As a young marshal, it's reasonable for me to have 300,000 private troops, right?

After arriving in Jilin Province, Qi Fan and his party went straight to the Fengtian Army's Jilin Provincial Command.

At this moment, the command post was brightly lit, and Bao Yulin, Yan Shuangying, Sun Desheng and key officers had all gathered and stood at attention, awaiting orders.

Qi Fan walked to the sand table, glanced at everyone, and said in a deep voice.

"Gentlemen, this campaign to suppress bandits in Kyrgyzstan is of paramount importance. I am about to assign tasks, and everyone must strictly follow them!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he looked at Bao Yu first.

"Yulin, immediately arrange for a batch of leaflets to be printed. The content doesn't need to be complicated, just straightforward and easy to understand. Don't use any fancy words; most of the bandits in the mountains aren't very educated, so they need to understand it at a glance. The core message should be: Fengtian Army has arrived in Jilin Province to suppress bandits, and we urge you to abandon the darkness and join the light. In addition, the size of our forces and the location of our command post must be clearly written on them."

"Okay! I'll go arrange it right away!" Bao Yulin responded and was about to turn around when Qi Fan called him back.

"Oh right, there's one more thing," Qi Fan added.

"After the leaflets are printed, don't rush to send them out. Wait a couple of days before arranging for people to distribute them to various bandit strongholds."

Bao Yulin paused, turned around with a puzzled look on his face.

"Hanqing, what is the purpose of doing this? And why let the bandits know our situation?"

He couldn't understand it at all; wouldn't it be a huge disadvantage to expose the location and strength of the command post to the bandits?

Qi Fan smiled knowingly, but offered no further explanation, only saying calmly.

"Just do as I say, and you'll understand the reasons later. Oh, and there's one more thing I need to trouble you with. Tell your father to invite all the Fengtian Army reporters over and have them follow the whole operation, publicizing our anti-bandit campaign as much as possible."

Seeing that Qi Fan was unwilling to say more, Bao Yulin stopped asking and nodded solemnly.

"Alright! I'll split up and get it done right away, I guarantee it will be done!" With that, he quickly left the command post.

After dismissing Bao Yulin, Qi Fan turned his gaze to Yan Shuangying, his tone becoming serious.

"Brother Yan, it will be tough on your Yan Eagle Group from now on. Your mission is to infiltrate the mountains and forests, find out the defenses and troop deployments of each bandit stronghold, as well as the bandit leader's activity patterns, and report the bandits' movements to me at any time."

After a brief pause, he emphasized his instructions.

"If a suitable opportunity arises, you can take the chance to eliminate a few bandit leaders. But remember, safety comes first. If you encounter danger, prioritize your own safety and evacuation."

Yan Shuangying's eyes were sharp as an eagle's, and he replied in a deep voice.

"Understood! I'll go back and arrange for the brothers to set off!"

Finally, Qi Fan turned his attention to Sun Desheng and made his deployment based on the advantages of the cavalry company.

"Company Commander Sun, your cavalry company is highly mobile, so you'll be responsible for setting up defenses and providing support on the perimeter. You must maintain open communication with the Yan Ying group. If they encounter any danger in the mountains, immediately lead your troops to their aid and cover their safe retreat."

"Please rest assured, Brigade Commander!" Sun Desheng raised his hand in a standard military salute, his voice booming.

With all tasks assigned, everyone performed their duties and quickly got to work.

Seeing that everyone else had received their tasks and left, but he hadn't received any instructions, Xu Shan stepped forward, bowed to Qi Fan, and asked with a hint of urgency.

"Commander, the brothers all have missions. Do you have any tasks for me and my men? We three hundred brothers are ready to be deployed at any time!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Fan turned to look at Xu Shan and slowly began to make arrangements.

"Company Commander Xu, your mission is also crucial. Leave fifty men out of your three hundred to guard the command post. The remaining two hundred and fifty men will be deployed in concealed positions around the command post. Remember, you must hide your tracks perfectly and not be discovered in the slightest."

Xu Shan was taken aback for a moment, then subconsciously frowned and questioned.

"Brigade Commander, this leaves the command post with far too few troops. If something happens, I'm afraid it will be difficult to hold out."

Qi Fan smiled confidently and explained.

"What I want is the illusion of an 'empty' command post. Think about it, there are several thousand bandits in Kyrgyzstan. Once they know the location of our command post and realize that our forces are weak here, they will most likely take the risk and launch a surprise attack. Then, we can catch them like fish in a barrel and launch a surprise attack!"

Xu Shan suddenly realized, his doubts vanished, his eyes hardened, and he raised his hand in a military salute.

"Understood, Commander! You're brilliant! I'll make the arrangements right away. I guarantee the brothers will be hidden perfectly, and the bandits won't notice a thing!"

"Go ahead," Qi Fan nodded. Xu Shan responded in a deep voice, turned around, and quickly left the command post.

In fact, Qi Fan couldn't be certain that the bandits would definitely attack the command post, but since he had already revealed all his trump cards, he could be prepared in case the bandits did attack.

Not long after Xu Shan left, the door to the command post was hurriedly pushed open, and Xu Chengye rushed in, looking flustered, holding a telegram in his hand and loudly reporting.

"Brigadier! The telegram from Fengtian is from the Marshal's side!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Fan felt a chill run down his spine.

He had just finished deploying his mission in Jilin Province when Fengtian sent a telegram, which must have meant that something had happened.

He immediately strode forward, took the telegram from Xu Chengye, and eagerly began to examine it.

The telegram was not complicated; it was filled with Zhang Zuolin's instructions.

After all, this was Qi Fan's first time leading troops into battle alone. Although Zhang Zuolin trusted his abilities, he was still worried and repeatedly instructed him to be cautious, pay attention to his own safety, and maintain the morale of the troops while suppressing bandits.

The most crucial point is the relationship with the "little people". The situation between the three northeastern provinces and the "little people" is already delicate. Zhang Zuolin specifically emphasized that since the bandit suppression has already begun, we must be cautious and try to avoid friction with the "little people" and never create any conflict that would give them an opportunity to take advantage of us.

After reading the telegram, Qi Fan's fingers tightened slightly, and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes.

To be honest, he didn't want to indulge the arrogance of these petty scoundrels, but he knew better than anyone that the Fengtian Army's foundation was not yet stable and its own strength was not yet strong enough, so it was far from being able to completely turn against these petty scoundrels.

For now, we can only endure it.

Suppressing his emotions, Qi Fan looked up at Xu Chengye beside him and said in a deep voice.

"Chengye, go prepare the car. I need to go to my older sister's place; I need her help with some things."

He wasn't very familiar with the complex network of relationships in Fengtian, and besides, diplomatic maneuvering was never his forte.

Now, I have to take care of my daily life while also steadily advancing the anti-bandit campaign. I can only rely on my older sister's connections in Kyrgyzstan to make some connections.

In fact, even if Yang Qinglin hadn't chosen Heilongjiang Province, Qi Fan would have volunteered to go to Jilin Province to suppress bandits.

Firstly, although banditry was rampant in Kyrgyzstan, it was a good opportunity for him to train his troops and establish his authority; secondly, his older sister lived in Kyrgyzstan, and he could take the opportunity of suppressing bandits to visit her.