Chapter 85: Death-Seeking in Progress

The battle went too smoothly, and the enemy didn't even put up a decent resistance, which made Li Mu very embarrassed.

From the actual situation on the battlefield, all the preparatory work done earlier was in vain.

This couldn't be counted as an army at all; it was completely a group of farmers, and farmers who were forced to fight.

It was purely a disaster caused by a lack of experience. If they had experienced a few more battles, they could have seen the enemy's flaws at a glance.

Then, when they bumped into the enemy yesterday, the main army would have pressed over, and the battle would have ended.

The angry mood didn't last long before a smile appeared on Li Mu's face.

For the winner, minor flaws in the process are not a big deal.

Being cautious in using troops is not a mistake.

"Pass the order down, those who surrender will not be killed!"

Seeing the soldiers constantly harvesting heads, Li Mu immediately issued an order to stop them.

Most of the rebel soldiers in front of him were poor bugs who were coerced into it, so there was no need to start a massacre.

Since the Yangzhou defense battle, he hadn't lacked head-counting merits.

Although having military merits makes a general's promotion fast, there is a limit.

That kind of thing of reaching the sky in one step only existed in the early days of the founding of the country when fighting for the world.

With the improvement of the system, officials' promotions are step by step, and breaking the rules for promotion is very rare.

If there were no restrictions, then all the positions in the army would belong to the Nine Borders generals.

Stationed on the border, fighting with the enemy every few days, even if each harvest is very small, it is an astonishing number over the years.

Obviously, this is impossible.

If you can get promoted with merit, then soon there will be an embarrassing situation of having no more to promote and no more to seal.

These military merits in front of him are mainly to enrich his own resume for Li Mu.

In the future, when positions are vacant and personnel appointments are discussed, recommenders can use these resumes as reasons.

"Battalion Commander Li, these people should be the rebel army's worst combat troops, right?"

Marquis Marquis Wuyang's question directly stumped Li Mu.

The combat effectiveness of the rebel army is a topic that is really too big.

"Probably, maybe!"

Li Mu answered slightly hesitantly.

Reason told him that there is no worst in this world, only worse.

The situation of the government army is the same; the powerful are truly powerful, and the trash are truly trash.

Strength and weakness are relative concepts, not absolute concepts.

Compared to these enemies, the soldiers under his command are all proper elites.

If they were pulled to the Liaodong front line, they would instantly become ordinary, and it's possible they would be on the weaker side.

There is still a big gap from a real strong army, but Li Mu is not panicked at all.

Elite soldiers are fought out; after training with the rebels a few more times, they should be almost formed.

"Since the rebels have been defeated, then take the opportunity to recover Xinghua City.

Our credit is almost enough; Gaoyou Prefecture must be left for the Capital Battalion to recover.

For the subsequent battle in the south, just fight Taizhou; the main battlefield should be left to the Capital Battalion.

His Majesty is brooding over the defeat in Liaodong and will definitely restart the Liaodong expedition.

I am already old and have no interest in fame and wealth, so I don't want to join in the fun.

The future belongs to you young people; if you are interested in sealing your wife and protecting your children, I can recommend you!"

Looking at this Marquis Marquis Wuyang who was less than forty years old, Li Mu really didn't know how he was related to "old."

However, hiding one's clumsiness is right; that ghost place of Liaodong is by no means easy to recover.

With Marquis Marquis Wuyang's level, running to supervise the Liaodong army is purely sending heads to others.

No matter how much power is delegated, it's useless; the generals in Liaodong are a group of pits themselves, and whoever goes there will be pitted to death.

The simplest way to recover Liaodong is: throw money!

Emperor Tianyuan did a good job in front, spending a great price to form an elite army and sending it to Liaodong to fight a decisive battle with the Hu people.

Although it ended in failure, the price paid by the Hu people was not small.

Look at the enemy's reaction after the war and you will know.

According to common sense, after a great victory, one should strike while the iron is hot and expand the results as much as possible.

However, Northern Hu not only didn't provoke a comprehensive war but went to annex grassland tribes.

Obviously, the loss of soldiers was not small, and they urgently needed to replenish manpower.

If there is an effect, you can continue; as long as you can cause heavy casualties to the enemy, failure also has strategic value.

Winning first doesn't count as winning; the final winner is the victor.

The best way for the Central Plains Dynasty to fight grassland ethnic groups is a war of attrition.

Fight in spring, fight in summer.

Fight in autumn, fight in winter.

Being in a state of war all year round, in a few years, you can drag the enemy to death.

Theoretical knowledge is all in the history books, but regrettably, there are few dynasties that can continue to throw money.

"Thank you, Marquis, for your guidance; the subordinate is young and has many places to learn.

The Nine Borders front line needs battlefield veterans; the subordinate won't go over to add chaos!"

Li Mu refused decisively.

He is a single dog, doesn't even have a wife or children, so what is there to talk about sealing his wife and protecting his children.

Not only does he not want to go to the Liaodong front line, he has no interest in the entire Nine Borders.

The border army generals are full of families, and he is an outsider.

Not being squeezed to death is considered lucky.

Making merits is purely dreaming.

The military pay of the soldiers alone can worry people to death.

Instead of going over to eat dirt, it's better to stay in the country and enjoy the blessings.

The overall situation of the imperial court is something that the Emperor and the big shots in the court need to consider.

For military generals, unless they climb to the top, they have no say in strategy.

Wen family camp.

"Great General, urgent report from Xinghua!"

"Yesterday, the Fifth General led troops to fight with the government army and unfortunately suffered a crushing defeat; now his life or death is unknown.

The government army's spearhead is pointing directly at Xinghua County City; the defenders in the city are all old and weak, and I fear they have no power to block..."

"Bang!"

Before the young officer finished reading the letter, Wen Wen Feiyang slapped the table.

"Who let that idiot send troops to fight with the enemy?

I ordered him repeatedly to hold Xinghua County City; is this how he guards it for me!"

Facing the angry Regional Commander, the generals lowered their heads one after another, not daring to meet his murderous gaze.

Since raising troops, this is the first time Wen Wen Feiyang has had the urge to kill his own family.

Militarily speaking, Xinghua County is a chicken rib, but this chicken rib was lost at the wrong time.

Xinghua fell early; wanting to annihilate the Wucheng Military Commission's troops in Xinghua territory is dreaming.

The combat plan of going south first then north, breaking the pacification army one by one, went bankrupt, and the situation of the Wen family army suddenly became dangerous.

"Great General, things have come to this; scolding angrily is of no help.

Jian Shao's problem, we will discuss it later.

The top priority is to adjust the combat strategy quickly.

The Xinghua righteous army was defeated yesterday; calculating from the time, the enemy should have occupied Xinghua County City by now.

Even if we rush over immediately, the enemy will defend the city, and it will be difficult to break through for a while.

Strategically being pincered by the government army from north and south has become a fact, so we must make the worst plans."

Wen Wen Feiyang on the side advised.

He was also full of anger at the muddled battle Wen Wen Jianshao fought.

It's just that the person involved is now unknown, and wanting to punish him, there is no chance to perform.

"Pass the order down, the main army turns direction to go back and fight a decisive battle with the Capital Battalion!

As for the enemy of the Wucheng Military Commission, the mess in Xinghua County should be able to drag them for two days; ignore them for now.

If our speed is fast enough to defeat the Capital Battalion before they can get away, we can still achieve our strategic goals!"

No matter if others believe it or not, anyway, as the Regional Commander, Wen Wen Feiyang believed it first.

Failure, that consequence is too terrifying.

He can't bear it, the Wen family can't bear it, and the entire righteous army can't bear it.

Taizhou City.

"Big Brother, stop drinking!"

Huang Huang Renliang frowned and advised.

Since the crushing defeat in Yangzhou, Huang Huang Renlong, who couldn't bear the blow, lost his past fighting spirit and lived a life of drunken dreams all day in the city.

The Regional Commander was degenerate, and the generals below followed suit, drinking today for today's sake.

"Second Brother, come and have a drink together."

"Until today, I, your brother, know what life is!

In the past, we followed the clan and worked hard; what kind of ghost life was that?

After raising troops, I also lived up to the clan, but I was still pitted by the bastard surnamed Zong.

This is Zong Zong Guangtai's wife, and his concubine; look, they are all very beautiful, right?

Whichever one you like, that one is yours.

We are all brothers; mine is yours, don't be polite with Big Brother!"

Huang Huang Renlong said with a smile.

As a salt smuggler, the least lacking is ruthlessness.

The first thing he did upon returning to Taizhou was to exterminate the entire Zong family, leaving only a group of wives and daughters for his own lewd pleasure.

"Big Brother, the government army has hit us.

If we continue to degenerate like this, our good days will come to an end!"

Huang Huang Renliang said helplessly.

He was originally a lustful ghost, and naturally he wouldn't be polite to his big brother in this regard.

He had tasted these women in private, and not just once.

After experiencing the freshness, he became more and more afraid of death.

Only by living can one have the opportunity to play with more beautiful women.

If one loses one's life, the current good life will belong to others.

"Nonsense, how can the government army be so fast!

Taizhou city walls are sturdy; the government army in Yangzhou City is not enough.

The Capital Battalion's main army is still in Gaoyou Prefecture, entangled with the Wen family, and can't come for a while.

The government army in the south reached Zhenjiang and stopped moving; they are all a bunch of mobs.

You can enjoy it with peace of mind; after the great war starts later, we will have to live a displaced life again.

The good days now are one day less; it's probably impossible to live such a life in the future!"

It can be seen that Huang Huang Renlong has already had the intention to retreat.

Originally just a private salt seller, the goal was to earn more, go home to buy hundreds of acres of land.

Marry a wife and have children, arrange for his son to study and take the imperial examination, and become a member of the gentry group.

The unexpected change pushed him to the front, and he jumped to become the leader of the righteous army.

However, the ambition forcibly irrigated is fragile after all.

After encountering a failure, the initial ambition was folded away.

"I'm not lying to you; the enemy army is indeed approaching.

I sent someone to verify it; the defenders of Yangzhou are divided into two.

Part of them chose to go north, seemingly wanting to recover Xinghua and pincer the Wen family from both sides.

There is also part of them moving south, less than twenty li away from us.

Fast tonight, slow tomorrow morning, the enemy will definitely appear under Taizhou City.

If we don't make preparations, it will be too late when the enemy kills us.

In recent days, we have harmed Taizhou severely, and people in the city are unstable now.

Whether to go or stay, you have to make a decision quickly!"

Huang Huang Renliang couldn't help but urge.

In fact, even if the government army didn't come, they wouldn't stay in Taizhou for long.

The days of sitting and eating are not good; no matter how rich Taizhou is, it can't withstand the consumption of hundreds of thousands of people.

Burning villages, forcibly pulling people into the team, although it expanded the scale, it also increased consumption.

When attacking Yangzhou earlier, it was all supported by the money and food provided by the Zong family.

No matter how big the family business is, it can't withstand this level of consumption.

The Zong family was wiped out, besides the factor of revenge, there was also a reason that they couldn't come up with more food.

The inventory was consumed, and the imperial court checked strictly recently, so they could only purchase from the sea through merchants.

The price is high, and the quantity is very limited.

In order to solve the food problem, the gentry and rich merchants of Taizhou were all victims without exception.

Even so, the forcibly collected food couldn't last long.

After all, everyone could eat half-full when farming, and when the green and yellow didn't connect, they could use wild vegetables and tree roots to make do.

Now that they have all rebelled, there is no tomorrow, so if they don't eat with an open stomach, it's too much of a loss.

Having suffered a loss from a mutiny once, the Huang brothers are most afraid of the soldiers under their command mutinying, so they don't dare to deduct food at all.

"Pass the order down, let the generals prepare for battle; I want to meet the government army!"

Huang Huang Renlong said murderously.

The last time he lost too unjustly, deep down he didn't accept it at all.

It's just that Yangzhou city walls are sturdy, and he suffered heavy losses, so he had no power to retaliate.

The situation is different now; the enemy is divided into two, and he is fighting on his home field.

Even if he wants to withdraw, he has to fight a battle before leaving.

Having rebelled once, without any battle achievements to show.

In the future, when he is in the Jianghu, he will be embarrassed to report his family name.

On the plain, in the chaotic government army team, hung a battle flag embroidered with the word "Rong."

Leading troops to fight for the first time, besides the initial anxiety and curiosity, the rest was just boredom.

The rebels along the way ran away when they saw the government army, and the villages and markets they passed were all ruins, with no fun to find.

"Commander, we are almost at Taizhou; should we continue to advance?"

Hearing the reminder from his companion, Commander Rong, who was napping in the carriage, woke up instantly.

Marching sluggishly all the way, didn't expect to run to the enemy's old nest so quickly.

The rebels retreated, which doesn't mean they would give up their old nest.

Wanting to say no, but thinking of the bluff he made, he couldn't say the words of refusal.

He doesn't know how to use troops, but he has seen plays.

Military orders are like mountains on the battlefield; if you receive an order and don't complete it, you will lose your head.

Although he has Concubine Rong to cover him, Marquis Marquis Wuyang is the Emperor's own uncle, and his status is much higher than his.

In case Marquis Marquis Wuyang is not close to human feelings and chops him off, it seems he can also cover it.

"Of course we must continue to advance; Marquis Marquis Wuyang's order is for us to recover three county cities; do you want to disobey military orders?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 86 =====