Chapter 157 Forced March (2/2)

”Alright, I'll do something to help the soldiers.”

Tong thought of a herb that could relieve the muscle pain and boost a bit of their morale. He snapped his fingers.

”[Create Food], peppermint leaves.”

A gigantic pile of green mint leaves appeared on the empty ground. The thick soothing aroma of mint made the soldiers looked at Tong with great attention.

”You there, take these leaves and distribute to everyone. For starter, crush a few of these leaves and rub it on your sore muscles or feet. If you have times, boil these leaves with water and fill your canteen with it. They can be used as a herbal tea! You can also rub your swollen feet with the leaves or the tea to ease the pain.”

Soldiers, who could still walk, rushed in and took as many leaves they could with their clothes. Once they got back to their friends in the same platoon, they crushed the leaves as instructed.

Cooling aroma spread all over. The soldiers instinctively inhaled the smell as it soothed their spirit.

Some managed to gather enough strength to gather woods and boil water. They threw the leaves into the boiling water, and more mint aroma intensified.

Jia Xu also sobered from the intense mint smell. He also took two handfuls of leaves for himself to boil a tea.

”Ah, it feels so good.”

”Wow, it's cold.”

The effect began to show. Soldiers lied down on the ground and were calmed by the smell. It did not take long for them to fall asleep.

”We're not patrolling or guarding at all, huh?” Tong bemused.

”You have the sight of the gods. You can take the role as a sentry if you want to.” Jia Xu muttered and returned to sleep.

It would be a lie if Tong said he was not tired. He also lied down on his back and looked at his radar map.

The 24 hours forced march showed a result as they had traveled 60km south in a day instead of the regular marching of 15 to 20km a day.

In the regular marching, they wore armors and carried their own weapons. They had to construct a camp before the sunset, arrange sentries, and protect the provision logistic wagons along the way. Furthermore, the roads were scarce and they were not paved in cement. The army sometimes had to trek over obstacles, such as farmlands and forests, which slowed down their paces.

Without any of the task in this journey and the entire day of non-stop walking, they moved three times faster.

In Tong's radar map, Ye City was only 80 kilometers away. A few more days of a regular marching would be more than enough.

'So this is why Julius Caesar often forced marched his troops. This swift movement distance comparing with the time consumed is insane!'

'The quality of my soldiers aren't at that level yet. Julius Caesar did 140km a day without a system cheat while we can barely make 60km.'

'Our movement speed is still too slow comparing to those legends.'

'We don't have roads like theirs. I'll pave roads and connect all of my cities in the future.'

…

September 4th. 6 PM.

Tong Army arrived at Ye Commandery territory. Jia Xu picked a spot 10km away from the city wall to settle the headquarters camp.

”Make camp and rest here for tonight! Tomorrow, we'll enter Ye City.!”

For the first time of the forced march, Jia Xu ordered the troops to make camp. The moment his order sounded, most soldiers collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. A few top elites managed to stay awake and helped each other making a camp.

At the third night of the mobilization, Jia Xu made the troops marched through the night and the next day without resting. All meals were created by Tong which he created small dumplings and passed them to his soldiers, so they could eat it as they were marching.

Though the soldiers managed to get a good sleep on the second day, their leg muscle pain was unbearable to them. Even though the peppermint decreased their suffering, the pain from their blistered feet got more severe.

Tong breathed a sigh of relief after he checked his map. Finished counting his troops, only 5,000 men fell behind because they were too weak and could not catch up with the rest.

25,000 Men managed to last this far, which was more than Tong's initial expectation.

Jia Xu was surprised as well. He thought that there should have been less than 20,000 after a forced march. Moreover, no one deserted even though he had given them a harsh treatment. The 5,000 men, which fell behind, still had not given up following the main troops. Though they were slow, they were only 10km away from the tail of the marching army.

The disciplinary and the strength of these men were extraordinary!

Then Jia Xu was reminded about the perks of being soldiers in Julu.

'Good food, good wage, and a life insurance.'

'What a nasty combination of carrot and stick management.'

The families of any soldier of Julu who fell in the battle would be compensated with the soldier's 2 years worth of salaries. Even the lowest rank of footman reserve had a monthly wage of 100 coins or one-tenth of a tael of gold. Two years of salary would worth 2 gold and 400 coins, which would be more than enough for the family to last for another decade if they were to continue living in Julu.

As such, no one dared to desert or leave behind such generous paychecks.