The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 166 They Won’t Get Reinforcements

Wu Jialiang is preparing to go to war, and the composition of the troops under his command is very complicated.

First of all, there were more than 300 archers from good families that he recruited personally, and among these archers, 200 had agreed to "change careers" to "regular troops."

Before the last attack on the gold mine, Yue Wenxuan possessed Zhao Zai and personally promised that he could receive a salary of five strings of cash if he became a regular soldier.

The archers went home and thought, what can they do to earn more than this? So, a few days later, they ran to Wu Jialiang and expressed their willingness to serve as "regular soldiers".

Wu Jialiang was naturally very happy, but after the joy he began to worry again.

How could the three words "regular army" be so easy to come by? He was just a county lieutenant, so how could he have the qualifications to promise them regular troops? Not only could the county lieutenant not do that, even the county magistrate couldn't do that, not even the prefect or the governor had the authority to do that.

These people could not join the Imperial Guards, and even the Guards could not join.

embarrassed!

How can we talk about formality if we have no name or status?
Wu Jialiang had no choice but to ask Zhao Zai for instructions.

Yue Wenxuan thought of a lot of nice names, such as "Protect the Country" and "Save the Country", but he didn't dare to use them randomly, for fear that they would be censored because they had the same name as a certain unit. So he had to give them a new name, called "Protect the King's Army".

So, among the more than 300 archers led by Wu Jialiang, more than 200 of them became the royal guards and served as full-time soldiers, while the other more than 100 continued to be archers and would go back to farm after the battle.

Under his command was Guan Sheng, the Great Swordsman, who led the fifty imperial guards who had joined him when the gold mines were last recovered. Initially, these guards were weak in combat, as the Song Dynasty had been weak for many years, and they had become transport troops. But after several months of training, they were now somewhat resilient.

In addition, there were bandits who joined the anti-Jin forces at Fan Wen's call.

It turned out that after the last defeat of the Laiyang bandits, the leader of the bandits was killed by Houyi, and there was no big brother with strong appeal in the underworld. The second in command, Yu Fanwen, became the most prestigious person in Jimo and Laiyang counties.

He stood up and raised his arms, urging the bandits to follow him, turn over a new leaf and kill the Jin bandits.

This call actually had some effect. Those small gangs of bandits had been forced into a desperate situation by Wu Jialiang, the rebel army, and the Ma family. Seeing that they could no longer survive, they simply took this opportunity to become regular people. After all, "accepting the amnesty" was the final destination of every bandit. Taking this opportunity, avoiding detours and going straight to the destination of life, turning over a new leaf and becoming good people from then on, was also a good thing, wasn't it?

There were quite a few people in this group, and soon they gathered more than 300 people. All of them were desperate criminals. They fought very hard and were not afraid of death. The only problem was that their military discipline and regulations were very poor.

Wu Jialiang used the method taught by Qi Jiguang and strictly enforced military discipline for several months before he was able to make this group of people look a little more organized.

Adding all these miscellaneous people together, Wu Jialiang had a total of 800 soldiers under his command.

This force is not too many, but it is not too few either.

It is enough to assist the main force in combat and to strike the enemy's flanks.

The prince has ordered that firearms cannot be used in this battle for the time being, and they are only allowed to be used against the real gold thieves.

Wu Jialiang certainly understood the logic behind this; keeping the new weapon secret was paramount, so he dutifully complied. But just in case, he had to bring his firearm. I could do without it, but I had to carry it with me, ensuring I had a trump card to use in desperate situations.

"Wrap it up, wrap it up!" Wu Jialiang shouted loudly, and the few dozen or so musket-wielding soldiers under his command wrapped their muskets in at least three layers of linen, making them resemble long swords. They slung them on their backs, looking like wandering knights. The tiger squat cannons received the same treatment, wrapped in multiple layers of cloth, tightly wrapped.

Some regular bandits saw this scene and became dissatisfied, muttering quietly: "We obviously have powerful firearms, why don't we use them? Isn't this putting us at risk?"

"You know nothing." Yu Fanwen punched him. "You showed your cards when you were fighting the fake gold thieves. Aren't the real gold thieves on guard? Firearms are powerful, but if the real gold thieves are on guard, it's not easy to hit them. Take me for example. If I go into battle now and see my opponent holding an iron stick with smoke coming out of it, do you think I'll still charge in? I'll dodge a shot from a bird gun, rush in close, and chop you off with two cuts. No, one cut is enough for you, you son of a bitch."

He had a high prestige in the underworld, and after a few punches, no one dared to fight back. The regular bandits were also willing to listen and were convinced.

Eight hundred men left Jimo County without any provisions or fodder. The heaviest items in their group were two 36-jin (approximately catties) tiger squat cannons. They ran at breakneck speed.
-
Two days passed by in a flash.

The last time Baliyuanshan arrived outside Jiaoshui City, he immediately attacked the city without even waiting for a night.

But this time they were much more cautious. They had been camping for two days and had not attacked. They were still building siege weapons.

So, there is no such thing as maturity at a young age. All stability is gained through suffering.

If you meet a young man who is very steady and flawless in his conduct, it can only be said that he has been badly beaten by society since he was a child.

He was so stable that the rebels could not launch a surprise attack on him. The small team Zhang Yong led out of the city to harass was always discovered by the Khitan scouts early and could not achieve any results.

Of course, the Khitan scouts did not dare to go too far away from the camp. As long as they left the camp for a distance, they might encounter the terrible "black-helmeted, black-armored monster". Even a fierce general like Bali Yuanshan would be defeated in one move when he saw the "black-helmeted, black-armored monster" and would flee quickly, not to mention other people.

Bali Yuanshan was standing on the arrow tower of the camp at this time...

Now he didn't even dare to go out as a scout himself, so he just stayed in the city. There was no way that the monster in the black helmet and armor could rush into the village.

The deputy general of the Tieli tribe stood next to Baliyuanshan with a serious expression on his face.

The deputy general's name was Lu Yuantiao, and he was Bali Yuanshan's trusted and beloved general.

Many, many years ago, the Tieli Kingdom was a vassal state of the Liao Kingdom. Later, the Jin people came and destroyed both the Liao Kingdom and the Tieli Kingdom. Everyone was a slave of a conquered nation, so no one laughed at each other and just huddled together for warmth. Lu Yuantiao clung to Bali Yuanshan's thigh and continued to live a carefree life relying on his former suzerain.

Lu Yuantiao whispered, "General, our camp is now firmly established, but our scouts can't go far, and the defenders who are a little further away can't detect us, so we can easily be surrounded by the enemy."

Bali Yuanshan said helplessly, "Of course I know this, but there's nothing I can do."

Lu Yuan jumped: "..."

Bali Yuanshan: "Luckily, the bandits here are just a lone force. It's unlikely they'll get reinforcements, so we won't be surrounded."

Lu Yuantiao nodded. Indeed, the bandits in Jiaoshui County should be just like the bandits in Wuma Mountain. They are an isolated army. Without the support of the Song Dynasty court, it is unlikely that they will receive reinforcements.

(End of this chapter)