Sweep Yuan

Chapter 52 The Awakening of the Chess Pieces

"Ah! Be gentle! I have money, and I have Eliza, I'll give it all to you, just spare my life."

According to the pre-war plan, the "Red Heart Battalion" was still outside the city controlling key roads to prevent accidents. Xue Xian's troops entered the city first. In addition to controlling the government offices and warehouses, their most important task was to search for "Mongol Tartars" from house to house.

As the two were talking, two of Xue Xian's men grabbed a Semu merchant by the brown hair and dragged him out of the shop. The merchant was in pain and fear, and screamed like a pig being slaughtered as he was dragged.

Inside the house, there was a woman in green who screamed and tried to rush out, but was held down by two other soldiers.

"Please, please let me go—ah—"

Xue Xian found the man's shouting annoying, so he strode forward, pushed aside his subordinates, and with one stroke, cut open the merchant's abdomen. With a skillful flick of the knife, his intestines spilled out onto the ground, and the screams quickly subsided.

"Hahaha, so refreshing!"

Xue Xian seemed to enjoy the pleasure of killing at will. He had killed the county magistrate before entering the city, and now he had personally killed this Semu man. He didn't even wipe the blood off his body. He gave a wink to the people inside the house, then returned to his horse and continued the previous topic.

"Then let's rest in Lingbi for a few more days, gather ten or eight thousand men, and then charge into Huai'an County in one fell swoop?"

Shishan despised Xue Xian's cruelty and bloodthirstiness, but had no right to stop it.

But as a pawn, one must be prepared to act accordingly. Regardless of whether Xue Xian is deliberately testing one's abilities, one must be proactive and strive for progress.

"Speed ​​is of the essence in war, and we should take Hong County as soon as possible. However, it is easy to break through a city but difficult to defend it. Lingbi County is our retreat, and we must not afford to lose it. I humbly request that you, Commander-in-Chief, remain in Lingbi while I reorganize the troops, take Hong County, and present it to you!"

"it is good!"

Shi Shan volunteered to take on the heavy responsibility of fighting the Tartars to the death, giving up the cushy job of staying in the rear to enjoy the spoils. Xue Xian was very satisfied and immediately asked what conditions the other party wanted.

"How many people do you want?"

"two thousand."

Even with the insistence on "voluntary enlistment," after these days of continuous expansion, the "Red Heart Battalion" has nearly doubled in strength since leaving Chulan, now numbering 1,300, and recruiting another 700 would not be difficult.

Xue Xian's expansion was even more rapid; his force, which numbered only nine hundred when it left Suzhou, now numbered nearly two thousand five hundred.

Shi Shan had made suggestions before setting off and tried to persuade him along the way. He knew that Xue Xian's men were still using the same old methods when collecting grain from various villages, setting fires at most. He could only do his best to restrain his own men.

Xue Xian wasn't short of manpower and could easily spare a few hundred to fill the two thousand-man quota for Shishan, but he was reluctant to part with his own troops.

"Two thousand? We're short several hundred people, what are we going to do?"

Shi Shan knew perfectly well what Xue Xian was struggling with; he had never intended to take Xue Xian's "veteran," who was like his lifeline.

"With the commander stationed in Lingbi, we also need to expand our manpower to ensure the safety of our rear. My idea is to recruit young men to join the army, train them briefly, and then send them out as soon as possible."

There are only a few hundred people around, and it would be enough to just gather a few able-bodied men from larger villages and communities. The real headache is the weapons, equipment, and reorganization and training.

Despite the snowballing increase in the number of soldiers in Xue and Shi's forces, their overall combat strength has actually declined. Xue Xian has followed Zhao Jun for so long that he knows all too well the difference between well-equipped and unequipped, well-trained and untrained troops. He knows that Shi Shan's request is reasonable, but he is worried that Shi Shan will use the pretext of training to linger in Lingbi and delay setting off.

How many days do you need?

"Two days. Please, Steward, replenish our provisions, armor, weapons, and supplies."

Xue Xian was in a dilemma. The food supplies were not a problem, but the armor and weapons were. His own troops were already in short supply, and Lingbi was not a military camp. Looking at the large number of prisoners equipped with wooden clubs and bamboo spears, he could imagine what the government treasury might contain.

"Well, provisions aren't a problem, but armor, weapons, and tents are definitely not something we can gather in a short time. How about this, you stay for a couple more days while I think of a solution."

Although speed is of the essence in warfare, the continuous expansion of the force has led to numerous problems, and Shishan definitely needs time for reorganization and training.

"Thank you for your understanding, Steward!"

In fact, the task of recruiting 700 new soldiers is not difficult to complete. The "Red Heart Battalion" has forcibly conscripted more than 800 young men and women from villages and communities along the way in the past few days. It would be more than enough to detain all of them.

Believe it or not, Xue Xianzhen had indeed considered this, and even wanted to renege on his promise of fifty catties of grain per person after the city fell.

The reason given was that it was already a great favor that these able-bodied men were not allowed to go hungry along the way, and since the army did not attack the city and did not need their help, there was no need to reward them further.

If you don't become a householder, you don't know that firewood, rice, oil and salt are expensive.

Xue Xian ransacked the official granary and confiscated the property of the Darughachi and the county magistrate, but he only managed to obtain a little over 8,000 shi of grain and nearly 20,000 guan of cash, plus some miscellaneous supplies such as cloth, hemp, salt, leather, and saltpeter.

These supplies are enough to expand the army, but strengthening the city's defenses and training soldiers require a lot of supplies. In order to stabilize the morale of the people and withstand the possible counterattack of the government troops, the city must also have sufficient money and food reserves.

After capturing Lingbi, Chief Steward Xue was preoccupied with making money and expanding his army. He had no energy to argue with Shishan, who kept saying "only by gaining the trust of the people can we use their strength." He reluctantly allocated two thousand shi of grain, six thousand guan of cash, and some supplies.

After deducting the more than 400 shi of severance pay distributed to the conscripted young men, Shishan had little grain left to use, but he still continued the previous practice of recruiting soldiers and distributing them with resettlement money and grain.

As for the portion of food the team will lack after spending so much money and supplies, they can just keep asking Xue Xian for more – Chief Steward Xue will definitely find a way to raise more food.

As for the young men who were forcibly conscripted, they had only suffered some frights during their journey with the troops these past few days, and had not been injured in the slightest. They were able to eat half full on the way and receive food when they returned home. The righteous king was truly benevolent!
The world is in such a mess that there's no way for ordinary people to survive. They're going to die anyway, so they might as well join the Red Turban Army and rebel with King Shi. At least they can get a few full meals before they die.

As a result, more than a hundred hot-blooded young men joined the army on the spot when the grain was distributed. Among the more than a thousand people who returned to their hometowns with the grain, there should be some who would settle their families and then join the army.

The young men who were unwilling to join the army were not let go in vain. As these people returned to their villages, the reputation of "King Shi's Benevolence and Righteousness" would spread far and wide. Even if not many people volunteered to join the army, the rear could be stabilized to some extent.

After sending away the conscripted young men, the most urgent task at hand was dealing with the more than two hundred Lingbi archers who had just surrendered.

These prisoners were originally from Lingbi County. They might have put up some fighting power in defending their homes against the Red Turban Army. But once they were forced to surrender, they were taken to Huai'an Road to fight the government troops. Don't expect them to be of much use.

Knowing this, Xue Xian generously handed them all over to Shishan.

(End of this chapter)