Guard Camp

Rows of barracks built from gray bricks and green tiles stood in neat, uniform lines across the plain. In front of them lay an earth-packed drill ground, where all kinds of training weapons and equipment—longspears, bows and arrows, and stone locks and wheels for building strength—had been orderly arranged.

The earthen-and-straw walls stood over ten feet high and were nearly six feet thick, enclosing the entire military camp and leaving only two gates, one to the east and one to the west.

Several towers had been built along the walls inside both gates. In the event of a sudden war, they could be used to observe the enemy and harass them with arrows.

Cheval de frises had also been placed on both sides of the camp gates to prevent surprise cavalry attacks.

Though this place was called a military camp, it actually resembled a fortified village more closely. If war suddenly broke out, it could hold its ground here.

If the enemy wanted to take this place, they would have to spend time transporting siege equipment—or attack with several times the troops.

If they bypassed it, the soldiers inside the camp could seize the chance to harass the enemy's provisions and supply lines.

This place was not far from the official road. The enemy could not transport grain without passing around here.

Yet these arrangements were of little use in peacetime, especially in Xingyuan Prefecture, where warfare was nearly impossible.

Still, the soldiers stationed atop the towers, along with those responsible for patrols and guard duty, were enough to show how strict General Sun was in governing his army and how meticulous he was in handling affairs.

Even though warfare was absolutely impossible in Xingyuan Prefecture, he and his personal guards had never slackened.

He truly deserved to be called a veteran general who had fought on the border army's front lines for years.

"Fifth Brother, how's the food in our Guard Camp? Do we get meat? Can we eat our fill of fine grain?" Chen Mo asked Mo Hu, his face full of curiosity.

He had wanted to ask this long ago, but Mo Hu had ridden a horse while he had traveled by carriage, so he had never gotten the chance.

Now that he finally had the opportunity, he naturally had to seize it.

He was not especially concerned about anything else in the Guard Camp. Only one matter was important: how was the food?

He had to eat his fill and eat well if he wanted to build up his qi and blood more quickly.

"Ha, you can rest easy about that. In our Guard Camp, we eat white flour at every meal, and there's meat every day."

Hearing Chen Mo's question, Mo Hu could not help laughing as he answered.

He had once brought many people into the Guard Camp. Some had asked how much the personal guards were paid and whether their wages arrived on time.

Some had asked about General Sun's official rank, wanting to know whether following the old general would let them earn merit and win glory for their families.

Others had cared about how the Guard Camp trained and what they needed to study and be tested on.

Only Chen Mo had paid such earnest, plainhearted attention to the food and treatment.

Mo Hu actually had a very favorable impression of this question. An honest fellow who cared only about getting fed was a good thing. As long as he could eat his fill, everything else would be easy to handle.

"Fifth Brother is back." When Mo Hu arrived, many of the personal guards on duty at the camp gate smiled and greeted him. Clearly, he held a certain standing in the Guard Camp.

"Mm. I brought a newcomer." Mo Hu nodded in response and led Chen Mo into the camp.

"You're a newly enlisted personal guard. For the first three months, you don't need to worry about anything else. Just focus on training. After three months, I'll assign you to a squad and arrange your duties." Mo Hu introduced the situation to Chen Mo as they walked.

The Great Qian army was organized into groups of five, with a Squad Leader assigned to each group. Two groups made a section, with a Section Leader assigned to it. Three sections made a squad, with a Squad Leader assigned to it. Five squads made a company, with a Company Leader assigned to it.

All the official posts listed above were beneath the regular ranks. They had grades but no rank.

After that, three companies made a battalion, with a Colonel assigned to it.

Colonel Wang, whom Chen Mo had seen earlier, belonged to this level. He was one of the lowest-ranking ninth-grade military officers in the Great Qian army.

There were not many people in the Guard Camp at present, so no company leaders had been appointed. The troops were divided into squads instead, and the Squad Leaders directly received General Sun's commands and assignments.

Chen Mo listened extremely carefully. He would be staying in the Guard Camp for a long time, so naturally these matters were important.

Newly enlisted personal guards like him received one tael of silver each month. They had one day off every ten days, and on those rest days, in addition to their regular meals, they received two pounds of meat and one pound of wine.

On ordinary days, they could eat their fill of fine grain. There were three meals a day, vegetables at every meal, and meat at noon each day.

This treatment could practically be called extravagant.

General Sun could provide such generous treatment for his personal guards because his authority and position were high enough.

He was the Principal Fifth Rank Garrison General of Xingyuan Prefecture, in charge of all military affairs within the prefecture.

This was the highest position a military officer who could directly command troops could attain.

Although he could rise further, he would no longer be able to directly control military power in his daily affairs.

The Great Qian system was divided into counties, prefectures, and provinces. The imperial court would not let anyone control the military power of an entire province; a prefecture was the limit.

The garrison generals of each prefecture normally answered only to the imperial court and were not subject to anyone else's control.

General Sun commanded an entire prefecture's military forces. No one knew how many empty pay allotments he pocketed each year, but using them to support his personal guards was more than sufficient.

General Sun was not in the camp yet, however. If Chen Mo wanted to see him, he would have to wait at least another month.

Of course, not seeing General Sun did not affect the other aspects of his life in the recruit camp. Newly enlisted personal guards like him only needed to train slowly at first.

There would be plenty of time in the army later. Sooner or later, he would meet General Sun.

Listening to Mo Hu's introduction of the camp's circumstances along the way, Chen Mo soon arrived before a row of barracks.

"There aren't many people in our camp right now, so there are plenty of empty places. Pick one yourself. There aren't any beds or anything, though. I'll go collect them with you later."

Mo Hu pointed at the empty gray-brick barracks before them.

Originally, the Guard Camp, including Mo Hu, had contained more than four hundred people. But after a battle at the border several months earlier, only a little over a hundred remained.

That was why General Sun had requested to return to Xingyuan Prefecture to train troops. Since the losses had been too great to replenish with members of the same clans and fellow villagers for the time being, the recruitment range had been expanded.

"I'll take this room." Chen Mo looked over the building before him, quite satisfied.

The entire room had been built from bluestone. Even the floor had been laid with tightly fitted slabs of stone. It was far better than the barracks he had lived in before.

It was also quite spacious, over ten feet long and over ten feet wide. Two or three people could live there without a problem.

More importantly, aside from a door, the room even had a window.

It was countless times better than the barracks he had lived in before.

With Mo Hu's help, Chen Mo went to the quartermaster and collected a wooden bed, a wooden table, two long benches, bedding, and two sets of personal guard uniforms.

After giving the room a rough cleaning and putting everything in order, evening had already arrived.

"Come on, Fifth Brother will take you to eat. I'll let you see what the food in our camp is like!" As mealtime approached, Mo Hu took the initiative to call for Chen Mo.

The barracks where he lived were not far from Chen Mo's. Only three barracks stood between them.

"Hey!" Chen Mo set down the broom woven from straw and hurried after him.

Besides Mo Hu, another man stood outside the barracks. He was extremely tall, at least six and a half feet, with a taut expression and not a word to say.

"This is my brother, my actual older brother, Mo Dao. Just call him Fourth Brother." Mo Hu introduced him.

"Fourth Brother." Chen Mo called out with a smile.

"Mm." Mo Dao gave a slight nod and still said nothing more.

"My brother's just like this. Cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and he doesn't like to talk much. You'll understand after spending more time with him." Mo Hu was quite familiar with him as he slung an arm around Chen Mo's shoulder.

There were not many people eating in the mess hall. Like Mo Hu, many of the personal guards had gone all over the place on General Sun's behalf to select new recruits, and even now a considerable number had not returned.

If Mo Hu had not needed to bring Chen Mo back first, he might not have been able to return to camp yet.

Several people familiar with Mo Hu greeted him, while even more regarded Chen Mo with curious eyes.

Ignoring those curious gazes, Chen Mo took a large sea bowl from the side and filled it with a great bowl of cabbage stewed with tofu. Then he picked up eight white-flour steamed buns and began eating as though no one else were there.

It had to be said that the food in the Guard Camp was truly countless times better than what he had eaten while tending horses. There was no limit, and they guaranteed that everyone could eat their fill.

After dinner, he returned to his room to rest. The next day, Chen Mo began training under Mo Hu's guidance alongside the other newly enlisted personal guards.

There were not many people who could lift a three-hundred-pound stone. But across the entire Xingyuan Prefecture garrison, there were still eleven or twelve in total.

There were also several dozen members of General Sun's clan and fellow villagers—fifty or sixty of them—who had likewise been recruited into the Guard Camp.

Chen Mo trained together with them, and in the blink of an eye, two months passed.