Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 115: Change Li to Army

All the troops of Chishan were led out by Tang Yan, and the defense was extremely weak, so it was quickly occupied by Zhai Xun.

The same was true for Hengshan. Although the garrison was larger than that of Chishan, its defenders had been released by Zhai Xun and were grateful. Zhai Xun sent someone to persuade them to surrender, and the man immediately chose to surrender with his troops.

In this way, the two mountains of Chiheng were completely recovered by Zhai Xun.

On the other side, in the battle of Chiheng and Lishui, due to the death of Zhu San, the Hengshan bandits were leaderless and were quickly defeated by Tang Yan.

The Hengshan bandits fled to Hengshan.

Tang Yan chased all the way.

However, when the Hengshan bandits arrived in Hengshan, what they saw was the flag of the Huaiyin Army.

The Hengshan bandits were now cornered, with Tang Yan's troops chasing them from behind and the mountain gate in front of them occupied. Zhai Xun sent people to persuade them to surrender. Many of the Hengshan bandits had received favors from Zhai Xun and were now cornered, so they knelt down and surrendered.

Tang Yan quickly brought people to chase after them.

Zhai Xun relied on Hengshan to defend and commanded the troops in an orderly manner. Tang Yan led his men to attack three times in one day but failed to break through.

The next day, bad news came from Tang Yan's rear that Chishan was occupied by the Huaiyin army.

The stronghold was destroyed and the morale of the Chishan bandits dropped sharply.

Zhai Xun took the opportunity to attack, with 1,500 Huaiyin soldiers as the core, and ordered more than 10,000 surrendered soldiers from Hengshan to attack the Chishan bandits in the name of revenge for Zhu San.

Tang Yan's morale was low; Zhai Xun's morale was high.

Tang Yan was exhausted from the conquest; Zhai Xun was waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out.

Tang Yan knew nothing about military formations; Zhai Xun was well-versed in military books.

Tang Yan's equipment was outdated; Zhai Xun's weapons were sophisticated.

Tang Yan had four defeats and Zhai Xun had four victories. How could Tang Yan be the opponent?
As soon as the two armies came into contact, Tang Yan was at an immediate disadvantage. Less than a quarter of an hour after the battle, Tang Yan's army began to collapse.

Zhai Xun pursued the enemy in victory, and Tang Yan led his troops to flee for 68 miles, all the way to Baishan Town, where he led more than a thousand remaining soldiers to hide in Xiaobai Mountain to save his life.

At this time, the confidant Wei Xing said:
"Since ancient times, victors are kings and losers are bandits. Your Majesty has been defeated so badly. If you can judge by your blood, you will still be a hero. Why do you hide and run away like a rat?"

After saying this, he cut off Tang Yan's head with a single blow and led his troops to surrender.

Once the two biggest bandit problems in Chishan and Hengshan were eliminated, the bandit problem in the entire Jinling area was also cleared. Zhai Xun then gathered the remaining soldiers in the two mountains and advanced all the way, using bandits to fight bandits with their own strength. Most of the bandits surrendered upon seeing the enemy coming.

In more than a month, the bandit problem in Nanjing was basically eliminated.

After consulting Fang Yong in a letter, Zhai Xun ordered the eradication of the bandit problem.

Among them, those who committed serious crimes such as murder, arson, and rape would be beheaded.

Those who committed minor crimes such as theft and injury had their noses and ears cut off and were forced to do hard labor as punishment.

In addition, some people who had made contributions, such as Wei Xing, were exempted from punishment.

In the end, the bandit problem in Nanjing was completely eliminated.

This time, Zhai Xun gathered a total of 22,601 brave and combat-savvy soldiers.

After he reported the matter to Fang Yong, Fang Yong was overjoyed. He formed a separate army of more than 22,000 people and appointed Zhai Xun as the general. He also personally named the three words "Zhu Xin Jun", which means to forge a sword and be reborn, and to change one's heart.

Afterwards, Fang Yong ordered Zhai Xun to lead the Zhuxin Army to Chuzhou to support the subsequent plan to attack Hefei and Chaozhou.

That’s why the previous scene happened.

After Zhai Xun rushed to Chuzhou and learned about the difficulties Fang Yong was currently facing, he immediately took over the matter and offered a plan.

Stealing the sky and changing the day, changing Li into a military!
After listening to the details, Fang Yong was amazed at Zhai Xun's boldness and admired his talent.

Fang Yong asked himself that in terms of talent and intelligence, he was not as good as Wu Yuan, Xue Ao, Zhai Xun and others, and might not even be as good as Jia Yucun.

In terms of military tactics and martial arts, if he didn't have a system, he would not be a match for Gan Ba, Zhang Yuan, Ma Laohei, Niu Jin and others.

Even if he could rely on the power of the system to seize the world, he still had to rely on these subordinates if he wanted to govern it properly.

Afterwards, Fang Yong agreed to let Zhai Xun be responsible for the victims.

Zhai Xun's plan needed to be kept secret, so Fang Yong convened a high-level meeting and only summoned his trusted subordinates to discuss cooperation with Zhai Xun's actions.

Soon, Ma Laohei, Niu Jin, Li Sheng, Wu Yuan and others arrived. Zhai Xun was in charge of presiding over the meeting, while Baoer and Li Chou were guarding the meeting door outside.

Now, just over a month has passed, and compared to before, Zhai Xun is now full of energy, holding his head high and looking very confident.

The elderly Wu Yuan looked at the young man. He felt a vague sense of threat from him, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Facing everyone, Zhai Xun slowly told them his plan.

He actually wants to take the people with him on the march!

Before Zhai Xun finished his plan, Wu Yuan directly refuted:

"It is absolutely not advisable to march with civilians!"

“First, the common people will be a burden if they drag their families, the elderly and the young, with them on the march.”

"Secondly, the civilians have never been trained and do not know military orders. If we march with the civilians, if we encounter a surprise attack, the army will be in chaos, resulting in a great defeat for our army!"

"Third, if we carry the civilians with us during the march, the enemy will use the civilians as a threat and attack them. Our army will be in a dilemma. If we advance, we will fall into the enemy's trap. If we retreat, we will lose our reputation. How should we choose? This is a big mistake and is not advisable!"

Zhai Xun smiled faintly upon hearing this, without any hesitation, and asked Wu Yuan:

"May I ask the military advisor, what is the best way to use troops?"

Wu Yuan replied: "Attack the heart first!"

Zhai Xun said:

"The best way to use troops is to attack the heart. The governor of Huizhou is a fugitive dog. The officials of Chaozhou and Hefei saw Chuzhou under siege but did not help. They are cowards who defend themselves. When these scumbags heard that our army of millions of lions was marching forward, how dare they resist? Why don't they surrender the city as soon as possible?"

Wu Yuan retorted: "Where does the million come from..."

He was halfway through his words when he froze.

He looked at Zhai Xun, sat back down, remained silent for a while, and said, as if unwilling to admit defeat, "This is a risky move."

Zhai Xun added: "Our army is in front, and the people are behind; we march along the official roads, which is upright; we recruit the people as soldiers, and if they volunteer to join the army, we will not lose the reputation of the general."

Wu Yuan remained silent for a long time, unable to refute, and only said: "It's feasible."

Seeing that Wu Yuan was convinced, the other generals had nothing to say.

The next day, Zhai Xun took the seal of the commander-in-chief and ascended the stairs to take office.

The sword points at the victims and turns into armor, and the wise lord helps me rise to the sky!
The military order was issued and announced to the people.

The common people were recruited to join the army. Those who were willing could join the army and go to Chaozhou and Hefei. Although there was no salary, they could be allocated land to farm and each person was given a small amount of military rations. Those who were unwilling could do what they wanted.

The people have nothing, so they are naturally willing.

Zhai Xun then ordered his men to distribute military uniforms. The Huaiyin Army uniforms had a black waist with red shoulders, and a piece of red cloth wrapped around the head.

Since there were not enough military uniforms, Zhai Xun ordered his men to dye various old cloths and clothes to replace them.

Although it can't last long, it can last for a while.

Within a few days, an army of 300,000 was assembled!

Zhai Xun grouped his fellow townsmen into one group, with the one with high moral character and prestige as the leader.

The old, the young, the women and the children were in the center of the army, while the young and strong were outside the army.

The young and strong outside were holding old knives and guns, while the old and young inside were holding shovels and sticks.

They trained the troops for another three days, only practicing advancing and retreating.

They advanced when they heard the drum and stopped when they heard the horn. Those who disobeyed the order would be beheaded, and all fellow villagers would be punished. After three days, the 300,000-strong army could move freely.

Three days later, the army practiced marching outside the city, advancing and retreating in an orderly manner.

Fang Yong took Wu Yuan, who was a little angry, to the city wall to watch. After seeing it, Wu Yuan was shocked.

He exclaimed: "This is truly the talent of a commander!"

Fang Yong laughed inwardly and asked, "Yuan Hao is not angry anymore?"

(End of this chapter)