98 Unofficial upgrades

By the time I had walked back to the front of the caravan of men, horses, wagons and carts, I realised the front had come to a halt and Officer Băo was in deep conversation with my brother. There was a lot of shrugging of shoulders, looking forward into the distance, gesticulating, and then further conversation. I suspected they were discussing where and when to stop. At least that’s what I hoped.

Slowly all the other wagons drew to a stop and the men, in automatic mode, seemed confused by this. They bumped into one another, it was like watching the walking dead. Some took the opportunity to drop to the floor, whilst some wavered and then collapsed, asleep before they hit the ground.

I went to join my brother. “Glad I caught up with you, I don’t know if you’ve seen the men behind, but they cannot continue another step. I am concerned we will run out of room in the wagons soon, as more men succumb to illness and over fatigue.” I looked from one to the other and I could tell they had already realised the severity of the situation.

“We’ve just been talking,” Second Master said as he dismounted his horse and ran up the stirrups, “we will stop. Now. We need to, I know that. The men need to sleep and eat something. Promise you Hao Ying, I’m not like our father.” He smiled at this last statement, “by the way how is the old man? Is he still asleep?”

I looked at him and noticed a slight smile on his lips. Yes, he’d pulled one over on our father and when he realised there would be an almighty row which everyone will hear loud and clear.

“He is,” I replied, “but the physicians say he has to come round now as they don’t feel it safe to administer any more, er, relief.”

“Pity.” He looked toward Băo who was shifting his feet in embarrassment, “So, we pull over here and rest up even if its for five or so hours. That should give those who need it a chance to sleep and we can then stop for a longer period in a short while I hope, Officer Băo?”

“I will know when my men return, Sir. As soon as I know, you will.”

“Good.” Then turning to the caravan behind, Second Master gave the order, “Break camp. Pull over. Set up for sleep and rest everyone. We have about five hours available before we move to a better location, and rest for a longer duration.”

Turning to the pair of us, “I want to see both of you and Officer Băo, your three second in commands, as soon as is feasible.” He looked between the pair of us, and waited for confirmation.

“Sir.”

“Sir”

“Excellent. Right, off you go and see to whatever you need to get done. I want to know when Niao and Xin Yi get back. When you come, bring those two will you? I need to you all to hear what I have to say.”

We both walked away wondering what this was all about.

Xin and I had managed the carcass back onto the road. I was following so was scuffing the blood trail as we went.

“Much blood?” Xin asked without changing pace.

“Not much, but I don’t want a very clear trail for someone to see. We wont stop the animals picking up the scent, but men? No, we don’t need them.”

We carried on, both hoping the caravan hadn’t got too far ahead of us. This stag as heavy.

“I see them!” Xin was as relieved as I was. “They look like they’ve stopped, the wagons have moved off the track and I smell the distinct smell of cooking rice. Congee?”

“Not far then and we can give them a nice surprise. A bit of meat in the congee if that’s what is being cooked.” I relaxed. I must admit, I could do with a sit down myself, both Xin and I had been on the go since dawn yesterday and I was beginning to get that headache from lack of sleep. “Something to eat and then sleep. Sound good?”

 “Absolutely! I’m ready to drop now.”We walked toward the camp. Slowly, eyes turned and saw us approaching. It was then the whispers went up...a carcass was slung between us. Dropping it off at the feet of the cooks, we retrieved our bundles and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

“Guess what I’ve got hidden?” Xin looked at me with grin. Reaching into her bundle she pulled out a small packet of tea, a water carrier and the famous sticky rice balls. “This’ll do us and then we sleep, yes?”There are times I could kiss her!

I’m not sure how long we had asleep, but I felt Băo gently tugging my arm, “Sorry you two, I’ve got to wake you, there’s a meeting with Colonel Chen, myself, Officer Chen and the three pack leaders. The Colonel has asked you two to attend. Sorry, I know you want to sleep, but we have orders…” His voice trailed off as he looked at his beloved Xin as she fought off the desire to fall back into her dreamworld. Either that or hit him for disturbing her.

“I was having such a lovely dream,” She looked at him, “We were all back at the house in the woods, sitting round a fire with vegetable soup cooking and slices of meat on skewers, browning at the edge. We were laughing.” She looked at Băo, “and you had to bring me back to being hungry, tired and grouchy.” She pouted at him and made him feel so guilty, he hugged her and said sorry, quietly, into her hair.

“Oh, come on you two! Lets get this over with. I want to get some more sleep before we set off again, and yes, I’m so hungry!”

He looked at the pair of us and went pink. He hated upsetting us and he knew he had.

“We all here?” Second Master looked round, “yes, so let me begin. We came here with two battalions. We leave with less than half that. Out of those alive, a large proportion are lying in cots in carts. Some will survive, many will not.” He looked at us before he continued, checking we were taking in the gravity of his words. “We came with an army, we go home with no more than a few companies. It is clear we were sent to a slaughter, the reasons behind this are unclear but I have sent Hàorán back to do some sniffing around. He’s known by the Zhang soldiers and is liked by many of the ale house owners in the town. When he gets back, we hope to understand more, but until then we can presume those who ‘sent’ for us to fight with them against a ‘common’ foe are hostile, and should be treated accordingly if we encounter any.” He turn to Xin and myself, “You are our best defense and are tasked with making sure no-one lives to talk who might be scouting us out.”

We both nodded and understood.

Second Master continued, “Now comes the division of labour. I will assume overall responsibility for everything we do and everything that happens, including killings.” Again he looked in our direction. “Next, logistics, and that will be down to you Officer Băo.” He looked over at him, “you have a clear understanding of this, so I want you to take full responsibility for the logistics of the whole caravan, its movement, stops, activities, everything. Understand?”

“Sir”

“Now to the welfare of the caravan itself.” Turning to Hao Ying, “this is down to you. You are to be responsible for all the welfare of the caravan, the food, the water, fuel, everything. Understand? You have shown an aptitude in this direction so I am making you directly responsible for this aspect of the army, well, what’s left of it, and you, like Officer Băo here, report directly to me. I will make the final decisions.”

“Sir”

“Now, turning to you three.” he looked directly at the three men who had risen to the top in Băo’s group. Each had eight men working with them and they had formed a cohesive group which performed exceptionally well, both in combat and as mercenaries. “I expect you three to step up and run your units. You will still be under the supervision and orders from Officer Băo, but, later will have a role in increasing the size of your units when the time s right.”

“Sir” was said in unison by the three men standing to attention in front of him.

Second Master held up his hand, “I’ve not quite finished. I am only a Colonel because I have insisted my, our,” he nodded towards Hao Ying, “illustrious father is unfit to run the Chen army. Therefore, what I am about to say can only be said unofficially, but I wish to discuss rank.”

At this point, he looked at us all and smiled. He had around him a small group of people who were not only skilled, but loyal and true. When he finally brings the remnants of the Chen army through those barrack gates of home, he will do his best to make everything official.

“As of today, Officer Băo, Officer Chen, you will both be made up to Captain. You three will be Sergeants, and you two ladies, well, we don’t have women on the army, its considered bad luck, so you remain as ever, our most treasured assassins and hunters, without whom we would probably be dead, lying in the desert of that godforsaken place. So from all of us, I say thank you for your skills and your teachings.”

As he bowed to us, I realised Xin was weeping. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” and with that she sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes. Leaping forward, she hugged Second Master and thanked him with a kiss on the cheek.

The men looked on in shock. I just laughed.