The weather in early spring was still cold, and several soldiers guarding the grain and grass camp were idly surrounding the bonfire, chatting and complaining about the damn weather in the north, while envying those who could lie in a warm quilt at this time.

  "Head, you said these military rations must have been several hundred tons, today they were continuously transported in by the truckload, and it went on for a whole day."

  "Isn't it? There's so much that even a large warehouse can't hold it all, and it's also taken up quite a bit of our barracks."

  "Cough... This is enough to supply the Northern Expeditionary Army with 200,000 people for three months, and I heard that there is another batch of military rations for the next three months being prepared. You say if the Northern Expeditionary Army had won a year and a half ago, how much food would they need? Wouldn't it be more than now?" The little schoolmaster on night duty rubbed his hands by the fire pit, thinking to himself with pride.

  "Tsk, tsk, tsk, this is compared to our military rations, it's simply a drop in the ocean. Eh? Head, have you heard? The thieves who stole our military rations last time were sent to Shanhai Pass and even got into the Vanguard Regiment, I don't know if these people can make it onto the battlefield this time during the Northern Expedition."

  "Hum! These thieves actually have the nerve to rob our food, wouldn't it be better if they died? Do you think they can even get out of Vanguard Camp?"

  "Your information is outdated, I just heard from the brothers in Jingying that the thousand households who ambushed and killed the mountain bandits last time are also in the Northern Expeditionary Army." A soldier interjected.

  Just as the other soldiers were marveling at how things had turned out, the general in charge of guarding the grain depot came down with his attendants to make a round of inspection. "What are you doing?! Why aren't you hurrying back to your posts? Instead, you're gathering here to roast and idle away on duty. Don't you despise military law?" The general glared at the loafing soldiers, furious that they didn't understand the importance of their duties now. If there was even a slight slip-up with the grain for the northern expeditionary army, he would be finished as a general, and these careless soldiers would still manage to escape punishment - but military law would inevitably catch up with them.

  When the superior officer from our unit came down for inspection, this group of soldiers who were roasting by the fire scattered in all directions and hurried back to their posts. This superior officer was notorious for being ruthless and impartial, not close to anyone, and they didn't want to taste the flavor of a military stick hitting their buttocks.

  Ping An looked at the dispersing subordinates and frowned, not intending to pursue the matter further. After all, it was a cold night and they had to stand guard, which was already a punishment. But due to military discipline, he couldn't let his subordinates slack off, so he could only stand watch with his comrades.

  "What a person! Ah!" Just as Ping An was halfway through his patrol, a miserable cry suddenly came from behind the grain depot. Ping An immediately ordered his men to sound the alarm and rushed towards the direction of the sound with his sword drawn.

  "Clang, clang, clang!" A series of gong sounds awakened the drowsy soldiers and also caught the attention of the troops stationed beside the large warehouse. Xu Da had specially deployed three battalions to guard the grain supplies in order to ensure their safety, and now these three battalions were gathering at the sound.

  Ping An led his men to the granary near the city wall, where they saw many bodies lying on the ground. From their clothes, it was clear that they were brothers of the Mi Yun Hou Wei.

  Just then, a figure appeared in the distance and Ping An anxiously chased after him. Turning around a corner, he happened to see a man in black pouring something onto the grain. The moonlight shone down, and the dark oil sparkled within Ping An's sight - these people actually wanted to set fire to the grain!

  "Sir!" The men rushed over with torches and Ping An shouted sternly, "Quickly put them out! There's oil everywhere here!"

  His subordinates obeyed his orders, but the black-clad people in front of them were rushing to burn the grain. A bright fire starter had already appeared on top of the grain pile. At a critical moment, Ping An drew his bow and shot an arrow that flew like a meteor and hit the black-clad man's chest.

  The firework fell powerlessly in mid-air, and Ping'an, who had used up all his strength running, finally caught it just before it hit the ground. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a faint light began to glow from the nearby grain warehouse.

  And that one place of firelight was like a signal, in the blink of an eye three or four granaries had burst into flames, the soaring firelight illuminating the crowd, the pale faces looking exceptionally frightening, he never expected there would be so many enemies sneaking into the grain camp.

  But now there's no time to dwell on this matter, the priority is to put out the fire as soon as possible. A group of soldiers who were originally supposed to guard the granary have turned into firefighters, people are frantically searching for usable water sources everywhere, the commander of the third battalion is shouting loudly, bucket after bucket of water is poured onto the raging flames, but it's like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water, a futile effort.

  It wasn't until an hour later that the big fire was finally extinguished. Fortunately, not much grain was destroyed in this fire, thanks to Lai Ping'an's timely isolation of the source of the fire. However, even so, the crime of dereliction of duty leading to the burning of military rations could not be escaped.

  ……

  "General, I have safely escorted the grain storage officer here."

  At this time, in the main tent of the Ming army, all the generals and marshals were sitting here solemnly. The one sitting in the center was Xu Da, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army, while Ping An was kneeling there with his hands tied behind his back, looking disheveled.

  "How were the losses?" Xu Da asked emotionlessly.

  "After the battle, we will take stock. This time, our army has burned over 10,000 stones of grain and fodder. Fortunately, the fire source was cut off quickly, otherwise it is estimated that the loss would be five times more...” A deputy general stood up to answer, and also took the opportunity to say a good word for Ping An.

  After all, Ping Anpingbao is the adopted son of the current Holy One. Now that he has inherited his father's position as a thousand households in Miyun Houwei, the generals in this account have some connection with Pingding, and it's natural to slightly favor his son.

  It's true that what he said was also the truth, and the act of separating the fire source and moving away from the grain was a safe achievement, but he just mentioned it slightly.

  "Mi Di Yun Hou Wei temporarily allocated grain and fodder to make up for the shortage, and then reported to the Ministry of War, informing them of this matter, ordering them to speed up the procurement of the next batch of grain and fodder. As for Ping Bao Er... although he escaped death, he could not escape punishment, and was dragged away to receive a hundred military lashes, paraded around the camp as an example. Xu Da made a fair and impartial decision, without regard for Mi Di Yun Hou Wei's expression, directly punishing Ping An."

  "Have you investigated the background of this group?" Xu Da asked the school lieutenant with a frown after Ping An was taken away.

  "After a thorough examination of the corpse that killed Ping Qianhu, after multiple verifications, we judged that they were spies from the Northern Yuan side, their identity should be the dark army of the Northern Yuan, which has just emerged in recent years, and they are specifically responsible for activities within the territory of our Great Ming."

  "I don't care if they are the Dark Army or the Red Army, in short, find them and kill them all. I want to make sure that there is no Yuan army spy left in Beiping before our great army sets out!" For Xu Da, who was about to launch a northern expedition, spies were an unstable factor. Today, only some grain and grass were burned, but tomorrow, if the marching deployment map was discovered, and several generals were assassinated the day after tomorrow, this was what Xu Da did not want to see.

  Northern Expedition, Northern Expedition, going out of the Great Wall to defeat the enemy on the grassland. Before the Ming Dynasty, there had been three northern expeditions, and Xu Da participated in two of them, with one victory and one defeat, ending up even.

  This time, he led an army of 200,000 out of the ancient northern pass to a great victory over the Northern Yuan, traversing their territory and slaughtering their people...

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