Sweep Yuan

Chapter 69 Guessing the Emperor's Intentions Almost Backfired

Chang Tietou and Shishan were originally brought together for mutual benefit, but now that the benefits are not yet exhausted, there are already signs that they are about to break up.

As the saying goes, it's good to part ways amicably. If Chang Tietou really wanted to break up, Shishan wouldn't stop him. But before they broke up, as the leader of the army, he wouldn't allow the banditry and bad habits of his troops to spread in the army.

After the city was captured, pigs and sheep were slaughtered and wine was distributed to reward all the soldiers, but middle and high-ranking officers were not allowed to drink much.

Because after the big meal, there will be a meeting.

At the meeting, Shi Shan reviewed the responses of both the offensive and defensive sides, and gave special praise to Fu Youde, Wu Liujin, Shao Rong and others for their outstanding performance, while specifically criticizing the Second Battalion for feigning an attack.

However, the focus of the meeting was not to criticize anyone, but to summarize lessons learned and improve the overall capabilities of officers.

The topics covered included tactical debriefing, commendations, battle wounds, and weapon losses, which didn't embarrass Chang Tietou too much.

Shishan was most concerned with tactical debriefing, and the discussion went into depth, including how the organization performed effectively in combat and what targeted training needed to be strengthened in the next step.

The officers were more concerned with recognizing their merits, leading to a heated debate in which none of them would back down.

After all, this is directly linked to future rewards and promotions; anyone who doesn't care will lose the support of their subordinates.

During the pre-battle deployment, Ishiyama emphasized the statistics of combat casualties and weapon losses, and the data collected by each unit was quite comprehensive.

The entire army suffered 47 dead and 122 wounded, some seriously and some lightly, in this battle.

The elite vanguard, clad in armor, could effectively reduce the damage from sharp weapons, but could not withstand high temperatures. The most serious injuries were burns and scalds from hot oil, accounting for nearly half of all injuries. Although the scene of the defenders being hit by flying stones and arrows was frightening, it mostly caused minor injuries.

The highest casualty rate was from falls (a combination of burns and stab wounds), accounting for more than 40%; although the battles on the city walls were bloody and fierce, the defenders collapsed quickly after the western city wall was breached, and only 30% of the soldiers died from swords and spears.

In terms of weaponry, due to the rough materials and design problems, the breakage rate of knives is extremely high. In a fight, each strike leaves a nick, and when used to cut people, the blades are prone to chipping or getting stuck in human tissue. Nearly 40% of the knives in use are damaged.

The blades of spears are relatively thick, and the main actions are thrusting and stabbing, so the breakage rate is relatively low. However, the shafts, which are made of mixed wood, are also easily damaged, so it is necessary to stock up on them.

Thanks to Fu Youde's effective organization, only a little over a thousand arrows were used, some of which could be recycled and reused. However, for the "Red Heart Battalion," which already had insufficient arrow reserves, this was still a significant drain on their resources.

In terms of siege equipment, the Eight Immortals Table had the worst arrow protection, but it was relatively flexible in clearing small obstacles; the inverted boat had the best protection against arrows, but its resistance to boulders and logs was far inferior to that of the Pointed Wooden Donkey Cart.

Using a donkey cart with pointed wooden ends to excavate relatively dilapidated city walls like those in Hongxian County was feasible, but due to the small working area and lack of powerful tools, the time required to collapse the city walls was too long, so Shao Si abandoned the idea during the battle.

Adding iron hooks to the top of the ladders did effectively prevent them from being knocked down by wooden forks, but the defenders' dousing of hot oil and setting the ladders on fire still posed a great obstacle to the soldiers climbing up.

Compared to the fierce competition for credit, the discussion on the performance of weapons and equipment, which were crucial to the lives of the soldiers, was much more harmonious, allowing Chang Tietou and others to forget some of the unpleasantness of being criticized.

After the meeting, Shishan personally comforted the wounded soldiers and reassured the prisoners, and then inspected the various patrol posts.

By the time they returned to the county government office, it was nearly midnight. Faint sobs of a young woman could be heard coming from the inner courtyard, which was rather eerie.

Although Shi Shan had inexplicably transmigrated to this world, he only believed in the swords and spears in his hands and was not afraid of ghosts and gods. He looked at Tong Si'er and Chen Daye, who were following him, with suspicion.

"Fourth son, are there still female relatives left in the Yin family of Cao County?"

"No, the entire Cao family was driven out of the city that afternoon. My godfather saw it with his own eyes."

Seeing that Commander Shi was looking at him, Chen Daye said somewhat boastfully:
“I noticed that Commander Liu was very polite to the Liu family. Today, I am preoccupied with other matters and have no time to concern myself with this. The city is in chaos, and the young lady of the Liu family is quite beautiful. If she were to leave Commander Liu’s sight, she might be in danger. So, I took the liberty of arranging for them to stay in the inner quarters.” The Liu Fuzi mentioned by Chen Daye was Liu Xingge.

A few days ago, Xue Xian hosted a banquet for the gentry of Lingbi. Everyone else rushed to the county government office out of fear of the Red Turban Army's power, but Liu Xingge, confident in his uprightness, refused to give Xue Xian face and almost had his entire family slaughtered.

When Shi Shan led his troops to break camp, he captured Liu Xingge's family. He also helped Xue Xian solve this problem. Although he kept them in the army, he never let the Liu family go hungry, and he even arranged for a doctor to treat Liu's old man and young son.

Compared to how the rebels treated the intellectuals who opposed them, Ishiyama's actions were indeed "very polite." However, he knew that he did not have the power to subdue this person at the moment, and had already planned to release him after a few days.

Whether Liu Xingge returned to his hometown in Lingbi County or fled to another place to avoid the chaos after his release was none of his business.

Even rebellion should be done with a good reputation. A serial killer who kills for the sake of killing is destined to achieve nothing great. Punishment should be given in varying degrees. For someone like Liu Xingge, a scare is enough; too much is as bad as too little.

I never expected that I would be so busy every day that I didn't pay attention to giving detailed instructions on this matter, and my subordinates would make wild guesses about my intentions and cause such a big misunderstanding.

Shi Shan looked at Chen Daye, who had a smirk on his face, and asked in an annoyed tone:
"Is it really Master Liu's whole family? Or just Miss Liu alone?"

Chen Dayan sensed something was off about the commander's tone, quickly suppressed his smile, and replied:

"The family of four were all inside the house."

Shi Shan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Liu Xingge's family hadn't separated, there was still room for maneuver.

He wasn't afraid of the worst outcome. It was perfectly normal for a rebel to sleep with a rich man's daughter. Even if the news got out, it wouldn't damage his reputation much. But right now, he was too busy with important matters to think about trivial ones.

"I think you should be called Chen Big Eyes, not Chen Big Egg!"

Chen Daye felt somewhat wronged and at a loss.

"Did I do something wrong? Then I'll kick them out right now!"

Shi Shan waved his hand, turned around and walked outside.

"Alright, it's so late. I'll squeeze into the barracks. Here are three men. You stay here and guard the gate tonight! Tomorrow morning, escort Liu Xingge's family out of the city. When I get back, don't let me see any women in the inner quarters!"

"I understand."

To be fair, Liu Xingge was quite tough. Although he was afraid of the bandits' cruelty and murderous nature when he was captured and secretly regretted not sending his family away in time, he ate and slept as usual during the days he was detained by the bandits, acting as if nothing was wrong.

Even during the two days his youngest son fell ill, his wife prayed to all the gods and Buddhas in the heavens, but he never bowed his head to the bandits for help. Fortunately, the bandit leader was sensible and arranged for a physician to come and treat him.

However, on the night the city fell, Liu Xingge slept unusually soundly.

The thieves occupied the county government office and put his family in the inner courtyard. Their sinister intentions were obvious. How could he sleep peacefully?
To protect his family's honor, Liu Xingge prepared to die for his family and even hinted to his daughter that she must not be defiled by the thieves.

After finally enduring until dawn, and confirming that the bandits had indeed only vacated the inner quarters for him to stay in for one night, Liu Xingge was still trying to figure out what had happened when the bandits sent someone to tell him to pack his belongings and prepare to leave the city.

Even after following the bandits all the way to the city gate, Liu Xingge's mind was still a complete mess.

The bandits kidnapped my family, but only imprisoned them with the army for a few days. They did nothing, and the bandit leader didn't even meet with me to try to persuade me to surrender. All this commotion was just to bring them to Hong County and release them.
"Dad, what are those people looking at?"

(End of this chapter)