I want to ruin the country

Zeng Zhenfan breathed a sigh of relief. The emperor finally took action!

Since the emperor has made up his mind, what else can they say? Just do it.

Zeng Zhenfan gathered together Guangdong Governor Huang Sitong, Guangxi Governor Zheng Zuchen, Guangzhou General Fu Hai, Guangdong Admiral, Guangxi Admiral, Luo Shixin, An Yiquan, and Cai Hemin to hold a bandit suppression meeting.

The content of the meeting was very simple, which was to compile statistics on the basic situation of bandit forces of all sizes in Guangdong and Guangxi and assign tasks.

Zeng Zhenfan distributed it this way.

In Guangxi, Luo Shixin and An Yiquan were sent with the First Army to wipe out a large group of bandits.

Zeng Zhenfan and Cai Hemin were responsible for eliminating large groups of bandits in Guangdong.

The Governor of Guangdong was responsible for suppressing small gangs of bandits within the country and for encircling the periphery to prevent the bandits from escaping the country.

The Admiral of Guangxi and the Admiral of Guangdong Navy were responsible for combating pirates and clearing out small gangs of bandits within their respective jurisdictions.

They are also responsible for monitoring fishing boats and keeping a strict watch to prevent the defeated bandits from escaping by sea.

There are more than 60,000 Green Camp soldiers in Guangxi, so it is easy to deal with small groups of bandits.

The Governor of Guangdong has 80,000 Green Camp soldiers under his command, which is more than enough to fight the bandits.

The two governors of Guangdong and Guangxi were responsible for logistical support.

At the end of the meeting, Zeng Zhenfan said,

"Everyone, although we have a division of labor, we must not be bound by it, but must work together.

Our ultimate goal is to catch all the bandits in one fell swoop.

Cracking down on bandits is a big deal, and maintaining local public security is no small matter either.

The emperor’s meaning is very clear, do not give evil forces an environment to grow and opportunities to take root!

In fact, everyone knows who is the umbrella for the evil forces. The emperor also said that it is the local officials!

Therefore, from now on, whenever there are evil forces in any place, the local officials will be held accountable!

Those who condone evil will be dismissed and investigated!

Anyone who colludes with evil forces will be beheaded!

Therefore, suppressing bandits and eradicating evil forces are the same thing. It takes a thousand days to raise an army, but only a moment to deploy it. Don't let the emperor down!"

The Governor of Guangdong said,

"Marshal Zeng, I heard the new army has some powerful firearms. I wonder if you could share some with us!"

Zeng Zhenfan looked at Luo Shixin. He was not sure how many new weapons they had and whether they were enough, so he had to see what Luo Shixin thought.

"Chief of Staff, look at that!"

Luo Shidao believes,

"Yes, we share the same hatred and these firearms are very useful, so let's share some among ourselves.

It’s just that there aren’t many new firearms, so we might not be able to satisfy everyone!”

Everyone knows the power of new weapons, and the new army is the main force in suppressing bandits, so they have to fight a decisive battle.

It would be good enough if we could spare some for them, how much more can we expect?

On the battlefield, weapons are life. What does it matter if we don’t give them to them?

Luo Shixin said again,

"My lords, please immediately select your smartest soldiers to come here and learn how to use firearms. There is still half a month before the war begins, which is plenty of time!"

Everyone stood up to express their gratitude!

"Chief of Staff Luo is a man of high moral character. I admire him!"

Luo Shixin saluted.

"For the sake of the court and the emperor, Luo dare not have any selfish motives!"

Next comes the preparations before departure.

It is summer now and the weather is hot. Guangxi is mountainous, and the climate is even more humid and sultry.

In addition to the necessities for fighting, various medicines to prevent mosquito bites and insect bites and prevent miasma should also be prepared.

After half a month of intensive preparation, the logistical support is basically in place.

Luo Shixin bid farewell to Zeng Zhenfan and An Yiquan and led the First Army to Guangxi.

Guangxi is known as the Ten Thousand Mountains, with rugged terrain and tough folk customs. At the beginning of the founding of New China, suppressing bandits in Guangxi was also a top priority of the People's Liberation Army.

Someone once calculated that the total population of Guangxi at that time was 15 million, and there were more than 510,000 bandits, which means that one in every 30 people had been a bandit.

You can imagine how serious the situation is.

The situation is similar now. It may seem an exaggeration to say that there are bandits everywhere, but it is an indisputable fact that some big hills are occupied by bandits.

According to intelligence from the Guangxi governor, there are two largest bandit gangs in Guangxi.

One group is Zheng Sanpao from Dayao Mountain, and the other is Wang Yuegui, a female bandit from Lingshan.

These two gangs of bandits committed all kinds of evil, including burning, killing, looting, and so on, causing great public outrage.

After careful consideration, Luo Shixin decided to practice by attacking a small group of bandits first.

After all, the soldiers have no experience in actual combat. If they start fighting right away, if anything goes wrong, it will easily destroy their morale.

After discussing with An Yiquan, he decided that the two of them would enter Guangxi separately and advance from east to west.

Each of their teams first sent out a dozen companies to annihilate small groups of bandits on the spot if they encountered them.

After wiping out most of the small gangs of bandits, the soldiers gained combat experience and then went on to wipe out large gangs of bandits.

Luo Shixin's idea was very useful. They were unstoppable all the way, killing their way westward with the force of wind and thunder.

Soldiers and bandits are like cats and mice. No matter how big the mice are, they will run away when they see a cat. This is their nature!

Some bandits, numbering only dozens of people, were completely vulnerable. Wherever the army went, they were either wiped out or surrendered.

A bandit group of one or two hundred people was completely helpless when they encountered a company of new troops. Once the rockets exploded or the grenades were thrown, the bandits were stunned.

Those who reacted quickly wanted to run, but the government troops had already set up a tight net, so where could they escape to?

Without wasting much time, Luo Shixin and his men entered the heart of Guangxi.

Next, they need to take a stand and fight a tough battle!

You Zongtang stayed in the capital for more than ten days. After finishing all his work, he took Yu Qing and sixty instructors south.

He had the emperor's edict in his hand and recruited troops along the way.

He did not miss any military camps along the way, and asked Yu Qing and others to select suitable soldiers according to the strictest standards.

And first of all, it was stated that if you wanted to join the new army, you had to shave your braids.

Some people disagreed, and You Zongtang beheaded them without saying a word.

Some people don't understand.

"General, if you don't shave your head, you'll be beheaded. How can this be justified?"

You Zongtang said that shaving your head means serving the country, and not shaving your head means being a deserter. Wouldn't the end result for deserters on the battlefield be beheaded?

These people are speechless!

When You Zongtang arrived at Dongting Lake, he already had more than 8,000 strong and well-trained soldiers without bad habits!

In order to save time, he found Hunan Admiral Li Xianyun and asked him to vacate a military camp north of Dongting Lake, and they took over the camp.

They set up camp and recruited soldiers locally.

In less than ten days, he recruited 35,000 people.

In this way, he had 43,000 people under his command.

The emperor ordered him to train 30,000 new troops. You Zongtang did not dare to disobey the order. Recruiting more soldiers privately was tantamount to rebellion.

He wanted to eliminate another 13,000 soldiers with bad conduct and unqualified training from these 43,000.

The emperor gave the same brocade bag to You Zongtang and Zeng Zhenfan, which contained military flags, military uniforms and some relatively confidential matters that needed to be explained.