ATPnovel Chapter 110 Cavalry
Chapter 110 Cavalry
Zhou Lun and the others left before dark.
Before leaving, he held Li Zicheng's hand and said a lot of things, appearing very friendly.
After they left, Gao Yingxiang appeared normal, but as he watched Zhou Lun's departing figure, there was an indescribable meaning in his eyes.
As for Li Zicheng, he was still immersed in joy. Upon his arrival, thanks to Gao Yingxiang, he had suddenly gone from a deserter to one of the leaders of the rebel army and even gained an elite force, which made him extremely happy, as he was already full of expectations.
Zhou Lun kept his word and the next day he allocated 500 men from his own army to Li Zicheng, and personally delivered them to him.
Upon arriving at the military camp assigned to Li Zicheng by Gao Yingxiang, he handed over the troops. Afterwards, he politely declined Li Zicheng's offer to stay for a meal, and left with Gao Yigong under some pretext.
"Brother-in-law, are we just going to give him the soldier for nothing?" On the way back, Gao Yigong felt a little resentful and couldn't help but ask.
"We're all family, why be so formal? Is it any different whether these soldiers are in my hands or in Brother Zicheng's? Besides, he's your cousin," Zhou Lun said with a smile.
"Cousin? What kind of cousin takes advantage of his own brother as soon as he arrives?" Gao Yigong scoffed, "A deserter, without any merit, becomes a leader right away and even gets the elite troops that you, brother-in-law, painstakingly trained. This is too much! The King of Chuang is biased. Why is he so fond of him? He wasn't like this when my sister and I first arrived!"
"Silly boy, how can this be the same?" Zhou Lun laughed and scolded, "How old are you? How old is Brother Zicheng? Besides, he worked as a courier and served in the border army. After the mutiny, he traveled thousands of miles to join King Chuang. As his uncle, how could he just stand by and do nothing? It's only right to help out family members, isn't it?"
"Brother-in-law, what you're saying is just not true!" Gao Yigong said indignantly.
In his view, he had started as a lowly soldier in the rebel army and served as Zhou Lun's personal guard for so long. He hadn't even led an army on his own yet, so why should Li Zicheng become the leader as soon as he arrived?
Moreover, these elite soldiers were transferred from Zhou Lun's command. He knew all too well how these soldiers were trained, how much effort, energy, and resources Zhou Lun had invested.
Now, the prize was given directly to Li Zicheng, who hadn't achieved anything, without any compensation whatsoever. He felt very resentful. In his view, Gao Yingxiang was far too biased in this matter. They were all relatives; why should Li Zicheng be favored while their interests were harmed?
It's important to know that Gao Guiying and her brother are Gao Yingxiang's niece and nephew. As the saying goes, "Two people with the same surname can't be written with the same hand." Even her brother-in-law, Zhou Lun, is Gao Yingxiang's nephew-in-law!
"You," Zhou Lun patted Gao Yigong on the shoulder, speaking earnestly, "It's fine for you to grumble a few words about this to me, but never say such things in front of outsiders. If word gets out, it won't be a good thing. Yigong, you must remember what your brother-in-law says!"
Gao Yigong was taken aback, looked at Zhou Lun with a complicated expression, thought for a moment, sighed, and nodded silently.
Although young, he was far from foolish; on the contrary, he was quite clever. He had somewhat noticed Gao Yingxiang's attitude towards Zhou Lun these past few days. Coupled with Gao Yingxiang's arrangements after meeting Li Zicheng yesterday, he now understood the situation. Even so, he still felt he had let his brother-in-law down too much.
"By the way, starting tomorrow, you shouldn't follow me anymore," Zhou Lun suddenly said.
Gao Yigong was stunned: "Brother-in-law, you...you're trying to kick me out?"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Zhou Lun laughed and scolded, "You're my brother-in-law, and your sister is carrying your nephew, a child of the Zhou family. In this world, besides your parents, who is closer to you than us? As long as you don't want to leave, you can stay with your brother-in-law as long as you want."
"And what about you, brother-in-law?" Gao Yigong felt a slight sense of relief, but asked in confusion.
"Are you aware that the rebel leader plans to form a cavalry?" Zhou Lun asked.
Gao Yigong nodded.
He knew about this. The rebel army consisted mainly of infantry. Although they had warhorses, they were few in number. Each leader and his personal guards owned a few horses, and there were no formal cavalry units.
These warhorses were captured in previous battles and after the capture of the county town. Apart from a few that were barely acceptable, most of them were nags.
After capturing Hequ and other places, Gao Yingxiang gained control of a portion of the Great Wall area, establishing communication channels with the outside world, especially with the Mongols. Furthermore, with some Shanxi merchants actively seeking his services, Gao Yingxiang, while procuring supplies, also considered acquiring warhorses from the Mongols.
Just a month ago, he spent a large sum of money to import a batch of warhorses from Mongolia to form a cavalry unit. As a member of the rebel army and Gao Yingxiang's nephew, Gao Yigong had naturally heard about this.
"When the rebel leader was buying warhorses, I also asked someone to procure some for me. News came this morning that these horses will be arriving soon..."
"I can't believe this happened?" Gao Yigong was overjoyed.
Zhou Lun nodded: "However, I am not as wealthy as the rebel king. Moreover, although this matter has been reported to the rebel king, it cannot be done on a large scale, and the number of warhorses purchased is not large, only a few dozen."
At this point, he said seriously, "With these warhorses arriving, forming a cavalry is inevitable; otherwise, buying horses would be meaningless. Yigong, you've been with me for quite some time now, and I intend to appoint you as the commander of this cavalry unit. Are you willing?"
"Yes! Of course I'm willing!" As soon as Zhou Lun finished speaking, Gao Yigong nodded eagerly, his expression filled with extreme excitement.
Cavalry! They are the kings of the army.
Once the rebel army has cavalry, both its combat effectiveness and mobility will undergo a dramatic transformation.
In particular, Zhou Lun's old camp was meticulously trained by him. If he were to add another cavalry force that could move swiftly like the wind, it would be even more formidable.
Now that Zhou Lun has entrusted this cavalry force to him, how could Gao Yigong not be excited? Once he becomes the commander of this cavalry, even if it only has a few dozen riders, his status in the old camp and even the rebel army will be completely different.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but grin foolishly. Seeing his expression, Zhou Lun didn't say anything, but patted him hard on the shoulder and gave him a "work hard" look.
In fact, Zhou Lun had already planned to put Gao Yigong in command of this cavalry force.
Now, the only people he can truly trust in the rebel army are three: Gao Guiying, the siblings Gao Yigong, and Zhao Sheng.
Gao Guiying goes without saying; she is his wife and pregnant with his child, though she is ultimately a woman. Gao Yigong, on the other hand, is Gao Guiying's younger brother, who has followed him ever since joining the rebel army, and he knows his character well.
Moreover, this brother-in-law is a promising talent, and he has been carefully nurturing and patiently teaching him.
As for Zhao Sheng, although they were sworn brothers, they held the same rank in the rebel army. Zhao Sheng was famous as "Lighting the Lamp" and even led his own army. Despite their good relationship, they were equals.
Moreover, ever since Li Wanqing's incident, Gao Yingxiang has clearly become wary of Zhou Lun. Zhao Sheng's troops are not in Hequ at all, but have been sent to Baode in the south. He hasn't seen Zhao Sheng for more than a month.
Zhou Lun originally planned to make arrangements after the warhorses arrived, but Li Zicheng's sudden arrival and Gao Yingxiang's probing yesterday made him feel the crisis.
He didn't sleep well last night after returning home. After much thought, he decided to let Gao Yigong take over the command of the cavalry ahead of schedule and finalize the matter. What he was afraid of was not anything else, but that once the warhorses arrived, Gao Yingxiang might find some excuse to take them for himself.
If that's the case, wouldn't he have wasted his time? In that case, if Gao Yigong were to take over directly, as Gao Yingxiang's nephew, Gao Yingxiang couldn't possibly shamelessly take the cavalry away from Gao Yigong, could he? Gao Yigong would definitely not agree.
This was a last resort. As long as Gao Yigong took over, even if this cavalry unit nominally became independent, Zhou Lun would at least have a strong ally and backup within the rebel army. Don't underestimate a mere few dozen riders; once well-trained, cavalry can be far more powerful than hundreds of elite soldiers, and as a surprise force, they would play a significant role on the battlefield.
Having settled the matter, Zhou Lun took the excited Gao Yigong home.
Upon arriving home, Gao Yigong couldn't sit still. After consulting with Zhou Lun, he rushed off. Knowing that the warhorses were about to arrive and that he would soon become the commander of the cavalry, his mind was filled with thoughts of selecting suitable cavalrymen and arranging the warhorses. He was in a hurry to get to the military camp to make these arrangements, so he had no interest in staying at home.
"This kid is almost of marriageable age, why is he still so impetuous?" Gao Guiying frowned and said as she saw Gao Yigong running away in a hurry as she came out of the house.
"Hehe, aren't all young people like this?" Zhou Lun said with a smile, then whispered his arrangements to her. Gao Guiying then understood why Gao Yigong was in such a hurry to leave.
"Honey, if you feel stifled here, how about I ask Uncle to plead for us to leave?" Gao Guiying said suddenly after thinking for a moment.
"Leave? Easier said than done..." Zhou Lun smiled bitterly and slowly shook his head.
He had considered leaving, but it wasn't so easy to leave at this point.
The rebel army is currently powerful, but the problem is that its own strength is weak.
His troops were the smallest among all the rebel forces, with a total strength of only a little over two thousand, including the elite old battalion.
Now, another 500 men have been transferred to Li Zicheng, leaving him with less than 2,000. With this small force, he has no chance of establishing himself independently.
It's important to know that Gao Yingxiang's forces totaled over 40,000, and that was after Li Wanqing's defection. If Li Wanqing hadn't surrendered to the imperial court, they would have numbered nearly 60,000.
Moreover, because of Li Wanqing's matter, Gao Yingxiang's attitude towards him has changed. Once he proposes to leave, who can guarantee what Gao Yingxiang will do? Gao Guiying plans to plead for him as her niece? Zhou Lun doesn't think this is a good idea at all, and even feels that saying it might be worse than not saying it at all.