Joy of Life: I am a Han Dynasty succubus, and I rebel from the beginning

Chapter 16: Not enough food, prepare to borrow food from bandits
Xie Bian felt that Liu Hong and his gang were just small fry.

Liu Hong knows it better than anyone else.

Along the way, in addition to constantly recruiting honest people with high salaries.

Liu Hong almost personally trained this group of people and hardly allowed the pirates to interfere.

Even the sergeants and centurions were selected and appointed from among the honest people.

This is to enhance the combat effectiveness of the army and also to check and balance this group of old brothers.

Thank goodness Ye Qingmei is a science student and doesn’t understand military systems, otherwise Liu Hong would have been useless.

Just be obedient and bow down at the feet of the great Emperor Qing. Why are you thinking of rebelling?

When the Qing Kingdom recruited soldiers, the generals personally selected and appointed them, and distributed food, fodder, and silver wages.

Any general with a bit of ambition can almost regard the army as his own private army. The Qin family is a good example.

"Miss Lili, have a safe trip!"

Dismounting from his tall and handsome horse, Liu Hong approached a carriage and joked.

Dozens of agile guards surrounded the carriage and turned a blind eye.

Si Lili opened the car curtain, her brows relaxed a lot, and she was in the mood to joke.

"Lord Liu personally escorted me to the border, so the journey was naturally safe."

"But I'm afraid that Lord Liu will turn against me and take me back to Qing Kingdom to claim my merit and seek a reward."

“Hahaha…how could that be!”

Liu Hong laughed, but his heart skipped a beat.

Did this woman discover something? No way! He has been hiding it very well along the way.

Liu Hong does have this idea.

It’s a credit, so don’t waste it!
Besides, Si Lili was not his woman, so Liu Hong felt quite at ease in cheating Si Lili.

When the army arrived at the border of Dingzhou, the population suddenly became much thinner.

The common people that were occasionally seen were almost all dressed in rags, with pale and thin faces and extremely dull eyes that had almost lost their color.

Liu Hong was not surprised at all.

Every year, the Kingdom of Qing launched small-scale provocations against the Hu people, Northern Qi, and various small vassal states, and wars broke out.

Then, after five or ten years, a major war breaks out.

Every time the Qing Kingdom won, it looked glorious and invincible.

And then... war requires food, silver, weapons, and manpower.

Silver can be relied on from Ye Qingmei’s inner treasury, and military equipment can be supported by Ye Qingmei’s small-scale industrial revolution in Jiangnan.

But what about soldiers and food? You can't just conjure them out of thin air.

His Royal Highness Prince Jing, who is devoted to the research of hybrid rice, still can't figure out what benign hybridization is.

Liu Hong was still criticizing Emperor Qing for his vanity and exhaustion of resources.

Gousheng walked forward hesitantly and reported the bad news in a low voice.

"Brother, we can't buy food."

Compared to Ergouzi's outspokenness, Gousheng is obviously much more emotionally intelligent.

Liu Hong frowned slightly and glanced at the food and grass behind him. It was probably enough for about three days.

The surrounding villages are sparsely populated, and people probably won’t sell food to them. After all, the price of food at the border is comparable to gold.

As for robbing? Liu Hong thought that he was still quite conscientious and would not leave the people a way out.

Besides, how many villages would we have to rob to feed the 1,200 soldiers?

"Brother, why don't we..."

Gousheng glanced at the few lonely civilians.

"Snapped……"

Liu Hong slapped Gousheng hard on the head.

"You are useless. Don't you know what we did before?"

"Brother, it's because we were bandits before that I think this way! If there's no food, we can just rob."

Gousheng was beaten so hard that he was covered in tears.

Liu Hong gently pointed his sword at a few civilians.

"So that's why! The bandits have money and food. Find a few locals and find out where the bandit dens are in Dingzhou."

Gousheng was very excited and shouted at his guards, almost half-forcing them to ask for information.

Several common people trembled with fear and confessed everything honestly.

Gousheng was just about to leave when he looked at these people, whose clothes were full of holes and he scratched them.

He casually threw out five taels of silver, all as rewards.

"Thanks!"

Several civilians looked at the soldiers in disbelief. Asking for directions actually paid such a generous reward!

After several civilians divided the money, they finally came to their senses and looked at this unusual army.

"Which general is this?"

"Looking at the flag, it looks like General Liu Hong."

"General Liu Hong is such a good general."

……

"Tiger Head Mountain?"

Liu Hong pondered for a while, looked at the map, and was a little hesitant.

It’s not that Hutou Mountain is dangerous or there are too many bandits.

After all, Liu Hong now has some armor and a bow and crossbow in his hands. If he is afraid of a group of bandits, that would be a joke.

However, Hutou Mountain is in a special location, almost close to the territory of the Zuozhang Hu people.

Moreover, Hutou Mountain is a small hill located in the plain area, which is easy to attack but difficult to defend.

The reason why Liu Hong hesitated was that he was worried about Zuo Zhang's Hu people.

Don’t underestimate the Hu people, who lived a backward tribal slavery life of eating raw meat and drinking blood.

But the problem is that others have horses! In the feudal era, having a horse meant having the upper hand in war.

Their mobility is amazing.

But Liu Hong gritted his teeth as he looked at the increasingly scarce food and grass!

Damn! Let’s fight.

It was his first time leading an army, and in order to be quick and easy, he did not estimate the food and fodder well.

In the military tent, the centurion and two deputy commanders sat according to their positions.

They were divided into two factions, and there seemed to be some conflict between them.

"We only have two days' supply of food and fodder left. We must capture Hutou Mountain within two days, and we must not let the Hu people in the left tent know the news."

Liu Hong pointed the tip of his sword at the location of Hutou Mountain.

I had a headache for a moment. Are these bandits crazy?

In the plains, if you build a bandit camp, everyone will beat you up!

Fatty Lu was wearing the heavy armor of a deputy governor and was full of confidence.

"Don't worry, bro. Wait for me to gather my brothers and rush directly to Hutou Mountain to kill him without leaving a single piece of armor."

Liu Hong ignored Fatty Lu.

If it were that simple, why would he call a meeting of generals?

"General, I think we should attack Hutou Mountain at night, then move the treasures and food, and then move non-stop."

It is a great honor to be able to say such an official title as "Dutong".

This man is Huang Xuan, the deputy governor among the people, a down-and-out scholar who considers himself a talented but unappreciated person.

He failed the imperial examinations five times in a row and was filled with indignation. After seeing Liu Hong's recruitment banner, he resolutely gave up writing and joined the army.

Yeah! Very good.

Huang Xuan’s suggestion sounds good, but in fact, if you are not careful, your whole army will be wiped out.

The troops that dare to launch a night attack are the elite among the elite.

At least Liu Hong felt that his group was not qualified.

As for why...

Except for Liu Hong and more than 20 bandits, who live in the port city of Danzhou all year round, eat fish and seafood and do not suffer from night blindness.

These soldiers below are all blind at night.

If you are not careful during a night attack, a fight will break out.

Huang Xuan saw that Liu Hong didn't take care of him, and a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face.

Obviously he was aware of this problem, after all, he was also a night blindness patient.

Reading too many typical military books is just armchair talk.

A large group of people looked at Liu Hong eagerly, waiting for his final decision.

Liu Hong closed his eyes in pain. Damn it! There are still not enough talented people around him.

If there were strategists like Zhang Liang and Zhuge Liang, or military geniuses like Bai Qi and Han Xin.

Is it so slow to attack a bandit camp?
"Gousheng, place my two hundred guards on the west side to monitor the movements of the Hu people in the left tent."

Liu Hong slowly opened his eyes and made up his mind.

Without counselors and generals, he would have to do it himself!

The first step in starting a business is always difficult.

(End of this chapter)