My Sims of the Eastern Jin Dynasty

Two days later.

Lu Ming and Tan Lin finally arrived outside Qu County with the long and exhausted group of refugees.

When informed that all refugees were temporarily barred from entering the city and could only be temporarily housed in designated areas in the north of the city.

The anxiety, fear, and pent-up grievances that had been suppressed for days in the crowd suddenly erupted.

Several agitated young men even attempted to lead a charge into the county town.

"Why won't we be allowed into the city?"

"After all the hardships we went through, all we get is a makeshift shack in the wilderness?"

"Are you trying to starve us to death?!"

"..."

Lu Ming and Tan Lin tried their best to calm them down, but these people had already forgotten how they got here.

Upon learning of the refugees' disturbance, Xiao Heng did not tolerate it and ordered Han Yong to lead troops to the scene.

Just as the commotion was about to escalate, Han Yong, dressed in military uniform, appeared in front of the crowd with a squad of fully armored veterans.

He didn't shout, but stood silently in place, yet the chilling aura he exuded, forged on the battlefield, subtly suppressed the atmosphere.

Han Yong saw that no one was making a scene, but some people were still protesting, so he took a few steps forward.

"What are you all doing? Look behind you! The Xianbei just slaughtered your families, and the bandits of Yuzhou robbed you of your last rations! Lord Xiao ordered a rescue, and it was Captain Lu and these brothers who escorted you all the way! Now that the Lord is short of supplies, and you have suddenly arrived in numbers of over a thousand, if you all rush into the city, once the epidemic spreads, or if spies cause trouble, it will be a disaster in an instant! Placing you outside, dividing and conquering, and gradually absorbing you is precisely to save the lives of most of you, to prevent the fall of Qu County, and to give everyone a way to survive! If you don't want to stay here, leave now!"

Han Yong's words completely silenced the refugees, and some began to return to the places that had been assigned to them.

Seeing that many people were still caught in a dilemma, Han Yong was furious.

At this moment, Tan Lin hurriedly cupped his hands and stood in front of the people.

He pointed to the makeshift shacks that had just begun to be built behind him and several large pots that had already been set up.

"See? Though the shacks are simple, they can shelter us from the wind and rain; though the porridge is meager, it can sustain our lives! Prefect Xiao has ordered that one meal be provided daily, ensuring that no one starves to death! Once the medical officers have examined us and confirmed that we are healthy and without illness, we will bring us into the city in batches to work and exchange our labor for food!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the people slowly began to move.

Han Yong then stepped forward to add to the discussion.

"The Prefect decrees that any able-bodied young man capable of killing the bandits and avenging his blood feud may enlist in the army. Anyone who causes trouble or attacks the troops without cause will be treated as a bandit and punished according to military law!"

Han Yong's words were remembered by the young men.

The chaotic crowd gradually quieted down, and Tan Lin took the opportunity to lead a few respected elders to guide people to the resettlement area.

The refugees were initially contained in the north of the city. Xiao Heng kept his word and provided the government with a daily supply of thin porridge, which was barely enough to sustain their basic survival.

Meanwhile, several doctors, along with their apprentices, began checking and recording the physical conditions of each person in the resettlement area.

Three days later, the first group of about two hundred people who were examined and found to have no significant injuries or illnesses were allowed to enter the city.

They were assigned to houses vacated due to war or the extinction of families. Although equally simple, these houses were a world of difference from shacks.

The price was that they had to immediately participate in various tasks within the city, such as repairing city walls, cleaning streets, assisting with salt fields and fishing ports, and transporting supplies, in exchange for slightly more food rations or some dried fish as material rewards.

Order began to slowly emerge under strict management and clear rules of exchange.

Han Yong was not idle either. He led his men to carefully select strong and healthy men from the newly recruited laborers in the resettlement area and the city, and successively recruited more than a hundred people to join the new recruit camp for intensive training.

Many people who were originally salt producers and fishermen have also begun to return to their old professions.

At this point, smoke rose from the salt fields again, the catch at the port increased, and the streets in the city became much cleaner.

Although the pressure on food supplies remains, the consumption is much slower than Xiao Heng had previously estimated.

A few days later, one morning, Xiao Heng ordered Han Yong to gather all the newly trained recruits under the pretext of naval exercises, familiarizing them with ships, and intimidating the coastal areas. They boarded all available ships of various sizes and sailed away from the port of Qu County.

The fleet conducted simple formation changes and landing drills in the near sea. At sunset, it sailed in a grand procession to Xiaozhu Island for anchorage and rest. Everything looked like a large-scale routine training exercise.

The nights on Xiaozhu Island are far from peaceful.

All new recruits were instructed to prepare food at midnight and depart at the third watch of the night for a surprise landing drill.

The next day, before dawn, a thin mist shrouded the sea.

Han Yong's fleet did not return to Qu County, but instead quietly sailed towards a rugged and secluded coastline on the western side of Cangwu Mountain.

The cliffs here are steep, making it not a good harbor, but the tide level is just right to allow medium-sized boats to barely get close to a rocky beach.

"Quickly! Disembark! Line up!"

Han Yong, on the ship, scolded the new recruits as they jumped into the knee-deep water.

Team leaders, including Liu Dan, followed behind with their supervisory team. Anyone who dared to complain was shot dead without mercy.

Finally, after several days of landing training and brutal rewards and punishments, these recruits had developed a conditioned reflex and no longer thought twice about any orders.

In early April, taking advantage of the spring tide, Xiao Heng personally came to Xiaozhu Island and issued an order to clear out Yuzhou Island.

That night, Han Yong took advantage of the darkness to climb Cangwu Mountain, which is separated from Yuzhou Island by a special geographical passage.

The passage is a natural sandbar that is exposed at low tide, connecting the two islands.

However, the sandy terrain is soft and difficult to traverse, greatly hindering speed, and is completely exposed with no natural defenses.

If the island is well-defended, it is a death zone, but it is impossible to get close from other places.

These bandits built numerous water fortresses on the mudflats of Yuzhou Island where they could land.

They even had dozens of large ballistae, which Xiao Heng didn't have.

At 9:00 PM, the tide began to recede, and by 11:45 PM, the sandbar had fully emerged under the waning moon.

Yuzhou Island, an island plagued by bandits for many years, gradually fell silent in the night.

The island has small salt fields they operate, a precious freshwater lake on the mountaintop, and supplies accumulated through years of plunder.

Han Yong wiped the seawater off his face, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

This time, it's not a drill.

"Target: Yuzhou Island! Upon landing, proceed directly to the bandit stronghold and salt fields according to the predetermined route! Those who surrender will not be killed; those who resist will be killed without mercy!"

The low, menacing words then dissipated in the sea breeze.

The attack was launched suddenly at that moment.

On a huge rock on the beach of Xiaozhu Island.

Xiao Heng stood silently for a long time, facing the direction of Cangwu Mountain and Yuzhou Island.

Behind him is Deng Jing, who has changed his name to Chen Jing.

Although his injuries had not fully healed, he stood tall and straight, already beginning to resemble "Chen Jiao's younger brother" and Xiao Heng's newly appointed bodyguard.

He once accompanied a scout to observe the defenses of the water fortress on Yuzhou Island from afar.

Those wooden fences and watchtowers built layer upon layer along the narrow mudflat terrain, and the chilling crossbows.

While it may not be considered a truly impregnable fortress, it is definitely a tough nut to crack for any team lacking heavy siege equipment and naval assault capabilities; a direct assault would inevitably result in heavy losses.

But he also witnessed firsthand the rigorous training that Han Yong had conducted over the past few days.

Those young men who were originally just farmers, salt workers, and fishermen were quickly stripped of their laxity under the ruthless military discipline of Han Yong, Liu Dan, and others, and learned basic drills and how to obey orders.

The progress is obvious, but the cost is also high.

Every day, several new recruits who were slow to respond to orders during training were shot dead in public on Han Yong's orders.

The scene was so brutal that even Deng Jing, who was used to seeing battles, found it too cruel.

He didn't quite understand why they were in such a hurry, even resorting to such drastic measures, to train these hastily trained soldiers.

He was of course unaware that Xiao Heng had a very limited number of truly reliable veterans from the Northern Army.

These people were the absolute core of his army's backbone, and losing even one of them would be difficult to compensate for.

Originally, the addition of Lu Da and his valiant men would have greatly alleviated the pressure of insufficient troops. However, now that Lu Da and the others are still lying on their sickbeds with their fates uncertain, they are not only unable to contribute but have become a burden.

Those who were most severely poisoned have died silently more than a dozen times in the past few days.

Xiao Heng went to see him twice, but he could only remain silent, as even deep simulations could not yield a definite treatment method.