Chapter 36: Li Tao Demoted! Zhu Ying

"What does it say?" the Tartar myriarch demanded at once.

The Tartar soldiers looked and replied with grim faces: "It says... says one day we will come to your clan’s ancestral seat, sever your chieftain’s head, wipe out your clan, and make... make your chieftain wait."

Upon hearing this.

The Tartar myriarch’s face twisted in fury: "Die."

"Issue the order."

"Pursue."

"I will tear these damned Ming soldiers into pieces!" the myriarch roared.

"Yes!"

The Tartar battalion commanders shouted in unison.

Ansha County!

The military camp.

"Battalion Commander."

"Though we’ve submitted the battle report, will the Regional Military Commissioner reprimand us?"

Li Tao’s deputy battalion commander asked anxiously.

"What reprimand?"

"I wrote everything truthfully in the report."

"Zhu Ying is obstinate—he plans to attack a Tartar tribe defended by tens of thousands with mere scraps of troops. That’s suicide."

"To avoid casualties among my battalion’s men, I naturally had to report it."

"Of course."

"Before we withdrew, we also raided the Tartar tribes. What’s there to reprimand?" Li Tao smiled faintly, utterly unconcerned.

Just then!

"Reporting, Battalion Commander."

"The Regional Military Commissioner has sent someone."

Li Tao’s personal guard hurried forward to report.

"Go."

Li Tao responded immediately.

He then led his two deputy battalion commanders toward the main hall’s entrance.

As they stepped out.

They saw Bu Wan’s personal guard commander.

"Commander Chen."

"What orders does the Regional Military Commissioner have?"

Li Tao bowed deeply.

"By the Regional Military Commissioner’s command, I deliver this order."

Bu Wan’s personal guard commander glanced at Li Tao and spoke gravely.

"Your subordinate humbly listens to the order."

Li Tao knelt at once; his two deputy battalion commanders bowed as well.

"Battalion Commander Li Tao."

"Disobeyed superior orders, abandoned post in battle, cowardly and fearful of death."

"Henceforth, remove him from his post as battalion commander, demote him to common soldier."

"Deputy battalion commanders Wang Wu and Liu Wei, failed to advise, demote one rank, reduce to company commander."

"The Third Cavalry Battalion has been reassigned; another battalion commander has been appointed to take command," Commander Chen declared loudly, holding the order.

Hearing this.

Li Tao and his two deputy battalion commanders turned pale.

"Commander Chen? Why?"

"Where did I disobey orders? Where did I abandon post?"

"I withdrew because Zhu Ying ordered it! And I disobeyed his command because he meant to lead our brothers to their deaths—I didn’t defy him; I advised him!"

"He himself said we could withdraw after raiding the southern Tartar tribes—our actions balanced out!" Li Tao panicked and retorted.

"This order was issued personally by Commander Bu Wan. I don’t know the exact reason."

"But... you’re wrong about one thing."

"Zhu Ying’s raid on the Tartar tribe was not suicide—his battle results have already been reported: Zhu’s garrison stormed the northern Tartar tribe, slaughtered ten thousand enemies, and achieved great success."

"Of Zhu’s five battalion commands, only your Third Battalion abandoned post; all others followed and earned glory for the nation."

"Thanks to Zhu’s actions, the entire Tartar tribe was drawn away, unable to reinforce the Yuan court, leaving Danning temporarily secure—a great achievement."

"As a soldier of the Great Ming, you abandoned post, defied orders, and showed cowardice. Shameful."

Commander Chen spoke coldly.

He held no goodwill toward Li Tao.

The military has its own ways, its own standards.

Those who fear death are despised.

Finished speaking.

Commander Chen wasted no time—he flung the order, stamped with the Regional Military Commissioner’s seal, at Li Tao’s feet, then turned and walked away.

Seeing the order before him.

Li Tao’s face darkened.

"He actually broke the Tartar tribe?"

"With only four thousand men?"

"How is that possible?"

Li Tao’s mind churned—he never imagined Zhu Ying could achieve such results.

But then he thought again.

A deep hatred rose in Li Tao’s heart: "That Zhu Ying broke his promise—he deliberately reported me as having abandoned post! That villain—he deserves to die."

"Battalion Commander."

"What do we do now?"

The two deputy battalion commanders stared at Li Tao with grim faces.

"This isn’t over."

"Zhu Ying."

Li Tao’s face was filled with hatred.

Clearly.

He realized he’d been outmaneuvered by Zhu Ying.

Time passed swiftly!

The northern frontier!

Beneath the night sky!

Save for a faint moonlight, all was silent.

Zhu Ying studied a map.

By a campfire.

Zhu Ying and his battalion commanders gathered together.

"Garrison Commander."

"The Tartars have been lured away."

"We drove over a thousand horses west and east—the hoofprints are chaotic; they’re completely misled."

"Across this vast northern frontier, finding us won’t be easy," Zhang Wu reported with a smile.

"When we first stayed here, everyone thought it was a death sentence. But Garrison Commander led us to survive these many days—and made the Tartars suffer dearly. As the saying goes, killing one is even, killing two is profit—we’ve made far more than double." Wei Quan looked at Zhu Ying with deep admiration.

"Indeed."

"At first, seeing how young you were, I thought you’d lead us to our deaths. Though I followed your orders, I was still worried and resentful. But now—if anyone dares speak ill of you before us, I’ll slap their face." Zhuang Wei added with a grin.

From their words, it was clear.

After these days of battle.

Zhu Ying led them to smash Tartar tribes and slay thousands of Tartar cavalry.

Such results filled them with fierce satisfaction.

They now fully trusted Zhu Ying—no more resentment.

"Have the casualties been tallied?" Zhu Ying put down the map and asked gravely.

"Garrison Commander."

"In this direct clash with the Tartars, though our numbers were inferior, our Han warriors are all brave—this battle killed at least four thousand enemies; we lost two hundred fifty-seven men, wounded four hundred eighty." Wei Quan said with excitement.

Such results were nothing short of a great victory.

And it was a victory nearly impossible to achieve.

Of course.

All the Battalion Commanders here understand this well.

The very reason for such a great victory lies in Zhu Ying; had Zhu Ying not charged fearlessly into the enemy ranks, slain their general, and seized their banner, shattering enemy morale, the casualties among our troops would have been far greater.

As Zhu Ying said when he first became a Battalion Commander: if the officer fears not death, the soldier will not seek to live in cowardice—then the army is invincible.

Every major battle, Zhu Ying leads the charge at the very front—that is the inspiration to every soldier.

Of course.

The added strength from Zhu Ying’s authority and official seal is also why his troops’ combat power has increased and their casualties remain so low.

“We’ve temporarily shaken off the Tartars.”

“Let the brothers rest well, get a good night’s sleep.”

“I’ll stand watch tonight,” Zhu Ying said with a smile.

……

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(End of Chapter)