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Published at 21st of October 2021 11:01:45 AM


Chapter 4: 4

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On the Bank of the winding qianquchuan River, Li Xiao met with Takeda Xinfan's headquarters after walking a section of mountain road. Takeda Xinfan, when Li Xiao arrived at the riverside, he was almost in time for dinner. Xinfan's men and horses were temporarily stationed at the riverside, and the soldiers were busy fetching water and cooking.

Jiafei country has always been poor, and the food is often not enough to be self-sufficient. Therefore, the people in the country often don't have enough to eat. The situation of ordinary warriors is slightly better, but they can only barely fill their stomachs.

In the past, Takeda soldiers brought their own grain when they went to war. The types of food were all kinds of miscellaneous grains, such as mustard wheat flour, millet flour and so on. Therefore, for the Takeda family at that time, conquering the Xinnong country rich in rice and eating delicious rice has always been the dream of everyone from the supervisor to ordinary soldiers.

The Takeda family is poor and trustworthy. With the efforts of the second generation of family supervisors of Xinxuan, it took 20 years to completely control Xinnong. This not only means the expansion of the territorial area (the territorial area of Xinnong is more than twice that of Jiafei), but also makes the Takeda family complete self-sufficiency in grain.

Because it was on the March, they could not set up pots and bowls to cook in a hurry, so the soldiers took out the rice balls already prepared from the "waist stool" (i.e. dry grain bags) tied to their bodies.

Then the soldiers made a fire, forked the rice balls with branches and baked them on the fire, and burned some hot water at the same time. From Takeda Xinfan to low-level peasant soldiers, from the Lord general to the soldiers, they eat the same food and eat together.

Li Xiao felt quite fresh at first. His chestnut war horse was led to feed grass. After he was assigned to rice balls, he learned from ordinary soldiers to barbecue rice balls on the fire. Li Xiao saw that many people burned the skin of the rice ball to black, which smelled like a burning incense that hooked people's appetite.

After baking the rice ball, Li Xiao chews it in his mouth. It seems that plum is also placed in the rice ball. When the rice ball is chewed in his mouth, there is a sour plum juice taste that permeates it, which has a unique flavor.

"March."

The herald sent a signal. Li Xiao swallowed the remaining half of the rice ball like a bolt. This food was only enough for him. He didn't have enough food. As a result, he was on his way.

However, it seems that the other soldiers have only one rice ball to eat, but they seem to be full, looking like they can recover their energy, cheer up their morale and start on the road again.

The Japanese who have heard of this era are basically malnourished. For farmers and soldiers, they only have rice in wartime, and usually eat some coarse grains. Therefore, their meals are basically small, belonging to the type of eating less and doing more.

In order to consolidate Xinnong's rule, Takeda Xinxuan built a straight road from Jiafu to Chuanzhong island. Along the straight road, it takes 160 kilometers from Jiafu to Xinnong, and the cavalry can reach it in six hours.

Nevertheless, Xinxuan also built many beacon towers along the way to convey the enemy's situation in the way of wolf smoke. Once the Shangshan family sent troops to beixinnong, it only took two hours for Takeda Xinxuan of the first house to know the news and make a quick judgment to send troops.

Takeda Xinfan's troops moved forward silently. Due to the heavy rain not long ago, the road was very muddy. It was very difficult for the small piggyback team behind the troops to walk.

The rugged and narrow mountain road, coupled with the bad road conditions, made Xinfan's team travel less than 1km per hour. At this time, the piggyback truck fell into the mud and was difficult to pull out. A dozen farmers and soldiers on one side tried their best to pull out the piggyback truck.

Although several urging warriors repeatedly yelled and punched and kicked, they still couldn't force the dozen peasant soldiers to break out and pull out the piggyback truck.

So the progress of Xinfan team was delayed. At this time, the Xueshan Xinjun Department of the rear team had caught up and was blocked on the mountain road by the front team.

So what to do? It doesn't matter if you miss the destination. Delaying the march of the army is the problem. Takeda Xinfan is quite embarrassed. At this time, the centipede passing the flag has brought Xinxuan's instructions and ordered Xinfan to speed up.

Seeing this, Takeda shenglai hurriedly advised Takeda Xinfan: "it's not the way to go on like this. At present, we only have to cut off the ropes on the cart and unload the baggage. We can certainly drag the wheels out of the mud."

After listening to Takeda shenglai's suggestion, Takeda Xinfan shook his head and said, "no, it takes time to cut off the rope for unloading. Moreover, even if it is successful, it is difficult to walk this mountain road. Can we ask our soldiers to trek with food?"

Seeing that the sky was getting dark and the letter was numerous, they all looked sad and delayed the military order, which was a great sin.

At this time, Li Xiao jumped off his horse, came to the piggyback in the mud and shouted: tie the rope to the horse and pull the car up with animal power.

Seeing the dazed faces of the people around him, Li Xiao thought that he was unable to speak. So Li Xiao automatically untied the rope from a soldier's shoulder and tied it to his chestnut horse.

Before Meiji, there was no carriage in Japan. Because horses were too scarce and precious, no one used them as animal power. The so-called piggyback trucks use manpower.

None of the soldiers of the Takeda family thought of using a Malay Trailer. This idea is too extravagant. The knight on horseback cherishes his war horse and will not use it as a trailer even if he thinks of it.

Seeing that Li Xiao, as a warrior, was the first soldier and contributed all his horses, the farmers and soldiers dared not sell their strength. For a moment, everyone bravely competed for the first and made concerted efforts to drag the piggyback truck.

The moment the car was pulled out, the troops burst out a burst of cheers, as if they had won the war. Li Xiao could feel the admiration on their faces.

"Li Xiao, it's really hard for you." Xin fan also looked happy.

Li Xiao replied, "how dare you, but I think the road below is also difficult to walk. I see a bamboo forest on the left mountain. It's better to cut some bamboo, plane it into bamboo pieces and put it in front of the wheels in turn, so I don't have to worry about falling into the mud again."

"I see."

Xin fan touched his beard and showed a suddenly enlightened look. Then Li Xiao's suggestion was carried out as an order.

In the evening, Xinfan's team set up a camp, and its own soldiers took the initiative to set up a tent for Li Xiao. Today, Li Xiao's actions have been admired by all the officers and men, and Xinfan also attaches great importance to him, but shenglai is still on the side, and it's easy for him to do things of this degree.

At the moment, Li Xiao is lying comfortably on the straw pile of the tent, holding grass roots in his mouth and looking up at the stars in the sky. At this time, Takeda Xinfan and his eldest son Takeda Xinfeng suddenly came to visit.

Takeda Xinfeng is about the same age as Takeda shenglai. He looks quite easygoing, has a temperament quite like his father, and has a kind of sincere feeling.

Li Xiao hurriedly saluted and paid a visit. Takeda Xinfan smiled and said, "Li Xiao doesn't have to be polite. If it weren't for you today, our team couldn't pass through the valley quickly. Thanks to you."

Li Xiao said with a smile, "this is the duty of his subordinates. In the Ming Dynasty, there were countless war horses. Usually, rich farmers in the countryside would ride horses to take the place of transportation and trailer. But it seems that you don't have this habit." Li Xiao never stingy his praise for his hometown.

After hearing this, Takeda shinfan showed a really strong expression of the Ming state, and then said, "yes, there are few war horses in Japan. The cost of raising a war horse is enough to supply the expenses of five warriors. Ordinary warriors can't ride horses at all. Therefore, even though Jiafei is rich in war horses and has the support of Jinshan, we have established a red standby cavalry team of 500 people."

Li Xiao was startled. It turned out that his chestnut war horse had to pay for it himself, which was a large expense. I can't afford the salary of five times a month for a long time. I must quickly make war achievements and improve my salary. It would be great if they could be granted a direct minister or even a fief by the Takeda family.

Takeda Xinfan didn't know what Li Xiao thought. He laughed and said, "Li Xiao, since you are already a warrior of our Takeda family, I directly appoint you as the junior General of our army."

Li Xiao was stunned. In the Warring States period, low-level warriors started from the head of the foot light group..

Li Xiao didn't expect Takeda Xinfan to appoint himself as a junior general and give him such high expectations.

Because the Takeda family did not separate soldiers from peasants, they relied on peasants recruited at zero time. The combat effectiveness of agricultural soldiers on the battlefield is slightly poor, so low-level warriors are like grass-roots officers in the army, and they are also the middle and main force of combat.

For example, a low-level warrior is equivalent to a low-level officer at the rank of sergeant and squad leader in the army. As we all know, in modern wars, the combat effectiveness of an army largely depends on the quality of low-level officers.

Li Xiao then said, "thank you, Xin Fangong."





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