Liang Qiang was no longer as green as during his first battle. Not only did he block the attack, he also reclined on his horse’s back and thrust his long blade out in counterattack.
The Xi Liang soldier was stabbed. Though not fatally wounded, he fell from his horse and was trampled half to death by hooves.
But this didn’t mean Liang Qiang was invincible. As soon as he sat upright on his horse, a Xi Liang soldier from behind swung his blade down.
This time he didn’t have such good luck and could only rely on instinct to spin his long blade backward—
The sound of clashing weapons and a scream rang out simultaneously. Liang Qiang pulled back his spinning blade and turned his horse around to see that Xi Liang soldier already dead on the ground—he still had good luck because two soldiers were guarding his left and right.
Was this because he was their captain?
Liang Qiang glanced at these two soldiers. Though he was captain of this squad, having just been promoted and focusing all his energy on martial training, he wasn’t familiar with these two soldiers and couldn’t even call out their names.
On the battlefield at this moment, the Xi Liang soldiers held the advantage. Soldiers were constantly being killed by Xi Liang troops or dying together with them. Liang Qiang only looked once before charging at the Xi Liang soldiers again—there was no time to be distracted on the battlefield.
The soldiers following him were fierce and brave, but they weren’t gods, just people. People were flesh and blood, and soon fell from their horses in the assault.
But Liang Qiang still suffered no fatal injuries, because when these two soldiers fell, other soldiers rushed to Liang Qiang’s side.
One, two, three, four—wave after wave. There were always soldiers protecting Liang Qiang. Rather than saying they came to kill the enemy, it was more accurate to say they came to support Liang Qiang’s attacks.
Completely disregarding their own lives, not caring about formation, only caring about Liang Qiang—blocking attacks for him, helping him kill enemies.
This bizarre and crazed slaughter continued until the Xi Liang soldiers were all dead and only a sparse five people remained on the entire battlefield.
Liang Qiang was covered in wounds, his entire person as if soaked in blood, but he was one of these sparse five—he was still alive.
The ground trembled as reinforcements finally arrived like clouds. Knowing the enemy was numerous, the Colonel personally led troops to arrive. Seeing this scene, the Colonel let out an excited shout: “What brave warriors!”
He had originally thought he would only see corpses strewn everywhere, with the Xi Liang soldiers victorious and gone.
He never expected this vanguard of fifty would kill a hundred Xi Liang soldiers and still have survivors.
“Brave warriors!” the Colonel asked loudly. “Report your names.”
The five reported their names. When he heard Liang Qiang’s, the Colonel’s eyes brightened: “Liang Qiang—the Liang Qiang who previously received commendation and was promoted to captain? Is your father the Left Wing Army’s Commandant Liang who constantly produces clever strategies?”
Liang Qiang responded affirmatively.
The Colonel was even more pleased. He examined Liang Qiang, his eyes shining: “Impressive, impressive, truly impressive. Liang Qiang, are you willing to join my command? I’ll appoint you as Army Marquis.”
Army Marquis—that was an officer commanding at least five hundred men.
Becoming Army Marquis meant truly becoming an official.
“Liang Qiang, you are brave and skilled in battle. This general expects you to train troops like yourself who are invincible.”
He was brave and skilled in battle. This Army Marquis position was earned by himself. He wanted more military merit. He wanted to be invincible with a resounding reputation. Liang Qiang looked at the blood on his body, felt the pain throughout his body, and gripped the long blade in his hand tighter. His gaze didn’t shift downward, lest it fall on the corpses covering the ground.
He raised his head and declared loudly: “Liang Qiang will not disappoint your high expectations, sir!”
The Colonel laughed heartily and looked at the other four: “You all join my command as well. All will receive rewards.”
The other four responded loudly in acknowledgment.
……
……
Liang Qiang stood in the military camp, looking at the corpses that had been gathered.
The corpses awaited unified cremation, after which the ashes and belongings would be sent back to their respective homes.
Their heads and faces were all wrapped, their features invisible. Each person was covered with a military robe and their identification tag.
Liang Qiang looked at the tags one by one.
“Army Marquis Liang,” a soldier beside him called. “Go treat your wounds first.”
From gathering the battlefield to returning, Liang Qiang had never rested, much less treated his wounds. He still wore his blood-soaked military robe, standing there looking at his companions’ corpses, making other soldiers and officers unable to help but sigh.
“The battlefield is like this,” an officer specially came over to console him. “Life and death in an instant. One moment laughing together, the next moment separated by death.”
“Don’t be sad. They fought for country and people—they died worthily,” a soldier said. “Being a soldier is for this day. We’ve all long been prepared. We don’t fear death. We’d even be happy to die.”
Liang Qiang thanked them. He naturally knew these principles, but what they didn’t know was that among these soldiers, many had died for him.
Actually, the one lying here should have been him.
No—long ago, the first time he went to battle, he had died. If not for those several soldiers protecting him, he wouldn’t have survived, much less received any merit rewards.
At first he thought this was comrades helping each other—very normal.
But once, twice, three times—every time he went to battle afterward, he was protected by people.
Were these people on very good terms with him? No. Because of his sensitive status, he didn’t socialize with people in the army. All his relationships were average, with no sworn brotherhoods.
Because he was a captain, did the soldiers voluntarily protect him? No. A captain was just a small official for organizing squads, not really an officer. There was no difference from ordinary soldiers. His death wouldn’t cause any loss to formation, nor did soldiers need to protect him to secure victory.
Many soldiers had died protecting him, and some survived. When he thanked them afterward and asked why they did this for him, those soldiers were cold in attitude, only saying they were killing enemies, refusing to acknowledge it.
Even if he were a fool, he’d know this wasn’t normal, much less since he wasn’t a fool.
His ability to join the army had been arranged by someone. Could it be that protection on the battlefield was also arranged by that person?
He’d heard from Father that back then, he’d only felt sorry seeing that little official from the Northwest waiting pitifully outside their gate, so he said a word on his behalf and had the gatekeeper let him in—that was all. It wasn’t like he’d saved the lives of that man surnamed Cai’s entire family of seven or eight people!
Setting aside whether one sentence was worth such repayment, how could that old friend surnamed Cai possibly have such great ability to make so many soldiers—and different soldiers at that—no matter where he went, even in squads temporarily assigned before battle, there were always soldiers protecting him, helping him fight.