Chapter 157
Chapter 157 – Forced March
September 2nd .
1 AM .
Tong's 30,000 soldiers continued marching even though it was pass-midnight . Torches in the hands of soldiers made a long dragon line, and the road was illuminated by the torchlight .
Tong and Jia Xu did not walk like the soldiers, they had their own private horses .
As they were heading south, Jia Xu explained his thought .
"This forced march has two goals and one backup plan . "
"First is the primary goal, we have to race against time! Liu Ping will also move his troops to this city as it's the best city to garrison large forces . The wall is also higher than the neighbor cities in this province, and he can also use this city as the center of his logistic supply chain . "
"Since that eunuch came to our city a couple days ago, I estimated that he should have gotten the edict on early August, which means Liu Ping should have already prepared his troops and he should be ready by now . His first wave of troops should arrive at Ji within a month at the latest . So, we have to claim the city and stabilize the order before his troops arrive . "
"Second goal, because we lack information from Zhang He, this rapid march will confirm Zhang He's stances and the capability of Han Fu . "
"By now, Han Fu should have received the edict from Liu Ping to mobilize his army . Because of the drought, it will take him two months to gather enough provision for his army . "
"He has a total of 40,000 elite infantries at the moment, but he can draft another 100,000 militias from the city population if he really wants to . Judging from his personality, if he's inept as the report said, he won't conscript the militia because he lacks food at the moment . "
"As for his military commanders, only a few individuals that can pose a threat on us, Xin Ping, Ju Shou, and Zhang He . "
"From all reports, Zhang He is a talented young general . He will definitely notice our troops approaching Ye City in two to three days . "
"If Zhang He wants to switch side to us, he will get in the way of the sortie or won't intercept our army midway . Even if there's an interception or a sortie unit, it will be from Xin Ping or Ju Shou Army, which we can handle them easily . Ju Shou and Xin Ping are civil officers, and all our intel said that only Zhang He possesses cavalries . Their troops will be as slow as us . "
"However, in the worst case scenario where Zhang He decides to double-cross us, we will see him and his cavalries in the interception . In this case, we will use our backup plan . "
Jia Xu stopped speaking to catch his breath and drank water from his bamboo canteen .
Tong asked . "What's the backup plan?"
Jia Xu smiled and laughed . "We'll flee . What else do you think?"
The corner of Tong's mouth twitched . It was that simple?
"What if Zhang He decides to pursue us? What will be your next move?"
"It's not my next move, it's YOUR next move . I will have you soak all villages, forests, farms, and trees with your magic oil . Then we'll burn everything as we retreat . "
The face of Tong lost color as he realized, there was a reason why people nicknamed him the venomous strategist . He would not hesitate to utilize anything to achieve his goals .
This forced march, as well, would cause some damage to the soldiers' morale . They would be so tired that they could get a stroke or a heart-attack midway . In addition, there was a high chance for desertion if they gave up on Tong and Jia Xu .
The infamous vicious strategist gave Tong a sneak peek of his fangs .
Tong calmed himself down .
'If it's someone like Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, or Zhou Yu, those guys are hybrid minister-strategist-military-commander, they would connect this battle results with long term goals . But Jia Xu only cares about winning the war and leaving the rest of the aftermath cleaning up to me . '
'It's alright . Jia Xu is a pure strategist who focuses on battle efficiency . '
'Get Ye City first . I'll worry about the rest later . '
…
7 PM .
The pace of the march got slower as the troops could not handle it anymore . They had not slept last night and their feet and their legs hurt . Everyone was on the verge of collapsing at any moment .
Last night, they were simply walking, which they could handle . However, once the sun rose, Jia Xu ordered everyone to jog and quicken the pace . It was fortunate that all of them had been taught to run at least 2 hours every morning in the army camp, or else, they would have vomited or fainted already .
Fortunately, all of them were traveling light as they were neither wearing armors nor carrying weapons . As a result, they managed to outlast the forced march without sleeping for a night .
"ALL TROOPS! STOP MARCHING! YOU CAN REST FOR TONIGHT!" Jia Xu shouted .
Gazing at Jia Xu in disbelief, all soldiers cheered in collapsed on the ground . The stronger one tried to cut woods to make camp .
"Don't bother making camps! All of us will sleep on the ground for today . Tomorrow, we will resume marching all night again! Get a good sleep while you can!"
Jia Xu's second command shocked Tong and the entire army . Marching non-stop for 24 hours was already difficult, going for another 36 hours marathon would definitely be hell .
"I'm so sorry, my lord . We are racing against time . If we don't do this, Sun Jian will notice us before we can get close to Ye . By now, I think they should have received Liu Ping's edict, too . It's better if we can avoid any unnecessary fight on our way . "
A bitter smile appeared on Tong's face .
"Alright, I'll do something to help the soldiers . "
Tong thought of a herb that could relieve the muscle pain and boost a bit of their morale . He snapped his fingers .
"[Create Food], peppermint leaves . "
A gigantic pile of green mint leaves appeared on the empty ground . The thick soothing aroma of mint made the soldiers looked at Tong with great attention .
"You there, take these leaves and distribute to everyone . For starter, crush a few of these leaves and rub it on your sore muscles or feet . If you have times, boil these leaves with water and fill your canteen with it . They can be used as a herbal tea! You can also rub your swollen feet with the leaves or the tea to ease the pain . "
Soldiers, who could still walk, rushed in and took as many leaves they could with their clothes . Once they got back to their friends in the same platoon, they crushed the leaves as instructed .
Cooling aroma spread all over . The soldiers instinctively inhaled the smell as it soothed their spirit .
Some managed to gather enough strength to gather woods and boil water . They threw the leaves into the boiling water, and more mint aroma intensified .
Jia Xu also sobered from the intense mint smell . He also took two handfuls of leaves for himself to boil a tea .
"Ah, it feels so good . "
"Wow, it's cold . "
The effect began to show . Soldiers lied down on the ground and were calmed by the smell . It did not take long for them to fall asleep .
"We're not patrolling or guarding at all, huh?" Tong bemused .
"You have the sight of the gods . You can take the role as a sentry if you want to . " Jia Xu muttered and returned to sleep .
It would be a lie if Tong said he was not tired . He also lied down on his back and looked at his radar map .
The 24 hours forced march showed a result as they had traveled 60km south in a day instead of the regular marching of 15 to 20km a day .
In the regular marching, they wore armors and carried their own weapons . They had to construct a camp before the sunset, arrange sentries, and protect the provision logistic wagons along the way . Furthermore, the roads were scarce and they were not paved in cement . The army sometimes had to trek over obstacles, such as farmlands and forests, which slowed down their paces .
Without any of the task in this journey and the entire day of non-stop walking, they moved three times faster .
In Tong's radar map, Ye City was only 80 kilometers away . A few more days of a regular marching would be more than enough .
'So this is why Julius Caesar often forced marched his troops . This swift movement distance comparing with the time consumed is insane!'
'The quality of my soldiers aren't at that level yet . Julius Caesar did 140km a day without a system cheat while we can barely make 60km . '
'Our movement speed is still too slow comparing to those legends . '
'We don't have roads like theirs . I'll pave roads and connect all of my cities in the future . '
…
September 4th . 6 PM .
Tong Army arrived at Ye Commandery territory . Jia Xu picked a spot 10km away from the city wall to settle the headquarters camp .
"Make camp and rest here for tonight! Tomorrow, we'll enter Ye City . !"
For the first time of the forced march, Jia Xu ordered the troops to make camp . The moment his order sounded, most soldiers collapsed on the ground in exhaustion . A few top elites managed to stay awake and helped each other making a camp .
At the third night of the mobilization, Jia Xu made the troops marched through the night and the next day without resting . All meals were created by Tong which he created small dumplings and passed them to his soldiers, so they could eat it as they were marching .
Though the soldiers managed to get a good sleep on the second day, their leg muscle pain was unbearable to them . Even though the peppermint decreased their suffering, the pain from their blistered feet got more severe .
Tong breathed a sigh of relief after he checked his map . Finished counting his troops, only 5,000 men fell behind because they were too weak and could not catch up with the rest .
25,000 Men managed to last this far, which was more than Tong's initial expectation .
Jia Xu was surprised as well . He thought that there should have been less than 20,000 after a forced march . Moreover, no one deserted even though he had given them a harsh treatment . The 5,000 men, which fell behind, still had not given up following the main troops . Though they were slow, they were only 10km away from the tail of the marching army .
The disciplinary and the strength of these men were extraordinary!
Then Jia Xu was reminded about the perks of being soldiers in Julu .
'Good food, good wage, and a life insurance . '
'What a nasty combination of carrot and stick management . '
The families of any soldier of Julu who fell in the battle would be compensated with the soldier's 2 years worth of salaries . Even the lowest rank of footman reserve had a monthly wage of 100 coins or one-tenth of a tael of gold . Two years of salary would worth 2 gold and 400 coins, which would be more than enough for the family to last for another decade if they were to continue living in Julu .
As such, no one dared to desert or leave behind such generous paychecks .
