightly lifted their spirits. Except for the necessary nighttime rest, the remaining time was spent speeding up their march.

  Commander Qiu Fucheng and others, in order to train the new recruits' marching ability, also wanted to quickly complete the mission of the King of Yan's subordinate. After all, this was the first battle since the establishment of the Yanshan Guard, and they had to win it beautifully.

  These soldiers were so exhausted that they couldn't bear it. The old soldiers were a bit better, after all, they had experienced such forced marches before.

  But the new recruits were not doing well, one by one they had blisters on their feet and weak legs, their whole body was powerless and their faces were pale. For the first time, they felt the use of their usual training, if it weren't for the results of their daily hard training, they would have been exhausted and fallen to the ground long ago.

  Among them, Xiaoliu, who didn't work hard in training, was miserable. He struggled to keep up with the pace of the main team, his face twisted in exhaustion. Daniu wanted to go forward and support him several times, but Lao Gu stopped him.

  "You can't go help him, this is punishment for his lack of effort in training. If he suffered a bit now, it's because he didn't work hard enough before. Let me tell you, when I was in the army, things were much stricter than they are now. Our general used to say 'If you don't train hard during peacetime, you'll be sending yourself to your death on the battlefield.' Do you understand?"

  Dà niú heard Lǎo Gǔ's words and had no choice but to give up helping Liù Zǐ. Liù Zǐ himself also gritted his teeth, making a firm decision that from now on he would train diligently and never be lazy again, determined to prove himself.

  From start to finish, Zhang Feng watched as Liu Zi's face gradually became more determined and couldn't help but smile in relief. Normally, he had reminded Liu Zi many times that training should be rigorous and performances should be taken seriously. But every time, he was talked out of it with just a few words. Zhang Feng also knew that no matter how much he advised him, the effect would be minimal, and only when Liu Zi truly learned his lesson would he thoroughly change his way of thinking.

  It was following this experience of rapid march that he kept an eye on Liu Zi's performance, and even Old Gu's blocking of Big Cow from helping was also under Zhang Feng's instructions.

  He wants to see if Liu Zi can still be saved. If this time Liu Zi can't hold on, he will definitely ask Bai Hu Da Ren to transfer Liu Zi to another place, such as guarding the city gate. At least it won't be so difficult training. He doesn't want to lose his brother's life on the battlefield due to lack of training after being together for several months.

  If Liu Zi can thoroughly change his ways this time, that would be the best outcome. After all, they are new recruits who have gone through thick and thin together. If he were to fall behind halfway, he himself would not be able to hold his head high.

  At this time, the Zhongjun Wei who was guarding the big camp in Yingzhou also received news that the bandit-annihilating troops were approaching Pinggu County. The commander of the garrison, Commander-in-Chief Wu Cheng, immediately decided to lead his men out of the camp twenty miles to meet them.

  His deputy opened his mouth and hesitated for a long time, as if he wanted to say something. Wu Cheng saw this and smiled: "Are you wondering why I want to go so low to welcome them?"

  The deputy officer hastily bowed his head and said: "Your humble servant dares not, but...but there is a word that cannot be swallowed, hoping the master will redeem the crime."

  "It doesn't matter, you can say it."

  "Yes, I don't understand why you, sir, went out of the camp 20 miles to welcome them. In terms of official position, you and their leader, the thousand-household, are equal; as for military merit, although our garrison has been established for less than two years, we have gone north to defend the border many times, and every brother in our garrison has blood on his hands from fighting against the Yuan people. Moreover, they came to exterminate the mountain bandits who killed our soldiers, and it was the same group that we failed to defeat before. Now, because of them, all the brothers in our garrison are losing face. Even if they were the personal guards of the Prince of Yan, born with a higher status than us, you wouldn't have gone to such lengths."

  The deputy also let go and said everything he thought in his heart, but what he said wasn't unreasonable either.

  Wu Cheng patted the deputy officer's shoulder and said, "Do you know why Commander ordered to report this matter? Do you know why Commander didn't ask for help from our nearby brotherly guards?"

  "I don't know."

  "That's because the situation in Beiping Prefecture has changed. The Prince of Yan was appointed as the ruler of Beiping ten years ago, when the war in the north was intense and the highest officials were frequently replaced. Now, whichever general is ordered by the Emperor to lead troops out of the pass becomes the supreme commander of the Beiping region at that time. As a result, local garrison affairs are largely self-managed, and only when troops are deployed outside the pass do they come under unified command. If it were last year, the Grand Commander would have made his own decision on this matter of grain relief, why bother sending it to Beiping City for no reason."

  "But it's different now, the King of Yan has already been enfeoffed. From now on, the highest military commander in Hebei Province is only one person, that is the King of Yan. And do you think that group of mountain bandits are really something we can't eliminate?"

  The deputy officer was taken aback and asked in confusion: "Isn't it that our army is unfamiliar with the mountain roads and has no way to exert its strength?"

  Wu Cheng burst out laughing: "How is that possible? In the past, the suppression of bandits was just a show. Commander Zhao also knew about the shady dealings between those mountain bandits and Pinggu County Magistrate Zhao Chuhai, so every time Pinggu County Magistrate Zhao Chuhai sent troops to suppress the bandits, Commander Zhao would agree on the surface but ignore it behind his back. Each time they sent troops, it was just a drill, a performance. Otherwise, do you really think that just relying on those small hills around Pinggu County could stop my 5,000 armored soldiers?"

  The deputy officer suddenly realized, no wonder everyone was lazy every time they went to suppress the bandits, and at first thought it was because of the rugged mountain road, but it turned out that they just went for a stroll.

  "But this time they actually hijacked and killed our soldiers and winter food, that's a big problem. I'm afraid the mountain bandits in Pinggu County will disappear from now on."

  "What adults mean is..."

  "It's fine if you understand, let's go. Judging by the time, they'll be arriving soon too. Let's hurry up and leave the camp." Wu Cheng waved his hand and walked out, with the deputy officer hastily following behind him.

  At the same time, the extermination army is about to arrive at Pinggu County, and several thousand households are gathered together discussing something.

  "Qiu Qianhu, according to the scout's report, Pinggu County is surrounded by many mountains, but they are mostly gentle and there are no towering peaks. I don't know why the Zhongxun Camp has repeatedly failed to clear out the bandits, could it be that the soldiers and bandits have colluded with each other?" Li Dan Qianhu asked in surprise.

  Qiu Fu slightly shook his head: "I don't know the specific situation either, let's wait until we arrive at Pinggu County and observe carefully. As Li Qianhu said, I will definitely report to King Yan and reorganize the troops in the camp, but if there is any hidden situation that is unknown, then it's a different story. Everything depends on the investigation being clear."

  While they were discussing among themselves, the vanguard soldiers had already approached Pinggu City, and the city walls of Pinggu, which had experienced many battles, could still be vaguely seen...

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