Sweep Yuan

Chapter 102 The Red Flag of the Battalion Finally Appears in the World

At the hour of Hai (9-11 PM), Xue Xian awoke from his coma and learned that he had returned to Hong County, which put his mind at ease.

Not long after, he heard from his personal guards that his men had been reprimanded by Shi Shan and none of them dared to bluff. He immediately sensed that something was wrong.

He had just woken up from serious injuries and was weak, but the situation in the city was delicate and he could not afford to recover slowly.

Xue Xian immediately ordered his guards to bring him wine and food, then lay down on the bed and ate three catties of boiled horse meat (from the warhorse that died in the Battle of Longwang Temple) in one go.

As he tore and chewed the horse meat, Xue Xian's back wound was aggravated, and blood began to seep out, but he stubbornly endured it with his bull-like physique and the pain-relieving effects of strong liquor.

After a hearty meal and some wine, feeling that he had regained some strength, Xue Xian sent someone to invite Shishan.

"Hahaha! I, Lao Xue, am alive again! Brother Shi, you're a true friend!"

His laughter was still hearty, but his weakened body due to his injury made Xue Xian sound somewhat weak.

The meaning of "loyal" in his words was clear to both parties, and Shishan did not mince words, directly stating his idea.

"Wuhe has just been captured, and the morale of the people in the city is unstable. The government troops of Sizhou may launch a counterattack at any time. My troops cannot stay away for long. I have decided to head south to Wuhe first thing tomorrow morning."

Hong County is in ruins, and there is no surplus food in the city, so it is no longer possible to station a large army. I plan to hand over Hong County to the Deng brothers to manage. Their troops are all locals, so it should not be difficult for them to establish themselves.

"Wanhu, is this arrangement acceptable?"

When Xue Xian arrived, he was full of ambition and wanted to conquer Sizhou and completely subdue Shishan with a great victory. However, due to his underestimation of the enemy and reckless advance, he was ambushed by the Tartars on the way, and his troops suffered heavy casualties.

Knowing his own situation, Xue Xian knew that although he had turned the tide, his confidence came from the fact that Deng Shunxing and Fu Youde's troops had stabilized his position. Otherwise, no matter how brave he was, he would have been defeated without a doubt.

Furthermore, if Shishan hadn't returned in time and forced Shenbao to retreat, he might have died under the walls of Hongxian City today.

Lao Xue isn't someone who can't accept defeat. He knows that circumstances are beyond his control, so he lets go when necessary.

“I trust Brother Shi to handle things. My injury probably won’t heal for another month or two, so I won’t stay in Hong County and get in the way. I’ll return to Lingbi tomorrow morning. If the rear army’s provisions can still be transported back to Hong County, please give them to Brother Deng as well.”

The rear army consisted of only a few hundred men, risking pursuit by government troops, and carrying a large number of laborers and provisions. It was uncertain whether they could make it back to Hong County. However, since Xue Xian was so sensible, Shishan had to show some consideration.

"Therefore, on behalf of Brother Deng and the people of Hong County, I thank Wan Hu for his great kindness!"

The next morning, the two armies broke camp, but this time it was Shishan who saw Xue Xian off.

After Xue Xian's troops had set off and gone far away, and Shi Shan returned to his headquarters, Li Wu approached him and said:

"If you ask me, we should detain these bastards so they'll learn what it means to get what they deserve!"

Shishan's advance was swift, Xue Xian severely damaged the government army's elite troops, and the government army's burning, killing, and looting after breaching the city greatly alienated the people. Furthermore, the city's defenses were damaged and not repaired in time. These four factors combined forced Shenbao, whose strength was still intact, to hastily withdraw his troops.

Otherwise, this battle would still be a long one.

Although Shishan disliked Xue Xian's cruelty, merits are merits and faults are faults. He did not expect that his generals would be so narrow-minded because of their factionalism.

"You think so too?"

Seeing that everyone was looking at him in the same direction as the garrison commander, Wu Liujin's cold face twitched for a few moments before he sighed and said:

"I won't lie to the garrison commander, if I had had the chance to kill Xue Xian half a month earlier, I really would have done it. But after seeing the atrocities the Tartars committed in Hong County these past few days, I think I've come to understand some of the important principles the garrison commander often talks about."

The Tartars are tyrannical and have brought calamity to the world. Many people want to rebel, but if we fight each other, or even attack one another, no matter how many people rebel, we will not be able to overthrow the Tartar court.

Wu Liujin was deep and perceptive, and he was able to restrain himself even when moved. Shishan did not believe that he would let go of his hatred so easily.

"Old Liang!"

"Ah I?"

Among Shi Shan's subordinates, the surrendered general Liang Zhongyi had an extremely low profile, so much so that when his name was mentioned, he didn't react for a moment.

"This humble general believes that rebellion is a matter of life and death. Only by winning can we have everything, and only by losing can we lose everything. If we suffer heavy losses in this battle, and Xue Wanhu's troops are still intact, I'm afraid he won't be as easy to talk to as he is now."

After witnessing Xue Xian's methods, Fang Zhongwen realized that the "Red Heart Camp" and the Xuzhou Red Turban Army were not the same force at all. Upon hearing Liang Zhongyi's words, he immediately thought of a problem that the "Red Heart Camp" urgently needed to solve.

"Zhenfu, our army has changed its uniforms and structure, and its appearance is already different from the other armies in Xuzhou. In fact, it is a separate unit."

Xue Wanhu retreated to Lingbi, and Hong County was ceded to Deng Dalang. Our army's connection with Xuzhou was thus severed. If Wuhe is besieged by government troops, there will likely be no reinforcements. Will we still be able to obey Xuzhou's orders in the future?

Upon hearing this, all the generals except Chen Cheng and Zhou Twelve, whose homes were in Xuzhou, were all delighted. They no longer found Fang Zhongwen, that corrupt official, so repulsive.

The "Red Heart Battalion" has been highly independent since its founding. The generals have always obeyed only Shi Shan's command and disregarded Xu Zhou's orders. All that was needed was for someone to break through this barrier.

Now that things have come to this, breaking away from Xuzhou is a natural progression. However, the generals' understanding of breaking away from Xuzhou differs from Shishan's. Li Wu was the first to express his opinion:

"That's right! Third Brother conquered two battlegrounds and three cities, and he only got a lowly position as a garrison commander. That good-for-nothing Han Si, and those Liu and Hu guys, they didn't achieve anything, yet they became generals. Why?!"

We've fought through fire and water, we don't owe Xuzhou a single thing, yet they attacked our Zhanchi and detained our people! Hongxian was well managed by Third Brother, but as soon as that scoundrel Xue Xian came, he lost it and killed so many people.

If it weren't for Third Brother's excellent planning, we would probably have already suffered a defeat and had our heads chopped off by the government troops. If you ask me, we should have changed our flag and name long ago, and Third Brother should have become a marshal, so we wouldn't have to endure this humiliation in Xuzhou anymore!

"Yes, with the garrison commander as marshal, we—"

As soon as Li Wu finished speaking, Wu Liujin echoed his opinion. Shi Shan was worried that if he didn't control the direction of the conversation, it would soon turn into the generals urging him to advance, so he quickly raised his hand to interrupt Wu Liujin.

"Our army is trapped in the small city of Wuhe and has no foundation to establish itself. To presume to call oneself a marshal would only make us a laughing stock. We will discuss this matter later."

Seeing that everyone wanted to persuade him further, Shishan changed the subject again:

"I ask you, the Ying, Xu, and Qi routes are thousands of miles apart, and within a few months they rebelled one after another without any unified command. Why did they all wear red turbans instead of yellow, green, or black turbans?"

This problem seems simple at first glance.

Rebellion is all about numbers and strength. The Qizhou rebels were the first to rebel in Macheng and made a name for themselves. They all wore red turbans. Later comrades followed suit and wore red turbans, not only to gain a sense of security by following the crowd, but also to distinguish friend from foe.

Historically, the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Red Eyebrows Rebellion also engaged in similar tactics.

However, Shishan asked about the symbolic meaning of the color of the "towel," rather than the "towel" itself, which made it difficult to answer.

After all, if it's just about distinguishing between friend and foe, it's fine to bring yellow turbans, green turbans, and black turbans.

Chen Cheng glanced at the brightly colored military uniforms worn by the soldiers, and recalling Shi Shan's often-cited words about righteousness, a sudden inspiration struck him.

"Is the commander trying to say that the 'red' scarf symbolizes overthrowing the barbarians and restoring the Han dynasty?"

"Yes."

Shi Shan nodded, confirming Chen Cheng's guess, and then told everyone about how he and Li Wu used Yang Chaolu's blood to dye the "red" handkerchiefs on the night Xuzhou fell.

"The Tartars seized the world and slaughtered countless people; they ruled the world and forced countless people to their deaths. The red of the 'red' scarf is the color of blood, the color of the Han people's blood. To drive out the barbarians and restore the Han is to use the blood of the Han people to shed the blood of the Tartars."

"We can unite with all those willing to shed blood for the great cause of expelling the barbarians and restoring the Han; those who act as accomplices to the tyrants and slaughter our righteous men who are dedicated to expelling the barbarians and restoring the Han, all righteous men under heaven should punish them."

While Chen Cheng was still pondering the deeper meaning of Fang Zhongwen's words, Fang Zhongwen had already become solemn.

Ishiyama's words not only clarified the "political line" of driving out the barbarians and restoring the Han dynasty, but also defined the struggle strategy of who to ally with and who to attack, which was much more sophisticated than simply distinguishing friend from foe based on the "Red Turbans".

Based on this alone, Shishan has already surpassed the leaders of other rebel armies by a great deal.

Ignoring the astonishment of the crowd, Fang Zhongwen immediately knelt in the muddy snow and bowed deeply, saying:
"With the heart of a general who will drive out the barbarians and restore the Han, Zhongwen is willing to follow him to the death!"

Shi Shan secretly praised Fang Zhongwen, saying that he was indeed a seasoned official. His keen insight and shameless manner were something that most people could not learn. He quickly stepped forward to help Fang Zhongwen up, giving him a chance to make a contribution.

"Since you've mentioned our army's uniform reforms, you must also have some ideas about our battalion's name, right?"

The name "Red Heart Battalion" originated from Zhao Junyong, and its purpose was to warn Shishan that the Red Heart would be utterly loyal to Marshal Li.

The late Yuan Dynasty was not the late Han Dynasty; the old system of ruler-subject relations had long lost its binding force.

Today, Shishan has no psychological burden about separating from Xuzhou, but it is not appropriate to use the name "Red Heart Camp" for its independent development in the future.

Fang Zhongwen initially wanted to suggest the "Red Robe Army," but many new recruits in the ranks were not yet wearing red robes, and Shi Shan's explicit mention of the "camp name" clearly indicated that even after establishing their own independent force, they would still use the red turban as their military name to avoid being targeted by the Yuan court. Therefore, he said:
"How about naming the battalion Red Flag?"

"Red Flag Battalion?"

Shi Shan sighed inwardly, realizing that his life was now trapped in the dark and chaotic late Yuan Dynasty, a time from which there was no going back. This red flag was not the same as the one he remembered; it was merely a name. He could only hope that he could bring light and hope to this world in the future.

"it is good!"

Li Wu recalled that he had declared in Zhao Junyong's camp that he would "be the flag bearer for Third Brother," and not wanting Fang Zhongwen, that corrupt official, to steal the limelight, he immediately stepped forward and carried the red banner.

"Third Brother, I'll lead the flag for you!"

……

P.S.: There were three updates today, all of which have been posted. Please don't wait.

I will update twice a day from now on, with 6000+ words each time. I will be careful with my words and my typing speed will be slow, so please forgive me.

(End of this chapter)