Blue, Red and White Dark Abyss Cauldron

Chapter 212 Preparations

The next morning, Chu Xiaomu led everyone to the official's office to register, sign and seal, and apply for military badges.

The official in charge of writing had already received instructions from Zhou Bo and Xiao Zhenrong and did it without hesitation.

Soon the list was ready and wooden tablets with job titles were carved, and each of the ten people was given one.

Chu Xiaomu took it and looked at it. He saw that there were words engraved on both sides of the wooden sign. One side was the word "Horse Herding" and the other side was the word "Su Yi". He knew the meaning at a glance, so he put it away and hung it around his waist.

With this small wooden sign, Chu Xiaomu and the other ten people finally became members of the Green City Army. On one side of the wooden sign was engraved the words "Horse Herding", which seemed inferior to the other soldiers' names of "Nan Qian", "Nan Kun", "Nan Kan", "Nan Li", "Nan Zhen", "Nan Xun", "Nan Gen" and "Nan Dui". Zhou Weide said angrily, "The words 'Horse Herding' are obviously meant to make people laugh at us, so we might as well not use this sign!" He pretended to throw it away.

Wu Sheng said: "You are not afraid of throwing away the military regulations. I respect you as a hero."

Wangang said: "Put the military badge in your arms and don't let them see it, then no one will laugh at us."

Wu Sheng added: "They are not fools. Seeing us herding horses outside every day, they naturally know what our military badges and military positions are, so they will laugh when they should."

Chu Xiaomu said: "As long as we respect ourselves and keep the horses healthy and strong, we will have fulfilled the military order. If they want to laugh, then let them laugh."

Su Mishun said: "The captain is right. We respect ourselves, so why should we care whether they are making fun of us or not?" He took out the military badge in his arms and hung it around his waist.

After receiving their military badges, everyone went to the clothing officer to get their military uniforms. Each person was given two sets of summer and winter clothes, two pairs of sheepskin boots, and some underwear and trousers.

Zhang Hou counted the thick pile of clothes and asked, "Excuse me, where can we get our helmets and armor?"

The official laughed and said, "Why do you horse herders need helmets and armor? Are you afraid of being hit by horses?"

Hearing his contempt, Zhou Weide said angrily, "The soldiers of the eight battalions of Nanqian and Nankun all have helmets and armor. We are also from the Nanding Army, so why don't we have them?"

The official glanced at him and said, "I said no, so why are there so many reasons?"

Zhou Weide wanted to argue again, but Chu Xiaomu stopped him and said, "I think the clothing officer has run out of helmets and armor, so he won't send them to us for the time being. He doesn't have everything here..."

The official said: "Who said I don't have it..."

Zhou Weide became even more angry when he heard him say this, and shouted: "If you have it, why don't you give it to us?"

The official in charge of clothing saw that he was rude and ignored him.

The others also clamored, saying that they must have helmets, hats and armor. Zhang Hou stood in front of the official with a smile on his face and spoke in good faith.

The clothing officer was so annoyed that he said, "It's not that I don't want to distribute it to everyone, but General Zhou said that your horse herding team doesn't have helmets and armor."

Lin Zhen said: "Why is that? There is no such reason in the world."

The official spread his hands and said, "You ask me how I know. If you want to ask, go ask Zhou Zhongjun."

Everyone remembered Zhou Bo's face, which was as cold as cast iron, and had to give up in disappointment.

After receiving the military uniforms and boots, they went to the armorer to get weapons and personal belongings for the march. The ten people received a total of ten spears, five horn bows, and five bows and arrows. As the team leader, Chu Xiaomu was given an extra iron sword with a sheath, which was a pleasant surprise for him.

There are also several other items such as fire starters, dry food bags, sheepskin water bags, hoof trimming knives, hardwood brushes, sheep horns, etc., each person has one.

Finally, we went to the horse official to collect the horses for grazing.

When Officer Ma saw Zhang Hou and his group coming, he said with a big smile on his face: "You are finally back. We really can't do without you guys here."

Wu Sheng said angrily: "Don't wish for it, we are not here to help you sweep the horse manure!"

The horse officer slapped his forehead and said, "Not bad, not bad. Look at my memory. You are all from the newly established horse herding team of Zhouzhong Army. Our Nanding Army finally has a special horse herding team. We don't have to push it back and forth between the eight camps. This is really great!"

Chu Xiaomu and his group looked unhappy, thinking that no real soldier would be willing to do this.

Zhang Hou said, "It's a pity that none of us ten have any experience in horse herding. If we want to raise horses well, we need your advice."

The horse officer said with a smile: "Horse herding is very simple. Our Bicheng's military horses are docile and obedient. You just need to take them to places with abundant grass and water, let them eat and grow fat. Even if you get lost, they can find their way back to the Nanding Army camp by themselves." After a pause, he said: "By the way, I heard that there are more wolves on the grassland now, so we must prevent them from hurting and eating horses."

When everyone heard that there were wolves on the grassland, they became excited. Zhang Hou said, "Did you hear that? There are wolves on the grassland. General Zhou treats us very well. We can kill wolves and practice our skills while herding horses."

The horse officer had never seen anyone who hoped to see wolves when herding horses outside, so he said, "You can't underestimate the wolves on the grassland. They are cunning and difficult to deal with. A few years ago, a group of more than a dozen soldiers went out to herd horses. In the middle of the night, dozens of military horses were killed by wolves. After returning, they were all beaten with a hundred military sticks, and the team leader was dismissed..."

Su Mishun was shocked and said, "Is it so strict? One hundred military sticks for each person?"

The horse officer said: "Zhou Zhongjun was originally going to punish each of them with 200 military sticks, but Deputy Zhongjun Xiao pleaded for them, saying that if they really beat a soldier to death, it would be difficult for the general to blame them."

Wu Sheng said: "That's because they are not capable enough. A good military horse was bitten to death. They deserved to be beaten."

The horse officer sneered and said, "You make it sound simple. A dozen people encountered about thirty or forty wolves. We were lucky not to lose our lives."

Suddenly, he remembered that these people in front of him were young people in their teens and twenties. If they were scared and didn't want to go herding horses, it would be troublesome. He hurriedly changed the topic and said, "There are fewer wolves nowadays, and you are all lucky people. You will definitely not encounter them."

Wangang said: "But you just said that there are more wolves on the grassland now..."

The horse official stammered, "Yes... there are more... but not as many as a few years ago..."

Chu Xiaomu smiled and said, "Ma Guan is right. We are lucky and will not encounter wolves. If we do encounter one, it will be a good opportunity to practice our skills. Then the soldiers from the other eight battalions will not dare to look down on us."

Officer Ma nodded quickly.

After completing several procedures for handover records, the horse officer led everyone to the dozen or so stables on the east side of the military camp to identify the horses that needed to be taken out to graze.

Finally, he told everyone to bring enough food and clean water when going out to herd horses, and to take good care of the horses' safety, especially the foals that were just born.