Chapter 224: Naming and Going to War

Time: April 12.

Mission: Go out of the border for a thousand miles, and kill all the Hu bandits you meet without mercy.

The entire military order only has these sixteen words.

The meaning is also very clear, that is, let Yang Zhengshan lead the Anyuan City garrison camp to go out of the border to fight against the Hu people.

There is no detailed plan, no specific marching route, and no rigid order, only the requirement to kill without mercy.

Of course, this battle will definitely be judged by the merit of beheading, and how much merit you can get depends entirely on Yang Zhengshan himself.

As for the rest, it is not something Yang Zhengshan needs to care about.

Such an expedition plan may seem a bit unreliable, but it is actually the best plan to deal with the Donghai Hu people.

Because the Donghai Hu people have no fixed place to live for a thousand miles outside the pass, it is very difficult to find all their settlements.

The Darong Dynasty has been unable to completely eliminate the Donghai Hu people for three hundred years because it is difficult for them to find all the settlements of the Donghai Hu people.

Now Lu Chongde and Liang Chu have ordered a large number of garrison camps in Chongshan Town to leave the country, split up into smaller units, and use dozens of garrison camps to sweep thousands of miles outside the pass. Doing so can find as many tribes of the Donghai Hu people as possible.

Of course, there are risks involved.

The garrison camp has a maximum of about a thousand troops. Facing a slightly larger tribe, it may suffer heavy losses or even be completely destroyed.

But then again, this is an opportunity for all garrisons to make meritorious deeds.

An opportunity to lead troops in battle alone is very rare for garrisons.

Especially for Yang Zhengshan, he really didn't expect that he would have the opportunity to lead troops in battle so soon.

With such an opportunity, how many military merits can the Anyuan City garrison camp gain?

"Han Fei, immediately summon all officials above the rank of 100 households to come to a meeting!"

Time was tight, and Yang Zhengshan summoned all military officers above the rank of 100 households under the garrison office as soon as he received the military order.

The military order required leaving the country on April 12, and today is April 8, which means they only have less than four days.

As evening approached, groups of people rode in one after another.

At night, the lobby of the garrison hall was already full of people. Yang Zhengshan sat in the main seat, and Han Fei, Xie Yuan and other military officers stood quietly in the hall.

The atmosphere in the hall was very quiet. Although Yang Zhengshan had not spoken yet, everyone had guessed it.

When everyone arrived, Yang Zhengshan glanced at everyone, stood up, and said: "I just received a military order from the Lieutenant General's Office. The Lieutenant General's Office ordered my garrison camp to go out on the twelfth day of the first lunar month to attack the Donghai Hu tribe!"

"In two days, I will lead the garrison camp to fight. After I go on the expedition, all the affairs of the garrison office still need your concerted efforts to ensure that there will be no mistakes!"

"Xie Yuan!" Yang Zhengshan's eyes fell on Xie Yuan.

"I'm here!"

Xie Yuan responded quickly.

"After I go on the expedition, you will temporarily lead the garrison office. Is there any problem?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"No! I will definitely live up to your trust!" Xie Yuan said firmly.

Everyone was not surprised by such an arrangement, because Yang Zhengshan had been preparing since last year, and Xie Yuan often came to Anyuan City to familiarize himself with the affairs of the garrison office during this period.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "Yang Minghao!"

"I'm here!"

"Next, you will be responsible for the defense of Anyuan City. No matter what happens, you must ensure that there will be no chaos in Anyuan City and that Anyuan City will not be lost!"

"Even if I die in battle, I will not hesitate!"

Yang Zhengshan looked at Yang Minghao with sharp eyes.

On the surface, this was for duty. As a garrison, the most important thing is to defend the city. But in fact, this is to ensure the safety of the Yang family. The Yang family is in Anyuan City. If Anyuan City is lost, the Yang family will definitely bear the brunt.

So he handed the city defense to Yang Minghao.

"I obey your orders!" Yang Minghao bowed his head and responded.

Yang Zhengshan nodded and looked at Wu Chongzhe again, "The garrison office has two major things to do next. The first is city defense, and the second is spring plowing and farming!"

"Sir Wu, farming is the foundation of us, and I don't need to say how important it is!"

"Sir Xie is responsible for the affairs of the garrison office, so I will leave the matter of farming to you!"

Wu Chongzhe hesitated a little, "Sir, why don't you take me to the battlefield!"

He wanted to go to the battlefield. Now that the Wu family has returned to the officialdom, it is time to make meritorious deeds. He still hopes that he can make meritorious deeds and get promoted.

Yang Zhengshan shook his head slightly, "Follow orders, it will definitely not work this time!"

He understood Wu Chongzhe's thoughts and did not dislike Wu Chongzhe's idea, but he could not take Wu Chongzhe to fight.

Wu Chongzhe is the defense officer of Shaling Fort. As the name suggests, his duty is defense.

It is okay to let him take charge of the affairs of the garrison officer temporarily, but it is not okay to let him go to war with the garrison camp.

Wu Chongzhe nodded somewhat disappointedly, "I will obey your orders!"

"There will be opportunities in the future!" Yang Zhengshan smiled and patted his shoulder.

After arranging the matters in the garrison, Yang Zhengshan looked at Han Cheng, Song Dashan and Yang Mingzhen again.

"Tomorrow, all the soldiers in the garrison camp will have a day off. Go back and reunite with your families and say goodbye!"

The swords and guns are blind on the battlefield, and no one knows whether they can come back.

Maybe this meeting is a farewell forever.

Before going to the expedition, Yang Zhengshan hopes that the soldiers can meet their families properly to avoid regrets!

"Your Excellency is kind! I thank you on behalf of all the soldiers in the garrison camp!"

Han Cheng stepped forward and clasped his fists to thank him.

Yang Zhengshan waved his hand and asked everyone to leave.

The necessary preparations had been made long ago, and this meeting was just to confirm the arrangements.

Soon everyone left. Yang Zhengshan did not keep them for meals, but took a short break and returned to the backyard.

He also decided to spend some time with Yu Qingyi these two days.

When he returned to the main courtyard, Yu Qingyi was standing at the door looking around.

"My husband is going to the war!"

Seeing Yang Zhengshan, Yu Qingyi asked anxiously.

"Yeah!"

Yang Zhengshan stepped forward to support her, his eyes fell on her slightly bulging belly.

"It's cold outside, let's go back to the house and talk!"

Yu Qingyi's face was full of worry.

After entering the house, Yang Zhengshan could only comfort her: "Don't worry, although your husband is not a veteran, it's not the first time he has been on the battlefield!"

"I will definitely return safely!"

"But I'm still worried!" Yu Qingyi's eyes were slightly red.

Even though she was gentle on the outside and strong on the inside, she couldn't help facing such a thing.

"Why, you don't have confidence in your husband?" Yang Zhengshan held her in his arms and gently stroked her belly.

"Even if it's for this child, I will return safely."

"It's just that I'm wronged. When this child is born, I probably can't be with you!"

Yu Qingyi leaned in his arms, holding him tightly with both hands.

Seeing that she was in a low mood, Yang Zhengshan changed the topic and said, "Why don't I give the child a name first!"

"Well!" Yu Qingyi said softly.

Yang Zhengshan thought for a while, "If it's a daughter, then call her Yang Yunmeng, if it's a son, then call her..."

Speaking of the boy's name, Yang Zhengshan paused.

There are many male descendants of the Ming generation in the Yang family, and the names he thought of seem to have been taken.

Girls are easy to say, many girls in the countryside are called Daya and Erya, and their names are Yang Daya and Yang Erya, so it's much easier to name a girl.

But this boy's name?

Yang Zhengshan really couldn't think of a good one for a while.

"How about you come up with a name for your son?"

"The master should come up with it!" Yu Qingyi refused without even thinking.

Yang Zhengshan could only ponder.

Mingzhe, Mingyu, Minghui, Mingzhen, Minglei...

These all seemed to be taken.

There are countless people with the same name in the world, but it is not good to have the same name within the same clan.

"How about Yang Mingzhao!"

"Mingzhao! Mingzhao!" Yu Qingyi muttered softly, touching her belly unconsciously, "This name is good!"

Yang Zhengshan saw that her expression had eased a lot, and he felt a little relieved.

In the next two days, Yang Zhengshan stayed with Yu Qingyi.

Until the early morning of April 12.

At dawn, more than a thousand soldiers of the garrison camp had gathered outside the north gate of Anyuan City.

Three hundred and fifty cavalry, two hundred iron-clad infantry, and nearly six hundred cotton-clad infantry.

These were all the troops under Yang Zhengshan's command.

The reason why the cavalry became 350 was because last month the Yang family horse farm sold another 50 high-quality war horses to the garrison.

Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi said goodbye to each other reluctantly, and explained to Yang Mingcheng, and then rode to the city gate.

At this time, in addition to the soldiers of the garrison camp, Xu Jin and Lin Shoude came to see him off.

"Sir Yang, I wish you all the best in this battle!"

Xu Jin came to Yang Zhengshan with a pot of wine and poured a glass for Yang Zhengshan and Lin Shoude respectively.

Yang Zhengshan smiled and picked up the wine glass, raised his head and drank it.

"The two lords, wait for my victory report!"

After saying that, he turned on the horse and rode away.

The army behind him followed, and the team of more than a thousand people stretched for several miles, like a long dragon heading north.

The garrison camp did not recruit civilians for the expedition, and all logistics needed to be taken care of by the soldiers of the garrison camp.

There are more than a hundred carriages in the team, which are loaded with soldiers' armor and food.

For example, armored infantrymen must not wear armor when marching, otherwise they will be exhausted before they leave the border.

However, if it is just to load armor and food, there is actually no need for so many carriages. The reason why Yang Zhengshan brought so many carriages is to facilitate camping.

With more than a hundred carriages, the carriages can be placed outside when camping at night to prevent cavalry from attacking the camp.

To put it simply, these carriages can be used as chevaux de frise.

In addition, if there are spoils of war, they can also pull them back, so as not to destroy them on the spot because they cannot be taken away.

From this point, we can see how greedy Yang Zhengshan is.

He went on the expedition not only thinking about killing the enemy and making merit, but also thinking about taking the opportunity to make a fortune.

Others were thinking about how to save their lives on the dangerous battlefield, but Yang Zhengshan was the only one who thought about making a fortune from spoils of war.