Having enjoyed the blessings of 007 work schedules as a lowly nobody in his previous life, Sheng Huai'an had now leaped into the position of Captain. How could he not be delighted?
One had to know that in the Great Wei Dynasty, a Captain was a ninth-rank military official. This meant that he would no longer be a commoner.
Moreover, in the army, he could command one hundred men.
Put in terms of the factories and companies from his previous life, he could be considered a minor leader.
Sheng Huai'an was appointed Captain of the Tenth Unit. The previous Captain of the Tenth Unit had died defending the city yesterday, and more than half of the unit's soldiers had also fallen.
It was now at full strength because some new recruits and able-bodied men had been assigned to it.
"Kid, lead these hundred men well. I'm entrusting them to you." The military officer said, patting Sheng Huai'an on the shoulder.
"Yes, I'll lead them well." Sheng Huai'an nodded.
It was his first time getting a taste of being the leader, and he felt a little excited inside.
Looking at Sheng Huai'an, Martial Commandant had no idea what General Who Pacifies the North had seen in him to directly issue an appointment order for him.
In the army, even having Military Merit did not necessarily mean one would be promoted.
This was especially true for their frontier army, where the sky was high and the emperor far away. Much of the time, promotions and appointments for subordinates were decided by themselves.
"Our battalion has no fighting today. Rest well, everyone. More battles await us." After saying that, Martial Commandant left.
Sheng Huai'an sized up the soldiers in his unit, while the soldiers of the Tenth Unit also sized up their new commanding officer.
"Brothers, perhaps we didn't know each other before, but now I am your Captain. My name is Sheng Huai'an.
Remember me well. When we charge in the future, I will definitely be ahead of you all. If I fall, I will fall ahead of you too." Sheng Huai'an spoke loudly.
Those words gave the soldiers of the Tenth Unit a measure of acceptance toward him.
The Captains from the same battalion were also observing Sheng Huai'an. Someone had suddenly appeared and become the Captain of the Tenth Unit, so naturally they were curious.
Quite a few people in the battalion knew Sheng Huai'an as well. They had all fought together, and during battle they naturally helped one another out, so they had become familiar faces.
"It's him, that Kidney-Stabbing Divine Hand," someone muttered softly.
Deng Wu looked at Sheng Huai'an, and his face turned green. How had that Kidney-Stabbing Divine Hand become their Captain?
"It's over, it's over. Why is it him?!" Deng Wu muttered under his breath.
"What is it? You know him?" Yuan Yong asked.
"How could I not know him? The Kidney-Stabbing Divine Hand—the one I told you about." Deng Wu said.
"That's him? He doesn't look like it!" Yuan Yong stared at Sheng Huai'an in disbelief.
He looked seventeen or eighteen, with a refined face, more like a scholar.
"Doesn't look like it? That's because you haven't seen how ferocious he is on the battlefield. When he stabs enemies in the waist, he doesn't even blink." Deng Wu said, swallowing hard.
"What are you two muttering about?" Sheng Huai'an spotted people whispering in the crowd. One of them even looked somewhat familiar.
"N-Nothing, Captain!" Deng Wu quickly replied.
"Good, then."
Sheng Huai'an nodded. He had thought they objected to him being Captain. Since they did not, all was well.
"All right, dismissed. Rest well and be ready to fight at any time."
Sheng Huai'an dismissed the soldiers of his unit.
New armor, military sabers, battle robes, and waist badges were issued to him. With a single transformation, he had become a minor officer.
After changing into the new armor, draping himself in a battle robe, and hanging a saber at his waist, his bearing instantly rose by a great deal.
His entire person became imposing and majestic!
He went to find Old Soldier and the others.
"Uncle, I came to see you all," Sheng Huai'an said.
"You're not here to show off, are you?" Zhang Da Niu said with a smile when he saw Sheng Huai'an.
"How could that be? You misunderstand me, Brother Zhang. Am I that kind of person?" Sheng Huai'an said.
"You are exactly that kind of person," Wang Wu said sourly.
He had enough Military Merit, and his cultivation was sufficient too, yet he still had not received a promotion to Captain.
He could not even get promoted to Sergeant and was still an ordinary foot soldier.
Who knew what kind of dog-shit luck Sheng Huai'an had stepped in? It was as if he had cheats enabled. He had only enlisted three or four days ago, yet he had already been promoted to Captain.
If he had not known that Sheng Huai'an had been seized from the city as an able-bodied man a few days ago, he would have thought he was some young master from an aristocratic family sent down to gain experience.
That pace of promotion was simply terrifying—nearly the equivalent of rising one rank per day.
"Why do I smell something sour? Brother Zhang, do you smell it?" Sheng Huai'an said with a grin.
"Enough fooling around. Since the higher-ups promoted you to Captain, lead your soldiers properly. It wasn't easy to rise up. Also, go back and get some proper sleep now," Old Soldier said.
"It's not even noon yet. Why should I go back to sleep?" Sheng Huai'an was completely baffled.
"Just listen to Old Soldier. Go back and get a good sleep now." Li Bu Si said from the side, a meaningful look in his eyes.
Old Soldier's squad had also been brought back up to full strength. Sheng Huai'an had been transferred to the Tenth Unit as Captain, while Li Bu San had suffered severe injuries and was receiving treatment and recuperating.
Six unfamiliar faces had newly joined them.
"Get lost already. Stop strutting around in front of me. I get annoyed just looking at you now," Wang Wu said irritably.
"You're just jealous, envious, and hateful." Sheng Huai'an deliberately flashed his Captain's waist badge.
"Careful, or I'll hammer you to death!" Wang Wu pretended to be furious.
Sheng Huai'an went back. Although Old Soldier had not explained why he should rest, Sheng Huai'an still did as he was told.
He had now been assigned a barracks room of his own. Though it was not large, he no longer had to squeeze onto a communal sleeping platform with others, and it was right beside the Tenth Unit's barracks.
Outside the city, the Xiongnu army continued launching attacks without pause, while fighting on the city walls raged on.
Today, the Xiongnu army had once again sent over ten thousand men to attack the city, intensifying their assault.
What did over ten thousand people mean? It only meant that everywhere one looked was a dense sea of people.
Ten thousand men formed a forest—this was no empty saying.
Even by dusk, the Xiongnu army had still failed to take the city walls.
Having slept from noon until evening, Sheng Huai'an woke and stretched lazily, only to find that the Xiongnu siege had just ended.
Another day had passed. As the setting sun shone on his face, Sheng Huai'an could already feel a trace of chill from the northern frontier.
In his previous life, he had longed for the dream of clashing spears and iron steeds. Now that he had spent two or three days fighting on the battlefield, Sheng Huai'an felt that it was all a little unreal.
He looked at his pale, slender hands. Who would have thought that these hands had already slain one or two hundred men?
"Is this Captain Sheng Huai'an?"
A messenger ran over, his voice pulling Sheng Huai'an back from his daze.
"I am. What is it? Military business?" Sheng Huai'an nodded.
"The Colonel has ordered you to go over." The messenger hurried away after speaking.
Before Sheng Huai'an could ask what was going on.
Having received the military order, Sheng Huai'an headed for Martial Commandant's tent.
When he entered the tent, more than a dozen Captains were already there.
Martial Commandant sat in the seat of honor. The two men seated first to his left and right were the battalion's two Battalion Commanders, each a commander of a thousand men.
One commander of a thousand led one thousand men, and each battalion had two commanders of a thousand.
Sheng Huai'an looked around, casually found a seat near the entrance, and sat down. Seeing everyone silent, he had no idea what was happening.
Before long, all twenty Captains of the Seventh Battalion of Anning Pass's defending army had arrived.
Only then did Martial Commandant slowly speak. "Some of you have probably already guessed why you were summoned here."
"General Who Pacifies the North has issued a mission to raid the enemy camp. That mission has fallen upon our battalion."
Quite a few Captains' faces changed when they heard the order to raid the camp.
Only then did Sheng Huai'an understand. No wonder some Captains had looked so grim when they entered earlier.
A camp raid, as the name implied, meant attacking the enemy camp at night.
Relatively speaking, it was a mission with nine chances of death and only one of life.
One had to know that there were still no fewer than seventy thousand Xiongnu troops outside the pass.
Their battalion had two thousand men. If they charged into the enemy camp, there was no need to think to know what the outcome would be.
At the same time, he now understood why Old Soldier had told him to go back and rest during the day.
So Old Soldier had already guessed it then.
"Now that you have been summoned, it is to receive your mission orders. After returning, gather the men of your respective units. Leave through the south gate, circle around behind the Xiongnu camp, and burn, kill, and throw the Xiongnu camp into chaos as much as possible. Delay their daytime siege and buy time for the defense of the city."
"Do you understand?" the military officer asked loudly after speaking, looking at the Captains.
"Understood!" the Captains answered.
"Good. Go gather the troops now. Of course, I will be going with you as well," the military officer said.
After receiving their orders, Sheng Huai'an and the others returned to their barracks and assembled their soldiers.
"Assemble! There are military orders!" Sheng Huai'an shouted loudly at the soldiers.
Upon hearing Sheng Huai'an say there were military orders, the soldiers of the Tenth Unit quickly assembled.
Once a military order was issued, anyone who delayed it would be beheaded!
"Captain, what are the military orders?" Once the soldiers had assembled and lined up, one Sergeant in the ranks asked.
There were two Sergeants in a unit, each overseeing five squads, or fifty men.
A company was a medium unit, a squad was a small unit, and a hundred-man unit was a large unit.
"Do not ask what you should not ask. It is not yet time to convey the military orders. Just follow me," Sheng Huai'an said blandly, glancing at the Sergeant.
Since Sheng Huai'an would not say, they could not continue asking.
Sheng Huai'an was the Captain of this unit, their superior officer.
Leading his troops, he swiftly arrived before Martial Commandant's tent under the cover of night.
The men from the other hundred-man units also gathered one after another.
Martial Commandant and the two Battalion Commanders stood together. Once the soldiers had all arrived, Martial Commandant merely said one thing.
"Move out!!"
With Martial Commandant personally leading them, the army of two thousand quietly departed through the south gate under cover of night.
By then, quite a few Old Soldiers had roughly guessed why the troops were being assembled in the dead of night.
Only the new recruits and newly assigned soldiers still did not know what they were going to do.
After leaving the south gate, they took narrow paths and crossed mountains and ridges. It took them an hour and a half to cross the mountain range and leave the pass.
They walked another half hour before circling around behind the Xiongnu army's camp.
"Soldier Commandant, lead five hundred men in an attack from the left. Captain Li, lead five hundred men in an attack from the right. I will lead one thousand men in an attack from behind the Xiongnu army."
"Yes!" the two Battalion Commanders answered.
"It is now the Hour of the Rat. At the Hour of the Tiger, launch the attack on time and raid the enemy camp. Have you all understood?" the military officer said.
"Understood!" the two Battalion Commanders and the Captains answered in low voices.
"All right, move out!"
Captain Li led five hundred men from five hundred-man units toward the right side of the Xiongnu army, and Sheng Huai'an's unit was among them.
When they reached the right side of the Xiongnu camp, they could see the firelight within the camp from afar.
After approaching within five hundred meters, the troops halted. Under the firelight, they could see Xiongnu soldiers patrolling at night.
Moonlight was shrouded by clouds, and visibility at night was not far at this moment.
"Battalion Commander, are we launching the sneak attack from here later?" Sheng Huai'an came to Captain Li's side and asked quietly.
Seeing that it was Sheng Huai'an, Captain Li knew that he was one of the Captains valued by the higher-ups and promoted by them.
He then said, "Do you have an opinion?"
"At this distance, once we charge, the disturbance will be too great and will easily alert the Xiongnu army. I was thinking that it would be better to sneak within a hundred meters. When we charge, it will be much easier, and we will be less likely to alert the Xiongnu army," Sheng Huai'an said.
"You make it sound easy, kid. Is getting within a hundred meters of the enemy camp that simple? Do not ruin the camp-raiding plan when the time comes. Be careful, or both our heads will be forfeit," Captain Li said.
"Battalion Commander, I have a way to sneak within a hundred meters of the enemy without being discovered. I guarantee it," Sheng Huai'an said.
At the sight of the enemy, all he could think about now was how to kill more of them so he could obtain Slaughter Value and raise his cultivation.
"You?"
Captain Li looked at Sheng Huai'an, somewhat unwilling to believe him.
"I dare make a military pledge. If I cannot complete the mission, I will present my head to you," Sheng Huai'an said with absolute conviction.
In a night like this, if they did not even dare approach within a hundred meters of the enemy, what kind of night raid on an enemy camp were they even attempting?
Before you continue