Xiangye

Chapter 197 Morale
After all, they had never been on the battlefield before, and when more than 100 soldiers gathered and stood in front of Gao Wen, no one spoke.

Everyone was pale, holding the weapons in their hands tightly, and the sound of heavy breathing and the "whoosh" of the bonfire flames were clearly audible.

Gao Wen was wearing a cotton armor, with a large bow on his back, a pot of feathered arrows, and a lancet on his waist.The bow and arrow are not comparable to the slingshot he used before. Once it hits the target, it will kill a person in an instant.With a bow in the back, self-confidence arises from the heart.

He glanced at everyone, his eyes fell on a strong soldier in front of him, and he said coldly: "Are you afraid?"

The soldier's body trembled: "Old man...Master, villain no no no, don't be afraid..." He had already stuttered.

Gao Wen: "If you are not afraid, why are you trembling like this? Let me ask you, why did you come to be a soldier? Wouldn't it be good to be your military household at home and farm the land?"

The strong man continued to tremble: "Old...Master, there is no way to farm the land, the drought is severe, and the crops have not been harvested. Listen, I heard that Mr. Xu is recruiting soldiers. If there is a stammer, I, I, I will Come here, my lord, please spare my life, my lord, please spare my life!"

"Forgive me, I won't cut off your head, what are you afraid of?" Gawain nodded, his face softened: "Yes, soldiers eat food, and soldiers eat food, you probably think so. Make some progress. To tell you the truth, in two days, Commissioner Xu Qin will return to Beijing, and your army will be disbanded on the spot. It will be difficult to get enough food in the future."

"Ah!" Everyone exclaimed in a low voice, their faces full of disappointment and despair.

Zhao Qianhu was shocked when he heard Gao Wen say such words, and said in a low voice: "Mr. Gao..." That's right, we will go to battle later, Gao Wen said so suddenly, can the army still have morale?Anyway, the army is about to be disbanded, so why are you working hard for you wherever you go?

Gawain glanced at him, waved his hand, and signaled him not to speak.

At this time, another soldier who was more courageous threw the spear in his hand and said loudly: "Since this is the case, we have nothing to look forward to. Please also ask Mr. Gao to give us a high hand and let us go home. We may not be able to catch up." Autumn harvest, help the family get some food."

"Yes, Mr. Gao, please forgive me and let us go home!"

All of a sudden, the crowd started to make noise at the same time, and some people had already quietly dropped their weapons, wanting to disperse like birds and beasts, and go back to their hometown.

Zhao Qianhu was so anxious that he yelled: "Everyone be quiet, motherfucker, don't move around. Otherwise, I will use military law to cut off your heads! As long as you are a day soldier, I will control you!"

Gao Wen suddenly burst out laughing, the laughter was high-pitched and resounding, causing waves of echoes.

Hearing this laughter, Zhao Qianhu looked back at Gao Wen in astonishment, and everyone fell silent.

After laughing, Gao Wen pointed at the soldier who threw away his weapon just now and cursed: "Go home? Even if you go home to catch up with the autumn harvest, how much can you exchange for the little wheat you cut? Excluding the share paid to the guards , how much is left, and when next year’s harvest is over, your whole family will starve differently? I know that if you can do something at home, you won’t come to serve as a soldier here. Do you think I’m right? ?”

Hearing this, everyone remembered the hardships of life, and they all fell silent, and the atmosphere became dignified.

Gao Wen continued: "I haven't finished talking about the disbandment of the troops just now. If you want to go home, it's not too late to make a decision after I finish my sentence."

"Your army was pulled together by Xu Qinchao, and he is his confidant. You are all loyal people, Xu Qinchao naturally couldn't bear to tell you to go home like this, and there will be no end. In this way, he The old man can't hold back his face, so he will naturally give you an explanation."

Hearing this, the soldiers' eyes recovered a little.

Gao Wen raised his voice: "However, if you want to give everyone an explanation, you need to spend money. You also know that Xu Qinchao is a master of Qingtian with a clean sleeve. If he is really rich, he would have been busy for a year to recruit such a few soldiers. .But you don’t have to worry about it.”

He changed his tone: "Now, there is a big fortune ahead of you. If tonight's matter is done, everyone will be rewarded."

After finishing speaking, he untied a small burden on his back, threw four ingots of 50 taels of official silver at his feet, and shouted: "This is the opening of the silver. We will divide it up later, and each person will get two taels. After the battle , and there is also a big reward."

Seeing the silver, everyone's eyes became brighter.

Shaanxi is economically backward, and the town of Ningxia is even more bitterly cold.Ordinary people farmed for a year, and if they could save one or two taels of silver, they were considered very capable of running the business.Compared with ordinary civilian households, military households are poorer. After a year of hard work, many people owe the military officers seed money.

The shiny silver in front of the eyes is simply the eyes of everyone who shines.

After a long time, two craftsmen came over, Ding Dingdongdong picked up household items and cut official silver.

The trembling soldier who was talking to Gao Wen earlier murmured: "If you have money, I will work hard for you. I have never seen so much money!" silver.

But there are still some people who are unwilling to move. Although the money is tempting, there is only one life.

Gao Wen suddenly sneered: "Two taels of silver, your appetite is too small, I will give you 20 taels of cash after the war today."

"Ah!" The man opened his mouth wide, and the silver in his hand fell to the ground without realizing it.

The others were also shocked. What is the concept of 20 taels of silver? Even if it is a reward for the servants in the Sanbian Town Army to kill the enemy, it is nothing more than that.

Gao Wen was very satisfied with everyone's performance, and shouted with all his strength: "To tell you the truth, what we are going to raid tonight is a bank in the city set up by a group of gangsters, which contains 30 taels of silver. Once the attack is over, You are absolutely indispensable. Not to mention 20 taels, maybe 50 taels and 100 taels. Here, I will give you a promise. One hundred silver rewards for killing one enemy; fifty silver rewards for minor injuries; one hundred silver rewards for serious injuries. If you die accidentally, the family members can receive 300 taels of pension silver."

"If you are willing, come here to get the money for opening and pulling, and follow me into the city to kill the thieves. If you are not willing, go home by yourself, and I will never force you to stay."

……

After a moment of silence, suddenly a soldier came forward with gritted teeth, took a piece of silver, and roared with red eyes: "When a man dies, the bird looks up to the sky. I have never seen so much silver in my life. Even if I die, I also want to set up a family business for the children in my family. Mr. Gao, I will leave my life to you!"

"Yes, there is no windfall, so I have to gamble today!" Another soldier also came up.

"I'm going too, fuck the fuck, enough of this shit!"

"Mr. Gao, I will work hard for you!"

"Straight mother thief, this is an opportunity I've been waiting for all my life. How can I let it go? It's a big deal and the ball will be knocked down. Even if I die, I still have money to take!"

……

Stimulated by the money, everyone came forward with loud shouts.

Gao Wen laughed loudly: "Okay, okay, I am indeed a hot-blooded man from the Northwest. Brothers, let's go, Gao Wen will make you rich!"

Anyway, there was plenty of money in the granary, and if some of it was used to boost morale, old man Xu couldn't say anything.

Seeing that it was almost time, a group of people were screaming, lighting torches, holding weapons and marching towards Xi'an City, their morale was extremely high.

In the era of cold wars, morale is the key factor that determines the outcome of a battle, that is, the courage of soldiers to dare to see blood without fear of death or injury.Especially in small-scale battles, it's that shiver that is all about.

In modern society, it requires hard and cruel training, iron-like discipline, and meticulous ideological work to improve the army.

But it was too late for Gao Wen to play the role of the political commissar of later generations, so he could only rely on desire and tangible benefits to inspire the fighting spirit of the soldiers.

And these two things are most useful in the classical army in feudal society.

After a long march, the morale of the team did not drop because of fatigue.On the contrary, seeing the dark city wall of Xi'an, everyone's eyes shone with golden light.So, everybody knows, there's a big bank waiting for them to rob and get rich.

After seeing the bright torch light and flashing weapons of Gao Wen's group of more than a hundred people, the city gate slowly opened.

Xu Yu rode a white horse, and was greeted by several guards: "Erzhi, you are here."

"I've seen my mentor." Gao Wen slightly cupped his hands on the horseback: "Everything has been arranged, just wait for your order, and the army will kill the granary and arrest the culprits, but I don't know what time it is?"

It is said to be a large army, but it is actually a bit shabby.

However, everyone was neatly dressed, their morale was high, and they looked murderous.

Xu Yu was very satisfied, nodded, and said with a smile: "There is still a pot of tea to come, and you really surprised the old man. You were able to attract the white lotus monster in Xi'an city to attack the granary. In this way, my official It’s a well-known teacher, it’s really a good plan! Let’s not rush to do it, wait until the Bailian monster fights with those thieves for a while, and then go and catch them all.”

It turned out that after seeing Xiaoying, Gao Wen had already sent someone to report his arrangement to Xu Xuan.

Anyway, one guest is an invitation, and two guests are also an invitation. Today, all enemies will be completely cut off.

"Yes." Gao Wen replied, and turned around to order: "Everyone rest in place first!"

All the soldiers sat down with a clatter, and waited for Gao Wen and Xu Xuan to talk for a long time.He came galloping, and sitting on the horse was a Jinyiwei spy. He jumped off the horse with an excited expression on his face: "Xu Qincha, Mr. Gao, there is a fight between the thief and the Bailian monster at the grain depot."

"Okay!" Xu Yan patted his thigh: "It's time to wait."

Gao Wen: "Master, give the order quickly!"

Xu Zhen suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and shouted: "Gao Wen, I order you to take soldiers and horses to the grain depot immediately, and arrest the thieves. If you encounter resistance, you will be shot!"

"Decree!" Gawain jumped on his horse and roared, "Listen everyone, follow me, hurry up!"

The team stood up and rushed forward following Gao Wen.For a moment, the sound of rumbling footsteps filled my ears.

(End of this chapter)