Chapter 889
What was at stake was the peace and tranquillity of the frontier.
Chen Dong had no doubts about what Bai Qi had said about setting a ranking for military merit.
In this matter, setting a military rank of the word Heaven was indeed enough!
The hundreds of barbarians outside the northern frontier had been invading the northern frontier for years, and before the Great Snow Dragon Riding Army had appeared, the northern frontier had often been lost, allowing the barbarians’ war horses to swing their troops southwards as if they were in no man’s land.
Since the establishment of the Great Snow Dragon Riding Army, Huo Zhenxiao came out of nowhere and forged the Northern Frontier’s supreme defence line with a town and a horse, destroying a city and completely shocking the Northern Frontier’s hundred tribes.
If we talk about threats, all the major frontiers within the entire territory combined are far less threatening than one northern frontier.
Elsewhere, there are dangers to rely on, dangers to defend, strategic depths to manoeuvre in and out of!
But in the Northern Frontier, there is no danger and no depth.
If Huo Zhenxiao hadn’t come out of nowhere and turned a city into a “heavenly danger” in the eyes of hundreds of barbarians, once the war horses of the hundred tribes were allowed to march south, it would have been a matter of galloping ten thousand miles and a flat river!
For the entire 300,000-strong Snow Dragon Cavalry, the lack of strategic depth also meant that there was no way back for anyone but to go forward and fight to the death!
The joining of hundreds of barbarians is a matter of stability within the entire territory.
This alone is a great achievement for the army!
The Great Snow Dragon Riders are the iron-blooded lions of the frontier, the elite of the elite.
The hundreds of barbarians they are trying to crush are not mere peccadillos.
The most clear way to look at a man is to look at his opponents.
The Great Snow Dragon Riders and the hundreds of barbarians outside the realm have always been “foils” for each other!
When the hundreds of barbarians were fighting on their own, the Great Snow Dragon Riders were able to use thunderous methods, fast horses and sharp swords to destroy them.
But when the hundreds of barbarians are able to put aside their deadly feuds and join forces, even the 300,000-strong Great Snow Dragon Riders have to be treated with caution.
This is why Huo Zhenxiao willingly kept this heaven-defying news to himself and the Twelve Golden Guards for two years.
The hundreds of barbarians who have gradually joined forces are undoubtedly a thundercloud that has gradually gathered on the northern frontier.
When the dark cloud succeeds in building up momentum and pours down, wild thunder shakes the sky.
Zhenjiang City …… will also be in jeopardy!
In this instant, Chen Dong pondered much, much more.
With his mind’s experience, after Bai Qi’s detailed account, it was only a matter of moments before he was able to figure out the powerful relationship.
“I know your nature, don’t worry, discounting Meng Dabiao and the others’ merits because of you, the master will find a way to make it up for them in the future.”
Seeing Chen Dong’s silence, Bai Qi thought that Chen Dong was still pondering over the matter of military merit and was busy explaining in a placating manner.
“Military merit is as light as a feather compared to the safety and security of the frontier.”
Chen Dong shook his head with profound eyes and looked at Bai Qi, “What does the Sovereign intend to do about this matter?”
“What do you think?” Bai Qi asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Me?”
Chen Dong was a little confused.
Bai Qi wrapped his robe around him and pulled Chen Dong towards the barracks, “The wind and snow outside are still the same, go inside and have a detailed chat over the fire.”
As the smoke and fire rose from the fire pit, the coldness in his body seemed to be dispelled somewhat.
Since entering the house, Chen Dong had been sitting by the fire pit, frowning and pondering.
It was only when Bai Qi finished building the fire and sat beside Chen Dong that Bai Qi said, “You are the leading guard, above all others under one person, and your opinion is necessary in such matters.”
Chen Dong raised his eyes to look at Bai Qi.
At this moment, suddenly his shoulders felt heavy.
Bai Qi’s words were like a lofty titanic mountain, blatantly pressing down on top of his shoulders.
When Bai Qi asked him what he meant just now, he was still a bit confused.
But now, the phrase “one man under ten thousand people above all others” has described the responsibility he should shoulder in the best way possible.
But what should he do about the …… matter?
The actual fact is that you can find a lot of people who are not able to get the best out of your own home.
The heavy shoulders made his throat a little tight, not knowing what to say.
If it is the company, the shopping mall, he can speak freely and express his opinion.
But this matter was not about a mere business battle, not about a company, not about a clan, but about everything within the …… frontier!
All living things, clan bloodlines!
Any word from him might lead to a butterfly effect within the entire frontier!
“Is this the true meaning of being under one person and above all others?”
Chen Dong smiled bitterly, his gaze deep to the point where he looked at Bai Qi, as if he was squeezing his throat with all his might to make a sound.
Bai Qi froze for a moment, staring at Chen Dong, a few more vicissitudes and depths suddenly appearing on his stalwart face.
“Back then, when I achieved Dragon Head Guard, the Sovereign said something to me.”
“What?”
Bai Qi smiled faintly, “When you stand above ten thousand people and bear the admiration of ten thousand people, you should also do the same, bend down, drop your big hand and shelter ten thousand people a peace and prosperity, even if …… with your life.”
Chen Dong smiled.
He shrugged, “Actually, I didn’t have so much righteousness at first, Senior Brother Huo is pulling me straight up and down, and I’m starting to doubt his purpose of jerking you around to the end in the first place and then helping me to the top.”
Bai Qi laughed and raised his hand and punched Chen Dong in the chest.
“You’re the one who’s getting the better end of the stick.”
Chen Dong laughed bitterly.
Bai Qi waved his hand, “It’s alright, I won’t ask you anymore, you’re a new recruit to the Great Snow Dragon Riding Army, you haven’t even figured out the ways of the battlefield yet, the master and the other Golden Guards will discuss this matter.”
Chen Dong felt the tightening of his throat relax a little.
This impending shocking and bad news on the northern frontier was too much.
Therefore, Chen Dong directly digressed, “By the way, that Commander Xiao, what exactly is the gap with you?”
“It’s not a gap, it’s a deadly feud.”
Bai Qi’s expression suddenly became deep and cold and stern, “When I was not the leading guard of the Great Snow Dragon Riding Army, I personally slaughtered his younger brother.”
There was no hesitation, no winding, straightforward words.
It caught even Chen Dong a little off guard.
“His younger brother? Also of the Great Snow Dragon Riding Army?”
Chen Dong’s expression changed, “This is impossible, the Great Snow Dragon Riding Army’s military law is like a mountain, it would never allow the generals under its command to kill each other.”
“Military law is like a mountain, indeed.”
Bai Qi shrugged and gave a meaningful smile, “But what if I told you that it was also this matter of killing his brother that made me enter the eyes of the master, thus leveling up and going straight to the Dragon Head Guard?”
“This ……”
Chen Dong suddenly froze, somewhat dumbfounded.
The 300,000 Great Snow Dragon Cavalry Army was in charge of Huo Zhenxiao alone, and the military law was enforced and followed Huo Zhenxiao’s will.
As a member of the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry, Bai Qi had killed Commander Xiao’s brother, which was already killing each other and had touched the most deadly bottom line in the army.
And so, instead of blaming Bai Qi, Huo Zhenxiao?
Instead, he sent him a flat-out victory?
Chapter 890
Looking at the dumbfounded and disbelieving Chen Dong.
Bai Qi smiled gently, “I was actually prepared for certain death at that time, but when I learned the result, I had the same reaction as you do now.”
“What exactly happened?” Chen Dong asked.
Bai Qi’s gaze was deep, but he got up and took out a pot of strong wine from the barracks cupboard.
Without a word, he opened it straight away and tilted his head and poured some more into the firepit.
The flames in the fire pot shot up very high.
The blazing heat even made Chen Dong subconsciously back up a little.
Bai Qi, on the other hand, sat loftily in his place, letting the blazing fire tantalise his entire body.
“The cruelty on the battlefield, you should have gotten a glimpse of it after following a scouting patrol today, right?”
Chen Dong nodded his head.
In today’s battle, he had indeed appreciated something of the battlefield.
Naked killing, the ultimate in bloodshed and cruelty.
Following closely, Bai Qi added, “Actually, I am quite reluctant to remember this, because it is, I guess, even more cruel than the battlefield.”
After a pause, Bai Qi smiled sadly.
At this moment, Chen Dong even felt that the Bai Qi in front of him was a different person.
A hard man with iron bones also had such a tender and poignant scene?
“It was a great battle, and the battlefield was cleared and cleaned up afterwards, a tribal group of the barbarians, a small city of sorts.”
Bai Qi said slowly, “On the battlefield, it was a fight between warriors, not the old, the weak, the women and the children, what could they do? A group of old and weak women and children are full of fear in their eyes and have already been scared to death, just like them, who would expect them to break out in a vow to fight back before their clan is exterminated?”
Chen Dong’s eyebrows knitted tightly, his eyes bursting with shrewdness.
Perhaps …… the reason lies in the old and weak women and children!
The next second.
The next second, Bai Qi “bang” force, the hands of the wine jug crushed, wine splashed everywhere.
Bai Qi gritted his teeth and said, “That Commander Xiao’s B*****d brother, when he was clearing the battlefield, he directly cleaved two children and an old man with his war sword, and even coveted a young woman of the barbarian tribe, do you think …… he should be killed or not?”
Boom!
Chen Dong was struck by lightning, Bai Qi’s words were like a heavy hammer hitting hard on top of his nerves.
In an instant, even the three views were somewhat shaken.
The old, the weak, the women and the children, these four categories of people were the weakest and most innocent in a war!
The fact that the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry had the opportunity to purge and clean the battlefield of that small tribal group meant that those who remained had actually surrendered and were considered prisoners of war.
Instead, Commander Xiao’s brother was ruthless and cold-blooded, treating the old, the weak, the women and the children like gra*s!
Such a man was no different from a beast!
Even if Bai Qi’s words were extremely brief.
But a picture of incomparable bloodshed and brutality, even perversion, emerged in Chen Dong’s mind.
“He should be killed!”
Chen Dong blurted out.
“Yes, indeed, they should be killed, the Sovereign said the same thing!”
Bai Qi nodded, “The Great Snow Dragon Riding Army is an iron-blooded lion, how can it be tainted by such filthy dregs? If such dregs are not cut down, won’t it tarnish the prestige of my Great Snow Dragon Riding Army? Let everyone think that my Great Snow Dragon Riding Army is a triad of dregs?”
Chen Dong did not retort.
By this point, he already knew why Huo Zhenxiao had allowed Bai Qi to level the playing field.
Huo Zhenxiao had always been known for his strict and harsh rule of the army, with military orders like mountains and his words following the law.
How could such a man have any room for sand in his eyes?
He would never tolerate the presence of such dregs and trash in the Great Snow Dragon Riding Army that he had built with his own hands!
On the contrary, Bai Qi’s approach was most to Huo Zhenxiao’s liking!
But any general with true insight and style would have a clear and decisive verdict on this matter.
“I, Bai Qi, can do anything stupid in my life, but I can’t touch or dare to touch the old, the weak, the women and the children, after all, who can guarantee that I don’t have a father or a mother? Who would dare to guarantee that he has no father or mother, no wife or child? That B*****d, actually beast to such an extent, chopping eighteen sections is considered less.”
Bai Qi said slowly, and at this moment, his cheeks were a little drunkenly red.
However, Chen Dong knew clearly that this was a case of wine not getting drunk.
“That Commander Xiao, he has always been jealous of me for not covering up his brother in the first place, and also cynical of me for using killing his brother as a stepping stone to take the opportunity to rise to power.”
Bai Qi shrugged helplessly, “When I became a leading guard back then, Commander Xiao had been insulting me in the army, I knew all this, but I was too lazy to care, after all, I was a leading guard, even if he hated me, there was nothing he could do to me, and of course I didn’t let the Sovereign interfere.”
Rubbing his face, Bai Qi looked at Chen Dong helplessly, “Unfortunately, I had calculated a thousand things, but I just didn’t calculate that I would fall into your hands because of Jiang Chaotian, after being jerked to the bottom by the Sovereign, in the Great Snow Dragon Rider Army, Commander Xiao’s suppression and humiliation of me became even more undisguised, believe it or not, if he didn’t covet the deep friendship I had made with the rest of the Golden Guards when I was once a leading guard, he If he hadn’t coveted the deep friendship I had with the rest of the Golden Guards when I was the Head Guard, he would have secretly planned to cut me down with a knife!”
Chen Dong laughed indifferently.
Is there any need to believe or disbelieve this?
The titular commander was able to disgrace Bai Qi, a small army commander, at the military merit office because of an old grudge from the past, even at the risk of losing face.
This kind of narrow-mindedness, hurting others against oneself, hurting the enemy 800 times and hurting oneself a thousand times, what else can one not do?
He took a deep breath.
When Chen Dong looked at Bai Qi again, his eyes were a little different.
He said slowly, “Today is the first time I’ve met you, I’m sorry for taking away your leading guard because of that incident back then, and for making you so embarra*sed now.”
“Which is not true, it was me who was larded up and did something I shouldn’t have done in the first place, the master was right to punish me.”
Bai Qi smiled and waved his hand, tilted his head and took a deep breath, when he looked down to face Chen Dong again, the misery and sorrow on his face just now were swept away, he smiled, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you for three months this time, when you leave, the Sovereign will not treat me badly, if the Sovereign can level me once, he can do it a second time, he, Commander Xiao, will be like that in this life. ”
At this time.
The three men, Meng Dabiao, who had gone to set up the food and drink, returned.
The three of them were cloaked in snow, and all of them were covered in white snow.
When they entered the room, Meng Dabiao stammered and said, “Aiya, Aiya, it’s freezing to death, quick, quick, set the small table, let’s start!”
Chen Dong and Bai Qi looked at each other and smiled.
A conversation had released some of the hard feelings in the hearts of both sides.
At this moment, the five men opened up together and soon set up a formation around the fire pit, eating and drinking.
The first merit of the word “earth” is worth celebrating among soldiers of any rank and file.
The Great Snow Dragon Riders were particularly open to celebrating their meritorious achievements when they were not in battle.
Compared to the calmness of Chen Dong and Bai Qi.
Meng Dabiao, Sun Kong and Zhou Yao were extraordinarily exuberant.
But the price of their exuberance was that they soon fell into bed drunk.
In the original noisy and lively barracks, only Chen Dong and Bai Qi were left in the blink of an eye.
Although they were not so drunk, they were still inebriated and their eyes were drifting.
Sitting in front of the fire pit, Chen Dong carried a bottle of wine in one hand while staring blankly at the flames dancing in the fire pit.
After a few seconds of silence.
He suddenly smiled softly with drunkenness, “Bai Qi, didn’t you want to hear my opinion on that matter just now? Now, I should have thought of it.”