The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

The Taihang Mountains and Zhongtiao Mountains, and other long mountain ranges, have been quite unsettled lately.

In addition, the weather this year has been somewhat abnormal, and the harvest is expected to be significantly affected. At that time, there may be another situation where refugees gather in major northern towns.

If this were combined with local banditry, it would be truly disastrous.

The displacement of people was certainly a significant contributing factor to the fall of the Ming Dynasty at the end of its reign.

The government certainly wouldn't stand idly by, so it hastily dispatched Jia Cong and a battalion of his men to first clear out the bandits in Zhili.

Now that we know the reason, what else is there to say?

Unless it was a deliberate trap, Jia Cong felt no fear whatsoever. Not to mention, Jia Huan and his men were there to help him, which gave him even more confidence.

In just one month, Jia Cong led his battalion of men to sweep through the notorious bandit strongholds in Zhili, leaving almost nothing untouched.

The Great Qian Dynasty has not yet reached a point of true chaos. How could a large-scale bandit or outlaw appear in a core territory like Zhili?

It's nothing more than taking advantage of the mountains and forests, or the water and lakes, to create a little commotion.

After all, the martial arts world of the Great Qian Dynasty still has some formidable methods.

For example, in the worlds of Swordsman and The Sword Stained with Royal Blood, some martial arts forces with considerable skill rely on their strength to establish strongholds in certain dangerous locations and commit atrocities.

They have extensive connections and are quite capable themselves.

Local government officials really couldn't do anything about them, even deploying the army wouldn't help.

It's impossible to mobilize thousands of troops just because of a mountain stronghold with a few hundred people.

Moreover, due to the rugged terrain, a mere thousand-strong army could not withstand the losses in guerrilla warfare.

The ambiguous relationship between local powerful families and these bandit strongholds is the main reason why some bandit strongholds have been able to evade the law.

As a mobile force with only a few thousand men, it was impossible for them to stay in one place for too long.

It's even less likely that we'll engage in a head-on assault, otherwise, not even three thousand men would be enough to sustain the losses. Only special operations can achieve the best results.

Isn't it true that Jia Huan and his gang of brothers who came with him played a role?

When it comes to using underworld tactics or more advanced special operations, Jia Huan is quite adaptable and can even unleash considerable power.

No matter how treacherous the terrain, it was commonplace for him.

With the help of grappling hooks, ropes, pulleys, and other equipment, traversing steep mountain forests is a breeze.

After that, they would either set fire to the place, poison it, or create thick smoke to completely engulf the bandit stronghold built on the treacherous terrain. That was truly a bitter experience.

In short, once the bandits and mountain thieves were driven out of their lair, they would have no chance to fight back against the well-prepared battalion of government troops.

Of course, bandits and outlaws are not without their share of desperate criminals. Once these guys unleash their fury, they are not to be underestimated, and their destructive power is quite formidable.

Some of these guys have even mastered the basic martial arts to a very high level.

While they weren't immune to swords and spears, ordinary weapons posed little threat to them.

Some of these guys are also skilled in using poison and hidden weapons; their lethality is no joke.

The soldiers Jia Cong brought out had only undergone a month of rough training and were just getting used to the more rigorous training methods when they were sent out to suppress bandits.

Their individual combat abilities are not worth counting on for now. They would be lucky if they could coordinate small groups with good teamwork. When facing ruthless and vicious gangsters, they can only rely on their military formation and numbers to gain an advantage.

Even the officers leading the team were not exactly skilled in martial arts!

As the saying goes, after too much peace, the training of the Beijing garrison has become lax, and all sorts of problems have emerged. The professional competence and overall strength of officers at all levels are not optimistic.

It is unclear when, but in order to maintain its fighting strength, the Beijing garrison would periodically exchange some of its troops with those of other garrisons, which kept the Beijing garrison at a relatively strong fighting force.

In this way, the border troops can still have something to look forward to, since the benefits and treatment of being transferred to the Beijing garrison are very attractive to them.

Besides, there are few battles in the heart of the capital, so we can live a few more years in peace.

In short, this rotation policy was maintained quite well when the Ning and Rong families were in charge of the Beijing Garrison. This was one of the main reasons why the imperial family had to let the Ning and Rong families be in charge and maintain control of the Beijing Garrison. Other generals simply did not have such prestige.

This concerns the stability of the military and the peace of the nation; it cannot be remedied by playing power games.

Unfortunately, with the dethronement of the crown prince and the subsequent retirement of the previous Duke of Rong, Jia Daishan, the policy of rotating troops between the Beijing garrison and various border armies was quietly abolished.

How long has it been? Just over twenty years. The soldiers of the Beijing garrison have even become lax in their training, let alone their overall combat effectiveness.

Jia Huan had no idea what had happened.

However, he was quite clear that the fighting strength of Jia Cong's thousands of men was really average.

Even if he doesn't intervene, Jia Cong's abilities and strength will still allow him to complete the mission in the end.

However, the extent of the damage to his men and the time required may not be satisfactory to the current ruler.

With relevant intelligence available, Jia Huan personally stepped in to help, making things much simpler.

Even if the local government and local powerful families don't actively support it, it's not a big deal.

Jia Huan even instructed Cong Ge'er to assign some men to guard against local powerful figures interfering with their operations.

And they completed the capture of the stronghold at the fastest speed, giving certain entities and forces no chance whatsoever.

Even in the bandits' stronghold, a lot of evidence of their collusion with local forces was found.

Well, these bandits and outlaws who were counted and wiped out were somewhat like the black gloves of local forces, or even the local government officials. There were quite a few twists and turns involved.

When they took down the first mountain stronghold, Jia Cong and his soldiers were still a little unaccustomed to the situation.

After successively eliminating several bandit strongholds, they quickly adapted to this pattern.

At first, when facing those vicious and desperate criminals, Jia Cong and his soldiers were quite nervous, and even paid a bloody price for it.

But after experiencing it many times, they gradually adapted.

Combat effectiveness and self-confidence also gradually accumulate and improve over time.

Especially Cong-ge'er, who dealt with skilled martial artists with considerable ease.

With a long spear and a powerful bow, he was incredibly powerful as he rode at full gallop. No one who wasn't a top-tier martial arts master could last more than five moves against him.

As for his officers, more than a dozen were killed or wounded in the frenzied attack by the desperados, but there was nothing that could be done; they could only blame their own lack of skill.

If everyone had the martial arts skills of a Wu Jinshi (a high-ranking military officer), there wouldn't have been so many casualties!

Most of these guys are from noble families. They usually act all high and mighty, but unfortunately, few of them have any real skills.

Those who entered the army through the military examination, like Jia Cong, were extremely rare.

When the sons of noble families in the army were injured or killed, it was inevitable that Jia Cong, the commanding officer, would be blamed.

"No need to argue with them, and no need to be polite!"

Jia Huan, however, disagreed and privately warned Jia Cong not to be so sentimental: "This is nothing. The bandits and outlaws in Zhili are not very strong. After all, the capital is not far from here!"

"The situation will be truly dire once you lead your troops out of Zhili!"

"Based on the information I've received, some of these bandits and outlaws are even backed by powerful forces in the martial arts world. They are the most difficult group to deal with, and you'll have plenty of work to do in the future!"

"These casualties are nothing. Anyone who's not happy about it, just tell them to get lost!"

Chapter 284 Lack of Sincerity (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)

Just as Jia Huan said, the order in Zhili was still quite good.

Before the authority of the imperial court was weakened, at least the local authorities in Zhili dared not go too far.

There are quite a few bandits and outlaws here, but not many are large-scale or influential.

With over a hundred men and their own bandit strongholds, there were only eight such groups in the entire Zhili region.

This is only because of the existence of the Taihang Mountains; otherwise, there would be even fewer.

Of course, bandits who could establish strongholds in Zhili Province were no ordinary people.

You can't be weak if you're not capable, and you can't be without a wide network of connections either. In short, the most prominent thing about them is that they're difficult to deal with.

At present, the sudden attack by Jia Cong and his battalion, which quickly wiped them out, did not cause much disruption to Jia Cong's forces or the local area.

As for those small groups of bandits and outlaws roaming around, they were much easier and simpler to deal with.

Once the location is determined, and with Jia Huan leading men to help block the retreat route, wouldn't it be a piece of cake?

During this period, representatives from local powers or martial arts sects came to the scene, hoping that Jia Cong would not act so ruthlessly and would show leniency.

Especially those so-called people sent by Wangwu, their nostrils practically grew out of their foreheads.

At Jia Huan's prompting, Cong Ge'er directly asked, "Why are you so awesome?"

These mere martial arts sects dare to interfere with the actions of the government troops? Are they tired of living?

Do you know the serious consequences of the government getting angry?

As a result, the Wangwu Sect martial arts figures were enraged and drew their swords to challenge Jia Cong to a duel.

Jia Cong had no intention of being polite to a group of martial arts figures. Naturally, he had some skilled martial arts practitioners brought by Jia Huan to teach them to behave properly and not be so arrogant in the future!

So-called swordsmanship is rarely enough to withstand twenty moves from the staffs used by Jia Huan's martial artists.

Of course, it was just knocking the sword out of the other person's hand; there was no intention to harm anyone.

Incidentally, capture the person and send them to the nearest local government jail.

As for how they got out, I can't be bothered to care.