Yao Ji looked down at the map and nodded, "Yes, according to our current marching speed, it will probably take a few more days. Are you in a hurry, My Lady?"
Usually, the soldiers advanced at a run. When tired, they rode horses or practiced their horsemanship. The old and weak traveled in carriages, so the group's pace was not slow. Jiang Jin spent about eight hours a day traveling.
First, the weather was currently scorching, making it unsuitable to travel from noon to mid-afternoon.
Second, she needed to train her troops. This resting period was perfectly used to drill the soldiers in formations, boxing, swordsmanship, archery, combat, and so on.
Jiang Jin shook her head, "I'm not in a hurry. We'll stick to our current pace. It will be a bit strenuous during this period, and we'll add some extra training time at night."
Knowing she was preparing to attack Gefeng, Yao Ji comforted her, "Gefeng is a small city. The soldiers in the city usually don't exceed a hundred. You don't need to worry, My Lady."
There was one thing he didn't mention: siege warfare was very difficult. The attacking side often needed several times, or even tens of times, the number of the defenders.
However, seeing that Jiang Jin was full of confidence, he kept it to himself.
Jiang Jin indeed wasn't worried about failing to capture Gefeng; her concern was how to hold it. She simply had too few people on hand.
Before long, Zhou Sui returned from the mountain with his men. They all wore smiles on their faces, each carrying a heavy burlap sack on their shoulders, and a few others were carrying bamboo baskets on shoulder poles.
Absurdly, there were even two soldiers herding a flock of ducks from behind. By the looks of it, there were about ten to twenty of them.
A look of joy appeared on Jiang Jin's face; it seemed the harvest was quite good.
Zhou Sui came over carrying a heavy burlap sack, "My Lady, the bandits on the mountain have all been killed. We obtained about fifty shi of grain. They also grew vegetables and raised chickens and ducks on the mountain, which we have brought down entirely."
He pointed to the burlap sacks, "We also found some copper coins and items of gold and silver."
Jiang Jin was very satisfied, "Not bad, you did very well."
This grain, combined with what she had previously purchased, was more than enough to sustain the group until they reached Gefeng, with some to spare.
Zhou Sui hesitated for a moment before saying, "There were also over a dozen women and three men on the mountain who had been captured and taken up there. I brought them down as well. How do you think we should handle them?"
Jiang Jin had also noticed these people. She asked, "Are you sure they were all captured and taken up the mountain?"
Zhou Sui nodded, "We questioned them separately, and their statements matched. There shouldn't be any issues."
Jiang Jin directly provided a solution, "Ask them. If they want to go home, give them some money and food and let them leave."
"I've already asked. Only two women who live nearby said they want to return. The rest have nowhere to go and wish to stay with our group." Zhou Sui was very organized in his work.
Having a shrewd and capable subordinate really saved a lot of worry. Jiang Jin felt cheerful, "Alright, those who stay must follow our arrangements. The young and healthy ones can join the army; the rest will be assigned to the logistics group."
Saying this, she opened the burlap sack Zhou Sui had just carried over, counted out a hundred copper coins from inside, and handed them to him, "Give fifty copper coins to each of the two who are leaving, and also give them five catties of grain each."
Fifty copper coins plus five catties of grain was quite a lot. She had not only saved them but also provided them with food. Anywhere she went, she would be praised as a great philanthropist.
Moreover, giving them too much could easily bring disaster upon them.
Zhou Sui took the copper coins, "Understood."
Seeing that he was about to leave, Jiang Jin called out to stop him, "Those two, wait until we leave before letting them go back."
Zhou Sui was taken aback for a moment but quickly understood her intention, admiring her in his heart.
Jiang Jin was worried that after these two returned to their village, they would talk about their situation, arousing the villagers' greed and causing them to come looking for trouble. After all, that village wasn't too far from here.
Although this possibility was slim, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
After Zhou Sui left, Jiang Jin called for Dong Si, "It's hard to transport so many live chickens and ducks. Let's just have an extra meal for lunch."
"Especially for the soldiers who performed meritoriously in killing the enemy today. Reward one chicken leg for killing one person, two chicken legs for killing two, and so on."
Although the group had meat with every meal, it was mostly dried horse meat and dried wolf meat prepared earlier, and the quantity was not large.
Dong Si felt a bit pained about using so much meat, but he also knew that live chickens and ducks were indeed hard to transport.
He could only keep a small portion alive, place them in bamboo baskets, and put them on the carriages. The majority still had to be slaughtered and eaten today, or else they would go bad.
As Dong Si went to arrange the slaughtering of the chickens and ducks, Jiang Jin finally had time to look at the valuables in the burlap sack. There were about seven or eight strings of copper coins.
There weren't many gold and silver items, mostly small accessories, adding up to only a dozen or so taels.
But that made sense. In these times, gold and silver were rare commodities. This group of bandits didn't dare to rob large merchant caravans and could only prey on commoners and small merchants.
She carried the burlap sack to the back of the carriage and stored it in her spatial dimension.
During lunch, the soldiers couldn't help but feel envious as they watched the men who had killed enemies today taking large bites out of chicken and duck legs.
Although they also received chicken and duck meat today, the amount was small.
Besides, what they were eating wasn't just chicken and duck legs; it was clearly merit!
The soldiers all secretly resolved in their hearts to train diligently from now on, striving to earn merit and eat chicken legs themselves next time.
Shuangjiang held a chicken leg in each hand, eating until her mouth was covered in grease. Growing up so much, this was her first time eating chicken legs. It was truly delicious.
She also felt the envious gazes of the crowd. For some reason, her eyes grew slightly hot. She indeed wasn't the useless thing her parents claimed she was.
My Lady was right. Women were the same as men. They could equally use their own efforts and sweat to create their own value.
After resting for a short half-hour post-lunch, the soldiers began their training.
Luo Qingci, including the female cooks and other women, did not take a noon nap. As soon as they had time, they started making clothes and weighted sandbags. They had suddenly added so many people that they were a bit overwhelmed.
A total of fifteen women came down from the mountain today. Among them, six were young women in fairly good health, and they also agreed to join the training and become soldiers.
The other nine were actually not that old, ranging from their twenties to forties. It was just that their physical foundations had been ruined by the bandits, so they could only join logistics.
This was good too; at least the soldiers wouldn't be needed to help with cooking in the future.
The three men were quite old, in their forties and fifties. It was probably because they were old and weak that the bandits felt they posed no threat and spared them, making them help with odd jobs on the mountain.
The female soldiers finally had two squads.
Although Shuangjiang was young, she performed very well in this battle. Even though she was assigned to the interception team, she single-handedly hacked two bandits to death. Jiang Jin directly promoted her to squad leader.
The two women watched the mighty departing group, sorrow and confusion in their eyes.
The older woman whispered, "Did we make a mistake? Will there still be a place for us at home?"
For women like them who had been abducted up the mountain, their purity was naturally gone. They feared their families would find it hard to accept them.
The younger woman shook her head, "I don't know either, but I miss home too much. I want to go back. Even if I die, I want to die at home."
The older woman sighed, "Yes, I want to as well. I especially miss my child."
She already had a daughter when she was abducted up the mountain. She didn't know if her man would still acknowledge her upon her return, or if her daughter would still recognize her.
She looked down at the copper coins and the small bag of grain in her hands, gratitude in her eyes, "Let's go."
The morning light broke, and all things awakened.
After practicing her boxing, Jiang Jin returned to the carriage to change clothes and wiped her face. It was already unbearably hot early in the morning.
After the morning meal, just as the party was preparing to set off, Zhou Sui suddenly made a hand gesture.
The group came to an immediate halt.
Zhou Sui vaulted down from his horse and dropped to the ground to press his ear against the earth, his expression growing increasingly serious.
