The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 161 Changes in Situation
The horse thieves were so poor that they only had horses left.

A horse could be exchanged for more than ten taels of silver in the mainland. The mainland people could not understand how this could be called poverty. Because trade was monopolized, merchants would exchange it for cloth and tea, and the price was very low.

"What a pity."

“So many horses died.”

When cleaning up the war, many soldiers expressed regret that although the horses were not as carefully cared for as those in the Hexi Camp and were lacking in many aspects, they could still be good horses as long as they were well taken care of for a period of time.

"Save those that can be saved, and kill those that are too seriously injured to prevent the horses from suffering. Let as many of them live as possible." Zhang Can is experienced. While arranging people to collect the horses that had lost their owners, he also classified the injured horses.

The most people are assigned to take care of horses that are lightly injured, while seriously injured horses are killed. On the contrary, fewer people are assigned to take care of horses that are neither seriously nor lightly injured.

There were also casualties in the Hexi Camp, although very few. Every soldier was well cared for. Among the comrades who died in battle, two were unlucky enough to have arrows shot in the throat and died on the spot. There were also some who were left alone and did not join the chariot formation in time.

The captured horse thieves were guarded separately, and no one was abused because they were still waiting for the general's decision.

The officers below were all doing their jobs, and Wang Xin didn't have much to do. He just frowned, feeling a little confused.

The prosperity of the world is for profit; the hustle and bustle of the world is for profit.

Wang Xin could understand the respect shown by Chanyu Cheng Chanyu, even if he was arrogant, and his actions were not for his own benefit, including Dabansheng's attitude towards him.

"What's the motive behind this bandit gang attacking us? To establish their authority? To gain fame? Or to secure weapons?" Wang Xin said to his men, "Whatever their motive, get it out of them."

Although it is unreasonable for horse thieves to rob the army, it is not impossible. The Great Zhou is vast and rich in resources. The government's power is mainly in the county towns. There are many heroes in the countryside. There are even slogans saying that robbing police cars is illegal. What's more, in the Great Zhou today, even Shandong, which is next to the capital, has long-standing bandits.

So Wang Xin was very concerned about the purpose of this group of horse thieves.

Knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle. This group of horse thieves did not understand the tactics of the Hexi Camp and acted according to their experience in dealing with ordinary Zhou soldiers, so they suffered a great loss. If they knew how powerful the Hexi Camp was and gave them another chance, they would never rush around like that again.

With the general's orders, the people below knew how to treat the prisoners.

at this time.

Zhao Tao rushed over with a pale face, obviously frightened, and said in surprise: "General, the bandits' arrival this time is strange."

"Indeed," Wang Xin said in surprise. "We haven't even left Datong yet, but we've already discovered someone following our army. We just haven't caught them yet. So, I think it's probably connected to this gang of horse thieves."

Zhao Tao calmed down a bit after hearing this and guessed, "Dabansheng's attitude is not right. It's probably related to them."

Fearing that Wang Xin might not believe him, Zhao Tao explained, "Dabansheng is larger than Shanyu City, and many merchants come to Dabansheng to trade. Therefore, Datong and Dabansheng have a close relationship, so it's not surprising that there are spies from Dabansheng in Datong."

Zhao Tao’s analysis makes sense. Is it really so?
Seeing that Wang Xin did not refute, Zhao Tao became more confident and continued to emphasize: "This group of horse thieves did not directly ram the army. They must have relied on the speed of the cavalry to provoke or undermine our morale. Their main purpose was to intimidate us. I just didn't expect..."

Zhao Tao began to stutter a little.

Not only did this group of horse thieves not expect it, he also did not expect that General Wang's army was so powerful. If he were in their place, if he did not know the strength of this army, he would definitely make the same fatal mistake as this group of horse thieves.

We are all Zhou Jun, with the same fighting style, but some differences in details. You are unique, right?

Playing like this is really insidious.

Zhao Tao thought that others did not know Wang Xin's fighting style, but Wang Xin knew the fighting style of the rest of the Zhou army, so he had to go back and tell the Jiedu, otherwise the Jiedu would suffer a great loss.

Thinking of this, Zhao Tao hurriedly said, "I will hurry back and tell the governor so that he can know what happened here."

Wang Xin shook his head.

"Why?" Zhao Tao looked unhappy.

"The current situation is unclear, so we shouldn't act rashly." When not in action, one must be as steady as a rock; when taking action, one must be quick, accurate, and ruthless. Therefore, in Qi Jiguang's Art of War, the rules for marching occupy a large part.

Ordinary armies cannot learn this because it is too complicated. To reach that level, one must have very high military discipline and rules.

What I can do is not only satisfy the material needs, but also achieve ideological unity, unity from top to bottom, maintain extremely high morale, and achieve strong military discipline. Even during the march, all details are done to perfection.

This is why he dared to come out even though he knew Feng Yong was hostile to him.

No matter what tricks you use, in the end it all comes down to who has the harder fist.

Just like this group of horse thieves, no matter what their purpose is, no matter what their ideas are, no matter what their conspiracy is, anyone who dares to confront me will die!
Wang Xin knows his roots.

I am a soldier.

It is a soldier's mission to destroy the enemy.

Hearing this, Zhao Tao retorted, "The more uncertain the situation is, the more anxious I am to rush back. I can also bring reinforcements to the general."

"Hahaha!"

Wang Xin laughed, and his laughter spread far away.

The soldiers who were cleaning up the battlefield around them couldn't help but smile when they heard their general's laughter. After days of fatigue, today's exhilarating battle was the best comfort for everyone in the Hexi Camp.

Not only was it a victory, it also proved that their hard training over the past six months had paid off, and the general was still the undefeated god of war.

Since the general joined the army, he has been invincible in every battle, from north to south and from south to north. This is the root in their hearts, and no soldier will feel that he has failed.

"Why are you laughing, General?" Zhao Tao asked dissatisfiedly.

Wang Xin shook his head.

No matter whether they were Sichuan soldiers or Zhejiang soldiers, as long as the soldiers dared to fight, even if they had backward equipment, insufficient manpower, insufficient logistics, and various other deficiencies, they would still not be able to defeat Nurhaci who was outnumbered.

Finally, they relied on captured Ming soldiers and artillery to blast through the formations of Sichuan and Zhejiang soldiers and finally destroyed the other side.

That was all thanks to the officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty mobilized the entire country to build the most elite firearms unit and handed it to Huang Taiji. The Qing Dynasty then had the most powerful firearms and artillery in the world.

In today's time and space, Wang Xin couldn't think of any kind of Hu people's forces that could break through his multi-functional vehicle camp.

If the other party doesn't attack you, you will be helpless against him.

But if they dare to attack me, I will be like lighting a light in the toilet.

"If no one offends me, I will not offend anyone. If someone offends me, I will definitely offend them." After laughing, Wang Xin looked at Zhao Tao and continued calmly, "I will definitely find out the purpose of this group of horse thieves."

Zhao Tao broke out in sweat and felt fear for the first time.

It turned out that he didn't know the true face and only regarded him as a powerful general. Facing the combat power of the Hexi Camp, Zhao Tao couldn't help swallowing his saliva and felt more and more uneasy.

Shortly after.

Hexiying stopped its return journey and went the other way, heading towards the Dabansheng area.

After walking for only half a day, they discovered some scouts. Zhang Can was about to send people to chase them, but these scouts held up flags and came closer on their own initiative, indicating that they had no hostility and were soon brought before Wang Xin.

"General!"

This time, the two scouts were very respectful.

Before he could even speak, they recognized him. Although he was indeed different, Wang Xin tried to ask, "Do you recognize me?"

"We followed Chief Bi Sheng to meet the general a few days ago." The scout said honestly and answered every question.

It turned out to be them.

In stark contrast to his previous attitude, Wang Xin asked with a smile, "Where is your leader?"

"The general defeated Ning Longxiong. When the Taiji learned of this, he immediately sent for the general to go to Dabansheng. Dabansheng was waiting for the general to go on an inspection tour. The Bisheng leader didn't know the general's whereabouts, so he sent us everywhere to search for the general along the way."

"Is your Taiji Mo Bisheng?"

"Yes."

Wang Xin narrowed his eyes.

"You can't go." Tao Sheng, who was translating, said in surprise, "Mo Bisheng has bad intentions."

The two scouts didn't understand what Tao Sheng said, but they felt that this person had a bad attitude.

Zhao Tao took the opportunity to propose again: "Indeed, the situation in Dabansheng is unclear. If we go to Dabansheng, we will be like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth. After we return, we should ask the governor to send an envoy to find out the truth first."

Tao Sheng turned around and asked, "How do you know we eliminated Ning Longxiong?"

"Ning Longxiong is dead, and his escaped subordinates have also been scattered. Some of them have defected to our Dabansheng."

Tao Sheng didn't know whether it was true or not, so he could only tell Wang Xin and let Wang Xin judge.

"Tell your leader to be ready to welcome him." Wang Xin said calmly.

Except for the two scouts, everyone else was shocked.

Wang Xin had his own ideas. Other people's plots were their own business; he never messed with them. But he was also jealous. Horses were worthless outside the Great Wall, but they were valuable inside. He had eliminated a third of the hundreds of bandits this time, and including the slightly injured horses, he had captured forty or fifty horses.

Even though he put in all his efforts, he could only get a hundred war horses, one for each man.

in the afternoon.

The main generals came to the general and heard the general's arrangements. No one had any objection.

"Fighting is great." Zhang Can said with a flushed face. He was in charge of the cavalry, and the more war horses the better.

Of course it’s good to win the battle, Tang Ping and others nodded.

Wang Xin sighed, "I have never been fond of fighting, but I have always been fond of resolving conflicts. I only wanted to resolve the situation outside the Great Wall."

Everyone left with complicated expressions.

Zhang Can, a veteran of the frontier army, understood the situation best. He shook his head and said, "The general has a habit of saying strange things; he's truly shameless. Since fighting isn't an option, he should return and wait for an envoy from above to visit Dabansheng for further information and communication, rather than heading there with a large army."

Ma Fan laughed and said, "The general is very skilled and courageous. He is leading an army of only 2,000 men to visit someone else's hometown. If someone has bad intentions, they will surely take action when faced with this opportunity.

Who could not understand this? Tang Ping, Wang Xin's earliest follower, said as if it was normal: "The general likes fishing, and those who are willing to take the bait will be caught. If others make the first move, it is not the general's fault, and it is not us who start the war lightly."

Starting a war lightly is a serious crime, and there must be a valid reason.

Both Shanyucheng and Dabansheng are currently listed in the imperial court directory, and are still considered to be the official positions of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The Great Zhou Dynasty inherited the former Ming Dynasty and abolished many aspects of the Wei Suo system, but still retained these Wei Suo positions for the areas outside the Great Wall.

Unless they are enemies, such as the Donghu in the northeast.

As soon as everyone left, someone came.

The chief clerk Zhao Tao and his followers rode away on horseback.

(End of this chapter)