The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 515

“Everyone has their own things to do. I’ve done what I’m supposed to do, so the rest is up to Lin Zhixin.”

Zhou Chu took a water bag from the captain, poured it over his head, then shook his head to fling the water around, finally feeling refreshed.

Is it always this hot in Datong in the summer?

Zhou Chu looked at the commander in front of him and asked.

In August, Datong is even hotter than Beijing, and it's a dry heat; the air humidity in Datong is much drier than in Beijing.

"It'll be fine at night; it's only hot during the day."

The commander in front of him said somewhat embarrassedly.

Zhou Chu believed this. The temperature difference between day and night in Datong was large, and it could even get a bit cold at midnight.

"Assemble the army. I want to see how your training has progressed over the past six months."

As Zhou Chu spoke, he returned the water bag to the captain and said loudly.

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, the officers and soldiers quickly assembled their troops.

Soon, the entire army of 30,000 was assembled in front of Zhou Chu.

The shock that Hu Zongxian and others felt when they saw the well-organized army of 30,000 for the first time was unimaginable.

Even Mu Yunping was seeing such a scene for the first time. She had never seen such a large army before. At this moment, Mu Yunping wished she could transform into one of them and fight alongside them.

"Get moving, let me see the results of your training."

Zhou Chu stood at the highest point of the training ground and shouted loudly.

Upon hearing this, the soldiers spontaneously began to deploy their troops, and the movement between the formations was extremely smooth, far surpassing what it had been six months ago.

Zhou Chu was quite satisfied with the Datong garrison soldiers who looked like they had been reborn. At least these 30,000 men were more than enough to hold off the Mongols, but annihilating them would be difficult.

After all, the Mongols were all cavalry, and these 30,000 garrison soldiers couldn't even muster a thousand cavalrymen.

The Xuanwu Army numbered only about two thousand men. The Mongol cavalry that attacked this time was said to number ten thousand, but these ten thousand men were all cavalry, far superior to ordinary troops.

Although the individual combat strength of these Mongols was far inferior to that of the Xuanwu Army, military campaigns have never been judged by individual combat strength.

"Except for you, everyone else will be incorporated into the garrison army, training and living with them."

Zhou Chu pointed at Mu Yunping and said.

Mu Yunping remained Yun Jin's bodyguard, while the others were incorporated into the garrison army.

Only then did Hu Zongxian and the others realize that Zhou Chu's earlier statement about having their own destination was actually about the garrison troops.

From then on, Hu Zongxian and others officially joined the army.

Looking at the garrison soldiers before him, Hu Zongxian noticed that their morale was far inferior to that of the Xuanwu Army, but they were still far superior to the local soldiers he had seen before.

"Little guy, from now on I'll be your squad leader. Just tell me if you need anything. The adults said you don't need any special treatment. If you can't keep up with the training, don't blame me for being impolite."

As the squad leader spoke, he handed Hu Zongxian his weapons and armor.

The armor of the garrison soldiers was far inferior to that of the Xuanwu Army, a fact that Hu Zongxian could discern at a glance.

However, Hu Zongxian also knew that this was inevitable. The Xuanwu Army only had two thousand men, while the garrison troops in front of him numbered thirty thousand. If they were all supplied according to the Xuanwu Army's standards, it would be a huge expense.

Although the imperial court is now wealthy, it doesn't spend money like this.

The next morning, before dawn, Hu Zongxian vaguely heard the bugle call. Having been woken up by being doused earlier, Hu Zongxian immediately got out of bed, put on his armor, grabbed his weapon, and joined the other soldiers in assembling.

"The ten-mile training exercise is now beginning."

The centurion looked at his men, shouted a command, and then ran off first.

"Ten miles?"

As Hu Zongxian ran alongside the group, he reflected on the number.

Hu Zongxian was dumbfounded. He had thought that the training intensity of the garrison soldiers might be relatively high, but he never expected it to be this high.

When had he ever experienced such training? But since things had come to this, he could only grit his teeth and persevere.

Halfway through the run, Hu Zongxian felt like his body was a broken bellows, and even the air he breathed in felt hot. However, Hu Zongxian knew very well that he could not give up. This was only the first step in joining the army. If he was not even as good as an ordinary soldier, how could he fight on the battlefield?

After running ten miles, Hu Zongxian instinctively wanted to collapse to the ground.

"Don't lie down, walking slowly is fine too, you have to keep moving, otherwise you won't be able to train today."

Seeing Hu Zongxian's appearance, Hu Zongxian's squad leader couldn't help but remind him.

Upon hearing this, Hu Zongxian, relying on his willpower, kept standing and continued to walk slowly.

On the other side, Zhou Chu arrived at the city wall of Datong and looked at the scene outside the wall. He did not see the Mongol army, which was not unexpected for Zhou Chu.

Previously, Lin Lu conquered a large area of ​​grassland west and north of Datong. Now, the Mongols are advancing from even further away, attempting to conquer these grasslands.

According to the information given by the captains of the garrison, it would take the Mongols at least three more days to reach Datong.

However, Zhou Chu knew very well that in war, speed and surprise were paramount. If he were Anda, he would definitely increase the marching speed as quickly as possible in the next two days to catch him off guard.

"Arrange for 20,000 troops to guard the city walls. We must be on high alert tonight and tomorrow."

Zhou Chu looked at his subordinates, the centurions, and made arrangements.

"Yes, my lord."

They obeyed Zhou Chu's orders unconditionally.

"Have the Xuanwu Army's scouts been sent out?"

Zhou Chu looked at Yun Jin and asked.

"The information has already been disseminated, and we expect to hear back soon."

Yun Jin nodded.

Hearing this, Zhou Chu finally felt relieved. The key to war is knowing yourself and your enemy. Victory comes from surprise. To end a war quickly, you need to use unexpected tactics. Otherwise, once you enter the direct confrontation phase, it will be a continuous war of attrition.

Zhou Chu did not want to expend resources, because those resources were being used to weaken the Ming Dynasty's soldiers.