The First Family of the Red Mansion

Chapter 9 Breaking Camp and Heading West

There was no incident of Liu Hu trying to intimidate his new superior, after all, he was wearing imperial armor and had just joined the army to become a cavalry centurion, and he was the most elite heavy cavalry centurion in their Lantian camp.

As the two men introduced themselves, he learned that they were the two captains of his centurion's unit. The older one was named Yang Qian, and he was from Guanzhong Yin.

The younger one is named Hu Cunmeng, a native of Yan'an Prefecture. A few years ago, when there was a severe drought in northern Shaanxi and food was scarce, he brought his aunts and sisters-in-law to Guanzhong to beg for food.

At that time, the Lantian military camp was recruiting soldiers, and he gritted his teeth and joined the army, which brought his family enough food to survive.

Although the administration of the Great Zhou is much better than that of the Ming Dynasty, when large-scale natural disasters occur, the relief provided by the court is only a drop in the bucket, and the disaster victims still have to beg for food everywhere during the most difficult times.

However, thinking about how even in the 1960s and 70s, people in rural northern Shaanxi still had to go south to beg for food during the winter, Liu Hu felt relieved.

This is not a problem of official corruption, but rather a result of the local natural environment.

The Lantian camp had 5,000 heavy cavalry, 30,000 light cavalry, and a 5,000-strong firearms battalion; the rest were infantry.

Upon hearing this, Liu Hu couldn't help but marvel at the strength of the Great Zhou army. Of its 100,000 troops, cavalry accounted for 35 percent, and it was said that there were still 30,000 cavalrymen in Hexi.

No wonder the Great Zhou was able to drive the Mongols into chaos.

In the following period, Liu Hu got to know the other heavy cavalry commanders.

Zhao Zhong, the commander of the heavy cavalry, was over fifty years old. In his early years, he followed Emperor Taizong on a northern expedition against the Tumet, and was awarded the title of Earl of Loyalty and Bravery for his meritorious service.

This veteran was naturally forthright, and upon their first meeting, he challenged Liu Hu to a duel.

Liu Hu was stunned and hurriedly refused.

We're about to break camp. You're over fifty. If you get hurt or injured, it could delay the army's departure, and I can't bear that responsibility.

Left with no other choice, Liu Hu could only demonstrate his martial arts skills to him.

When the old general saw Liu Hu galloping on horseback and hitting the bullseye repeatedly from a hundred paces away, especially with a dashing steed that used his lance to knock away a 500-pound barricade, he stopped mentioning the duel.

Through this martial arts exercise, Liu Hu also became close friends with the generals of the heavy cavalry battalion.

Before long, it was time to break camp. As the elite force of the Lantian camp, the heavy cavalry naturally had to stay around the central command tent.

During this time, Liu Hu also saw the firearms battalion, which, to put it another way, was similar to the Ming army firearms battalion seen on TV.

The heavy, red-coated cannons were being pushed and pulled forward with difficulty by the artillery battalion.

The muskets were still the same kind of bird guns from the Ming Dynasty. Although the Great Zhou Dynasty had improved the treatment of the craftsmen and they wouldn't explode after firing a few shots like they did in the Ming Dynasty, the slow rate of fire and the worrying armor-piercing ability made Liu Hu feel relieved but also a little uneasy.

At this time, the West had begun to deploy flintlock muskets on a large scale, and also had heavy firearms with extremely strong armor-piercing capabilities.

At this time, the Great Zhou Dynasty had already begun to fall behind in firearms.

But this at least let Liu Hu know that he wouldn't have to worry about being shot at from a distance by muskets during this expedition.

"The only somewhat useful weapon in the firearms battalion is the red-coated cannons; the range and armor-piercing capability of the arquebuses are inferior to those of bows and arrows!"

Seeing Liu Hu observing the firearms battalion, Yang Qian curled his lip, looking disdainful.

"That's not how it works. How long does it take to train a qualified archer, and how long does it take to train a musketeer?"

Hu Cunmeng disagreed with his view: "Besides, archers can't lift their hands after firing a few rounds, while muskets can keep firing as long as there are enough gunpowder and bullets."

"If the musket were a little faster and more powerful, it might eventually replace swords, spears, and halberds and become the primary weapon."

Liu Hu glanced at Hu Cunmeng in surprise, not expecting that this guy would have such foresight.

"Haha, Commander Hu is still too young. The power of gunpowder is only so-so. Besides, how can we increase the rate of fire? Do you mean we don't need to clean the barrel after firing one volley and just keep loading and firing?"

Yang Qian said with a loud laugh.

Liu Hu glanced at Yang Qian, unwilling to explain further: "Alright, hurry up and catch up."

After saying this, he kowtowed to his horse's belly and led his troops forward.

The army of 100,000 stretched for dozens of miles and marched for more than a month before finally arriving in Hexi.

"Duke Rongguo!"

"Your Highness!"

Although the title of Duke of Rongguo is not as high as that of the Prince of Xining, he is the commander-in-chief of this expedition and can control the troops in the entire Hexi region. Therefore, the Duke of Rongguo is in no way inferior to the Prince of Xining in terms of prestige.

Although both men were essentially from the founding lineage, as Jia Daishan completely sided with Emperor Anping and drifted further and further away from the founding lineage, the other members of the founding lineage, though outwardly silent, harbored some resentment towards the Duke of Rong.

Everyone was working together to protect the interests of the founding lineage, but you went and sided with Emperor Anping, even helping him establish the Lantian Camp. Isn't this digging up the roots of the founding lineage?

For this reason, their founding lineage was ridiculed by the Northern Expeditionary lineage quite a bit, until the Marquis of Zhongyong, Zhao Zhong, joined the Lantian camp, and the matter was barely resolved.

These military officers weren't planning a rebellion. They stuck together, partly out of fear that the imperial court would discard them after they had served their purpose, and partly out of fear that a rising star would seize their power.

That's how the Northern Expedition faction rose to power. Originally, the founding faction controlled 80% of the military power, but after the Northern Expedition faction rose to power, it directly seized 30%.

Seeing that the Prince of Xining was not very enthusiastic, Jia Daishan shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"These idiots can't even see a little bit of profit in their eyes."

"They don't even consider that throughout history, which emperor could tolerate a group of nobles who controlled half of the army being all in harmony?"

"If it weren't for the rise of the Northern Expedition faction, we probably wouldn't have waited until now for Emperor Taizong to start dealing with them."

Back in the command tent, Jia Daishan said angrily.

"I never imagined that the Iron-Faced General, Duke Rong, could be so enraged!"

Inside the command tent, Marquis Zhongyong Zhao Zhong calmly sipped his tea, looking at Jia Daishan with a smile as he spoke.

"Don't be so smug. Your Northern Expeditionary faction is becoming more and more like the Founding Faction. You hold onto military power and manage your army so tightly that it's impenetrable. If this continues, trouble is bound to happen sooner or later."

Jia Daishan's anger subsided by this point, since this situation had been going on for more than a day or two anyway.

He had advised his cousin Jia Daihua countless times not to get too close to the other martial arts masters, but he just wouldn't listen and insisted on getting involved with them.

Emperor Taizong's decision not to take him on his northern expedition may well have been due to this reason.

They're already supporting new forces to carve up military power within the national lineage, so why would they give you another chance to make new contributions?

If it weren't for the Great Zhou's policy of downgrading and hereditary nobility, these nobles who couldn't see the bigger picture would probably have been eliminated long ago.

It's just a matter of waiting a few more decades. If these nobles don't have outstanding successors by then, all their power will vanish.

"Alas!" Upon hearing Jia Daishan mention the Northern Expedition lineage, Marquis Zhongyong Zhao Zhong sighed helplessly.

"Forget it, I can't control them anymore. Whether they live or die is up to fate."

In fact, the current Northern Expedition lineage is not as good as the founding lineage.

The founding line of the nation has been passed down for decades and has accumulated some wealth and prestige. They always have to consider their reputation when doing things.

However, most of the Northern Expedition faction were newly rich from poor backgrounds. Especially after seeing the wealth and power of the founding faction, they were eager to achieve in a few years what others had accumulated over decades, and they acted arrogantly and domineeringly.

They even try to emulate others by forming groups and being xenophobic. If it weren't for the need for them to check and balance the founding line, the current emperor would have already exiled them.

"By the way, that Liu Hu you brought along, isn't he here to further divide up military power?"

Zhao Zhong suddenly looked at Jia Daishan and asked.

"That's right. After all, His Majesty discovered that kid. The more he gets back up, the safer we will all be."

"I'm afraid some people won't see it!"

Thinking about those people's methods, Jia Daishan suddenly felt a headache coming on.

"Anyone who dares to cause trouble in my heavy cavalry camp, I, Zhao, won't hesitate to use their heads as a sacrifice for the flag!"

Zhao Zhong also understood that Liu Hu was now the key to their two families' safe landing, and he would absolutely not allow anyone to use underhanded tactics.

"Haha, then I'll hand that kid over to you!" Jia Daishan laughed, looking at Zhao Zhong with a smug look on his face.

"Sigh! Always looking for me, I guess I'm destined to be a workaholic."

Zhao Zhong knew he had been tricked by Jia Daishan, but he didn't think much of it.

"However, if the Prince of Xining acts recklessly, you can't just stand by and watch."

"Don't worry, I'm still the commander-in-chief of the western expedition!"

Speaking of the Prince of Xining, Jia Daishan also had a bit of a problem.

Those four families' titles were not hereditary or downgraded. In his view, as long as the court resolved the border troubles, those four families would definitely not have a good ending if they didn't know what was good for them.

Not only would the emperor not tolerate their existence, but the entire royal family and nobility would not tolerate them either.

Everyone else is a hereditary successor, even the royal family is no exception. Why should you be able to inherit your positions indefinitely and become hereditary princes?

That's just human nature; people are more concerned about inequality than scarcity.

The Hexi region is what is now eastern Gansu. Continuing westward is the Wushaoling Mountains, which is the eastern gateway to the Hexi Corridor.

After the Mongol tribes were driven out of the Central Plains, the Khoshut tribe, a subordinate tribe of the Oirat Dold, occupied the Hexi Corridor.

The southern plateau was occupied by the Khoshut tribe of the Oirat Mongols, the most powerful tribe in the Oirat Mongols, whose leader was also revered as Khan by the other four Oirat tribes.

Continuing westward from the Hexi Corridor, the eastern part of the Western Regions was occupied by the Dürte tribe, while the western part was occupied by the Torghut tribe. The original territory of the Oirat, namely the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, was left to the Dzungar tribe.

There was nothing they could do; the Dzungar Khanate was the weakest at that time.

The five tribes of the Oirat Mongols were the targets of this westward expedition. The entire battlefield encompassed a vast area stretching from Lake Balkhash in the west to the Wushaoling Mountains in the east, from the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains in the north to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the south.

As provisions arrived in various places, the General Who Conquers the West finally ordered the army to advance westward in September.

"Finally, I can go on a killing spree. If I keep doing this, my body will grow hair."

Zhang Qian said this while grooming his warhorse's mane.

He then looked at Liu Hu's warhorse and said with envy, "This warhorse of the centurion is an absolute marvel. At first, it was only a little stronger than our warhorse, but now it is more than a head taller."

"Indeed, the centurion is worthy of being personally summoned by His Majesty. Such a rare and precious horse can be bestowed upon him by His Majesty himself."

A soldier named Wang Erwa nodded, looking at Liu Hu with admiration.

After spending several months together, everyone realized that although their commander looked young, he was definitely a peerless warrior.

When he charged forward on horseback in his armor, they couldn't stop him at all.

Hearing the envious comments from his soldiers, Liu Hu could only shake his head and smile bitterly.

This warhorse, bestowed upon it by Emperor Anping, was hardly a rare gem; it was at most slightly better than an ordinary warhorse.

However, after Liu Hu fed it with spiritual water in the space for several months, it has now become a rare and exceptional steed.

Even his own commander, upon seeing the horse, immediately begged to borrow it for breeding, but upon hearing that the horse was gelding, he kept shaking his head, repeatedly saying it was a waste of a precious animal.

Liu Hu estimated that if Zhao Zhong hadn't known that his horse was a gift from the emperor, he would have cursed him out.

A single Red Hare could be exchanged for a Lu Bu, and Liu Hu's horse was not much inferior to the Red Hare in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. No wonder even the dignified Marquis of Loyalty and Valor looked regretful.

When Jia Daishan heard about this, he came over to take a look at Liu Hu's warhorse. He kept muttering things like, "A fine horse is easy to find, but a discerning eye is rare..." which made everyone worry for several days.

I hope the commander-in-chief doesn't go mad just before the Western Expedition begins.

Jia Daishan wasn't crazy; he just couldn't understand how such a drastic change could have occurred when he had initially thought the horse was just a decent warhorse.

After Liu Hu excitedly followed the army out of the camp, he discovered that the heavy cavalry battalion was slowly breaking away from the main force.

Not only them, but many more troops gradually deviated from the main force and scattered in the north and south directions.

Liu Hu was originally excited to follow the main force in attacking Wushaoguan, but he never expected to be on the edge of the battlefield clearing outposts established by the Hui Te tribe in Wushaoling.

Unlike the battles depicted on television where hundreds of thousands of troops clash, in ancient times, battles involving hundreds of thousands of troops spanned hundreds of miles.

Besides the main battlefield, there are also those responsible for reconnaissance, eliminating enemy outposts, and fighting against enemy infiltration forces. Often, there are more of these people than there are on the main battlefield.

"Don't worry, if we clean up quickly, we might be able to catch up with the main battlefield."

There is more than just Wushaoguan Pass on Wushaoling, but the other roads are all steep and difficult to traverse, making it impossible for large armies to march through them.

The Huit people built many outposts along these paths.

If these outposts are not cleared out, the enemy will use them to send out small groups of troops to harass the supply lines.

These outposts were not under Liu Hu's command; their main responsibility was to stop small groups of enemies coming out of these outposts.

The cleanup troops, organized into groups of a thousand households, covered an area of ​​about a hundred miles around Wushaoguan Pass.

Soon after, they encountered a group of about five hundred Khoshut cavalrymen.

"Report!"

"Lord Commander, a small group of enemies has appeared ahead, about five hundred men, and they are about ten miles away from us."

Upon hearing the scout's report, Qian Lei, the commander, immediately perked up.

"All soldiers, follow me to meet the enemy!"

At the command of the commander, the thousand-plus cavalrymen immediately began to jog slowly in a wedge formation, and then their speed gradually increased.

"Boom boom boom!"

When they reach their maximum speed, they can already see each other.

However, before they could even engage the enemy, the Khoshut cavalry on the other side let out a strange cry, immediately turned their horses around, and fled.