My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 123 God's Blessing
Accompanied by Xu Liao and Ji Jiang, and guarded by three hundred armored soldiers led by Meng Xia, Xiang Chang left the palace with a somewhat impatient mood and hurried to the square in front of the palace gate.

In return for Xu Liao's wholehearted support and Ji Jiang's understanding and taste, Xiang Chang reciprocated by conferring the titles of Zhuang Hou and Yong Hou respectively, to make their support even more dedicated.

When he arrived at the square and saw the guardians of the kingdom waiting for him there, Xiang Chang opened his mouth slightly, frowned, and looked incredulous.

The generals and officers on the square were divided into two groups. Dozens of generals were gathered in groups of three or five, one on the left and one on the right, wearing crooked helmets and armor, acting sloppily, chatting loudly with each other, with no military discipline at all.

As for the hundreds of officers including the generals of 100, the commanders of 500, and the commanders of 1,000 soldiers, they could still barely maintain formation and stand still according to military orders.

Seeing Xiang Chang's angry eyes and ugly face, Ji Jiang, who had just been conferred the title of marquis, felt a little embarrassed. He hurried forward and shouted at him, driving all the generals to line up like driving away flies.

Xu Liao also looked embarrassed and whispered something to Xiang Chang.

Xiang Chang then realized that these generals were all sons of the royal nobility, experts in eating, drinking and having fun, but knew nothing about marching and fighting, and they didn't care about military discipline. No wonder the 5,000 guards in the palace couldn't keep Huang Jizhong's 600 men, and were killed by him. It would be a miracle if they could keep him.

After carefully questioning Xu Liao, Xiang Chang was surprised again that the city gate guards and the palace guards nominally had 5,000 soldiers each, but in fact at least 2,000 to 3,000 of them were old, weak, vagrants, and paupers with no combat effectiveness, but were incorporated into the army because of their private relationship with the generals.

Becoming a city gate guard or a palace guard, although there is no military pay, can reduce the family's taxes and labor service, and with the donations from the city's common people and merchants, can also bring in some income. This is extremely tempting to the lazy and impoverished people and playboys in the city.

At this point, Xiang Chang had a clear understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Linjiang Kingdom's army. Undoubtedly, the 20,000 Northern Army led by Huang Jizhong had the strongest combat power, followed by the city gate guards led by Xu Liao. As for the palace guards, they were the weakest.

Xiang Chang was stunned for a long time, then he exhaled heavily and sneered, "Huang Jizhong has been able to endure for so many years and has only started to rebel now. He is truly blessed by God."

When Xu Liao heard this, he couldn't help but feel even more embarrassed.

Xiang Chang put aside his resentment and knew very well that a bad soldier would lead to a bad general. If he wanted to successfully defeat Huang Jizhong's northern army in the next battle and defend Jiangling City, he must definitely not keep any of these generals.

Without saying a word, Xiang Chang immediately gave orders to promote all these dozens of generals by one level, and then drove them all into the palace to mourn for the old king Shang Gongwei.

Although he was promoted to a higher rank, in essence, this move was undoubtedly equivalent to depriving these generals of their military power. He originally thought that these generals would definitely jump up and make a scene with him, but in fact, he winked at Meng Xia and was ready to kill them.

The situation is critical now. Huang Jizhong is lurking outside the city and may launch an attack at any time. However, he has no time to use tenderness and kindness to appease these generals. He can only use domineering means to subdue them.

Meng Xia keenly sensed his intention, and he held his sword and spear horizontally, his eyes like an eagle, his brilliance shining brightly, and he took a step forward with three hundred armored soldiers, releasing a strong sense of oppression.

Now Meng Xia has taken over from Xiang Xi and Huang Zhong as the head of Xiang Chang's personal guards. He completely regards himself as a tool to protect Xiang Chang's safety and eliminate the enemies of Da Chu. He has completely abandoned his own thoughts and ideas, and executes Xiang Chang's orders resolutely and thoroughly.

But what happened next was completely beyond Xiang Chang's expectation. He saw all the generals smiled happily after hearing the military order, and without saying a word, they walked away with their arms around each other, and went to the palace to mourn for General Gong.

Xiang Chang looked surprised and looked at Xu Liao inquiringly.

Xu Liao was somewhat helpless, ashamed, and embarrassed. "These guys have never been to the battlefield and are afraid of war. In today's battle with Huang Jizhong, several of their colleagues have died in the chaos. They are all very worried. Sir, if you do this, you don't need them to participate in the next defense of the city. It's like letting them go. Why wouldn't they agree? Even if you don't promote their military ranks, they will all guarantee to actively support it."

Xiang Chang felt that his three views were refreshed again. The Linjiang Kingdom really could not be measured by common sense. As for Gong Wei, the instigator of all this, he cursed in his heart: Incompetent waste!

The Chu army was so powerful and arrogant back then, but after falling into this guy's hands for only a few years, it has become like this, worse than pigs.

After clearing out all the generals, Xiang Chang strode to the front of a line of more than a hundred officers and stood proudly with his hands behind his back.

Xu Liao stood beside him and shouted, "Do you know who this person is? This is Xiang Chang, the eldest son of the Overlord of Great Chu. Why don't you greet him quickly?"

When the officers heard this, their eyes lit up, and they all showed expressions of surprise and admiration, and bowed hurriedly.

It must be said that in this old Chu land, the title of Overlord Xiang Yu is extremely useful. Especially these grassroots officers, their ears are calloused by the glorious achievements of the Overlord in the past, and some have even experienced it in person, and secretly regard it as a god.

As for his eldest son, he naturally loved him and admired him greatly.

Xiang Chang nodded in satisfaction at the officers' reactions. He raised his eyebrows and shouted sternly, "Are you still good men of the Great Chu? Are you the brave soldiers under the command of the Overlord? If you are lax, what will happen? Stand up straight!"

When all the officers heard this, they shuddered as if they had been electrocuted, their eyes widened, their aura surged, and they all stood up straight, like spears nailed straight into the ground, motionless.

For a moment, it really had the feel of an elite and powerful army.

It has to be said that most of these officers of the Linjiang Kingdom were soldiers who had followed the Overlord to fight against the powerful Qin. They still had some basic skills, and now when they heard the military orders from the son of their former master, their blood boiled and a long-lost heroic and domineering aura emanated from them.

"Can it be done this way?" Ji Jiang and Xu Liao, who were watching from the sidelines, were stunned. They quickly glanced at each other and saw the shock in each other's eyes.

——Just a few words can make the soldiers loyal, reborn and completely transformed. The Overlord is really a natural god of war.

At this moment, the two generals were completely convinced by Xiang Chang, the eldest son.

Xiang Chang's depression caused by those incompetent generals just now gradually dissipated. With a grim face, he continued coldly: "Huang Jizhong murdered the king and caused chaos, leading 20,000 northern troops to wait outside the city and attack Jiangling City. The new Linjiang King Gong Yin entrusted the safety of Jiangling City to me. What I want to tell you is that once Jiangling City is breached, not only will you die, but your family, your wife and children, your relatives and friends, and the wealth you have worked hard to accumulate will all be killed, robbed, and burned. I just want to ask you, can you allow this to happen?"

Imagining the scene Xiang Chang described, the officers felt a chill run down their spines and raised their arms in a loud shout: "Never!"

"Then what should we do?" Xiang Chang asked immediately.

"Defeat them, kill them all, rob them all!" A group of officers roared from their chests.

"Very good!" Xiang Chang nodded with satisfaction again. He waved his hand and Wu Xin, who was ready beside him, opened the lids of more than a dozen large boxes carried out from the palace treasury and pushed them to the ground.

With the sound of "rustling", gold, silver, pearls, shells and coins of various colors flowed all over the ground.

All the officers' eyes were shining brightly, their black pupils were dyed golden, and their breathing became much heavier.

"I have decided to implement the 'Great Chu Military Merit Reward System' in the military camp. These jewels are spread out here. All officers and soldiers who have made meritorious contributions in the upcoming battles can not only receive these gold and silver rewards, but also be promoted to military ranks." As soon as Xiang Chang finished speaking, all the officers burst into cheers, and their eyes looking towards the outside of the city were filled with a desire to fight.

At this time, Qu Fu and Hei Shi led a thousand elite cavalrymen of the Great Chu and entered the city from the east gate. They arrived at the square and came to pay their respects.

Xiang Chang immediately ordered them to take over the vacant general positions, and then to gather all the soldiers guarding the city gates and the palace, eliminating the old, the weak, the sick, the poor, and the vagrants, and handing them over to Ji Jiang to lead the defense of the palace, while the remaining strong men were disorganized and reorganized.

These one thousand elite cavalrymen were originally the backbone carefully selected by Xiang Chang. Now, with them as the framework, he reorganized the city gate guards and palace guards. It can be said that the army within the city of Linjiang Kingdom is now completely under his control.

The generals were transferred to mourn the dead, and the officers were all conquered by Xiang Chang's kindness and power. They absolutely obeyed and cooperated with his military orders. It can be predicted that the subsequent reorganization will be carried out smoothly without any resistance.

Qu Fu, Hei Shi, Tian Jian, Xiang Xi, Huang Zhong and other generals led a thousand elite cavalrymen, and with the cooperation of these officers, they scattered and quickly began to move. Sure enough, by the afternoon when the sun was half setting, the reorganization was completed. Eliminating the old, weak, poor and prodigal sons in the army, there were only 7,000 soldiers. 7,000 soldiers were undoubtedly stretched to the limit and insufficient to defend the huge Jiangling City. In particular, these 7,000 soldiers were far inferior to the Northern Army in terms of both the quality of the soldiers and their own combat effectiveness. Xu Liao and Ji Jiang were quite worried about this.

Xiang Chang was not concerned at all. The private armies of the nobles and officials should be at least four or five thousand, and their quality was definitely first-class, much better than these soldiers. However, to his surprise, when he sent people to ask Bo Pi whether the nobles and officials could send out their private armies, the feedback he received made him furious. All the nobles and officials verbally agreed, but in fact they shirked their responsibilities and did nothing.

Xiang Chang's face darkened.

He showed no mercy to them and ordered Meng Xia to select several families that had the closest relationship with Huang Jizhong in the past. He dragged them out and beheaded them in front of all the nobles and ministers who were crying for the deceased, on the charge of colluding with the rebels to commit riot. Then he sent Meng Xia to lead the soldiers to attack the mansion, confiscate all the money, food and property, demote all the clansmen to slaves and send them to the baggage camp to defend the city, and round up all the women and lock them in the square in front of the palace, waiting to be rewarded to the soldiers who would make contributions in the next battle.

At this point, although the other nobles and ministers were shocked and angry at Xiang Chang's perverse behavior, they dared not delay any longer like frightened rabbits. They immediately sent a message back to the family, anxiously asking the clan members to send out the family's private soldiers.

——Just tolerate him for a while, he will get what he deserves in the future. All the nobles and ministers were secretly thinking this while they were angry.

All the family and private soldiers of the noble officials were gathered together, and there were indeed nearly four thousand elite soldiers. Xiang Chang was not polite at all and just waved his hand to incorporate them all into the army.

Once it entered his mouth, he never thought of spitting it out. From now on, it all belonged to him.

After settling this mess, Xiang Chang did not dare to delay and led Xu Liao to inspect the war horses, military equipment, weapons, food and other military supplies in the city.

A group of noble officials refused to cooperate and of course he could not trust them even if they did. Therefore, he had to do everything himself and work harder.

The first stop was the most important War Horse Camp. The War Horse Camp was located in the southwest corner of the city. Seeing Lieutenant Xu Liao personally accompanying a young and somewhat overconfident general, the chief officer of the War Horse Camp hurried out of the camp, not daring to neglect him, and respectfully welcomed him in.

Xiang Chang was overjoyed to see that there were more than 3,000 tall and fine horses in the camp. The horses were fat and strong, full of energy, and their neighings were loud and deafening. It was obvious that the chief officer of the horse camp was an expert in horse breeding.

Talent like this is so rare.

Xiang Chang praised Xu Liao a few words and asked him to immediately promote him by two levels. This made the chief officer of the Ma camp, who had not made any progress in his official position for many years, burst into tears of gratitude and felt that he had met a wise leader.

After leaving the War Horse Camp, the second stop was the weapons warehouse located in the northwest corner of the city. With the dull sound of friction between the hinges, the two huge stone doors were pushed open with great effort by several strong soldiers with muscular arms. The dazzling autumn sun shone in, and the dark warehouse became bright.

"My Lord, there are twelve such armories. This one is a weapons warehouse, which has thousands of bows, hundreds of thousands of arrows, tens of thousands of spears, halberds, shields, swords, axes, hammers and other weapons. There are four such armories in total. In addition, there are four armories and four uniforms warehouses."

Standing in front of twelve heavy and sturdy armories that were as tall as three adult men and all built with huge stones that were one tu square, Xu Liao explained in detail to Xiang Chang.

Xiang Chang nodded and walked in slowly.

Even though he had already heard Xu Liao's explanation and had some expectations in mind, Xiang Chang still took a deep breath when he entered. He had just seen the War Horse Camp, and now seeing the dazzling array of weapons, he was even more delighted, and his perception of the wealth of the Linjiang Kingdom was further enhanced.

Inside the huge and spacious warehouse, there were rows and rows of huge stone shelves, on which were neatly displayed hard bows, arrows, large spears, long guns, halberds, axes, shields and other weapons wrapped and sealed with oilcloth made of animal fat.

Xiang Chang picked up a large spear, weighed it with his hand, and shook it casually. He immediately found that the materials were solid and exquisite. For example, the spear shaft was made of jujube wood as thick as a child's wrist. It was hard but also had a certain toughness, solid and durable. As for the palm-length spear head made of pure iron, it was polished to be extremely sharp, flashing a cold light, and one could tell at a glance that it had amazing lethality.

Xiang Chang nodded with satisfaction, put down the spear, and checked the bows, shields, swords and other weapons one by one, and found that all of them were reliable and strong. After he was reborn, the Great Chu was already in danger and on the verge of collapse. The soldiers' weapons, armor and battle robes were all damaged. Especially those auxiliary soldiers in the baggage camp, who were almost like beggars. Now seeing such abundant weapons, he really felt like a poor man who had suddenly become rich, and he felt a surge of heat in his body.

"It seems that there are many excellent craftsmen in the arsenal of Linjiang Kingdom, which is indeed a real wealth." Xiang Chang was in high spirits and secretly estimated, "Once we have complete control over Linjiang Kingdom, we will immediately start the arsenal at full capacity and fully release the production capacity. Then the reserve military supplies for the defenders of Gaixia City will be settled."

"My Lord, should we immediately inform all the generals in the city to take a count of the missing weapons after reorganizing the army, and then quickly send soldiers to take charge?" Xu Liao reported to Xiang Chang after a slight hesitation.

Xiang Chang nodded in agreement without hesitation, sheathed the last sword he had picked up, and placed it back on the shelf, saying confidently: "The soldiers are strong and well-equipped, and we have a chance of winning this battle."

Meng Xia waved his hand to call over a few soldiers, whispered a few instructions, and the soldiers rode forward to deliver the message.

Xu Liao glanced at Meng Xia in surprise. He knew this former subordinate very well. But now under Xiang Chang's command, he became so down-to-earth and low-key, thoughtful and capable of execution. He was like a completely different person. He felt very strange and almost didn't recognize him.

As the eldest son of the Overlord, Xiang Chang followed his father to fight since he was young. He had a deep family background in marching and fighting, or even organizing the army, formulating military strategies, and allocating military supplies. Therefore, Xiang Chang easily took over all the troops in Jiangling City, and then reorganized them in an orderly manner. In just half a day, they were completely transformed and had a firm control over them. Xu Liao was not surprised at all, and only praised him with a sentence "You are worthy of being the son of the Overlord". What really surprised Xu Liao and even impressed him was his ability to conquer generals, such as Meng Xia, Ji Jiang, and even himself.

As for him, it was like being deprived of his military power by Xiang Chang, and he became a military commander who was in charge of military supplies. However, he did not have any complaints or resentment. Instead, he obeyed all the military orders of Xiang Chang and did not dare to neglect them.

This is certainly because of Xiang Chang's noble status and the future is bright if one follows him, but Xiang Chang's personal charm that makes people convinced is also a factor that cannot be ignored.

"A real man is born between heaven and earth, and if he finds a wise master to follow, he will serve the master and fight to the death, and win merit and honor, which is also a blessing in life." Xu Liao thought secretly.

Walking out of the armory, he looked back at the twelve huge warehouses under the bright golden sun. There were plenty of weapons and war horses available, and Xiang Chang felt relieved. However, when he thought of the most troublesome problem of food and fodder, he couldn't help but restrain his smile and frowned.

The last stop was in front of the granary in the northeast corner of the city. The soldiers opened the doors of the huge granaries, but they were empty and there was not much food left.

"Sir, this Taiping Granary used to collect grain from the entire Linjiang Kingdom and store it there to supply the royal family, nobles, army, and people of Jiangling City. Originally, the autumn grain was going to arrive in the next few days, but now Huang Jizhong is in rebellion, the war is raging, and the situation is unclear. I'm afraid, I'm afraid that the tax grain from all over the country will be delayed for a while, and we can only sit and wait. The remaining grain reserves can only supply for three or two days." Xu Liao explained in a low voice.

In addition to the royal family and the garrison troops, there were more than 100,000 civilians in Jiangling City. Both Xu Liao and Xiang Chang knew very well what terrible consequences would be caused if they ran out of food. There was no need to wait until the food ran out. As long as the news was spread, the entire Jiangling City would be in complete chaos and collapse without a fight.

Therefore, this problem must be resolved in the shortest possible time and must not cause panic.

The hundreds of guards led by Meng Xia looked at the empty granary and couldn't help showing panic in their eyes. As soldiers, they were more sensitive to food. How could they defend the city if there was a food shortage and no food?

The "Taiping Warehouse" in Jiangling City was about to be empty, and the soldiers and civilians in the city were unaware of this, but the nobles in Jiangling City knew it very well. Xiang Chang could also foresee that the nobles who were trapped in the palace by him and crying for the dead were probably sneering secretly, watching with their arms folded to see how he would break the impasse and solve this problem.

In addition to the food shortage, there was another issue that made Xiang Changda feel very troubled, which was the lack of a large number of logistical support personnel, such as those who could cook military rations, transport military equipment, take care of the wounded, etc.

At present, the 11,000 or so troops in Jiangling City are already stretched thin just to resist the Northern Army, and it is absolutely impossible to use them for logistical support. Xiang Chang is only barely controlling the troops in Jiangling City. Most of the power in Jiangling City is still controlled by those noble families. Only with their full cooperation can the entire Jiangling City burst out its true heritage and strength.

Although these noble families were forced to hand over part of their private armies under Xiang Chang's tyranny and applauded and expressed their support for his control of Jiangling City, it was all just superficial. In private, they were resisting and uncooperative.

Xiang Chang also knew that the reason these nobles held such an attitude was that they were very pessimistic about the upcoming battle with Huang Jizhong's Northern Army. After all, they knew too well the combat effectiveness of the city gate guards and palace guards. If nothing unexpected happened, it would be absolutely impossible to defend Jiangling City.

Although Xiang Chang knew that they all had ulterior motives, he was somewhat helpless. He had already killed the chicken to scare the monkey, he couldn't kill them all, right?
Xiang Chang also thought about mobilizing the people in the city, but Huang Jizhong had been the general for many years and was deeply rooted in Jiangling City. Once the people were mobilized, his spies would inevitably be mixed in. There were not enough soldiers in the city, and it was difficult to allocate manpower to strictly monitor. If these spies burned the remaining food and grass, military uniforms, weapons, etc., it would cause a disaster and the entire Jiangling City would be defeated ahead of time.

Just as Xiang Chang was standing in front of the granary, looking solemn and deep in thought, thinking about how to solve these two imminent problems, "Moo--" suddenly the long and continuous mooing of cows came from afar.

Then I saw oxen pulling carts loaded with grain, with no end in sight, coming slowly and steadily out of the city.

(End of this chapter)