Chapter 889: with translation of chapter title

Chen Wuji spontaneously decided to stop marching, gave this court's defeated army a task, intending to reorganize its morale in passing, to continue using it later.

Sending this defeated army straight to the battlefield would surely offer no hope.

But after a little reorganization, throwing them into the scout camp as servant troops to increase search density is still good, thus avoiding the hassle of sending people out of the mountains.

Now it's not early anymore; even if we continued marching, we couldn't go far.

The place Fan Yang found is actually a good spot for setting up camp, with open terrain and near a water source.

"Family Head, the defeated army has handed over the list!"

Chen Wushuang walked to the stream bank and handed a bamboo slip to Chen Wuji.

"What list?" Chen Wuji shook the fishing rod in his hand, puzzled, and looked up.

When did he ever prepare a list?

"A list for those who intend to gamble on escaping." Chen Wushuang said.

Chen Wuji chuckled lightly, "It's actually quite formal; take a look, hand the prepared slips according to headcount to Fan Yang, and let him distribute them himself."

"Yes!"

Chen Wushuang withdrew the gesture of handing it over and opened the bamboo slip.

"Paper has been around in Nan Jun for so long, yet these people still use bamboo slips—how many of them?" Chen Wuji asked offhand, feeling that Nan Jun's commercial road is a long and arduous one.

How long has it been, and they still haven't finished replacing the bamboo slips?

"One hundred forty-three!" Chen Wushuang said, "Fan Yang already tallied it; each person knows the consequences they face, all voluntarily chose, and this is what he wrote."

Chen Wuji was slightly surprised, "It's rare to find so many brave men in a defeated army. Go arrange it—order the troops in the scout camp behind us: they can now capture bandits, bring back the heads, and the rest of the scout camp troops keep their orders unchanged."

"Yes!"

The order was issued, and a small fish took the hook.

It turned out to be a flavor-challenger, a stream rockfish.

This fish is delicious!

Places with this kind of fish usually have excellent water quality—clean and high in dissolved oxygen.

Chen Wuji immediately ordered someone to bring his small clay stove over; with such beautiful scenery and such water quality, we must brew a pot.

The sun gradually shifted west, and Fan Yang's subordinates began to return in twos and threes.

Those who returned basically each had some game, more or less.

Chen Wuji ordered them to partner up to process the game and prepare dinner.

By the time it was almost completely dark, over eighty percent of the soldiers had returned; after roll call, 270 were missing, including the 143 soldiers who had decided to gamble.

The rest had clearly fled again.

"With more people, the chance of fools increases. I made the choices so clear, yet so many still think they're clever, believing they're too smart." After looking at the list, Chen Wuji couldn't help sighing; those over a hundred who didn't return are definitely people with ideas.

"Where is Fan Yang?" Chen Wuji asked.

Chen Wushuang stepped forward, "My lord, Fan Yang also chose to participate in your trial."

"He went too? I seem to have inadvertently found another usable talent." Chen Wuji was in good spirits; he had spoken so clearly that Fan Yang couldn't possibly be unaware of the pros and cons and consequences of each choice.

Given full understanding, his daring to join this trial shows he has ambition, is strict with himself, and looks like someone who can get things done.

Such a person ending up as a deserter under Liu Yan's command shows just how useless Liu Yan is.

A simple comparison made the dawn of victory in Chen Wuji's eyes grow a bit brighter.

Today really is a good day.

He has never fought such an easy and relaxed battle.

"Have the lists of those who caught game and those who didn't been organized?" Chen Wuji asked.

Chen Wushuang took out a folio from his/her lap, "It's already organized."

"No need to show me; just tell me the exact numbers."

Chen Wushuang put the folio away, close to the body, "Those who caught game number 388; the rest came empty-handed."

"After dinner, assign them to camps, explain our army's rations and benefits, and mention morale." Chen Wuji ordered, "Also tell those who didn't catch game about the benefits of reclaiming land and farming, emphasizing our arrangements for their families."

"Yes!"

On the first night in the Shenxian Ling mountains, the soldiers ate the carried stir-fried noodles and meat soup.

The game brought by the deserters had no large animals, only pheasants, rabbits, etc.; with nearly four thousand troops, not everyone could get even a bite of meat, only able to sip some meat broth.

While eating dinner, Kong Jianshi couldn't help but say to Chen Wuji: "Young Master, our troops each carry their own rations; now suddenly we have several hundred more, and the soldiers' rations may not last until the scheduled time."

Before the expedition, each soldier carried only enough dried meat and stir-fried noodles for ten days of food.

This was the result of precise calculation.

Giving away a meal to someone else means they must eat one less.

If it were just a meal in peacetime, it wouldn't matter much, but on the battlefield, a single meal can cause astonishing changes and upheavals.

"Don't worry, ten days' rations were never enough." Chen Wuji said calmly, "If the rations run out, supplies will come from outside the mountains; I never hoped to settle this battle within ten days anyway."

He doesn't have Liu Yan's confidence, who would dare to lead a hundred-thousand-strong army into these mountains relying solely on individual rations, with no external supply, attempting divine troop surprise tactics.

This battle is quite different from his earlier attack on Qingzhou.

Back then, his forces were limited to only a few thousand troops; relying on individual rations, with part of the troops sent out each day to forage in the mountains for some game and vegetables to supplement slightly, they could get through.

But in this battle, even if he left two camps outside the mountains, the force entering the mountains still numbers over twenty thousand; twenty thousand relying on hunting and gathering wild vegetables to supplement rations is nothing short of daydreaming—external supply is essential.

"Young Master knows what he's doing; I'll say no more." Kong Jianshi buried his head in dealing with the fish meat in his pot—these are all Chen Wuji's evening achievements.

In Shenxian Ling, the newly appointed Marquis Zhenyuan finally shook off his idle air force commander identity, regained confidence in hunting, and although the time was short, the catch was truly not few.

"Young Master, someone is spying!" Kong Jianshi's chopsticks, which had been picking at the fish meat, suddenly paused.

Chen Wuji lowered his eyelids slightly, "How many? Can you confirm the strength of those coming?"

"Grandmaster peak, a woman..."

Chen Wuji's expression instantly turned strange: "In this desolate mountain wilderness, there actually is a wild woman? Are you sure your feeling isn't wrong?"

No mistake, her arrival brings a somewhat nauseating aura of Heavenly Water!

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