The sun hadn't completely set yet, and the bright red sunset turned the western sky into a sea of fire.
"stop."
Following the order from the leading soldier, the army behind them quickly stopped, and the Huotou army quickly began to cook rice.
The troops and horses have not moved, but the food and grass go first.
Normally, the Huotou army should set off before the main army and bury pots and cook food in advance, so that the main army behind can just catch up with the time to eat after arriving.
This is the most time-saving method. Otherwise, if we wait until the army stops to prepare food for tens of thousands of people, even if it is a big pot of rice, it will take a lot of time to wait until everything is ready.
Add in the time it takes to eat and digest, and you may not even be able to walk half as much in a day as before.
But as I said before, this is under normal circumstances.
Emperor Xin gave the order before setting off. The army did not advance for five days before resting on the spot for half a day.
Therefore, after finishing their last meal, the Huotou Army did not set off early, but moved together with the army.
In this way, when the army stops to rest and bury the pot to cook, it will be just in time for the next meal.
This time happened to be the first rest of the army.
The Huotou Army was cooking, and the other soldiers did not stop either.
They set up camp first, lit piles of bonfires and formed a large circle according to their own rules.
Naturally, the dropped morale cannot be improved by taking a half-day rest.
The real purpose of this half-day is to hold an event. If this event were held in Blue Star's company, it would be called team building.
The type of activity Di Xin chose was called a bonfire party.
Of course, Di Xin couldn't find an activity that would allow thirty thousand soldiers to have collective entertainment, but it didn't matter, just leave the decision-making power to them.
When a group of big men gathered together and told them that they no longer had to abide by any military rules tonight, they had plenty of ways to have fun for themselves.
Of course, since we have to march the next day, we still need to control the amount of alcohol we drink.
But this is nothing to the soldiers. According to the custom in the army, after the army goes out to fight, unless it wins the battle, it is not allowed to drink a drop of wine.
Now that it's amazing to let them drink every once in a while, who would complain about the limit?
If the people above are offended and are not allowed to drink any wine, they will have no place to cry if they want to.
And the development of things was just as Di Xin expected.
After two glasses of wine, the soldiers surrounding the bonfires quickly made the atmosphere lively.
Singing, dancing, wrestling, pot throwing... you can find almost any entertainment activity you can think of.
It didn't matter whether he won or lost. The depression of marching for several days quickly dissipated in this atmosphere.
The generals who had already received orders from Di Xin took advantage of this moment to secretly guide them and rekindle the seeds in their hearts that had not yet been extinguished.
"What a barbarian..."
I don't know which soldier from the bonfire was the first to curse, and soon the whole army was filled with denunciations of Goguryeo, Ryukyu and other forces surrounding Dali.
The depleted morale recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Although the current high morale will inevitably drop again after dawn the next day, it will remain within the proper range.
In the central tent.
Di Xin listened to the increasingly noisy sounds outside, and a smile appeared on his lips.
Xizi filled up Di Xin's wine glass and said with admiration: "Your Highness's strategy is really good. It restored the morale of the soldiers effortlessly."
Di Xin waved his hand and said casually: "It's just a piece of wisdom, not worth mentioning."
Di Xin told the truth, but Xizi only thought that Di Xin was being modest.
In the military books she had read, long marches led to a decline in morale. In order to prevent deserters, most generals would only enforce the rules more strictly, and the method of stimulating morale was just to paint a pie for the future.
Rewards and achievements, the effect is slightly equal to nothing.
In most wars, if one party needs to travel a long distance, a swearing-in meeting will be held again when they are about to reach their destination.
Then, it will take a period of time to re-energize the morale of the generals before launching an attack.
Before that, we would only set up camp for defense.
But Di Xin did the opposite.
When the morale of the soldiers began to decline, he temporarily relaxed the restrictions on the rules, allowing the soldiers to vent appropriately, and then with a few ordinary instructions, the soldiers' original morale could be restored.
Xizi had a feeling that if Goguryeo, their first target, used the previous method to deal with His Royal Highness King Yu's army, they would probably suffer a big loss from the beginning.
…
"Report..."
Suddenly there was an announcement outside the tent.
Di Xin frowned slightly, kept drinking, and said two words casually.
"Come in."
When Wei San walked in, Di Xin asked without changing his expression: "What needs to be reported now?"
As a bodyguard of the General's Mansion, Wei San naturally knew that Xizi was traveling with the army this time, so he did not feel any surprise.
After hearing Di Xin's question, he raised his hands and said, "Your Highness, someone came to report that they seem to have caught two spies disguised as our army."
"Spy?"
Di Xin was stunned, a little surprised.
The army had been marching for several days and had not yet left the grassland. Logically speaking, this area was still under his jurisdiction, and it was still at least ten days' journey from Goguryeo.
Otherwise, he would not take the risk and allow the soldiers to have a bonfire party in such a wilderness.
Di Xin's self-confidence is not weaker than anyone else's, but he is not stupid.
First of all, it can be ruled out that they are spies who were inserted into the army a long time ago. It is basically impossible for such chess pieces to reveal their identity in this situation.
In other words, these two spies were only recently inserted into his army, and the time should be within the two days of the expedition.
What kind of force is actually capable of inserting spies into his army after the army is confirmed?
Moreover, the spies who took the risk to intervene at this time were too unbearable, and they were discovered only a few days later.
Di Xin couldn't help but feel a little curious, and decided to interrogate him personally.
"Wei San, go and bring the two spies and the soldiers who captured them into the tent."
"yes."
Wei San cupped his hands and retreated.
Di Xin used his eyes to signal Xizi to avoid him temporarily.
Xizi nodded slightly, stood up and walked behind the screen standing on the side of the handsome tent, and then used the method taught by Di Xin to hide his aura.