Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Thousand-Man Squad

  "Tonight, I've called everyone together to discuss tomorrow's battle plan. If anyone has any opinions, feel free to speak up."

  Shi Hu looked at his subordinates who were all silent, and then cast his eyes on Leng Xiao Yao, asking: "Xiao Yao, do you have any good ideas?"

  As soon as Shi Hu's words fell, the eyes of the dozen or so major and minor generals present all turned to Leng Xiao Yao. In this period of time, Leng Xiao Yao had brought them too many surprises, naturally making them look up to him.

  "There's only one way to go about it, and that's to drag." Lan Xiang said calmly.

  Shi Hu heard what Leng Xiao Yao said, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly: "Drag? With our current military strength, even if we add the secret weapon you provided, it seems that we can only hold out for two days at most. But the reinforcements won't arrive until five days later!"

  Leng Xiao Yao heard Shi Hu's words and said with confidence, "General, what you said is correct, but what you said is that the beastman army can be blocked for two days under concentrated attack. What if the beastmen can't concentrate their forces to attack?"

  "Can't concentrate our forces?" Shi Hu's face showed a skeptical expression, as if he was puzzled about the true meaning of Leng Xiang's words.

  "That's right, General. We can send out a light cavalry to harass them with skirmishes, and the beastmen army will surely be unable to concentrate their forces."

  "Inadvisable." Yan Menggui immediately retorted: "General, currently our military strength is far inferior to that of the enemy. If we divide our forces again, our army will inevitably fall into even greater difficulties. I do not agree with this suggestion."

  "Lao Yan, wait a minute." Shi Hu waved his hand to stop Yan Menggui's words and smiled faintly as he looked at Leng Xiao: "Xiao, tell me about your plan."

  "Yes, General." Leng Xiao stood up and walked to the map hanging behind Shi Hu's back, pointing at several points around Tiger Valley with his finger: "General, if we have a team of light cavalry, we can harass them back and forth at these points. With our main force defending the valley entrance, I believe we will definitely be able to hold on for five to seven days. But after seven days, it's uncertain."

  "How many people do you think should go out?" Shi Hu's face was smiling as he looked at Leng Xiao Yao.

  Leng Xiao Yao stretched out one finger and remained silent.

  "It won't work. We currently have more than 50,000 troops and horses. If we divide them into 10,000, the pressure on our army will increase exponentially. General, it's absolutely not feasible." Yan Menggui countered again.

  "Director Yan, you're overthinking it. I said a thousand." Cold Xiao Yao's face wore a smile as he spoke to Yan Meng Gui.

  "What?" Shi Hu and the others were all stunned by this sentence, a thousand cavalry? Not that much! This thousand cavalry went to harass the beastman army of over 800,000, which was simply not enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.

  Leng Xiao seemed to be afraid that Shi Hu and others would not be hit hard enough, so he repeated again: "That's right, just one thousand men is enough."

  "You're too confident, Xiao Yao." Yan Menggui snorted in disdain, his face revealing a look of contempt. It's not hard to understand why he would have this expression - who wouldn't think it's suicidal to harass someone with 8 million troops with just 1 thousand men?

  Shi Hu would not have such an idea like Yan Menggui. He pondered for a moment, then raised his head and looked at Leng Xiao with sparkling eyes: "Xiao, if you were given these thousand men, how long could you drag it out?"

  "We can drag it out until the reinforcements arrive, but as for the thousand men who went out, I'm not sure how many will come back," Cold Wandering replied confidently. For him, the tactics of harassment were plentiful in his mind, and annihilating the enemy's 80,000-strong army was an impossible task, but harassing them was a simple matter. However, as for the thousand men who went out to battle, how many would return was not something that Cold Wandering could predict.

  Shi Hu heard Leng Xiao Yao's confident words, and a sharp glint flashed across his eyes. His face turned serious as he asked, "Are you certain you have a way to delay until the reinforcements arrive?"

  "If I were to lead this army, Xiang Yu would dare to issue a military order."

  "Free and easy..." As soon as these words came out, the leaders of the Vanguard Camp in the tent couldn't help but exclaim.

  Shi Hu looked at Leng Xiao Yao with a confident expression, and only then did he believe that Leng Xiao Yao was not joking with him. He opened his mouth and said: "The military order is no longer needed, I trust you, this thousand-man army, I will assign it to you."

  "Thank you, General." Han Xiang coldly saluted and continued: "However, I have a request."

  "Say."

  "Can this thousand people freely choose their own, may I?"

  "Alright!" Shi Hu heard Ling Xiao Yao's request, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and the next moment, a smile appeared on Shi Hu's face: "Good, this general has agreed."

  "Thank you, General."

  "When do you plan on taking people out of the valley?"

  "After selecting the personnel, take advantage of the darkness tonight and leave the valley immediately." said Leng Xiao Yao.

  Shi Hu nodded slightly and said, "Alright, since you've made up your mind, you can go out now to gather people. I'll have Lao Yan accompany you."

  "General Xie, yes, General." Cold Xiao and Yan Menggui responded in unison, then the two walked shoulder to shoulder towards the outside of the tent.

  Zheng Xiaohu and others saw Leng Xiao and Yan Menggui walking side by side, each with a hint of hesitation on their faces. The next moment, Zheng Xiaohu gritted his teeth and saluted Shi Hu: "General, Zheng Xiaohu wants to go into battle with Xiao, please grant it."

  "Please, General, finish it." As soon as Zheng Xiaohu's words fell, several other remaining chiliarchs of the vanguard camp shouted in unison.

  "Are you all going?" Shi Hu's face showed a hint of surprise, to think that this thousand-man cavalry was basically sending themselves to their deaths, didn't these old soldiers know that?

  "Yes, General, we will make it complete." Zheng Xiaohu and others responded in unison again.

  Shi Hu looked at the few subordinates in front of him with a resolute expression, sighed, turned around and waved his hand: "If you want to go, then go!"

  "Thank you, General." Zheng Xiaohu and others replied in unison, the next moment, several people whispered and left the account.

  In the middle of the valley, a bright spot appeared, and rows of soldiers stood quietly on the vast plain, looking at their regimental commander in front of them, waiting for him to speak.

  "Xiaoyao, apart from the patrolling soldiers, all of our cavalrymen are here." Yan Menggui scanned his subordinates before nodding in satisfaction after they finished checking their horses. Only then did he speak to Leng Xiaoyao.

  "En." Leng Xiao Yao nodded, then took a step forward, his face turning serious as he scanned the over 10,000 soldiers in front of him. He slowly opened his mouth and said: "Is everyone wondering why you've been gathered here so late? Your regiment commander has called you together for a reason!"

  Leng Xiao said up to here, paused for a moment, swept the face of the soldiers in front of him with a dazed expression, and continued: "Everyone knows that there are more than 80,000 enemy troops outside at this moment. Tomorrow they will attack Tiger Mountain Valley. Now we have come up with a plan. I need 1,000 light cavalrymen to go out with me to fight a harassment war, so that the enemy cannot concentrate their forces to attack. However...". Leng Xiao paused again and continued: "I want volunteers. Who is willing to follow me into battle, take three steps forward. I will give you ten breaths of time."

  A murmur of whispers rose, and the soldiers began to talk in hushed tones, three or two at a time. Yan Menggui was about to open his mouth to shout a few words, but when he just wanted to speak, he was stopped by the cold and haughty eyes beside him.

  Ten breaths later, Leng Xiangyao's cold voice said: "The time has come, who is willing to follow me into battle, take three steps forward and begin."

  "A carefree..." A shout came over.

  Leng Xiao Yao heard this familiar voice and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see Zheng Xiao Hu and others leading more than a hundred remaining people from the Vanguard Camp walking towards him.

  "What's this?"

  Zheng Xiaohu's face broke into a smile, and he reached out to pat Leng Xiangyang's shoulder: "Hehe, you've already gone into battle, how could the other brothers of our vanguard camp possibly stay hidden in the valley? I discussed it with my brothers, and they all clamored to go support you. And so, here we are."

  Leng Xiao Yao was moved by Zheng Xiao Hu's words, and upon seeing the determined faces of over a hundred people behind him, his face revealed a hint of excitement as he said: "Thank you."

  "Haha, you're too kind! What are we thanking you for? If it weren't for you, I think our whole group would have been wiped out in that last battle. If anyone should be thanked, it's us who should be thanking you!" A chiliarch replied with a sincere smile on his face.

  With the vanguard battalion of over a hundred men taking the lead, the originally hesitant light cavalry soldiers began to emerge one after another. Soldiers are all hot-blooded, and in their eyes, the vanguard battalion had sacrificed nearly 8,000 troops but still fought on, so how could they, the light cavalry, who had lost only over 5,000 men and horses, shrink back like a turtle? As the soldiers thought about this, the hidden hot-bloodedness in each of their hearts was stirred up.

  Looking around at the number of people who had stepped out, he found that there were almost a thousand people, and immediately waved his hand and said: "Stop, just you guys."

  Yan Menggui heard what Leng Xiao Yao said and waved his hand to signal the subordinates who didn't step out from behind him to retreat. After seeing that his light cavalry had dispersed, he finally spoke up: "Xiao Yao, do you have any orders?"

  He gazed calmly at the group of soldiers in front of him with peaceful expressions, stretching out his index finger and said, "I only ask for one thing."

  "That's absolute obedience. Every time I give an order, you must do it to the letter, move when I say move, stop when I say stop. If you can't do that, then leave immediately, got it?"

  "Understood." The soldiers responded in unison, although they didn't understand why the remaining hundred or so people from the Vanguard Battalion trusted Leng Xiao Yao so much. However, Leng Xiao Yao's achievement of beheading a thousand people in the first battle at Tiger's Mouth was not fake, and it was something they had witnessed with their own eyes. Additionally, when the beastmen launched a night raid, Leng Xiao Yao single-handedly defended the gate, which left a deep impression on the soldiers of the Fierce Tiger Battalion. Therefore, this time they were also betting that Leng Xiao Yao's plan could succeed in harassing the beastmen army, so that they could buy more time for their brothers in the valley.

  "Alright, dismissed! Assemble here again in a moment." Cold Xiao Yao waved his hand grandly, indicating that the soldiers could disperse.

  "Yes." The soldiers responded in unison, and the next moment, hundreds of people scattered in all directions, but the direction in front of them was consistent, where the war horses were located.

  Under the cover of night, a thousand-strong troop of soldiers quietly mounted their horses and left Tiger Valley, disappearing into the darkness.

  "General, do you really believe that with this thousand-man troop, we can harass the enemy?" asked Yan Menggui in a low voice from halfway up the mountain.

  The stone tiger's mouth corner flowed out a thread of smile and replied: "I believe him."

  Yan Menggui looked at the general he had always admired in front of him, a look of confusion on his face. He really couldn't understand why his wise and intelligent general would trust a new recruit who had been in the army for less than a year so much. Wasn't that overestimating him?

  "Freedom, I've given you the opportunity, now it's up to you." Shi Hu thought to himself as he gazed at the disappearing figures of his troops in the night.