Chapter 363: The Third Mission! (1/2)
Chapter 363: The Third Mission!
This time, the response from the royal court came very quickly. Roughly six hours later, the group received a reply from the Bureau of Military Personnel.
The royal court was indeed unaware of the situation surrounding the Iron Cloak Highwaymen, and they were startled to hear that they had grown to a group seven hundred men strong.
The high death toll of thirty-six cavalrymen had also left them gravely concerned.
Under normal circumstances, putting a group of eighty cavalrymen against a seven hundred man-strong group filled with a significant number of True Martial realm highwaymen and bandits, as well as a powerful expert like Iron Cloak Li, the eighty cavalrymen would have been completely wiped out.
Without a doubt, this was a huge screw-up on the side of the Bureau of Military Personnel.
And yet, despite the Bureau’s intelligence failure, Wang Chong and the others managed to slay three hundred men, along with the chief, Iron Cloak Li, and the military strategist, Zhou An, with casualties of only thirty-six men. This feat had shocked even the Bureau of Military Personnel.
The prerequisite given by the Bureau of Military Personnel was that the loss for each platoon shouldn't exceed six, but the death toll of thirty-six had already far exceeded that number.
However, the deaths had only occurred in the second mission, and the root cause of the issue was the Bureau of Military Personnel's intelligence lapse. Taking into account the successful elimination of Iron Cloak Li and Zhou An despite the disadvantageous situation, the verdict from the Bureau of Military personnel was:
【The Bureau of Military Personnel will not pursue the breach of the prerequisite condition in the second mission. On top of that, those who have participated in the mission will have their contributions in this operation marked in their records, and this will also serve as a foundation for Wang Chong, Xu Gan, Huang Yongtu, and Bai Siling's promotion in the military when they enlist in the army in the future.
On top of that, the Bureau of Military Personnel will also send some personnel over to collect the bodies of the fallen soldiers, and they shall be buried and compensated as per soldiers who have died on the front lines of a battlefield.]
”This is wonderful!” Reading the response from the royal court, Xu Gan, Huang Yongtu, and Zhang Lin were delighted.
In this operation, Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu were assaulted and encircled by the Iron Cloak Highwaymen, and that had resulted in nearly twenty casualties. Just by themselves, they had already severely breached the conditions imposed on the mission.
As such, from yesterday until now, their hearts had been floating in their chests, unable to settle down.
After receiving an affirmative response by the royal court that they would not pursue the matter, the duo finally heaved a long sigh of relief.
On top of that, the reward that the royal court offered regarding this contribution, to pave the way for their future promotions, had left even Xu Gan trembling in excitement.
How many of the scions their age had military contributions under their name?
At least ninety percent of the scions throughout the capital would end up without military contributions their entire lives, and yet, the two of them had such a contribution under their names despite having never been to the battlefield. This was indeed something to celebrate over!
Just with this, their starting point would be much higher than the other scions in the capital. It might just be a small headstart, but like a rolling snowball, the momentum would swiftly build up, resulting in a widening gap between them and the others.
To use a simple example, after an astounding victory in a major battle, if a Five-Man Squad Leader and Ten-Man Squad Leader had participated in the battle, and assuming that they had performed equally well on the battlefield, who do you think would be deemed to have contributed more to the victory?
It might just be a small advantage at this point, but the benefits would gradually add up.
There was no scions in the capital who were unaware of this aspect.
And as for Zhang Lin, he was simply glad that his brothers who had died in battle would be honored and compensated like soldiers who had died in the front lines.
On this aspect, he was rather different from Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu.
”With this, they should be able to rest in peace.” Upon receiving this news, Wang Chong was gladdened.
He was still thinking that if the Bureau of Military Personnel refused to budge on this aspect, he would have to tap into his connections with King Song and his Big Uncle to make this matter happen, but it seemed like there was no need to do so.
Great Tang was in decline, but it had managed to uphold a decent level of fairness within the military.
”Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu, what do you intend to do next? Will you return to the capital, or will you push on?” At this moment, Wang Chong stepped forward and asked.
The area suddenly plunged into silence.
In the letter from the Bureau of Military Personnel, the group gathered here was offered two choices.
First, since two missions had been accomplished, and the four platoons had suffered a great deal of damage in the midst of eradicating Iron Cloak Li, the Bureau of Military Personnel had offered them the choice of returning to the capital and ending the mission now.
Second, due to urgent circumstances by the border, the Bureau of Military Personnel was tight on manpower at the moment. Thus, they needed every soldier they could get to support Longxi. If the group wished to, they could continue on and carry out the third mission to destroy the Tibetan troops which were gathered in the region.
As this would be a clash with an official army, danger was inevitable. If anything, it could even turn out to be more dangerous than the battle with Iron Cloak Li.
Thus, the suggestion by the Bureau of Military Personnel was for the four of them not to participate in the battle.
Nevertheless, if the four of them did choose to participate, the royal court would reward them by raising the cap on the number of soldiers they could have under their command by a grade after they graduated from the training camp and officially joined the military.
”Wang Chong, what about you? Will you return to the capital or push on with the third mission?” In response to Wang Chong's question, Xu Gan replied with another one of his own.
Huang Yongtu and Bai Siling also turned their gazes to Wang Chong as well, curious to see how he would respond.
After the incident with the Iron Cloak Highwaymen, while no one had said anything on the surface, unknowingly, they seemed to have come to a non-verbal consensus to regard Wang Chong as the leader of their group.