knife

Chapter 411 Anticipated
With a large army pressing in from outside the city, tens of thousands of rioting civilians almost completely surrounded Yongxing County.

The people in the city lived in constant fear. If the city fell, the least they would suffer would be the loss of their meager possessions, and the worst they would lose would be their lives.

Lin Rong, the magistrate of Yongxing County, was completely unconcerned about the people's fear.

He had been to the battlefield.

When the Chu and Qin states were fighting in Xiangcheng, although he did not enter the core battlefield where the fighting was most intense, he still fought in several battles on the periphery.

He knew what real military combat was like, and he had seen the difference between elite armored soldiers and ordinary troops.

Tens of thousands of people besieged the city?
It looks impressive, but it can only scare people who don't know anything about it.

Of these tens of thousands of people, only the core members of the Demonic Cult are truly capable of fighting; no more than a thousand of them are actually capable of combat.

The remaining crowd who joined in the commotion can boost your morale if you win, but they will definitely run away if you encounter any setbacks.

There are quite a few troops in Yongxing City now.

The five hundred armored soldiers stationed in Yongxing were a true elite force that had participated in the Battle of Xiangcheng. Although they had been living a life of luxury in Yongxing for the past few years and their muscles had grown back, they had still seen a lot of big scenes.

He himself made a swift decision; as soon as he discovered signs of rioting, he ordered all the powerful families with private armies to retreat into the city.

Whether you like it or not, you have to come.

As for the manors and mansions outside the city that these people own, so be it. As long as we deal with these rioters, we can rebuild them later.

Out with the old, in with the new; in time, we can build something even better and more luxurious.

The foreseeable future is that...
After this battle, countless prisoners will surely be captured.
These mobs may seem fierce and arrogant at this moment, but once their group is broken up, they will become as timid as quails, allowing themselves to be manipulated without daring to utter a single complaint.

At that time, their own estate in the countryside can be expanded to twice its size, and more servants will be needed.

Haha, after one battle, we'll have everything.

The necessary building materials could generally be obtained by simply demolishing the homes of the rioters.

This is a good thing for several provinces.

Five hundred armored soldiers, plus over a thousand armed private soldiers—does Su Qi, the one who rebelled the Demonic Sect, really understand what war is?
Did he still think that war was just a rural brawl, where having more people guaranteed victory?
Moreover, just to be on the safe side, he had sent someone to the county town at the beginning of the incident to report the full plan to his brother Lin Hong. Wasn't his brother short of manpower? Then he could have his brother send out a force to set up another net on the perimeter, so that everyone could be captured together.

This is double insurance!
Lin Rong didn't think there was anything else wrong.

The private soldiers in the city still lack some of the operational concepts of regular troops. In the past two days, we have been teaching them some basic tactics for battlefield group combat.

Of course, to deal with that rabble outside, these private soldiers only needed to follow the leading officer in charge.

A few days later, it will be harvest time.

Defend the city?

I will take the initiative to attack when the time comes.

Only in this way can Laozi's martial arts skills be demonstrated, and only then can his elder brother Lin Hong, after being promoted, openly recommend him for a position in Yong'an County.

My elder brother went to Danyang. No matter who takes over Yong'an County, they will only become a pawn placed in front of the Lin family and manipulated by them. If they are not convinced, then I will let them know why the flowers are so red!

Even the major families of the Great Chu, when they come to Yong'an, have to cooperate well with the Lin family. This is a gentleman's agreement between the major families. Otherwise, wouldn't the world be in chaos?
This is my territory, I'm in charge!

Zhang Yuan glanced at the brightly lit back hall, listening to the boisterous sounds of drinking games and guessing games coming from inside. He involuntarily swallowed, spun around in circles a few times, and finally turned and left resolutely.

It's not that I don't want to, but I can't.

As the leader of this regular army battalion stationed in Yongxing County, the prohibition against drinking alcohol during combat was ingrained in his very bones after many years of military service.

Over the years, countless people have lost their lives because of seemingly insignificant matters. Zhang Yuan, who was in his early forties, had seen far too many of these things during his military career.

These people mostly died from military law rather than on the battlefield.

They belong to the kind of people who die without a good reputation.

Therefore, Zhang Yuan kept these lessons firmly in mind and was determined not to make mistakes on these matters of principle.

He had no powerful backing or background. He was able to be promoted to the rank of battalion commander with only the level of a sixth-rank Qi Master. This was thanks to his desperate charge during the battle of Xiangcheng a few years ago.

After that battle, he felt he would never come back.

The one leading the charge was the chief eunuch who served the Empress Dowager. He usually looked extremely effeminate and spoke in a girlish voice, but on that day he was wearing armor, holding a large knife, looking fierce and killing people as easily as cutting vegetables and melons.

Beneath the large banner at the rear, beating drums in support, was the Empress Dowager herself.

Faced with this situation, Zhang Yuan felt certain he would die on the battlefield; he had no other choice. The enemy opposite him were the southern garrison army of Qin, and the imperial guards from Chang'an.
They are all very powerful troops.

This is a battle that neither side can afford to lose.

In the end, the State of Chu won, and Zhang Yuan's group was almost entirely wiped out.

Those who survived all got promoted and became wealthy.

Zhang Yuan's former superior went directly to serve in the Tiger Guard, which was close to the Empress Dowager.

As for minor military officers like Zhang Yuan, they were directly assigned to Yongxing County as garrison captains.

This is a compliment to these people; otherwise, how could such a lucrative position have fallen to a low-ranking officer with no connections or background?
As the garrison commander of the county, he will likely not be able to personally lead any major battles in the future, but his annual salary and bonuses will remain the same. The key point is that in the local area, other sources of income make up the majority.

Zhang Yuan only learned this after he arrived in Yongxing County.

Now, he has bought a house and land for his family in the suburbs of Danyang, and he is now the pride of the whole clan!
The five hundred men from Yongxing were mostly soldiers who had retreated from the Battle of Xiangcheng.

Outsiders all say they were involved in the Battle of Xiangcheng, but people like Zhang Yuan know that these people were just playing minor roles on the sidelines!
The truly elite troops, like his original unit, were almost all wiped out. The remaining young men were all incorporated into the Tiger Legion and became the Empress Dowager's personal guard, while the older ones, like him, were placed in local positions.

In the words of Vice Minister Lin of the Ministry of War, these people, once they arrive in the provinces, must remember the Empress Dowager's grace, guard the four directions for her, and train soldiers, so that they may serve the Empress Dowager again in the future.

In fact, Zhang Yuan still felt a surge of excitement whenever he recalled the scene of the Empress Dowager beating the drums to cheer on the troops.

When the emperor died, the empress dowager went to the battlefield in full mourning.
Clad in white robes, amidst the thunderous drumbeats, countless powerful crossbows swept across the battlefield, aiming at the Empress Dowager atop the high platform. Though it was merely a fleeting glimpse of her turning back during the charge, it remained deeply etched into Zhang Yuan's heart.

To be honest, he really didn't want to experience that kind of scene again.

He survived that battle, which likely exhausted the good karma accumulated by his ancestors over eighteen years.

Zhang Yuan kept a low profile in Yongxing County, focusing his attention primarily on his five hundred men. He quietly trained them, aiming to mold them into the best soldiers, which he considered his way of serving the Empress Dowager.

Of course, he didn't have any reservations about accepting the money Lin Rong sent from the county magistrate; it was a reward for them in itself.

Even though Zhang Yuan was not politically savvy, he knew that after the Battle of Xiangcheng, the Empress Dowager had become the true head of the Chu state, and former Chief Minister Xiong and General Xiang had retired to their hometowns.

The Empress Dowager's current glory was earned by these rough men with their lives and blood!
A garrison officer who was unwilling to get involved in local affairs but was willing to accept money and who was also highly skilled at doing his job, was naturally Lin Rong's favorite.

Therefore, he began sending money to Zhang Yuan more frequently.

Of course, sometimes it was necessary to borrow Zhang Yuan's soldiers to do some things, and Zhang Yuan would not make excuses. As long as it was not a rebellion, it was not a big problem.

The two sides cooperated very well.

For Zhang Yuan, this peasant uprising was nothing more than an ordinary campaign to quell a rebellion, nothing major.

It's just that this rebellion is on a larger scale.

He really didn't take the rabble outside the city seriously.

Even now that his thigh muscles have regenerated.

He took another look around the city wall. Whether it was his own soldiers or the temporary young men, they were all quite vigilant. After all, there were tens of thousands of people outside the city. Anyone who dared to be careless under these circumstances was either very confident or completely ignorant.

The enemy showed no intention of attacking the city overnight. Zhang Yuan felt that these people had not made any preparations for the siege at all. Were they planning to build a human ladder? No matter how small Yongxing City was, its city walls were still several zhang high.

If you can't build a siege ladder, you can still cut down some trees or bamboo, that will do too.

Nothing.

Nothing!

Do you really expect someone inside the city to open the gate for you?
You are clever, but the people in the city are not stupid either. Traps have been set up on this side of the city gate. If anyone dares to do such a thing, they will only lose their lives and it will not achieve anything.

After patrolling the city, Zhang Yuan decided to go back and get some sleep.

There's nothing to worry about.

Pushing open the door, it was pitch black. His family was all in Danyang, and he usually only had one concubine by his side. He was too tired today and didn't want to bother her anymore. Getting a good night's sleep was the most important thing.

He removed his armor, tossed his sword onto the table, grabbed a flint and steel from the table, and struck a fire with a snap.
Then Zhang Yuan saw a person sitting across the table.

With a thud, the flint and steel landed on the table.

The person opposite picked up a flint and steel and lit the oil lamp.

(End of this chapter)