Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Chapter 313 Prisoners! All sent to mining.
Chen Jie led the elite troops of Ximentang back to Xianning Prefecture.

Wow——!
The supply troops and civilians who were originally stationed in Xianning Prefecture cheered and celebrated their victory.

Chen Jie arranged for the reconnaissance company to gather intelligence on the rebels' next moves.

Simultaneously,

He arranged a grand victory celebration banquet for the brothers who participated in this battle.

The Ximentang soldiers who performed outstandingly in the battle were all commended.

Several elite soldiers who fought bravely and performed exceptionally well were directly promoted to junior officers.

That night,

Chen Jie sent another person to Ezhou to inform Li Qiong.

Having wiped out Sun Zhong's troops, it was natural to let Li Qiong know all about it.

After all, Li Qiong was the nominal commander-in-chief in this suppression of the rebellion.

Meng Ying and Lin Rui, following Xi Mentang, won several major victories in a row.
The two were in high spirits and, without losing a single soldier, gained a great deal of military merit.

The two naturally cooperated extremely well with such a great opportunity.

Therefore,
When Chen Jie ordered the two commanders to lead their troops to garrison behind Xianning Prefecture, neither of them had any objections.

Now the two of them are completely convinced of Ximentang's fighting prowess.

They secretly vowed that next time they went to war, they would definitely follow Ximen Tang and fight a good battle against the rebels.

Even against Li Ben, the Prince of Han, with his 150,000 elite troops, Ximen Tang would surely win as long as he went into battle.

Do not know why,

Meng Ying and Lin Rui became very confident in Xi Mentang's fighting ability.

Chen Jie was unaware of their thoughts and had no interest in paying attention to them.

in fact,

After returning to Xianning, Chen Jie began to have some worries.

captive!

That's right, three consecutive battles: from eliminating Zhang Datong, to defeating Ma Nanshan, and then defeating Sun Zhong.

More than 6,000 people were captured in total.

What should be done with these prisoners of war?

Before launching the night raid on Sun Zhong, Chen Jie didn't think much of it because the number of prisoners of war was small.

but,

After defeating Sun Zhong, Chen Jie discovered that the number of prisoners of war had exceeded the limit.

The rebels' fighting spirit was not particularly strong to begin with.

If they can't win, they will never put up a tenacious resistance like the soldiers of the Kwantung Army.

The Kwantung Army upheld the Bushido spirit and was determined to die rather than surrender.

Even if they resist to the very last moment, they will never surrender easily.

Therefore,
When facing the Kwantung Army, even prisoners of war, Ximen Tang would never show mercy.

But the rebels were completely different.

If they can't win, they immediately lie down and admit defeat, raising their hands in surrender.

In other words, their fighting spirit was not strong to begin with, and their morale was easily broken.

This suppression of the rebellion unexpectedly resulted in the capture of over six thousand prisoners of war.

The rebels' overall combat effectiveness was actually not high.

If it weren't for the weapons provided by the Japanese, the rebel army under Prince Li Ben of Han wouldn't have needed to expend so much effort to wipe them out.

This is also the main reason why Chen Jie once again transferred 20,000 troops from Shandong.

The rebels who had access to Japanese weapons were on a completely different level of combat effectiveness compared to those who did not.

of course,

Even without being equipped with Japanese weapons, the rebels' overall combat strength was still stronger than that of the corrupt Daqian army.

otherwise,

The Great Qian Dynasty would not be overwhelmed by the rebels.

The question now is, what should be done with these more than 6,000 prisoners of war?
Although Ximentang currently has enough food to last for two months.

but,

Next, they will face the main force of Li Ben, the Prince of Han.

If the fighting continues, the number of prisoners of war will increase.

If prisoners of war are not handled properly, they will become the biggest burden on Simon's administration.

After defeating Prince Li Ben of Han, it is believed that the number of prisoners of war will increase, possibly reaching tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

Top priority,
The issue of prisoners of war must be resolved properly; relying on the Great Qian Dynasty is unreliable.

Although the vast majority of these prisoners of war in the rebel army came from impoverished backgrounds.

They were originally ordinary people, impoverished and destitute, who joined the rebels in order to survive.

but,

Once someone joins the rebels, they are bound to become restless if you try to get them to go back to being ordinary citizens.

They can no longer be farmers.

These prisoners were originally people from the lowest rungs of society, suffering from hunger and cold, struggling on the edge of life and death.

but,

Their status underwent a dramatic change after they joined the rebel army of Li Ben, the Prince of Han.

Li Ben had an unwritten rule that any territory he conquered could be plundered by his soldiers for a day.

These people, after joining the rebels, may become even more ruthless, perhaps in revenge for their past poverty.

Therefore,
When Li Ben, the Prince of Han, captured Wuchang Prefecture, his army was extremely cruel and killed people without blinking an eye.

Once anyone has experienced burning, killing, and looting, there is no turning back.

It's almost impossible for them to go back to farming, to become farmers, and to live that impoverished life again.

Those who have seen blood will never settle for mediocrity.

To be honest, even if all these prisoners of war were handed over to the Ministry of War of the Great Qian Dynasty for processing...

Given Li Qiong's personality, he would definitely have beheaded most of them.

The fate of prisoners of war is generally very tragic.

Chen Jie would not easily kill prisoners of war, especially since these people were citizens of Daqian, not Japanese.

Ximentang currently has a high demand for manpower.

After seeing these prisoners of war, Chen Jie had some other thoughts in his mind.

First of all,

They selected some prisoners of war and sent them to coal mines, oil refineries, and other places in Shandong to serve as laborers.

To know,
There are still many prisoners of war from the Western Allied Forces in the Ximentang coal mine.

This practice of using prisoners of war as forced laborers was prevalent in many places. Of course,

Using prisoners of war as forced laborers was essentially giving them a chance to survive.

After a few years of hard labor in places like coal mines, oil refineries, oil fields, or steel mills, one has a chance to regain their freedom.

In the following time, Chen Jie ordered the medics to treat some of the wounded prisoners of war.

Fortunately, he brought a lot of antibiotics; otherwise, the prisoners' wounds would have become infected and would have been beyond saving.

in addition,

Simon Hall released a notice regarding the handling of prisoners of war.

They promised that these prisoners of war would regain their freedom after five years of labor reform.

for the rest of the time,

We need to find all the officers among these prisoners of war.

Because they are qualified to serve as officers in the rebel army, their martial arts skills must be quite good, making them the most difficult group to manage.

These officers will remain a source of instability if they are not removed from the ranks of prisoners.

Before sending these prisoners of war to Shandong, it is necessary to make an example of them and separate all these unruly junior officers of the rebel army.

Just as Chen Jie was arranging to send the prisoners to Shandong, he received a request for troops from Li Qiong, the Grand General of the Ministry of War of the Great Qian Dynasty.

That's right,

Li Qiong requested that Ximentang send troops to attack Tongshan County and draw away the main force of Prince Li Ben of Han.

Then,

Li Qiong will capture Wuchang City in the coming days.

original,

Li Qiong, the Grand General of the Ministry of War of the Great Qian Dynasty, divided his army into three routes for attack.

Guo Feng and Yang Xishan each led a group of men, originally intending to encircle Huangshi Prefecture.

but,

After these two men set out from Ezhou, they actually remained stationary on the outskirts of Huangshi Prefecture.

They did not launch an attack on Huangshi Prefecture, but waited for an opportunity.

Li Qiong was extremely anxious about this and desperately hoped that the two generals could send troops to take Huangshi Prefecture.

but,

Guo Feng and Yang Xishan acted as if they hadn't heard Li Qiong's orders.

It wasn't that they didn't want to attack Huangshi Prefecture, but rather that they absolutely needed to know the movements of Prince Li Ben of Han.

If Li Ben retreats to support Huangshi Prefecture, then even if they capture Huangshi Prefecture, they won't be able to hold it.

Just as Li Qiong was furious about this, good news unexpectedly came from Xianning.

Ximentang easily captured Xianning Prefecture and defeated Zhang Datong's 20,000 rebel troops stationed there.

When the good news reached Ezhou, Li Qiong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Next,
He ordered Guo Feng and Yang Xishan to send troops to attack Huangshi Prefecture.

Now or never!

If we don't seize this opportunity to take Huangshi Prefecture, we'll never have another chance once Han King Li Ben's reinforcements arrive.

This time, Li Qiong gave a direct order.

If the two delay any further and miss the opportunity to fight, they will be killed without mercy.

After receiving the order, Guo Feng and Yang Xishan knew they could no longer delay.

Therefore, after the two joined forces, they began to attack Huangshi Prefecture.

Fortunately, they postponed their attack on Huangshi Prefecture, allowing Sun Zhong's army to leave Huangshi Prefecture and head to Tongshan County to garrison, hoping to retake Xianning City.

The defenses of Huangshi Prefecture were left weak, with fewer than five thousand troops remaining to guard the prefecture.

therefore,

After the two joined forces, they easily captured Huangshi Prefecture with more than ten times the number of troops and won a great victory.

After capturing Huangshi Prefecture, the two men held their ground and dared not make any further moves.

They were worried that Li Ben, the Prince of Han, would withdraw his elite troops and had been closely monitoring the situation.

As long as Li Ben's army returns, they will abandon Huangshi Prefecture and retreat to Ezhou.

of course,

In their report of victory to Li Qiong, they naturally described the capture of Huangshi Prefecture as extremely difficult in order to claim credit.

In order to gain more benefits, they exaggerated their battle losses many times over.

Li Qiong was overjoyed after receiving two generals from the Ministry of War of the Great Qian Dynasty and taking over Huangshi Prefecture.

Then,

Chen Jie's battle report once again reached Ezhou.

This victory was even more astonishing than the capture of Xianning City.

Ximentang defeated the rebel army under Sun Zhong and killed the rebel generals Ma Nanshan and Wang Shikang.

They killed nearly 70,000 rebels and captured more than 6,000.

The rebel army under Sun Zhong's command was almost completely crushed.

This battle wiped out almost a quarter of the elite troops under Prince Li Ben of Han.

When Li Qiong saw the good news, she could hardly believe her eyes.

To know,
Xi Mentang led only 10,000 elite troops to Xianning Prefecture.

How could they have achieved such a brilliant record?

It seems that Ximentang's ability to garrison Shandong and become the most powerful army in the Great Qian Dynasty is indeed well-deserved.

The court's decision to appoint Ximentang as the main force in suppressing the rebellion this time seems to have been anticipated.

Next,
Some of Li Qiong's advisors began to devise strategies for the upcoming situation.

Everyone suggested that they take this opportunity to send Ximentang to attack Tongshan County and hold back the main force of Prince Li Ben of Han.

Hong Yanchuan, from the Ministry of War of the Imperial Court, led troops south from Hebei, thus holding back the army of Prince Ning, Li Mu.

at this time,

Tang Youwang, from the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, is leading his army and is about to arrive in Hanzhong.

If Ximentang can hold back the main force of Prince Li Ben of Han at this time, then Li Qiong can have the two armies join forces and take Wuchang Prefecture directly.

Taking Wuchang Prefecture would mean the collapse of Prince Li Ben's rebel army.

Li Qiong was incredibly excited after hearing her advisor's suggestion.

He immediately ordered Guo Feng and Yang Xishan's armies to set off for Wuchang City.

in addition,

He requested Chen Jie to send troops to attack Tongshan County and tie down the main force of Prince Li Ben of Han.

Then, once Tang Youwang's troops arrive, they will attack Wuchang City together and wipe out Prince Li Ben of Han in one fell swoop!
(End of this chapter)