Chapter 106

Since killing Gao Hu, his subordinates lost their leader, and intimidated by Gong Xiaohua's ferocity, all of them calmed down and didn't dare make trouble again.

Due to the huge casualties in the Battle of No Drop Gorge, Gong Xiaohua reorganized the Eight Great Colonels into the Five Great Colonels, and the original Eight Great Armies shrunk to the current Five Great Armies.

Among the Five Great Colonels, two were from ordinary soldiers. One was originally a convict who was placed in the assault battalion. He was brave in battle and killed countless enemies, but because of his criminal status, he had no chance of promotion. The other one was a civilian who used to be a well-known local hunter. He had shot and killed big insects before. As a civilian, he was squeezed out and it was difficult for him to get promoted.

Now Gong Xiaohua appointed people by their abilities without regard for background, breaking the hereditary military officer system. She selected these two people to be colonels.

This move enabled soldiers of all levels in the army to see hope. All of them were eager to go into battle immediately to establish achievements.

The other three colonels, one was from under General He who previously identified Gao Hu. That was Cavalry Captain Chen. The other two were originally colonels under Gao Hu. Although they were also hereditary military officers, their abilities were fine. Also, they neither participated in nor opposed what Gao Hu did, which showed they knew to protect themselves.

Now that Gong Xiaohua was appointing people by their abilities, she decided to use them for now. If they caused trouble behind her back, she would also mercilessly replace them.

"Xiaohua, by promoting those two people, you've violated the rules of the military. Won't His Majesty blame you?" Li Zichen asked worriedly.

"Uncle, don't worry. Because of the huge casualties in the Battle of No Drop Gorge, we now have a major battle imminent, and it's difficult to fill the military officer positions immediately. Temporarily selecting people from the soldiers is understandable. Also, I've already submitted a report to the Capital City to state my case. I believe His Majesty will definitely support this matter against all opposition, otherwise who would be willing to send their family's sons to the battlefield to die at this time," Gong Xiaohua said.

Li Zichen thought about this, she was indeed right. After all, apart from His Majesty and His Highness, no one would think that Xiaohua could defeat Dawei.

There is a good saying, a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier.

Currently, an unprecedented training craze has swept through the Five Great Armies. Everyone is using all their strength, hoping that they can establish achievements in the next battle to glorify their ancestors.

Before becoming a special forces soldier in her previous life, Gong Xiaohua was also an outstanding military officer in the troops. She now incorporated the excellent training methods of modern armies with the current situations of the Daye Dynasty troops, and drastically formulated strict new training rules that were implemented in the Five Great Armies. From 5am to 9am, they practiced tactics: military martial arts, grappling;

From 9am to 12 noon, troop deployment, with those formations led by Li Zichen.

From 1pm to 9pm: physical training - climbing training, log lifts, obstacle courses, plus a fully armed 5 km cross country run.

Every morning at 5 am, Gong Xiaohua would teach the army hand-to-hand combat and grappling for an hour, with the other training supervised by the Five Great Colonels.

Her main focus was secretly training over a dozen individually selected scouts with special skills during the day.

These dozen or so special scouts have abilities such as exceptional hearing, speed, or agility.

Gong Xiaohua put them through devilish training following the methods of special forces from her previous world, focusing on reconnaissance, enemy rear ambushes and assassinations.

The main reason why the Dawei army was so powerful was because their country was not suitable for agricultural production, resulting in chronic food shortages.

In order for the common people to survive, they often raided surrounding dynasties, obtaining large quantities of supplies through arson, plunder and killing.

Therefore, their national character was very fierce, and they excelled at fighting.

What Gong Xiaohua wanted to do was to utilize this and completely destroy their food supplies, thereby making the Dawei army lose heart. Then she would dispatch the main forces and annihilate them in one strike. She hoped to achieve maximum victory at minimal cost.

Their secret missions in this campaign were crucial.

As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger.

Gong Xiaohua and her trained scout squad trained during the day and went out at night to spy on military intelligence.

After the last battle, the Dawei army had moved their camp. She was now trying to map out all the terrain around the Dawei troops into a large map, then together with her army's intelligence, formulate detailed combat routes.

Inside the main commander's tent of the Dawei army:

"Second brother, it's been so long, why hasn't the Da Ye Dynasty sent anyone to negotiate peace with us? Don't tell me they still want to keep fighting us?" asked the Third Prince.

The Second Prince also had doubts. Based on past experience, by now Da Ye should have sent people to fully discuss a peace settlement.

The current lack of movement felt very suspicious, could it be like what the Third Prince said, that they wanted to keep fighting? The more he thought about this, the more something felt off. He then asked the nearby military strategist, "Has there been any news from the people we sent out?" "Reporting to Second Prince, seven days ago Xu Mountain City Gate suddenly closed up tight, and our people could no longer disguise themselves to enter the city and scout for information. However, before they closed their gates, our spies found that a decree had been sent from the Capital City to Xu Mountain, but the specifics are still unknown since they were all expelled from the city."

"What about our spies embedded in Ye Country's interior?"

"Still no word. Last time the Duke sent a letter reporting they had startled the snake so were activating another longer route. That means the messages will come slower, but they should arrive in the next couple days at the latest."

Just as he finished speaking, a guard's voice came from outside, "Reporting Second Prince, spies from Ye Country's interior are here with a message."

"Bring it in."

Soon, after the Second Prince read the message in his hand and passed it around for the others to see..."Changing generals temporarily, that breaks one of the biggest taboos of military strategy. Moreover, the new commander who replaced the old one has never led troops before. What could be Da Ye's intention here?" said a military strategist beside him.

"No matter what they're trying to do, we absolutely cannot let our guard down. From now on we must keep vigilant patrols every day, no slacking off allowed. Otherwise if another ambush happens again, don't blame me for not being sentimental," the Second Prince said sternly to the Scout Colonel below him.

"Yes, Second Prince. Subordinates have already sent people to patrol the area within and outside 2 km of the camp in twelve hour shifts. If even the slightest thing happens, they will immediately send an alert," replied the Colonel respectfully.

"Second brother, they only changed generals without adding a single soldier. Currently at Xu Mountain Pass both sides have forty thousand troops, but our combat abilities far surpass theirs. Right now if we attack their mountain pass and capture Xu Mountain, Third Prince believes that is a perfect opportunity," said the Third Prince persuasively.

"What the Third Prince said is reasonable. I bet the new commander who just took over must still be busy handling their internal chaos right now. Second Prince, if not now then when better to attack?" asked the military strategist.

The Second Prince pondered for a moment then decided, "Issue the orders for the entire army to depart in three days and attack Xu Mountain of Da Ye."

"Yes sir!"

It took Gong Xiaohua almost three days to locate the new campsite for the Dawei army, nestled against a cliff terrain.

Other than the cliff side, people patrolled in a two km radius with extremely strict precautions everywhere. However, nothing is completely foolproof. The most dangerous place is also the safest place. She found a hidden trail behind the cliff and had scouts secretly keep watch over it.

After another four days, she gained a rough understanding of the terrain around them and drew a detailed topographic map.

Just then scouts hurriedly came to report: "Commander, the Dawei army seems to be on the move, it looks like they're about to dispatch troops!"

"Keep monitoring them, report back immediately if anything happens," Gong Xiaohua replied.

After the scouts left, Gong Xiaohua called out, "Come, summon the Five Great Colonels for an emergency meeting!"

"Yes ma'am!"