I want to ruin the country

You Zongtang would carry out the emperor's orders if he understood them, and would also carry them out to the letter if he didn't understand them.

As a guerrilla general of the third rank, he cut off his braid without hesitation.

When he and sixty instructors appeared in front of the soldiers with short crew cuts, the soldiers were stunned.

It turns out that soldiers have to shave their braids.

You Zongtang read out the imperial edict on the spot, and then Yu Qing repeated the experiment that the emperor had given them.

Some soldiers understood that they might lose their lives on the battlefield for not shaving their braids.

Compared with life, braids are of course dispensable!

You Zongtang repeated that this was the emperor's order, and not shaving the queue would be disobeying the order.

Those who obeyed the order and shaved their queues were rewarded with one or two taels of silver on the spot.

Since there was a possibility of losing their lives and it was the emperor's order, what else was there to say? Half of the soldiers chose to obey the order, and each of them received one or two taels of silver.

Seeing that there was really a reward, some people agreed.

In the end, there were more than 4,000 people left, who still disagreed. They said that it was difficult to disobey the orders of their ancestors!

You Zongtang told them,

"You only have one day to consider it. If you still don't agree by this time tomorrow, leave the barracks!"

When they heard that they were going to be fired, half of them chose to obey the order.

There were more than 2,000 people left, and You Zongtang announced, "You are no longer my soldiers, so you should build a military camp for me."

The original military camp here could only accommodate more than 12,000 people, so it had to be expanded.

Time is tight and the task is heavy, so letting these two thousand people participate in building the military camp is also a good choice.

They get paid one dollar a month!

Some people didn't want to work, but You Zongtang wouldn't let them go. It didn't matter if they wanted to leave, they had to finish their work here first.

There are too many things to do, not only building military camps, but also arranging ships, because the emperor wants him to train 10,000 sailors!

It was definitely too late to build warships now, so You Zongtang took out the emperor's decree and went to various navies to mobilize ships.

These days, You Zongtang was busy beating the gong with his right hand and the drum with his left hand, and was having a lot of fun.

Yu Qing and his team’s mission is to train, train, and train again!

Their training is exactly the same as Luo Shixin and his team.

Three thousand special forces were selected from tens of thousands of people, including one thousand underwater special forces and two thousand land special forces.

Regardless of whether they are special forces or ordinary soldiers, the first thing to emphasize is military discipline. The three major disciplines and eight points of attention must be memorized thoroughly.

The devilish training in the recruit company quickly transformed these soldiers.

After training for more than two months, they heard that the emperor was going to suppress the bandits.

You Zongtang asked Yu Qing,

"Can we fight now?"

Yu Qing arrived,

"The physical training has basically met the standards, but the military skills training in the training outline given by the emperor has not yet begun.

We haven't even learned the tactics and techniques for fighting a war!"

Right Zongtang Road,

"We can't wait any longer. Actual combat is the best way to train people. I decided to practice on the bandits in Dongting Lake first!"

Yu Qing was a little embarrassed.

"General, we haven't trained for water battles yet?"

Right Zongtang Road,

“Let’s practice while we fight, we can’t wait!

Our ships are ready. Let's first select soldiers who can sail from the army to form a navy.

Next, we will focus on training on the use of unscrupulous cannons, rocket launchers, and grenades.

We have no shortage of ammunition. What kind of bandits do you think could survive such a bombing?"

Yu Qing thought about it and it made sense. In the face of absolute strength, everything else was nothing.

In this way, You Zongtang hastily organized a navy of 10,000.

Dongting Lake is 800 miles long, with numerous islands in the lake. The scenery is endless and beautiful!

But in this picturesque and beautiful picture, there are extremely discordant shots.

Since the Ming Dynasty, there have been many pirates and robbers on Dongting Lake, making life difficult for merchants traveling there.

After arriving in Daqing, banditry was still rampant from the reigns of Kangxi to Yongzheng, Qianlong and Daoguang.

The largest group of pirates is Ren Xiao, who is entrenched in Yunshan Mountain and is nicknamed "Ren Baopi".

He had three to five thousand men under his command, and his soldiers and horses were strong. The government had surrounded and suppressed him several times, but failed to capture the island.

The more money Ren Baopi robs, the stronger he becomes.

He also built a fort and spent a large sum of money to hire a craftsman who knew how to cast cannons to cast him sixteen 8,000-jin cannons, making Yunshan Island like an iron barrel.

If he could get more copper, he would have wanted to cast a hundred cannons to prevent the government troops from breaking in for the rest of their lives.

If someone wants to go to the island, the ship must stop five miles away.

The reason is that Ren Baopi is a very cunning guy. He set up many ambushes underwater around Yunshan.

In some places, bamboo poles are inserted underwater, in some places there are very long iron bars, and in some places there are stone formations.

In short, except for their own large ships that knew the route to enter, other large ships could not get close at all.

Even if they managed to get close, they would be within the range of his 8,000-jin cannon, and the government army's ships would be shattered by a single shot.

The government troops could not advance and could not pose a threat to them, so he became more and more rampant over the years.

However, the merchant ships passing by were complaining bitterly.

You Zongtang had heard of this group of pirates a long time ago, and after arriving at Dongting Lake, he kept a close eye on them.

Not to mention that the emperor ordered the suppression of the bandits, even if the emperor didn't say it, he would still want to find an opportunity to get rid of them.

It’s just that he couldn’t think of how to attack before, but now he is confident!

After the new army had trained for half a month, You Zongtang led 10,000 naval troops on 50 large ships to fight against the bandits.

Why bring all the people along? For training!

He stood on the first large ship, a red flag fluttering on the mast, with the words "First Royal Navy!" written on it.

Three days later, around six o'clock in the afternoon, we will be approaching Yunshan Island.

You Zongtang ordered,

"Stop the boat, cook, and after dinner, we'll take Yunshan Island tonight!"

The soldiers had a hearty meal of beef pancakes and filled their water bottles.

At 7:30, You Zongtang ordered,

"Forty ships and eight thousand men surrounded the entire island, not letting a single pirate escape.

The remaining two thousand men will follow this general and slowly approach Yunshan Island within five miles!"

When we arrived near Yunshan Island, it was almost dusk and we could no longer see very far.

You Zongtang ordered,

"Prepare your cannons! Fire in front of the bow. Make sure you clear a passage!"

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

As one explosive pack after another was thrown into the water, huge explosions were heard.

The obstacles that "Ren Baopi" had placed on the bottom of the water were blown into the air by the merciless artillery fire.

"Wow!"

There were bursts of exclamations from the soldiers. Many of them were from near Dongting Lake. Ren Baopi on Yunshan Island was said to be a very powerful figure.

It is said that he was two meters tall, with a head as big as a wheat bucket, eyes like copper bells, and a swing of his arms had the strength of a thousand pounds.

It was as if the Vajra in the temple had come to the world, or the Arhat in the sky had come to the mortal world.

Unexpectedly, the defense of the gods was vulnerable in front of our right general, and everyone immediately became alert.