Chapter 294: Onward to Xuzhou

294. Chapter 294: Onward to Xuzhou

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "Let's go!"

"If your head gets chopped off, it's just a bowl-sized scar — don't be a gutless coward!"

"That band of roving bandits even eats human flesh. If it really comes to that, better to die fighting than suffer such a fate. Let's fight them to the death!"

"Go!"

Shouts rose one after another, wave upon wave, and the crowd's mood was gradually stirred up. More and more people joined in the shouting. The fighting spirit in every heart was erupting. With their own safety at stake, with their families at stake, fighting for such a reason — no one would be timid.

"Everyone, please rest assured. I, Zhao, stake my life on this guarantee. You need not worry about anything else. Should the worst come to pass, I will bear all responsibility. If you doubt me, ask the village elders who brought you here whether my word holds or not!" Zhao Jin shouted again from above.

Hearing this, the scene fell quiet once more. The group around Senior Licentiate Cai standing on the cart naturally had to acknowledge it — either loudly shouting their agreement or nodding vigorously.

Though everyone had already thought of the possible casualties, blood was already surging hot in their veins. This promise only added fuel to the fire, making the atmosphere even more fervent.

The local gentry and wealthy landowners standing on the carts were all suppressing the excitement and delight on their faces. The night before, Senior Licentiate Cai had laid out the stakes with painful clarity. As leading figures of their respective areas, they could naturally reason it through as well. They had been worried all along that the militia and village braves under their command would be too afraid or unwilling to go to the rescue, which would ruin the entire situation in Xuzhou and damage their own interests.

They had never expected that this young master Zhao Jin would actually have such skill — with just a few words, he had roused everyone. Now the crowd was united in fervor, all determined to go to the rescue.

Some also turned to Senior Licentiate Cai, Cai Zhengqiu. Had it not been for Old Cai's insistence, no one would have thought through the intricacies involved. Old Cai had rendered great service to the countryside. Surely Old Cai, seeing this scene before him, would also be gratified and pleased. Yet what puzzled everyone was that Cai Zhengqiu's expression was very complicated. He looked ahead, then turned back to look at the watchtower.

Watching this scene unfold, Senior Licentiate Cai was briefly happy at first, but then he immediately felt a sense of unease. He could not quite explain why himself. It seemed as if something was slipping beyond his control...

Amid the rising and falling shouts in the square, Zhao Jin had already descended from the watchtower. When he reached the front of the large cart, there was no idle pleasantry. He simply requested that those on the cart call over the leaders who commanded the various militia and village braves. These commanders were often martial-trained sons of the clans, or arms instructors and drill masters from the households. Though their status was not low, the ones whose words truly carried weight were still the scholars and the elders of high virtue and prestige. But from here on, Zhao Jin would be dealing directly with these men.

At this point, everyone could only obediently follow Zhao Jin's arrangements and do as they were told. Standing off to the other side, Ruhui and Liu Yong exchanged a glance, both with faint smiles on their faces. The ones who had shouted earlier in the crowd had not been spontaneous at first — they had been arranged long in advance. The joint-defense areas all had informants from the Zhao Camp. When those men loudly echoed the call, naturally few would question it. People follow the crowd, and that was how the atmosphere had been stirred up.

The night before, the Zhao Camp had already completed all preparations. At this moment, they only needed to march. The sole delay and holdup was the assembly and departure of the various local militias.

The nine joint-village joint-defense areas contributed a total of six hundred village braves and able-bodied men, fifteen archers, and twenty cavalry. The remaining areas contributed a total of one thousand one hundred village braves, fifty archers, and seventy cavalry. Each also left a small contingent behind to guard He Village.

The Zhao Camp itself provided five hundred foot soldiers, including fifteen archers. The cattle and horse merchants provided sixty cavalry. In addition, six of the old cavalrymen who had taught riding skills to the Zhao Camp were also willing to go along. Among the cavalry provided by the cattle and horse merchants, those of steppe origin could all shoot arrows, and the others more or less possessed some valor and martial skill — wielding blades and spears was within their ability.

Whether from the Zhao Camp or the militias, all cavalry and archers were concentrated and placed under the unified command of Dong Bingfeng. The Zhao Camp was divided into two units: one unit of four hundred men, and the remaining eighty-five men were mixed with the six hundred village braves from the joint-defense areas to form two units. The village braves from other areas were not intermixed, but simply divided into eleven units according to their original affiliations.

After the units were divided, the cavalry took the lead. Scouts sent out in rotating shifts had still not all returned. Those with superior riding skills from each area were dispatched again. They needed to know the movements of the refugees beneath the city walls, and they needed to know whether there was any enemy presence along the road.

Besides the scouts and outriders dispatched for reconnaissance, another dozen or so riders were sent out by Ruhui. Before the main force set out, Ruhui, who by regulation should have stayed behind, sought out Zhao Jin.

"Master, in the current situation, every extra person is an extra measure of strength. What you do today, master, is a matter of great righteousness, yet far too few know of it. I request that you allocate fifteen cavalrymen to me. I intend to send them out to spread the word everywhere," Ruhui said solemnly.

"Is doing this now of any use? Every place along the way has probably already learned the scale of the roving bandits!" Zhao Jin did not refuse, but merely asked out of curiosity.

"It is useful. Having long resided within the city, master, you do not understand the local character of Xuzhou as well as I do. I humbly beg you to permit me to try!" Ruhui spoke very directly. In the current situation, there was no room for roundabout formalities.

Zhao Jin immediately called over Dong Bingfeng and had him make the arrangements.

The main force set out. The Zhao Camp's core unit was now the First Unit. The two units mixed from the nine joint-defense areas were designated the Second Unit and the Third Unit. Everyone had already grown familiar with this organizational structure during training.

The Zhao Camp marched at the very front. All soldiers who could ride horses did so. The other units followed in sequence behind. The cavalry constantly circled the main force, both to serve as mobile scouts and to guard against anyone falling behind as a deserter. One cart after another followed at the rear of the column, piled high with equipment and supplies.

Preparations had begun when the sky was just barely light. By the time the main force marched out of He Village, the horizon was only beginning to brighten into full day. Though Senior Licentiate Cai and the others were exhausted, they could not simply return home to rest. They had no choice but to stand solemnly by the roadside to see them off, and also to encourage the local sons in the ranks.

When they saw those carts laden with supplies, each and every one could not help but click their tongues in amazement. In hushed voices, they murmured among themselves:

"How much silver is this battle going to cost?"

"This Zhao Jin is simply too rich. Just running a distillery and he's already sitting on mountains of gold and silver..."

"... Have you not seen how many places they've cleaned out..."

Over on the other side, Senior Licentiate Cai did not join in this chatter. He merely stood there muttering to himself, "Extraordinary, truly extraordinary!"

As for the village heads from the joint-defense areas, men like Tian Ying and the second son of the Lin family, they were marching within the main force. Unlike large villages and towns such as Qulipu, which had dedicated arms instructors and drill masters to lead the militia, they themselves were the militia leaders. Tian Ying and the others were certainly unwilling to go throw their lives away beneath the walls of Xuzhou City, but what Zhao Jin had said was very simple: "Do you still intend not to go?"

Upon hearing those words, Tian Ying and the others looked grim for a long while. In the end, Tian Ying stamped his foot hard against the ground and said fiercely, "A teenager of barely more than ten years has such guts — what the hell are we afraid of? Let's go!"

When they first heard the news, they could not help but be nervous. When they were stirred up, their blood boiled with fervor. But once they assembled, formed ranks, and marched out of He Village, everyone actually calmed down considerably. Many people had only just arrived at He Village. They had been curious about the Zhao Camp before, and this was their first time seeing it. Naturally, they had to take in the novelty and exchange a few comments. And the Zhao Camp indeed gave them more than enough to talk about.

"My god, there have to be at least three hundred cavalry here, right?" Anyone with a bit of knowledge knew what a horse cost, and how much expense went into keeping and using horses. Seeing so many men of the Zhao Camp riding horses, they were just as stunned as Senior Licentiate Cai had been the day before.

"Riding horses is nothing. I just passed by those carts — they're full of iron armor. Doesn't our drill master have one set? He treasures it more than anything every day. Here they've got several cartloads..."

"Have you seen the militia from the villages around He Village? Each one walks with their nose in the air, as if they were the Zhao Camp themselves. A poor, wretched place like theirs — no one was even willing to marry their daughters off there before..."

"Being close to He Village is a blessing. Look at the gear they're holding — those blades and spears are all forged from good iron. Now look at us — how many of us even have iron gear?"

The village braves and militia who were in joint-village joint-defense with He Village and had received training from the Zhao Camp all carried standard-issue weapons. The Zhao Camp had considerable stockpiles and could naturally provide them with ease. But the militia and village braves from places like Qulipu, Zhang Village, and Zou Family Stronghold were a different story. The militia commanders and drill masters leading them were well-equipped — some even wore chainmail armor and held fine weapons. Yet among the militia, anyone who had a spear could already be considered elite. Many held nothing more than sharpened long sticks, hardened by fire.

"Look, quick, look! That young master is Zhao Jin! That big, stout fellow beside him must be Chen Sheng — both of them heroes!"

Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng passed by on the other side of the column, immediately causing a stir. Zhao Jin walked in front, Chen Sheng followed behind, and from time to time they would step into the ranks to exchange a few words with the unit leaders.

"Why aren't they riding horses? Look, even our drill master is riding..."

"You really can't compare..."

Seeing that someone of Zhao Jin's stature was not riding a horse, the Zhao Camp's core unit and the mixed Second and Third Units naturally found it normal. But the newly arrived militias from various places were astonished. After their astonishment, everyone marched on with peace of mind. Earlier complaints — "We still have to walk for several more hours," "By the time we get there, the sky will be nearly dark," "My legs are sore from walking, how can we still fight by then?" — all such grumbling vanished like smoke. If Zhao Jin over there was on foot, what did anyone else have to say?

After marching for over two hours, the sun had risen high, and beads of sweat were visible on everyone's foreheads. They had long been prepared for this. On one of the carts were water vats filled with cooled boiled water. Water bowls and ladles were also ready. No one in the column would be left thirsty.

Zhao Jin walked at the very front in silence. His companions moved up and down the column, constantly maintaining order and reorganizing the ranks.

When they had first marched out of He Village, whether the Zhao Camp's core unit, the two mixed units, or the militia units from other areas, the formations had all been very orderly and looked quite imposing. After marching for over two hours, differences began to show. The Zhao Camp's core unit remained unchanged. The formation of the mounted vanguard at the very front remained as steady as ever.