Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 136: Soldiers' Heart

To ennoble a wife and give children honors, to bring glory to the family, these words are a little far away from these ordinary soldiers.

After all, not long ago, they were still soldiers whose salaries were in arrears.

"Master Camp Commander, I wonder how many troops the other side has?"

A soldier said with some concern.

Liu Ying was always vague in his words.

"There are only a few thousand of them. Don't worry. As long as we hold them off for a while, the imperial army will immediately meet us on the other side. Just drive the boats and charge!"

The soldier asked again worriedly:

"Master Camp Commander, how many people have come from the imperial court?"

Upon hearing this, General Liu Ying glared at the other person fiercely.

Why are there so many problems?

If it were normal times, he would definitely beat this asking questions lowly soldier with eighty military sticks to show his military power!

But now, seeing everyone's concerned eyes, General Liu Ying couldn't get angry.

He had no choice but to make up a number and said, "There are more than 10,000 people!"

The soldier was puzzled and said, "There is no large swamp near the Chongming River. It would be difficult to ambush a navy of more than 10,000 people. The imperial army must be hiding far away!"

General Liu was speechless for a moment. He knew basically nothing about these so-called terrain and military matters. At times, he even knew less than some veteran soldiers.

Being questioned by the soldiers at this time, General Liu didn't know how to respond, so he used his official position to forcefully say: "It's a military secret, and you are just a soldier, how dare you ask more questions!"

Seeing this, the soldier dared not say anything more.

In fact, there was no such thing as an imperial army. These soldiers were merely bargaining chips used by General Liu Ying to exchange for wealth and glory.

Since accepting the surrender of the Huaiyin Army, many changes have taken place in the military system. The most obvious one is that the soldiers' salaries are now distributed by the non-commissioned officers of the Huaiyin Army, and no longer go through the hands of generals at all levels, which greatly avoids the situation where these generals withhold military salaries.

Liu Yingzong had no more money to make, and his life became increasingly difficult. He could only go to Huichun Pavilion once every three days instead of every day.

And then there were rumors that the Huaiyin Army was going to bring in Gongcao and instructors, and change the calculation standard of military merit, etc. Liu Ying knew that his abilities were mediocre, and he was afraid that after the change of the military merit system, his current position would not improve but decline.

He went to Han Wenlong to complain, but Han Wenlong said, who cares whether there is a reform or not, as long as he can lead troops to capture cities and strongholds, how can he be short of his wealth and honor?

After hearing this, General Liu Ying felt depressed.

Han Wenlong has no pain in his waist when he talks while standing.

Han Wenlong had made enough money a long time ago, and he was born into a noble family. He knew a lot about naval warfare since he was a child. He was good at attacking cities and strongholds, and deploying troops. Naturally, he was not afraid of anything.

But he can't!
He rose to power by flattery and withholding military rewards. Once the military merit system is reformed, how can he gain merit?
Due to the fear of the future, after several twists and turns, Liu Ying contacted Commander Luo, who promised to give him a large sum of money. As long as he completed this task, he would be sent away by ship. By then, with money in hand, he could enjoy wealth and prosperity wherever he went.
As for these lowly soldiers, being able to exchange some silver for themselves is considered their good fortune.

In the river, rows of huge Huaiyin army warships began to appear.

The soldiers came to report.

General Liu Ying drew his sword and ordered his men to attack.

The soldiers lowered their heads, preparing to launch the warships.

At this time, a middle-aged soldier was really reluctant to take action. He glanced at General Liu Ying and said carefully:

"Captain Ying, I actually think that Marquis Huaiyin treats us very well. Otherwise, why don't we just stop rebelling..."

As soon as these words were spoken, they were instantly recognized by a large number of soldiers. They all put down their work and looked at General Liu with hope.

For these soldiers, the days they surrendered to the Huaiyin Army were the best days of their lives.

For the first time, they received a full salary and no longer had to work for others to earn money. The officials in the barracks also restrained themselves a lot and no longer beat or scolded them for no reason. Now, these good days only lasted a few days, and they had to...

General Liu Ying was shocked when he saw the looks of the soldiers around him!
He realized that he had to calm these people down quickly and not let them think, otherwise today's matter would be disastrous.

Thinking of this, General Liu Ying's eyes focused, he quickly drew his sword, stepped forward and stabbed the middle-aged soldier in the chest.

The soldiers were shocked when they saw this. Commander Liu drew his sword and kicked the old soldier into the water!
The middle-aged soldier was struggling in the water. General Liu's martial arts skills were very poor, and the sword he stabbed was very off target and missed the vital point.

Commander Liu then snatched the bow and arrow from a soldier and shot several arrows into the water. Most of them missed the target, but one arrow hit the middle-aged soldier's shoulder.

"Old Tan!"

The surrounding soldiers shouted excitedly, as if they wanted to step forward to stop it.

Liu Yingzong roared:

"This is an order from Marshal Han. Do you want to rebel? If you dare to stop us, Marshal Han and the court will not let your family go!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the soldiers were immediately stunned.

These soldiers were uneducated and could not understand the current situation at all. In addition, they had only recently surrendered to the Huaiyin Army, so Han Wenlong still had a great deterrent effect on them.

After General Liu Ying said this, most people didn't dare to move.

There are a small number of people who have different ideas in their minds. Since no one dares to move, they dare not move either, and can only hide their ideas in their hearts.

General Liu Ying shot a few more arrows and hit Lao Tan's legs. Lao Tan lost his strength and sank to the bottom of the water in despair.

At the last moment of his death, he was thinking about whether his son at home had received the military pay he sent back...

"March!"

At the command of General Liu Ying, the warships began to attack.

On the other side, Fang Yong’s army was marching down the river.

The commander of the front army was Wei Xing.

At this time, on the river in the distance, one can see warships rushing out from the side of the river and heading towards here.

Wei Xing couldn't help but sneer when he saw this.

What a traitor! He set up an ambush, but he actually dared to attack the 40,000 elite navy of the Huaiyin Army with such a small number of people.

They charged forward, and they are brave, but they actually launched the attack from such a long distance. Aren't they making themselves sitting ducks?

If this is the case, what is the point of an ambush?
I really don’t know what the other generals are thinking?

Could it be that the enemy has other ambushes and can attack from behind and cut him off?
Although this possibility cannot be ruled out, Wei Xing has already carefully explored the route along the way. It is impossible for a large number of naval forces to ambush?

Even so, for the sake of safety, Wei Xing still ordered his men to observe the rear carefully and report the situation here to the general behind, asking the general to make precautionary preparations.

At the same time, Wei Xing ordered his men to load the shells, adjust the speed, and start shooting!
On the river, the roaring sound is endless.

As shells were fired one after another, the enemy's warships sank one after another.

The soldiers were washed away by the turbulent river and became fish food.

There is no plot of blood dyeing the river red, because the lives of these soldiers are so insignificant that they cannot leave any trace in the world.

In a short while, the enemy was defeated.

More than half of the people were beaten to death or drowned in the river.

There was no trace of the so-called imperial troops.

Mr. Liu Ying had disappeared long ago.

The rest of the soldiers surrendered.

Soon after, the surrendered soldiers were brought before Fang Yong.

"Why rebel?"

Fang Yong asked.

The soldier replied with tears in his eyes:
"It was General Han who gave the order. General Liu ordered us to attack..."

(End of this chapter)