C6 Nocturnal Galloping

Night.

The moonlight shone like water.

Kong Sheng was dressed in a chainmail and holding his own helmet, he quietly looked at his several hundred subordinates sitting cross-legged in front of him. No matter if it was the heavy-armored knight with a face full of heroic spirit, or the tender Apprentice Knight behind them, all of them were the elites of the empire. Especially the Apprentice Knight, they were mostly the descendants of noble families, and being willing to give up their luxurious clothes and food to go train in the army was already quite an impressive thing. To be fair, if there was a rich and powerful old man here, he wouldn't have gone to the Imperial Military Academy to take the exam, joined them, and ran over to the Three Phoenix Trials to earn some experience. Who doesn't want to live a comfortable life in luxury?

But it was only until he joined Fire Phoenix Army that Kong Sheng understood the intentions of these people; it was for their honor and dignity. Those who were willing to join Fire Phoenix Army, even if it meant mixed military achievements, would still risk their lives. They wouldn't casually stay for a few years, and they wouldn't be able to coat themselves with gold. They were all aristocratic families in the Empire, and there was not much point in competing in power and wealth. What they wanted to compete in now was honor. Whether or not he could protect the honor of his family was a matter that would affect the honor of his entire family!

Different from the ordinary local army, none of the officers and soldiers of the Fire Phoenix Army were willing to stay in the imperial city. Even if he took off the heavy armor s that he inherited from his clan and took out the waist knives that he was not good at fighting against those smelly and ferocious Demonic Beast, it would be better than guarding the entrance of the Her Majesty's palace as a high-ranked servant.

When money, status, and power were no longer important, glory would be the final dignity of the children from influential families. It was precisely because of this that Fire Phoenix Army relied on willpower and equipment to become the number one fighting strength in the Empire, which was able to fight head on against the Moqiu State heavy infantry!

Kong Sheng cleared his throat and said with a clear voice, "Tonight, we are going on a mission that requires almost certain death. Everyone should know that Lan Yue and Yang had lost contact for a long time, and the fate of thousands of her comrades could not be determined. Now that the Commander Elder Shi has brought reinforcements, although there aren't many of them, we can at least take a breather now. Let the brothers of Border Army do that kind of thing. Our Fire Phoenix Army cannot rest because there are still two brothers of Border Army waiting for us! If we do not save them, they can only wait for their deaths. "

Speaking till here, Kong Sheng took a deep breath, and looked straight at his subordinates, around 300 Knights sat quietly, no one said a word, no one moved, they only looked back at Kong Sheng with fighting spirit.

Kong Sheng nodded, and continued, "In the battle the day before yesterday, we lost over 20 brothers, although our hearts ached, but we still earned honor and glory for their family. Tonight's battle will be more brutal than it was the day before. We have to go deep into the heart of the enemy, and fierce battles are inevitable, and we may even be besieged. I have discussed it with Chen Chu, each of us will only bring 100 people this time, and we will be willing to register, for the Knights and Apprentice Knight to participate. However, there is one condition, and that is that an only child cannot join. "

"My lord, I protest!" Before Kong Sheng even finished his sentence, a young knight stood up.

Kong Sheng looked at him and calmly asked: "Captain Qu, what can I do for you?"

The eyes of the captain of the third Phoenix City Pass squad, Qu Feizhi, almost popped out. "Master, I don't understand, why only children can't participate in this battle?"

Kong Sheng lowered his head slightly, and said while muttering to himself, "Captain Qu, compared to the honor of our family, I want to continue the bloodline of your family, which is also a very important matter."

Qu Feizhi squinted his eyes: "Does Lord Kong not care about martial arts, and want to drag me down?"

"Little Qu!" Shut up! Apologize to the Lord! " This time, before Kong Sheng could reply, a burly man with a martial spirit stood up not far from Qu Feizhi, and immediately berated him. Then, the big sized man cupped his fists towards Kong Sheng and bowed, "Please forgive me Lord Kong.

Kong Sheng smiled, then waved his hand at the big sized man: "Captain Ling looks out for me, I understand Captain Qu wants to fight, I won't take offense."

As for Qu Feizhi, he was still standing there with his head held high. Although he did not say anything else, he did not have the intention to apologize to Kong Sheng. This was already an extremely rare occurrence in Fire Phoenix Army where honour and obedience were regarded as heaven's duties.

Kong Sheng actually understood what he was thinking in his heart. Although Qu Feizhi's surname was Qu, his bloodline was far from that of the empire's Venerable family and the powerful and influential Master Qu Xiang. Other than having the same surname, it was already considered good that he had one percent of the Qu family's bloodline left. Qu Feizhi's family could only be considered as a branch of the Qu Family. His father died and only managed to get the viscount title. To Qu Feizhi, the viscount had become a baron, which meant that he was at the bottom in terms of nobility. If Qu Feizhi were to continue like this, in his son's generation, he probably wouldn't even deserve the title of "Lord".

The disciples of Aristocratic Family who were in decline, especially those who were related to the fact that they had some blood in their veins, would often have an especially strong sense of pride, desperately trying to prove themselves to the people who were supposed to be the heirs of the main bloodline. This was also the most basic motivation why Qu Feizhi wanted to fight.

Kong Sheng ignored him, and said with a clear voice, "Now, my only son, please stand!"

Following a burst of clattering sounds, more than thirty people stood up and looked at Kong Sheng with unwillingness. Kong Sheng also did not say anything, but smiled as he looked at his subordinates who were still seated, and casually pointed at them a few times: "You ~ ~ You ~ ~ All of you ~ ~ Stand up! It's fine if you usually lie to your father and drink wine, but now you want to trick me again? "

In one breath, he had ordered over twenty people out. Then, with a smile, he said, "Don't let me order them. I'm a little counting myself." If you don't take the initiative anymore, I will lock you up for three days! "

With an unconvinced sigh, another thirty people stood up and retreated to the back. There were originally two to three hundred people in the formation, but now there were only half of them left.

Kong Sheng then said, "Those under three years of age, step forward!"

This time around, more than twenty people had left, and no one had any objections. Nobility Clan's disciples could join the Fire Phoenix Army at the age of 18. They could only be released after being placed in the palace for one year as new recruits. In terms of Fire Phoenix Army, a three year soldier was equivalent to a new recruit. No one would be willing to bring a few new recruits with them during an assault like this.

Kong Sheng looked at the hundred over people still sitting in front of him, and nodded his head in satisfaction. The majority of the people in front of him were heavy-armored knight, and there was even a small number of Apprentice Knight who had so much experience but could not accumulate any merits. He raised his head and looked at Qu Feizhi who was still standing there in a daze, and asked: "Lord Qu? Do you still want to persevere? "

Kindness does not control the soldiers, goodness does not manage the finances. Kong Sheng's tone was filled with dissatisfaction, if everyone made a ruckus like Qu Feizhi, how could he lead his troops in the future?

Qu Feizhi's face was flushed red, he suddenly took out a dagger from his waist, and stabbed it into his own neck, then roared at Kong Sheng: "Lord Kong! If you don't have any military merits, you might as well die! "

"Bastard!" The third troop leader of Phoenix City Pass, Ling Yan rushed over, and smashed Qu Feizhi to the ground with a punch, then pointed at him and roared, "Qu Feizhi! Second Imperial Military Discipline, whoever disobeys the order, behead! The seventh Imperial Military Discipline, whoever threatened the leader, behead! Are you trying to rebel?! "

Qu Feizhi covered his swollen face, and silently crawled up from the ground. In a few steps, he walked to Kong Sheng and knelt down on one knee: Lord Kong, please allow me to go up and kill the enemy!

Kong Sheng smiled bitterly at Ling Yan. This brat did it on purpose, he had reported the Imperial Military Discipline in advance, what was he to do now? Was he really going to pull Qu Feizhi down and kill him? After thinking about it for a while, Kong Sheng said to Ling Yan with a serious face, "Captain Ling, Lord Qu is your soldier. He committed a wrong move, and even as an officer, you still have a responsibility. Even if we manage to escape with our first slash, we won't be able to escape with thirty to fifty military sticks! "

His tone was sharp and no one dared to speak up for a while. Even the previously aggressive Ling Yan also lowered his head in silence. His subordinate, the captain of his squad, had openly threatened the White Feather Battalion Commander.

Kong Sheng took a deep breath and continued, "Now that the Phoenix City Pass is so heavy, killing the two of you would be an advantage for me. Ling Yan, listen up! "

"This lowly general is here!" Ling Yan hurriedly knelt on one knee and bowed his head to obey the order …

"Your Department's Lord Qu Feizhi has openly disobeyed orders, threatening your commander, press the Imperial Military Discipline s to cut him down! In this battle, however, the beheading was unlucky. He had taken away Sir Qu Feizhi's military position, making meritorious deeds! If he won this battle, he could make up for it. If we fail to win this battle, according to the rules, Master Qu Feizhi's actions will cause you to be held accountable for your incompetence! "This order!" Kong Sheng's voice was extremely stern.

"Honorable General, please bring the military order!" Ling Yan's head was lowered. Qu Feizhi did not even say anything else and started to kowtow continuously. Although Kong Sheng's words were harsh, but he had agreed to it. At the same time, he also hit Ling Yan with his hand, causing the other two Company Leaders to not dare to make a sound. If his thirty military sticks hit the ground, it would be better to just chop them into pieces.

An hour later, old commander Shi Keren stood in front of the Castellan Mansion steps and raised his cup to pay his respects to the two hundred over Knights in front of him. I wish everyone success and victory at the start! " With that said, old commander raised the cup with both hands and gulped down the remaining white wine in the cup.

Under Kong Sheng's and Chen Chu's lead, the 200 plus men of Fire Phoenix Army raised their cups and returned the greetings, and drank it all in one gulp. Then, they mounted their horses and went out of the Phoenix City Pass through the east and west small doors respectively.

This time, what Kong Sheng requested was speed, all of them were not wearing heavy armor s, they were wearing light clothing, they were wrapped in horses' hooves, and they were wearing Ouroboros. For this reason, they had especially donned bow decked with horn of an animal s, and from the Border Army, he picked out four local soldiers to serve as guides.

It was deep in the night, and it was the time when one was the most tired and the weakest. Kong Sheng rode on his horse, narrowed his eyes and sized up the demon camp that was not far away with sparse light, and wordlessly stretched out his right hand and waved it forward with force.

The hundred plus Fire Phoenix Knight who had managed to mount and escape the heavy armor were like a bunch of black clouds, borrowing the cover of the night to fly towards the tent.