Chapter 52: The Qilin Child of the Jia Family
By the time Jia Cong and his group arrived outside Deshengmen, most of the others had already arrived!
There were guards lined up on both sides, and the rest of the people were standing solemnly outside the Deshengmen gate. There were also many people who brought their loyal servants and guards, about one or two hundred in total, who stood behind everyone else.
Among the group of people in the middle, Niu Jizong was a first-class earl and the commander-in-chief of this expedition, so he naturally stood in the first place.
After him came a group of officers and soldiers who came from the Beijing camp!
In the Daqian military system, one hundred people form a city with a commander-in-chief, five cities form a battalion with a commander-in-chief, five battalions form an army with a commander-in-chief, and ten armies form a wing with a wing-captain commander-in-chief!
Therefore, generally speaking, the number of soldiers and horses in one wing is mostly around 20,000 ! Moreover, from the battalion commander and above, the soldiers in the army are basically called generals, and the commander of the wing is generally called the commander.
Jia Cong was the battalion commander, in fact, he was the battalion commander, commanding five hundred soldiers and horses! As for the generals, they were the generals in the army, commanding a hundred-man team.
This position is not high, but it is normal. After all, Jia Cong and his gang are all rookies and dandies. Unless Emperor Longxing is crazy, he would not let them lead thousands of soldiers.
However, they are all children of dukes after all. Once they have made contributions, no one dares to conceal it. Moreover, with the help of some connections, they can naturally be assigned some easy tasks. It is much easier for them to make contributions than ordinary people, and they will naturally be promoted faster.
Behind these military officers are the sons of the eight dukes and twelve marquises!
Liu Bin, the illegitimate son of Liu Fang, the first-class son of the Duke of Liguo; Chen Huan, the illegitimate son of Chen Ruiwen, the third-rank general of the Duke of Qiguo; Ma Chuang, the illegitimate son of Ma Shang, the third-rank general of the Duke of Zhiguo; Hou Jing, the illegitimate son of Hou Xiaokang, the first-class son of the Duke of Xiuguo; and Shi Jia, the Duke of Shanguo, escaped the disaster because they were in mourning for the death of their old lady.
After that, it was the sons of the marquises! Among them, the two marquises of the Shi family, Baoling Marquis Shi Nai and Zhongjing Marquis Shi Ding, also sent out their illegitimate sons Shi Ci and Shi Si!
These people were originally talking among themselves, some were excited, some were afraid. But suddenly, they heard the sound of galloping horses behind them.
Everyone present turned around to look. After a moment, they saw a group of people riding war horses galloping over. The leader was a handsome young man wearing a black helmet and black armor. Behind him, twenty personal guards were also wearing armor. Even though there were only twenty-one people, the galloping war horses looked like a mighty army.
"Whose boy is this? He is so brave!"
Niu Jizong, the leader, had his eyes tightened. He had met Jia Cong two days ago when he went to Jia's house. At that time, he saw that Jia Cong was polite and gentle, and he just felt sorry for him. However, when he saw him at this moment, he realized that this was not a gentle scholar at all, but an extremely heroic young general.
Only when Jia Cong and his entourage came close did they rein in their horses!
After dismounting, Jia Cong handed the warhorse to Teng Wu, and strode forward until he stood in front of Niu Jizong.
"I am Jia Cong, the captain of the battalion, and I am here to greet the great general!"
"Good, good, good!" Seeing Jia Cong's voice as loud as thunder and his movements as swift as the wind, Niu Jizong couldn't help but feel happy! "Brother Cong, it was I, Old Niu, who underestimated you!"
He patted Jia Cong's shoulder, but his expression changed immediately afterwards. "Brother Cong, is this the battle armor of the Xianrong Kingdom?"
Jia Cong clasped his fists and said, "My ancestors loved me so much that they gave me their armor to protect me!"
"Hiss!" Niu Jizong took a breath of cold air! Of course he knew this set of armor. The two generations of Rongguogong were all brave and invincible commanders on the battlefield. Now Jia Cong could actually wear it?
You have to know that this is not an ordinary battle armor. The whole body weighs more than 70 kilograms. If ordinary soldiers put it on, they would be exhausted even if they just walk a few steps, let alone fight. But looking at Jia Cong, it is obvious that he came all the way from the Jia Mansion, and now his face is normal. This alone is ordinary officers and soldiers cannot do.
"Okay, Cong is a brave man. I feel relieved to have a brave general like you under my command! Join the team. Once you receive the military token, we will go to the camp to meet up with the troops and set off!"
"I obey your command!"
Jia Cong turned around and returned to the group of young men from the Duke's Mansion. In an instant, he stood out like a crane among chickens!
These dukes were not very old, most of them were around 20 years old, but how many of them were in good health from running around as dogs and hawks and staying in flower alleys at night? Therefore, except for Hou Jing and Ma Chuang who wore half-body armor, the others were wearing only exquisite leather armor.
Soon, several eunuchs hurried out of Deshengmen. At the same time, a yellow figure appeared on the city gate tower .
First, the leading eunuch announced the imperial edict, which was nothing more than cautious use of troops and a successful start! Then, the emperor bestowed the tiger talisman!
After Niu Jizong received the military command, he led a group of generals to thank the emperor for his grace, and then they all mounted their horses and headed out of Shenjing.
The Beijing Camp was about fifteen miles southwest of Shenjing. The group rode at full speed and arrived in less than half an hour!
Wang Ziteng, the governor of the Beijing camp, had already received the order. By the time Jia Cong and others arrived, 30,000 soldiers and horses were already ready on the huge parade ground!
Although there were 30,000 troops, there were actually only 15,000 regular troops, and the remaining half were auxiliary troops! The so-called auxiliary troops helped the regular army transport armor, weapons, and food, and simply did some logistical work.
There were 3,000 cavalrymen among the 15,000 men, and the remaining 12,000 were all infantrymen. Wang Ziteng stood on the generals' platform and saw Niu Jizong leading his men, so he led the crowd to greet them!
"Lao Niu, these 30,000 soldiers and horses are all elite soldiers and generals selected for you! I will wait for you to return victorious and treat me to a drink!"
Niu Jizong laughed loudly, "Don't worry, when I come back, there will be plenty of drinks!"
As they spoke, Niu Jizong and Wang Ziteng verified each other's seals and military tokens, and then this army was under Niu Jizong's command!
"We have brought 15 days' worth of food and fodder with us. Your Majesty has already sent out orders to all prefectures, counties and districts along the way for the rest of the food and fodder. You can just replenish it along the way!"
This was not the first time that Niu Jizong led troops into battle, so he was familiar with these matters.
Afterwards, Niu Jizong walked down from the command platform and took a rough look at the soldiers!
Niu Jizong stuffed all the sons of the twelve marquisates into the auxiliary army, assigning each of them a hundred soldiers . Anyway, he didn't bother to pay attention to these people as long as they didn't cause any trouble.
As for the sons of the eight dukes' mansions, Liu Bin and Chen Huan were also stuffed into the auxiliary army to escort food and grass. These two guys even had flowers embroidered on their leather armor. Niu Jizong felt his eyelids throbbing when he saw them, so he simply turned a blind eye to them.
Ma Chuang and Hou Jing were assigned 500 infantrymen!
"Brother Cong?" Wang Ziteng didn't notice him at first, until Jia Cong was the only one left by Niu Jizon. He took a closer look and finally recognized him.
"This general pays respect to the commander of the Beijing camp!"
