Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 16 This is his grave (please read)

Zhao Zhongzhong rode all the way back and quickly transferred his battalion here. Lu Jin personally gave instructions to the company and platoon leaders and asked them to knock on the door immediately at night.

Countless torches were lit in the village, and a large number of troops poured into the village, causing chaos. The villagers had woken up long ago, but because of fear, they hid in their houses and dared not come out.

Dang Dang Dang——

"Fellow villagers, open the door. We are the Red Scarf of Chaohu. We have something to tell the elders. We don't rob or harm anyone. Come out and say something."

The yard was completely silent, with only a few hens milling around restlessly, which clearly showed that there were still people around.

Dang Dang Dang——

"Fellow villagers, we are not here to harm anyone. Come out and talk. I know there are people at home. Don't force me to burn the house."

"Hey, here I come, I was just putting on my clothes, don't burn it, don't burn the house!"

As long as the people came out, the next step would be easy. The officers immediately explained the whole story and listed the compensation terms. The village would lend Hongjin the house for a few days, and each household would receive a boulder of rice. If the house was damaged, there would be additional compensation.

To be honest, these conditions were quite righteous, but the villagers were still dissatisfied with the forced relocation in the middle of the night. But there was nothing they could do, as they came here in broad daylight.

Fortunately, these Red Turban Army soldiers had strict discipline. They only urged people and did not enter houses. They asked each household to move their food and belongings into the yard, and the soldiers helped them load the carts from the yard. Each household followed the cart, and people and belongings were together. This move made the villagers feel a little relieved.

But as they watched their homeland gradually drifting away, they felt it would be difficult for them to come back. Who knew what those Red Turbans would do in the village? If the government troops came to investigate, even if the Red Turbans released them, who among them would dare to go back?

The village was already in a semi-abandoned state. It used to be home to one or two hundred households, but now only had a few dozen. They would soon be relocated, leaving only empty houses, which would soon become a battlefield.

Lu Jin took Liao Yongan and others into the village to inspect the terrain, roughly drew a map of the village, and then made markings.

Some courtyard walls need to be broken through, some alleys need barricades to be built to block the roads, and some sturdy roofs can be used as commanding heights to arrange sentries, and even some bricks or stones can be moved to attack the enemies in the alleys.

In short, the battlefield should be transformed to facilitate the Mandarin Duck Formation, and the enemies should be separated as much as possible.

Yu Tingyu looked at the marks Lu Jin made on the map, then looked at the woods outside the village and asked.

"Brother Lu, the roads and houses in this village need to be renovated, and the two intersections behind the village can also be blocked by cars. How should we block the woods on the opposite side?"

The woods are really troublesome and are not so easy to seal off.

Lu Jin thought for a moment before saying, "How many people do you think Zuo Junbi will send to chase us?"

"This"

Yu Tingyu couldn't answer for a moment, but Liao Yongan spoke.

"Zuo Junbi has a total of more than 5,000 soldiers. He was originally a thousand households, and he only had 1,000 regular soldiers under his command. The rest were recently recruited. He is in charge of the arsenal of Luzhou City. He has no shortage of weapons, but he certainly doesn't have many armors, less than 2,000 at most, and he also has to defend the city.

"If I were him, I would leave at least 2,000 new soldiers to guard the city before I feel at ease. Bringing out 3,000 soldiers, half of whom are armored soldiers, is already the maximum."

After hearing this, Lu Jin did a rough calculation. The Chaohu Navy now has eight combat battalions and one logistics battalion, with a total strength of about 8,000. Three battalions are needed to block the three intersections, and there are still five battalions. Three battalions are engaged in a head-on battle in the village, and two are left to block the woods. One logistics battalion is left as the general reserve, which is just enough.

So he said.

"We won't seal off the woods. We will just send two battalions to go around and attack from the rear. Our combat goal is to wipe out these 3,000 soldiers, not to trap them in the village and fight a protracted war. We must use all our strength at the beginning of the battle.

"If this battle turns into a confrontation and a war of attrition, then we will definitely lose. After all, the Chaohu Navy has never won a battle. If the confrontation continues, our morale will soon collapse, so we must not hold back any strength and must fight quickly and decisively."

After hearing this, both of them nodded, "That makes sense, so what should we do now?"

"Go back and mobilize the troops!"

At around three o'clock in the morning of that day, all the soldiers from the eight battalions of Chaohu Lake had assembled, landed secretly on the west bank of Chaohu Lake, and marched quickly to lurk in Changjiaao Village.

Some soldiers were nervous and some were excited. With such a large-scale operation, even a fool would know what they were going to do. They must be going to attack Zuo Junbi. After all, there were no other enemies around. When they were brought to the small village of Changjiaao, some people began to doubt, while others began to be full of confidence.

In the past few times when they fought with Zuo Junbi, it was Zuo Junbi who took the initiative to attack. Then they were always defeated and kept fleeing, gradually fleeing to the lakeside and never dared to go ashore again.

But this time it was obviously different. The generals did not lead them directly to attack the city, but hid in this small village. It was obviously a trap prepared by our side, anticipating that Zuo Junbi would come here.

Sure enough, after a while, officers at all levels were called together for a lecture.

On the mound east of the village, all the Chaohu generals were present, with Lu Jin standing in the middle. Opposite him were all the squad, platoon and company officers, all waiting quietly for Lu Jin's lecture.

"My fellow brothers, you all know what we are here for. That's right, we are here to kill that bastard Zuo Junbi!

"More or less of you have relatives and friends who died at the hands of that bastard. I don't need to tell you how much hatred and blood and tears there are. Even now, some of you are still mourning for your parents and brothers!

“I’m only going to say one thing today!

"In the past, it was always those bastards who took the initiative to attack us. They had bows and arrows, they had weapons and armor, but what did we have? We had nothing before, but today is different!

"Before, you were just scattered soldiers, but now you are all elite troops familiar with the formation.

“You were beaten before because you were not prepared, but now we have chosen the battlefield, right in this village!

"Open your eyes and look around carefully. There are many houses here, and there are either trees or high hills all around. No matter how powerful the cavalry of the dog bandits is, they can't turn the tables here. No matter how many bows and arrows the dog bandits have, they can't shoot us because of the houses.

"This is the grave we chose for that bastard! Pick up your spears and tell me, do you have the confidence to avenge your dead parents and brothers? Do you have the confidence to kill Zuo Junbi and use his head as a sacrifice?"

Lu Jin's loud question immediately caused a roar from the officers.

"Have!"

"Kill the bastard and sacrifice him!"

"Revenge for the dead relatives!"

These were all expressions of the truest feelings, and there was no need to even arrange for an intermediary, because they and Zuo Junbi really had a deep hatred for each other. Even now, many family members had their heads cut off and hung on the city gate of Luzhou.

"Well, then pick up your swords and guns. I will lead you to avenge our hatred. Either that bastard dies today, or I, Lu Jin, will die!

"Now, listen to my orders, all the battalions should ambush at the designated locations. Once we have lured that bastard over here, we will close the door and beat him!"

"Yes!"

Lu Jin immediately made arrangements. Liao Yongjian, Liao Yongzhong, and Zhao Zhongzhong, three battalions were responsible for engaging in direct combat in the village. Yu Tonghai and Zhang Desheng were responsible for acting as bait and leading the convoy to lure Zuo Junbi over.

Yu Tingyu and Zhang Wen each led a battalion to ambush at the entrance of the village, preparing to attack from behind. Liao Yongan's battalion and the logistics battalion were responsible for guarding the two exits behind the village and were ready to support the village at any time.

Lu Jin and Liao Yongan erected their flags on a high hill behind the village to command the overall situation. Once Zuo Junbi's entire army was surrounded by the village, Liao Yongan would immediately join the battlefield without waiting for the outcome to be decided, and Lu Jin would also drive his car to attack Zuo Junbi's cavalry.

The plan was finalized, and the generals began to prepare with their own troops.

Yu Tingyu also grabbed Lu Jin.

"Brother Lu, are we going to find Zheng Yong now and report us to Zuo Junbi?"

"No, Zheng Yong is cooperating with us to transport grain. There is someone else who went to report the news, and we have to wait until the evening to do this. Do you think Zuo Junbi will believe that the Chaohu navy went ashore to transport grain in broad daylight? He must doubt that we don't have the courage to come up during the day." Lu Jin immediately retorted.

"That's true, then let him live for a few more hours!"

There is one more chapter today

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(End of this chapter)