Imperial warlords: Cannons are the only truth

the next day.

After arranging the affairs in Qingcheng, Shen Moshen directly dispatched two infantry battalions to Qingzhou in secret.

Qingzhou was Feng Dexiang's stronghold.

It is understood that Feng Dexiang brought over the main force of the Qingzhou Security Brigade in order to personally deal with Shen Moshen, this stubborn young man who didn't give him any face.

Currently, only about a hundred people remain in Qingzhou to garrison the area.

For the 398th Regiment today, sending an infantry battalion of 850 men would be enough to easily take down Gyeongju.

Moreover, the 398th Regiment was actually sent to directly take over Gyeongju.

Now that Baldy Feng is dead, who among his hundred or so "brothers" left in Qingzhou will still risk their lives for him?

The reason for sending two battalions at once was that Shen Moshen would temporarily use Qingzhou as a base to participate in the struggle for the position of military governor of Youzhou.

First, send someone to take over Qingzhou. In a few days, Shen Moshen will bring all the main forces of the 398th Regiment to Qingzhou Prefecture.

Shen Moshen's first step was to take control of all six counties in Qingzhou Prefecture.

By then, the brigade commanders of the 33rd Division should have been almost defeated.

Feng Dexiang's plan was quite clever; he believed that when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits.

Feng the Bald had the confidence because he had the support of the Sharo people.

Shen Moshen's confidence was even more ruthless—he had a system backing him up!

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Gyeongju – The Zhou Family Mansion.

"How is it? Is the news accurate?"

"It's absolutely true! Commander Feng's body is still hanging on the city wall of Qingcheng as a warning!"

"Our multiple informants in Qingcheng worked day and night to bring back what happened there, and there's absolutely no mistake!"

"No wonder the troops that Brigade Commander Feng left in Qingzhou suddenly ran away."

"Even the group of Sara people who came to Gyeongju a while ago were flirted with."

"That matches up perfectly!"

"Isn't Shen Moshen's 398th Regiment just a force of a few hundred people?"

"Brigade Commander Feng brought more than 2000 men this time, along with guns and cannons provided by the Sharo people."

"Whether it's weaponry or manpower, the 398th Regiment under Shen's command is no match for Brigade Commander Feng."

"It seems the problem still lies with the team that Shen Moshen brought back after his surprise attack."

"Could it be that the reinforcements sent by the 33rd Division helped Shen Moshen get his revenge?"

The wealthy and powerful men of Gyeongju gathered together, discussing countermeasures one after another.

"Things are probably not that simple!" Zhou Youdao, the richest man in Qingzhou, sitting in the head seat, tapped the table impatiently, signaling everyone to quiet down.

"According to my information, Shen Moshen's 398th Regiment has now been completely upgraded with new weapons!"

"The light and heavy machine guns, cannons, and mortars are all perfectly complete!"

"Moreover, I heard that the man surnamed Shen entered the city by car."

"Military vehicles drove into Qingcheng one after another in a grand procession."

"Even the most elite troops of the 33rd Division don't have such an exaggerated display as the 398th Regiment!"

"Or rather—you couldn't find another army in the entire Youzhou with such a complete configuration!"

Zhou Youdao frowned, his face growing increasingly grim: "The most urgent task, besides figuring out as soon as possible who is supporting Shen Moshen behind the scenes, is..."

"We still need to think about how to deal with the person surnamed Shen."

“Originally, Feng Dexiang was the most powerful figure in our Qingzhou area.”

"Although Qingzhou is the poorest place in the entire Youzhou, that only applies to those peasants."

"Which of the three major families in Qingzhou isn't incredibly wealthy?"

"When Brigade Commander Feng was in charge, our opium and salt smuggling business was booming. Which of the three major families and you gentlemen didn't make a fortune?"

"But if this kid surnamed Shen gains a foothold in Qingzhou, what do you think will happen to us?"

“That kid surnamed Shen is stubborn and impervious to reason; he’s a typical blockhead.” Meng Mingzhi, the head of the Meng family, who was sitting to Zhou Youdao’s left, shook his head: “Last year, I specially sent someone with generous gifts to make connections with him.”

"But they don't fall for that at all!"

"You might say that this man surnamed Shen isn't greedy, but this time he wiped out all the landlords and gentry in Qingcheng, and all the money he got went into his own pocket."

"Could it be that after escaping death, Mr. Shen has finally figured things out?"

"If you ask me, it would actually be a good thing for us if Shen Moshen had a breakthrough," said Yang Wanjin, who was sitting on the right. "Shen Moshen's killing spree in Qingcheng was for a reason."

"After all, he had just narrowly escaped death, and then he saw a group of people fawning over him. Anyone in his shoes would be furious."

"If anyone's to blame, it's just that the people in Qingcheng were unlucky."

"We're in Qingzhou and we haven't caused any trouble for that Shen guy, so he can't just slaughter us for no reason, can he?"

"If that guy surnamed Shen finally sees the light, wouldn't it be a win-win situation if we made him our new backer?"

“That would be best!” Zhou Youdao frowned. “But what I’m worried about is…”

"The expenses required for this well-equipped force that this man surnamed Shen now commands must be enormous."

"In other words—what the man surnamed Shen needs most right now is probably money!"

"So what are we in Shen's eyes?"

"A fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered?" Someone immediately echoed Zhou Youdao's words and gave the answer.

"Can you think of a faster way to make money than by outright robbery?" Zhou Youdao nodded and asked in return.

"Don't forget, Shen Moshen was shouting in Qingcheng that he wanted to stand up for the people."

"Whether this statement is sincere or just an excuse to embezzle public funds, it's not a good thing for us!"

Zhou Youdao glanced around at everyone present, his tone growing increasingly serious: "Although the landlords and gentry of Qingcheng were the ones who kicked us when we were down, that doesn't mean the Shen family won't take action against us!"

Zhou Youdao said coldly, "I didn't sleep a wink all night yesterday, I kept feeling like disaster was about to strike."

"Over the years, my intuition has always been very accurate!"

"I think if that guy surnamed Shen takes over Qingzhou—he definitely won't let us go!"

Do you know why the Zhou family was able to become the head of the three major families in Qingzhou in my generation?

"Why has the Zhou family been able to seize every opportunity to make big money so accurately over the years?"

Zhou Youdao raised his hand and tapped his head: "Intuition!"

"I do things entirely based on intuition, and I've never been wrong!"

“This time, my intuition tells me that the man surnamed Shen definitely has ill intentions.”

"If we try to curry favor with that Shen guy using the old methods, our best outcome will be—losing money to save our lives!"

Zhou Youdao stated emphatically, "What I mean by spending money to save my life is not spending money to avoid disaster."

"The 'spending money to save your life' here means that every one of you here should voluntarily hand over every last penny of your family fortune and become a pauper from now on!"