Chapter 531: Confidence and the Stubborn Insistence That It Shouldn

"Big Brother, it suddenly hit me — when we first made our start, we killed desperate bandits, then six of us wiped out a hundred men, blood-washed He Family Village, stormed Cloud Mountain Temple, then pacified a hundred thousand roving rebels, and after that we won against greater numbers at Pizhou, defeating the elite troops under the Wolf Mountain Vice General… Who… who could possibly beat us now? Who does our Zhao Character Battalion have to fear?" Ji Xiang said, somewhat agitated.

The young men below thought no differently than Ji Xiang — desperate outlaws, river-and-sea bandits, greenwood heroes, local hegemons, a hundred thousand roving rebels, and then crack government troops. The Zhao Character Battalion had defeated every kind of armed force. No one had ever spelled it out; everyone just took it for granted. Most never thought deeply about it, yet today, they had all arrived at the same thought…

What was left that the Zhao Character Battalion could not defeat? Bandits and mounted raiders, militia and private soldiers, roving rebels and government troops — there were only so many kinds of armed forces under heaven, and one by one the Zhao Character Battalion had beaten them all. With strength like that, did the Zhao Character Battalion still need to worry about some yamen runners eyeing their holdings? Could they do something else — something grander…

Everyone's breathing grew heavier, their eyes slowly reddening. Each person had suddenly thought of something they had never dared to think before — and this was no foolish, wishful delusion.

Ji Xiang and Shi Manqiang both had fiery looks in their eyes. Dong Bingfeng's face showed first disbelief, then shock, then deep thought. Chen Sheng simply looked at Zhao Jin with calm indifference. Wang Zhaojing shook his head slightly, a smile on his face that was hard to read as genuine or false. Liu Yong lowered his head. Over on the other side, Zhou Xuezhi seemed to want to speak but held back, wanting to ask Ruhui something but still not saying it. Ruhui just smiled — a sincere smile.

Earlier they had brought up the "Embroidered Uniform Guard," but more than half the men had never heard the name — it was like casting flirtatious glances for a blind man to see. Now the conversation had veered in another direction, and this direction was not what Zhao Jin wanted either.

Zhao Jin sighed, raised his arm again, and said in a clear voice: "Attention!"

The company commanders and squad commanders present snapped upright with solemn bearing. Every face was full of anticipation and fervor. Zhao Jin shook his head helplessly and said in a deep voice: "I know what you're all thinking, but I won't say it out loud. I only want to talk about those few battles."

Everyone was somewhat puzzled, but they still listened carefully.

"Those earlier desperate outlaws, plus the forces at He Family Village, Cloud Mountain Temple, and even Kong Family Village — they were all a disorderly rabble. We may have fought hard back then, but that was because we hadn't trained enough and hadn't fought enough. The Zhao Character Battalion today could sweep them aside with ease."

"A hundred thousand roving rebels — to put it plainly, just a bigger disorderly rabble, a plate of loose sand. And that loose sand actually helped us when it came time for the decisive battle, because it kept the Smelling Incense Sect's people from forming up or massing together. They were pushed and swept away directly!"

"As for Pizhou — you can't just see it as seven hundred of us routing a thousand of them. You have to see that our cavalry and archers outnumbered theirs, and that inside the refugee stockade there were several thousand able-bodied young men ready to charge out and fight at any moment. We struck where they were unprepared and caught them off guard, using superior numbers against inferior numbers. It looked risky, but in truth it was hardly possible to lose!"

Zhao Jin delivered three segments of analysis in a row, each one convincing. But while ordinary household retainers might not know this reasoning, the core figures among the household retainers in this room understood it perfectly well. The Zhao Character Battalion frequently held battle discussions and martial lectures — all of this had been said several times before.

"Victory is nothing to celebrate. We are not that strong. Have any of you considered: what if the government troops number over five thousand? What if they also have large contingents of cavalry and archers? Can we still guarantee certain victory?"

The moment this question was asked, the room fell silent. Before Zhao Jin could speak again, someone in the ranks of the battalion officers suddenly spoke up: "Master, if the Zhao Character Battalion's companies and regiments all deploy together, even if the government troops exceed five thousand, we can still win!"

The tone was quite resolute. The other company and squad commanders also came back to their senses. After mulling it over carefully, they all nodded and answered with certainty: "If our Zhao Character Battalion brings out the grand square formation, what are five thousand government troops worth? Even if they have cavalry, how could cavalry possibly break through our square formation!"

One regiment was a thousand men. A thousand-man pike formation, supported by covering archers — its power was indeed immense. And ever since the Zhao Character Battalion's organizational structure had been set — the personal guard company, the cavalry company, the First Regiment, the Second Regiment, and the inner guard company — there had never yet been a battle where an entire regiment was deployed.

These core backbone members of the Zhao Character Battalion had absolute confidence in their own tactics and strength. They had also observed government troops drilling, and after watching, far from being discouraged, they only grew more confident. They felt that once their own formations were deployed, there was nothing they could not sweep flat. Their confidence even exceeded Zhao Jin's.

"Even ten thousand government troops couldn't beat…" Ji Xiang was muttering over there too. Zhao Jin shot him a ferocious glare. Ji Xiang shuddered in fright, immediately lowered his head, and shut his mouth. Then Zhao Jin fixed another hard stare on Zhuang Liu, his eyes full of warning. Zhuang Liu's face went pale, and he hurriedly straightened his posture.

Chen Sheng's face was expressionless. Wang Zhaojing couldn't help letting out a laugh, and to cover it up, he started coughing over there.

"How could government troops only number five thousand! Just in the Southern Metropolitan Region alone — the Vice Generals, the Regional Commanders, the Mobile Corps Commanders — add in the garrison armies of Nanjing and Fengyang, and they could easily muster tens of thousands. And how could the Great Ming only have this Southern Metropolitan Region? Wouldn't Shandong, Henan, Huguang, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi send troops to support as well?" Zhao Jin's tone, no matter how you heard it, carried a note of exasperation.

The atmosphere in the room finally cooled somewhat, but a few of the especially sharp-minded ones remained silent and said nothing.

"We only have these few thousand men. How do we fight tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, several hundred thousand? And at the end of the day, we've only operated around Xuzhou and Pizhou — at most we went once to Guide Prefecture in Henan. The forces we've fought are all from the Southern Metropolitan Region. What are the ones outside like? Who knows? Who has fought them? How have you all concluded that we're invincible?" Zhao Jin fired off several questions in a row, and the men in the room gradually grew sober.

Zhao Jin's expression turned solemn, and he said gravely: "What we do is a trade where we lick blood off the edge of a blade. One moment of carelessness and our lives are forfeit. That is why we absolutely must not harbor arrogance or contempt for the enemy — and what's more, we don't even have the capital to be arrogant. We barely spoke a few words today, and every one of you already thinks the Zhao Character Battalion is invincible under heaven. That kind of mindset will lead to great disaster."

Looking at his subordinates, whose emotions had now settled, Zhao Jin softened his voice and asked: "Does everyone understand?"

"Your subordinates understand!" everyone answered in unison, their tone very resolute.

Zhao Jin exhaled lightly, nodded, and said: "Though we must not be arrogant or underestimate the enemy, neither can we let others bully us. We don't go looking for trouble, but we're not afraid of trouble either. Go back and keep your units in order — don't let anyone infiltrate, and don't let baseless rumors unsettle everyone's minds. The First Company of the personal guard is to stand by; everyone else is dismissed."

The company and squad commanders saluted and dispersed. Only Zhao Jin and his companions remained in the room. Once the door was pulled shut, Zhao Jin let out a long breath, and his face actually showed a trace of weariness.

Wang Zhaojing swept his gaze over the people in the room and said with a smile: "Big Brother, the brothers below have resolute hearts — this is a good thing!"

Ji Xiang glanced at Zhao Jin's expression, saw that Zhao Jin didn't really look angry, and again boldly spoke up: "Big Brother, those troops from other provinces you mentioned just now — are they really that strong? I've heard people say that Vice General Zhou's camp in Xuzhou is already top-tier crack troops, and the others are far inferior. And we've seen those Wolf Mountain Vice General's troops with our own eyes, haven't we? That Li He said the ones who came to Cao Wozi that time were also the Wolf Mountain Vice General's number-one camp — and weren't they still easily pushed aside by us…"

Zhao Jin had been sitting there, head tilted back and eyes closed as if resting. Hearing this, he couldn't help but straighten up and stare sternly at Ji Xiang.

Ji Xiang couldn't help swallowing a mouthful of saliva. He cleared his throat and hesitantly continued: "In the government army, the military officers' household retainers are the top-tier elite. I've seen those household retainers, and they're no better than the Zhao Character Battalion's household retainers. Their ordinary soldiers probably can't even match our mixed militia units. They can't even match our refugees — the refugees are more disciplined than they are…"

"Right! Compared to them, we have nearly three thousand mounted and foot household retainers. If we muster all the mixed militia units we've trained around Xuzhou, that's roughly another three to four thousand — those count as elite too. From the refugees, we can easily field twenty thousand able-bodied men. They're normally trained and disciplined according to military law. Issue them weapons and they'd be stronger than those beggar-like government troops. Big Brother, that's nearly thirty to forty thousand elite troops we're talking about…" Shi Manqiang said, also very excited.

Shi Manqiang's family ran a blacksmith shop. They had to schedule work hours and keep accounts. Shi Manqiang looked honest and simple, but he was very clear on numbers.

He had been rattling on at length when he saw that Zhao Jin's expression was extremely cold and grim. He immediately sensed something was wrong and didn't dare continue.

But the atmosphere in the room now was different from before. After Shi Manqiang had finished doing this accounting, everyone in the room except Zhao Jin wore very complicated expressions — excitement, anticipation, fear, disbelief. Even Wang Zhaojing, after pondering for a moment, was the same. They looked at each other, observed each other, but none spoke. In the end, all eyes converged on Zhao Jin.

Zhao Jin simply looked at Shi Manqiang. The tall, burly Shi Manqiang grew more and more uneasy, looking somewhat at a loss.

The silence in the room continued like this for a while. Zhao Jin let out a long sigh and spoke in a muffled voice: "Are you that eager to commit rebellion?"

The moment the word "rebellion" left his mouth, Chen Sheng did not move. Wang Zhaojing tilted his head. Ruhui shook his head. Everyone else looked shocked, their bodies swaying heavily. Dong Bingfeng's face was full of disbelief as he stared blankly at Zhao Jin. Ji Xiang and Shi Manqiang were also stunned at first, but that immediately turned into a kind of excitement. After his initial shock, Liu Yong hurried quickly toward the door. He opened it and stuck his head out to look around. Everyone could hear him raise his voice and say: "Guard outside the courtyard! Let no one in!"

The guards outside answered loudly. They heard the courtyard gate close. Only then did Liu Yong shut the door and turn back. His expression was still relatively calm. The most panicked was Zhou Xuezhi. The moment he heard the word "rebellion," he nearly jumped straight up from where he stood. He looked at Ruhui, then looked at everyone else. Zhou Xuezhi's face had turned deathly pale, and his body began to tremble. He rose from his seat, wanting to walk out, but after one step he stopped, then turned back around to look at everyone.

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