Changning’s Imperial Army - Chapter 84 – Vendetta

Chapter 84 – Vendetta

After one full day and night, the troops had almost reached their limit. Shen Leng ordered them to take a break. At this moment, they were already at least fifteen miles away from Zhangkou’s dock. Traveling at such a speed did not only put their limits to the test, it was the same for their horses too.

Normally, it was considered fast for the cavalry to travel thirty miles in a day. After all, they were different from an individual light cavalry.

There were a lot of horses being raised in the northern part of Great Ning. In Kuomeng, to the north of Hexi, there was a grassland that stretched over thousands of miles. In Great Chu of the previous dynasty, the grassland was being subdued, and all the tribes had to pay allegiance to the imperial court. After Great Ning was established, they gave special treatment to the natives of the grassland, to appease them and quel negative sentiments. Over the past hundreds of years, the grassland provided the foundation for the battle horses for Great Ning’s military forces.

Therefore, throughout history, the northern border always had endless wars. Heiwu had been coveting the Kuomeng grassland for a long, long time.

There were different grassland horses as well. The eastern part of the Kuomeng’s horses were shorter, and stronger. They were the standard horses used by Great Ning’s combat soldiers, as well as local soldiers.

Traveling over long distances, the Bowu horses of eastern Kuomeng were able to cover thirty miles in eight hours. However, traveling for eight hours straight was their limit. If the horses did not rest, they would be disabled.

But Bowu horses were not the best horses on the grassland. The best horses came from the western part of the grassland, in Xueli. Xueli horses were given to the Northern Border Cavalry, especially the 5,000 heavily armed cavalry, who needed the best Xueli horses.

An ordinary Xueli horse carrying a 140 to 150 pound soldier only needed seven hours to cover almost 40 miles. The most superior Xueli horse , also known as a jade Xueli horse, can carry up to a 220 pound heavily armed soldier. But they were very limited in number.

It was Shen Leng’s first experience with a Xueli horse. He could not help but to have a whole new level of respect for Cen Zheng’s abilities.

Getting more than twenty Xueli horses for ten odd people was not a very difficult thing for a general. But according to locations marked on the map that Cen Zheng gave Shen Leng, he prepared a new batch of battle horses for them at every 250 mile interval. In that way, they would be able to get to Feng Guan Tai at the fastest possible speed.

If that was the case, Cen Zheng had prepared a few hundred Xueli horses. This did not make any sense.

Even the combat soldiers from every division and garrison would not be able to get a few hundred Xueli horses that easily. After all, the majority of Xueli horses were given to the northern border, where it was most important.

There was a Sa Ke clan in Heiwu. The Sa Ke cavalry were their most valiant troops. They came and went like the wind. In order to deal with them, the northern border’s troops established an even more powerful and ferocious armed cavalry force – 5,000 heavily armed cavalry and 30,000 light cavalry, forming the Northern Border Cavalry that struck fear into the hearts of Heiwu.

“What’s wrong?”

Shen Leng looked at Chen Ran who looked pale.

Chen Ran looked around and said to him in a lowered voice. “I think I have an abrasion on my butt. It is freaking painful. I suspect that my butt is not the only place that has an abrasion. There’s another part which feels as though it was being smeared with menthol oil, and a layer of chili oil.“

Shen Leng took out the medication that Mr. Shen had prepared for him and tossed it to him. “Look for a place where there’s no one and apply it.”

Chen Ran looked at the medication and had an embarrassed look on his face. “Do you think that my precious thing would be damaged? I’m carrying the weight of the heavy responsibility of carrying on the Chen family’s ancestral line on my shoulders.”

Shen Leng laughed out loud. “You can cut off part of the leather fanny pack that was given by the Navy, and put it in your pants to cushion it.”

The leather fanny pack is one of the standardized equipment for combat soldiers. It was worn on the waist; it could be used to store some medication, a dagger, gauze, etc. It was very sturdy. It was said that it could still be used twenty years after soldiers leave the military and retire.

Chen Ran was slightly awkward. “Is this for my precious thing?”

“Leather armor.”

Shen Leng had a serious look on his face. “Hawthorn roll.”

Chen Ran spat. “Gross…next time when I see a hawthorn roll I will lose my appetite.”

He took the medication and walked over to the woods by the path. From time to time he would let out a cry. It must have been painful when the broken skin came into contact with the medication. Especially so for that important area.

At this moment, perhaps, Chen Ran…realized that things were not that simple.

Shen Leng squatted down and opened up the map. After Yang Qibao was done setting up their defense, he walked over. Judging from the way he walked, one could tell that he was not any better than Chen Ran.

Yang Qibao looked at Shen Leng. “Military officer, how are you ok?”

Shen Leng lifted his head and said sternly. “Because I am a military officer.”

Yang Qibao replied, “And so?”

“So I can tolerate.”

Yang Qibao burst out laughing. When he squatted down, he pulled back the corners of his mouth slightly, baring his teeth, “I heard that people who ride horses over long periods of time are all bow-legged. I didn’t believe it in the past, but now I do…hahahahaha.”

He suddenly laughed out of the blue. When Shen Leng saw him laughing, he could not help but be baffled. “What are you thinking about?”

Yang Qibao hurt so much that he involuntarily pulled back the corners of his mouth again. However, he was still laughing hard. “I can’t help but think about the tens of thousands of fellas in the Northern Border Cavalry. When they get into formation on their high horses and charge forward, they look mighty and aggressive. However, when they get off their horses and walk, will it look like there’s a huge egg sandwiched between their legs?”

An image appeared in Shen Leng’s mind; after the troops get into their neat formation, as they walked forward, there was a circular gap between their legs. If someone were to look at them from the front, would it look like tunnels?

“Ahem, ahem…”

Shen Leng did not dare to think about it. He was afraid he would burst out laughing.

“Tonight, we will set up our tents and stay for the night. We will head out early in the morning tomorrow. In a while, both of us will go to the woods over there to see if we can hunt for some food for you people to replenish your energy. After we set out tomorrow, we will rush to the location to change our horses. And then, we will go to this place…”

Shen Leng pointed to an area on the map. “We’ll rest for the night in Feng Cheng ancient village.”

“Feng Cheng ancient village.”

Yang Qibao looked flabbergasted. “I heard that the place is not peaceful. People say that there are sightings of ghosts at night.”

Shen Leng replied, “Even ghosts are afraid of us.”

Feng Cheng ancient village was an extremely important battlefield the year that Great Ning vanquished Great Chu. Back then, Great Chu’s 8,000 elite troops defended Feng Cheng ancient village. Ning’s army attacked continuously for ten full days before they managed to take it down. Every single one of the 8,000 elite soldiers died in the battle.

Long later, it was rumored that there were sounds of people crying, as well as singing Chu’s songs, in the middle of the night in Feng Cheng ancient village.

However, Shen Leng did not believe any of these. Precisely because nobody went to that place, hence he wanted to bring them there. Their operation this time was top secret – they had to avoid crowded places as much as possible.

Shen Leng suddenly thought about the warehouse at the dock in Changan city, before thinking about the warehouse behind Mr. Meng’s house in Yulin town. Places where people often said that there were ghost sightings, endangering human lives, more often than not, there were no actual ghosts, but something a lot worse – vile humans.

Thousands of Chu’s troops, as well as Ning’s troops, had died in Feng Cheng ancient village. Their blood had already stained half of the ground red. If the unrest ghosts of the 8,000 Chu soldiers did not depart, the ghosts of the ten thousand Ning troops would also be there. They would not even be able to think about singing Chu’s songs.

Presently, it was Ning’s land, how could Chu’s sounds be heard?

“Let’s go.”

Shen Leng kept the map and grabbed Yang Qibao’s arm. “Let’s go hunt for some food.”

Yang Qibao crossed his leg and followed Shen Leng. After acting coy for a little while, he said embarrassingly, “There is something I brought up to the general before. He told me to ask you…”

Shen Leng smiled and said, “Big brother Yang, if there’s anything you can just tell me.”

Yang Qibao quickly said, “You don’t have to call me big brother Yang anymore. You are now a military officer, we must uphold the military’s code of conduct…I did think about coming over to work under you. Even though the garrison unit is pretty good in the sense that we can help the commander do a lot of things, such as upholding military discipline, but I’m not satisfied…it’s still better for men, who joined the military, to fight on the battlefield.”

Shen Leng nodded, “If the general agrees, you can come anytime and become a battalion commander here. Sorry for making you do that.”

Yang Qibao was stunned for a moment. “No, no. The other brothers might not be too happy if I become a battalion commander right after I join. It’s better for me to just be a soldier.”

“How can I do that to you? Let’s just stick to the original plan. If you continue arguing with me I won’t let you come over anymore.”

Yang Qibao felt a twinge in his nose. “Alright!”

He used to be a part of Mu Xiaofeng’s regiment, and was a brave soldier on the battlefield. Furthermore, he was extremely skilled in martial arts. In truth, Yang Qibao and Shen Leng were on par, except that he was seven years older than Shen Leng. He was in his prime, while Shen Leng was only 17 years old.

In the past, he experienced injustice within the military. If he was able to work under Shen Leng, and if he was able to become a battalion commander, Yang Qibao would be utterly moved to the point he found it hard to express his emotions and gratitude.

At the same time, as the Navy fleet continued on their journey, escorting the Weaving Repository’s ship, Mu Liu’er, along with her most capable men from Guan Tang Kou, had also arrived at Zhangkou county’s official dock. They were trying to get more information.

“Shen Leng might not be in the fleet?”

Mu Liu’er frowned slightly. “Where could he have gone?”

“Someone saw a ten-man squad secretly leaving the fleet. Even though they are not certain that they saw Shen Leng, after the ten-man squad left, one of Shen Leng’s soldiers spread the word that Shen Leng is ill and that he cannot be out in the open. Hence he did not go out of the cabin. Even though he would occasionally stand by the window, they are unable to tell if he is actually Shen Leng.”

“Map!”

Mu Liu’er gestured. Her subordinate quickly opened up the map.

Mu Liu’er pointed on the map and her finger followed along the path. She looked around the area near Zhangkou county’s official dock in search for clues. FInally, she stopped at the main official road. “He wants to enter Changan city in advance?”

“If he left the fleet and took the land route, there is only one main path in Zhangkou.”

“Something is amiss.”

Mu Liu’er stood up and started pacing back and forth. She turned her head around abruptly and instructed, “Send a letter to Changan city using the pigeon – tell the second-in-command, Li Huaiping, to pick the most capable person to investigate more thoroughly in Changan. Additionally, there are a lot of divisions on the main path of Zhangkou county – they are negligible. However, from the main path to the east of Changan city, there is the straight official path that is linked to it. Send more people to guard that area.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Her subordinate quickly started making arrangements. Mu Liu’er frowned even more.

“This is the best opportunity to kill Shen Leng…”

When she thought about Mu Xiaofeng, Mu Liu’er’s heart ached. When will he change his mind about me? If I can’t kill Shen Leng this time, young master must hate me even more, right? No, I must not fail.

She suddenly turned around and gave orders, “Zhao Feng, take half of the men with you and continue giving chase on the main official road. You can take all the horses. Even if Shen Leng is not part of the ten-man squad, you still have to find out what they are up to.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Zhao Feng, Mu Liu’er’s most trusted and capable subordinate, nodded. He was a man who looked like he was in his thirties. He used to be a solitary bandit. After he met Mu Liu’er, he had never left Guan Tang Kou. In his eyes, Mu Liu’er was the prettiest woman in the world. He was willing to do anything and everything for Mu Liu’er.

“Because of young master?” he asked.

“You have no right to talk so much.”

Mu Liu’er stared at Zhao Feng. “Do what you’re supposed to do.”

Zhao Feng grunted as he made his way out. After taking a few steps, he turned his head around. “Why let yourself suffer so much?”

Mu Liu’er looked at him. She had a cold look in her eyes. “None of your business. Scram!”

Zhao Feng sighed. He turned around and gestured to his subordinates to leave.