"Although it's a bit unfair, he ran into us. We can't really go to the front lines to die, so he can only blame himself for being unlucky."
The men spoke one after another. The man addressed as Big Brother gestured for silence, and the scene immediately quieted down. He said solemnly, "We'll drink and eat today and worry about tomorrow when it comes. For people like us, who knows where we'll be tomorrow. Of course, we unite to survive, so that we can live like this every day."
The crowd nodded enthusiastically. They were all troublemakers in the army. In fact, when these good-for-nothings first gathered, they couldn't help but fight, vying to be the leader. Whoever managed to ascend to the throne must have had something extraordinary about them.
The leader they elected was skilled in martial arts, quick-witted, and had a good grasp of the overall situation. Although they were somewhat unconvinced at first, as time went by, they verified that everything their Big Brother said was correct. Following him meant they had plenty to eat. Even though each of them had their own little schemes, they cooperated exceptionally well when facing him.
The Third Prince and Wu Caiwei, standing not far away, witnessed this scene. It seemed that tomorrow's main task would be to persuade this man. The next morning, before dawn, the Third Prince ordered his men to bang on tent after tent with mallets, shouting, "Get up, get up!"
Some tents remained silent, and their occupants began to pack themselves up, then quickly came to the square. However, half of the tents erupted in curses: "It's not even dawn, why are we getting up? We can't travel anyway."
"You disturbed my sleep. I'll kill you when I get up."
"I'm not getting up. Absolutely not. Even the Emperor himself came, I wouldn't get up."
...
Counting them, there were only a little over twenty thousand people standing in the square, and they were basically the ones who couldn't go to the battlefield. They probably feared that the Third Prince would look down on them and abandon them, so they were exceptionally cooperative in everything they did.
Wu Caiwei gave a signal to the people behind her, and immediately, several barrels of water were brought over. They separated and quickly, each person standing upright drank a small sip of water. The taste was rather peculiar. Although they didn't know what they were drinking, they believed the Third Prince wouldn't harm them.
Then, everyone stood there silently. After an unknown amount of time, a scream suddenly rang out, followed by wails and cries. People kept rolling out of their tents, "It hurts so much, it hurts so much, I'm going to die."
The people standing there didn't understand why the Third Prince had made them stand for so long. After all, some of them had only one leg and were holding crutches. Standing for so long was difficult, but looking at the miserable state of those people, they suddenly felt a sense of relief. It couldn't be a coincidence! It must be that the Third Prince and the Princess were punishing them.
After about half an hour, those people finally stopped. They were already exhausted, their bodies soaked as if they had been pulled out of water.
After a long while, some people stumbled into the ranks of those who were standing. With the first came the second. After the pain subsided, they also realized that it was all the Third Prince's doing. Although they were a bit resentful, they still obediently stood up and joined their ranks.
When all fifty thousand men stood before him, the Third Prince looked at them sternly and divided them into two groups. The first group was the old, weak, sick, and disabled. He assigned a trusted subordinate to escort them to a nearby manor belonging to Wu Caiwei. There were sufficient provisions stored there, and they could set up camp near the houses and live comfortably, under the guise of recuperating and traveling slowly.
As for the remaining men, the Third Prince planned to train them rigorously during this period and lead them into battle. This group numbered only thirty thousand.
"Isn't everyone's life precious? We want to live too, and we don't want to go to the front lines to die for nothing. They can rest, why can't we rest too?" the man called Big Brother said indignantly. His mentality was almost broken. Before the Third Prince punished anyone, he was the center of attention and had great influence among them. He could guess without thinking that after this incident, their alliance might have already collapsed. He had to quickly fight for the interests of the group to regain his prestige.
"If you want to rest, you can. After we drive out the Xiongnu, you can rest as much as you want. Also, I want to tell you something. Don't you think the punishment just now has disappeared and the poison I gave you has been cured? You are too naive. This kind of poison requires an antidote every five days, or you will die in agony. If you don't believe me, try it." The Third Prince nodded with satisfaction as he saw the look of fear gradually appearing on their faces. Why hadn't they obeyed orders? Didn't those who stood there already receive the antidote? And it was permanent.
"What should we do now?" All eyes turned to Big Brother, hoping he would come up with a plan. Big Brother was speechless at this moment. He usually strategized behind the scenes, but now they were looking to him, pushing him to the forefront.
As expected, seeing the Third Prince and the Princess turn their gazes towards him, he helplessly pursed his lips. He quickly walked to the front of them and knelt, saying respectfully, "We are willing to follow the Third Prince and obey your orders."
"Follow the Third Prince, obey your orders."
Listening to the deafening shouts from behind him, Big Brother closed his eyes, his heart bleeding. The group he had painstakingly organized was now scattered.
Without the burden, and after a thorough reconditioning, their marching speed increased significantly, five times faster than before. They reached the border in a few days.
During these few days, under the control of the medication, these men behaved relatively normally. They utilized the travel time to have Wu Caiwei's hidden guards and the men trained by the Third Prince teach them martial arts. The men practiced as they walked, feeling they had benefited greatly.
Upon reaching the border, although they couldn't compare to the regular army, they were no longer the disorganized rabble they once were.
The situation was even more severe than the Third Prince had imagined. Although the Xiongnu were indeed deliberately guided by the Emperor's men, recently, there had been a drought in their land. The grass on the steppes withered, and their cattle and sheep had nothing to eat and gradually died. Although they collected and ate every dead sheep in various ways, they couldn't eat so many at once. Moreover, they relied on these cattle and sheep to sell for money to purchase daily necessities.
When their lives became unbearable, they naturally thought of moving south. In their eyes, it was their remote geographical location that led to their severe reliance on the weather. If the heavens were not favorable one day, their lives would become difficult, and people might even die.
Therefore, these Xiongnu people fought with extreme desperation because they had no retreat; they could only charge forward.