Chapter 533

“What?” Spendthrift Qi could not believe his ears.

“Yes.” Zhang Liao nodded. “The two of you are promoted. Spendthrift Qi, you will become a commander of 1000-men. Yan Xiao Liu, you will become a commander of 100-men. Yan Xiao Liu, you are to support Spendthrift Qi to ensure he does not make mistakes. Otherwise, the two of you will be held responsible!”

Xiao Liu was also shocked. Even though a 100-men commander was a small post, he would still be called a general. Besides that, the Xiliang Cavalry were one of Yangzhou’s elite so it was also quite a high post.

“Quickly thank General Zhang Liao!” Zhang Hu quickly reminded the two as he kicked them.

“Yes! Yes!” Spendthrift Qi and Yan Xiao Liu replied and were about to kneel. Yan Xiao Liu was able to do it as he have not yet worn his armor. However, Spendthrift Qi who had already worn his bulky armor could not do it properly.

“Alright, get up.” Zhang Liao said with a smile. “Once you are done changing your equipment, go to the camp and register your names.” One of the perks of being a general instead of a common soldier was that they could register their names as an official.

“Yes! Yes!” The two nodded. They still felt like they were dreaming even after Zhang Liao had left.

“Haha! I am going to become a general!” Spendthrift Qi bragged to his companions excitedly. His companions were vexed but they still congratulated him. They had to be respectful as Spendthrift Qi was now higher ranked than them although deep down, they also cursed his good luck.

Spendthrift Qi naturally knew that people were speaking ill of him but he did not mind. As a prideful person, he believed he should not be offended by people of low moral stature.

Xiao Liu simply followed Spendthrift Qi around as he needed to support Spendthrift Qi as requested by Zhang Liao. Although he was not a 1000-men commander like Spendthrift Qi, he was still a 100-men commander. On top of that, he was the 100-men commander that directly assisted the 1000-men commander, as though he was Spendthrift Qi’s deputy general. As 1000-men commanders do not have deputy generals, this placed Xiao Liu at a higher position compared to the others.

Xiao Liu was also very happy that he was promoted. His increased salary would allow him to take his wife.

Meanwhile, there were several people in despair. When Zhang Liao ordered them to take off their equipment, they disobeyed thinking that Zhang Liao wanted to abandon them. They were dumbstruck when they found out they were simply changing equipment but it was too late.

“General! We…!” About twenty soldiers, each with different ranks, stammered.

Zhang Liao saw them and stopped. Before he could open his mouth, Zhang Hu ordered for these men to be arrested.

“General! Spare us! We did not do it intentionally!” The disobedient soldiers panicked and knelt. They could be punished by death for disobeying orders.

The other Xiliang Cavalry soldiers that watched this also hoped that these soldiers were spared as they all fought together in battle.

“What are you all waiting for? Arrest them!” Ge Jun also spoke. With this, the Xiliang Cavalry soldiers moved to arrest the others apologetically.

“Forget it.” Zhang Liao said. It was surprising as he was usually strict with martial laws. As the soldiers could not process this fact, they ended up detaining the disobedient soldiers anyway.

“Let them go.” Zhang Liao repeated as he waved his hand. This time, the Xiliang Cavalry listened.

“General! Next time, we will definitely listen to the General’s orders!” The disobedient soldiers knelt as they begged for forgiveness.

“Take off your armor and put down your weapon.” Zhang Liao said to the soldiers.

“Yes!” The soldiers said happily. Now that they were forgiven, they quickly took off their equipment and waited to exchange their equipment. However, no one brought them their new equipment even after they had waited for a while.

“General?” One soldier asked in his underwear as he shivered from the cold.

“Where are our weapons and armor?” The 1000-men commander asked an industrial zone officer At this point, his attitude had already turned timid.

“It must be in that box over there!” The officer pointed at an unopened chest.

“Thank you! We won’t disturb you and take it by ourselves.” The 1000-men commander replied and then approached the chest. However, he was suddenly stopped by another person.

“You all do not deserve those weapon and armor.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Our General already spared us! That means those weapon and armor are ours!” The 1000-men commander said angrily.

“Haha! The General did not give us the order to let you take the equipment!”

“Then we will go by ourselves!”

“You can try!” Both sides stared each other down. One side had twenty half naked men while the other had four fully equipped soldiers.

In the end, the 1000-men commander stepped down unwillingly.

At this moment, one messenger appeared carrying a command plate.

“General Zhang Liao has an order. The soldiers who have taken off their equipment are to go to the new 1000-men commander Qi Zhu and hand over their things. They will then receive their pay in provisions!” The messenger said to the twenty disobedient soldiers. Qi Zhu was Spendthrift Qi’s real name. However, the man himself wanted to forget about it as it was a terrible name.

“Payment!” The soldiers bit their lips. This meant that they would take their severance pay. There were only two types of people that would take this pay. The first were the disabled people discharged from service while the others were those who died in service.

“We must see the General!” The disobedient soldiers protested noisily. They had been working as soldiers for so long that they did not have any other skill. They also did not have any land. If they were discharged, they would simply die.

“Why is it so noisy?” Zhang Hu shouted as he came out from the camp. As he was the good cop to Ge Jun’s bad cop in the army, the soldiers immediately went to him.

“General! Is it possible to plead to General Zhang Liao for leniency? We…!” The 1000-men commander asked bitterly.

“Plead for leniency? What nonsense are you talking about? You yourself know the standards of the army. Last time we can act without care or worries as we did not know when we would die. However, it is different in Yangzhou! Here, we have to abide by military law! We have to fight for the common people of Yangzhou! If we are injured, the people will support us! If we die, they will burn incense stick for us! As soldiers, we must listen to orders even if it leads to our deaths!” Zhang Hu said, though the words actually came from Zhang Liao.

The Xiliang Cavalry killed Zhang Liao’s brother but he was now indifferent to them. Soldiers will eventually die in battle. Zhang Liao realized that his enemies were not the XIliang Cavalry but Liu Bei. Now, it was possible for Zhang Liao to even smile at his Xiliang Cavalry. It was a huge change from when he first started.

However, the things that remains fixed was Zhang Liao’s adherence to military law. Soldiers must listen to orders. Those who don’t listen to orders are not soldiers. What the 1000-men commander did was not wrong in principle as it was right to take precautions against those that might betray you once you stop being useful. However, as a soldier, as part of the Xiliang Cavalry, it was wrong.

Obeying their superior no matter what. That was why the Wolf Cavalry was the best in the world. They would charge to their deaths if that was their command.

Zhang Liao did not want to kill these soldiers despite them disobeying orders because his heart had softened after fighting alongside them.

When the disobedient soldiers heard this, they could no longer defend themselves. They realized that if this were to happen in war, they would be deserters.

“Sigh. Quickly leave before the General changes his mind.” Zhang Hu advised.

“General! All of this is my fault alone! Please plead General Zhang Liao for leniency to expel only me while sparing the rest!” The 1000-men commander, Kong Guo Wen knelt down, wanting to take responsibility for everyone.

“General! What are you saying? We are also responsible for the mistake!”

“That’s right! We cannot blame you!” The others objected.

“Leave!” Zhang Hu waved his hand as he repeated himself.

“General! Please! I, Kong Guo Wen, can leave but the others can’t! They only know how to fight! If they leave the army, they will die!” Guo Wen knelt down and slammed his head against the ground. As they only knew how to fight, leaving the army would turn them to brigands. Huang Zhong would be the only one happy with this outcome as he would have training fodder for his own men. In the end, these soldiers would end up dying.

“You should have known this would happen.” Zhang Hu replied.

“General! Didn’t General Zhang Liao say that soldiers cannot disobey orders? I have disobeyed orders but my men were only following my orders! If they had taken off their equipment, they would have disobeyed my orders so they are innocent!”

“This…!” Zhang Hu’s eyes grew wide as Guo Wen’s words made sense. He no longer knew what to do. He would have to consult Zhang Liao.

At this moment, Ge Jun appeared and said, “General Zhang Liao have heard what you said. He said that if you, Guo Wen, is willing to pay with your life, the others will be spared! Are you willing?”

“General! No!”

“I am willing!” Guo Wen nodded with a smile. It was as though the one that would get executed was not him.

“No! If you die, we will accompany you!” The others objected. Zhang Liao nodded with admiration from the loyalty this Guo Wen had obtained from his subordinates. Guo Wen was definitely a talented individual worth sparing. However, he had to stick to military law.

“If you want to kill him, you will have to kill us as well!” One soldier shouted.

“Da Hong!” Guo Wen tried to stop his subordinate.

“Men! Arrest all of them!” Ge Jun gave the order and the disobedient soldiers were all quickly detained.

“General Ge! Da Hong is a coarse person, please forgive them!” Guo Wen panicked as the situation had become worse. Initially it was only him that would die but now the others would get implicated as well.

“General! Allow your brothers to accompany you!” Da Hong said recklessly.

“Sigh.” Guo Wen knew that words were now useless. He can only accept fate together with his comrades. “Brothers. I will repay you in the next life!”

“You can discuss all that in your next life!” Ge Jun interrupted the moment. “Men! Throw these people out of camp! Kill them if they try to come back!”

“Understood!” The other soldiers replied and threw out the twenty ex-soldiers.

“They are not going to kill us?” Guo Wen was shocked.

“Guo Wen! Your luck is good as General Zhang Liao said that killing someone like you is a waste! However, you no longer need to come back to the Xiliang Cavalry! Also, take this!” Ge Jun said and threw a wooden plate towards Guo Wen.

“What is this?” Guo Wen looked at the wooden plate with a character written on it with confusion.

“Since you only know how to fight, you can continue serving in the army! Whether you can climb back up to your previous position or survive is your own business! From now on, you no longer have any relations with the Xiliang Cavalry!” Zhang Liao saw that Guo Wen was too talented to simply be killed off but at the same time, he could not allow them to remain with the Xiliang Cavalry. Zhang Liao also understood that these soldiers all grew up fighting. They can’t do anything else but fight so that was the only way these people could survive.

As Zhang Liao did not want them to work for the enemy, he could only have them transferred to the others in Yangzhou’s army. Since Zhang Liao could not touch other elites like the Urban Army and the Black Flag Army, he could only send them off to Huang Zhong.

“Thank you General Zhang Liao!” Guo Wen once again kowtowed.

“General! What are you doing?” Da Hong did not understand. Why would Guo Wen kowtow even after getting expelled from the XIliang Cavalry? They should be spitting towards the Xiliang Cavalry.

“Da Hong. From now on, do not address me as General!”

“What do we call you then?”

“Call be Brother Kong!” Guo Wen replied.

“Brother Kong?” Da Hong repeated.

Guo Wen smiled and said to the rest. “The rest of you as well!”

This small episode at the Xiliang Cavalry did not affect Yangzhou’s war capabilities negatively. With the progress in the industrial zone and the provisions obtained from both Liu Bei and Liu Biao, Yangzhou flourished. With adequate amount of resources, all they needed was an order from Liu Mang that was still in Jingzhou to expand their territory.

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