On Chinese New Year's Eve, Xu Xingxia and his white-clothed army spent time on intense combat readiness duty.

After the battle, it was just time for lunch. Although today's lunch came a little late, the soldiers of the white-clothed army did not complain at all. Amidst the cheers of victory, the soldiers enjoyed their own lunch. The Tartar horses, which had been killed and wounded, were also dragged back and joined the ranks of the dining table. According to the most conservative estimates, these horses were enough to allow the white-clothed sergeants to eat stewed horse meat for ten days in a row. The official non-commissioned officers were not very interested in this, but the auxiliaries were very happy.

In ancient times, when armies fought wars, there were so-called auxiliaries. The White Coats are no exception. Xu Xingxia's current position is the representative of the Qianhu Office of Zuotun Weihou, and the military households under his command are 1,120 people. Therefore, the official establishment of the White Army is 1,120 people. If it exceeds this establishment, it is estimated that someone will make a fuss. In fact, the official establishment of the White Army is indeed 1,120 people. Among them, the number of auxiliaries is almost 600.

However, when calculating the number of troops, Xu Xingxia resolutely refused to count the auxiliaries. According to him, as long as it is not equipped with the Moon Gun, no matter what it is, it doesn't count. For example, if the officers of the white-clothed army are not equipped with the Yue Yue Gun, they cannot be counted in the establishment of 1,120 people. Among them, including Xu Xingxia himself, is not among the 1,120 people. Even, even the artillery battalion, the chariot battalion, and the Eagle Cavalry were not included in the list when they reported to the guard for establishment. Auxiliaries are even less likely to report.

In ancient times, what was the concept of auxiliaries? They are not second-line troops. Auxiliaries are miscellaneous servants, a hodgepodge, all-encompassing. Their job is to serve the regular soldiers, including arranging the armor and weapons of the soldiers, feeding the horses, camping and cooking, cleaning the water, cleaning, opening roads in the mountains, and building bridges in the water...... It's a bit similar to the logistics service personnel of later generations. Modern troops have cooking classes, and cooking classes also belong to the official establishment of the company. But in ancient times, the men, the grooms, and the like were all counted separately.

In fact, the auxiliaries also have a certain amount of combat effectiveness, and they are also equipped with waist knives, and when necessary, they also need to be put into battle. If the troops suffer large losses, they will also be directly replenished into the troops, so it cannot be said to be purely logistical. In most of the Ming troops, auxiliaries were also counted in the establishment. Generally speaking, when troops are dispatched, there will be a large number of auxiliaries, and the number is generally one-fifth to one-half of the regular army.

The 600 auxiliaries of the White Clothes Army were also from Han Chinese slaves who had been freed back by the Tatars. Their physical fitness, in fact, is quite good. Their hatred for the Tartars, not to mention. For Xu Xingxia's personal loyalty, he can also rest assured. In a sense, they are actually the direct reservists of the White Army, and as long as they are equipped with the Moon Gun, they will be included in the official army establishment. However, for the time being, they can only exist as auxiliaries. There are big differences in weapons and equipment, status, money, and food.

In order to encourage everyone's fighting enthusiasm, within the White Clothes Army, the system implemented is definitely not a big pot of rice. If you want to do good and bad, it is absolutely impossible. Depending on the tasks you undertake, you will receive different benefits for money and food. It seems that the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, the formal establishment is naturally very rich, big fish and meat, but, as auxiliary soldiers, they only have half of the food expenses of the regular army, and in terms of the specifications of the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, they are naturally much inferior.

Fortunately, in the daytime battle, so many Tartar war horses were killed, and after these war horses were dragged back, the auxiliaries were also assigned a hundred. Six hundred auxiliaries, one hundred war horses, stewed horse meat is definitely tired of eating. Whether it is a Tartar or a Han Chinese, when they go out to fight, they must ride the tallest and thickest war horses, full of weight. A knife hand with good craftsmanship can remove hundreds of catties of horse meat from the body of each war horse.

All of this is free, or the Tartars take the initiative to deliver it to the door.

For the vast number of soldiers and pawns of the white-clothed army, the Chinese New Year's Eve of the 44th year of Wanli is something they will never forget. Because this is the first Chinese New Year's Eve in their lives when they can eat meat and vomit. The amount of meat is too sufficient, even if you are the number one big stomach in the world, you can fill it to the brim. After the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, most of the fighters felt sick to their stomachs as long as they smelled meat.

Their only regret is that they don't have alcohol. In this time of victory, fine wine is the most deserved. Unfortunately, this regret is impossible to satisfy. Even if there was wine in front of them, they did not dare to drink it. Because, they have to continue to fight anytime and anywhere, and of course it is impossible to drink. There is still a long way to go, and they cherish everything in front of them. If they delay a big event because of drinking, they can't forgive themselves.

After the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, all the senior officers of the white-clothed army gathered around Xu Xingxia, drinking goat's milk while discussing future combat matters. The battle during the day was only a small prelude. Its only function is to remind the white-clothed army that this year will not be easy. It is estimated that the large army of the Tartars should be dispatched soon.

The next battle is the real highlight. The most conservative estimate is that there will be a thousand-man army of seven Tartars heading south. The white-clothed army did not drink a drop of wine, for this reason. Without a calm and sober mind, it is simply impossible to cope with the more difficult and complex battles that follow. The ratio of troops is seven to one, and no one dares to take it lightly.

Zaktai is the henchman of Eyudun, and the troops under his command are the elite of the Eyudun tribe. His defeat is estimated to be unbearable. It's not just a matter of losing strength, it's also a matter of face and dignity. He had already laughed at too many people of the Helkin tribe before, and now that it was his turn to be defeated, he didn't know how many times he had to be ridiculed to come back. For the sake of his own face, no matter how much it costs, Eyudun is willing.

If Eyudun wants to come to take revenge, he will inevitably bring all the remaining three thousand troops. This is all his belongings, and he can only do a one-shot deal. If they are dispatched separately, they will only be sent to death. Such a stupid thing, it is estimated that Eyudun will not do it. For the Helkin tribe, the Eyudun tribe is their last hope, and of course they can't be dispatched by the Eyudun tribe alone. If the Erdun tribe really set off, the Helkin tribe would inevitably follow. In this way, all the Tartars will be dispatched.

"Senho-sama, the Tartars are here again! Seven thousand! ”

Sure enough, only on the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, Minghao sent information.

According to Ming Hao's report, this time it was all the cavalry of the Eyudun tribe that came, a total of three thousand troops. And behind Eyudun, there is also the four thousand troops of the Helkin tribe, which is also the largest number of troops that the Helkin tribe can put together. The Tartars of the 7,000-strong team were divided into two roads, east and west, forming a large pincer, and came to Zhenyuanguan.

As Xu Xingxia and the others expected, after E Yudun was a little sober, he immediately felt that something was wrong. Oops, the ability of the white-clothed army to defeat Gugrad's two-thousand-man team shows that there must be something special about the combat effectiveness of the white-clothed army. It's not appropriate to send a thousand-strong team south for a while! In case of any accidents, there is a problem with your old book. In any case, it is necessary to avoid problems with Zach Stage.

So, with a little bit of drunkenness, Eyudun hurriedly took the remaining three thousand people south. In order to prevent the tragic outcome of Zaktai, Eyudun was in a hurry, and he approached Zhenyuan Pass on the first day of the new year. It's a pity that as soon as he got close to Zhenyuan Pass, he was hit on the head. When he woke up in the morning, he received the message that Zaktai had almost completely wiped out. For a while, Eyudun's brain was buzzing with a chaotic sound.

"What should I do?" Ever since he received the bad news from Zaktai, he has been thinking about this issue in his mind. He could not stand his dignity and was challenged by others. He was even more reluctant to go back and face the sneering cold words of the Hellerkin tribe's higher-ups. Not only did Eyudun not want to go back, but even his subordinates were unwilling to go back.

"These damn white-clothed soldiers......" said Edun's brain was swollen.

When the remnants of the 1,000-strong Zaktai team were defeated and fled back, Eyudun thought that it was his own troops that had mutinied, and such serious consequences would occur. As a result, after asking, I learned that they were really defeated by the Ming army. What's worse is that most of the remnants of the defeated army have no idea how they were defeated. Some of the remnants of the army were defeated, and they were even frightened out of their courage, shouting and shouting, disturbing the morale of the army, so angry that Eyudun ordered the guards on the spot, pushed them all out, beheaded them for public display, and killed chickens and monkeys.

Finally, after a day of painful thinking, Eyudun decided to take a large army and kill Zhenyuan Pass. Despite the fact that there are only three thousand troops, it may not be an opponent for the White Army. However, Eyudun is not stupid. He was sure that as long as he reached Zhenyuan Pass, the cavalry of the Hellergin tribe would definitely follow. When the time comes, the two tribes will join forces, and they may be able to kill all the Ming troops and avenge Zaktai.

To be honest, Eyudun's judgment is indeed very shrewd. It is true that Hellerkin could not let Eyudun act alone. The three thousand-strong troops of Edun would definitely not be able to tear apart the defense line of the white-clothed army. If Eyudun is also killed by the White Army, only the Helkin tribe remains, and it will not be able to deal with the attack of the White Army alone. There was no way, Hylekin had no choice but to take his own troops and follow the back of Eyudun to the south, preparing for the two to join forces and launch an attack.

The Great War began in this way.

……

(To be continued)