Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 21: Besieging a Point and Attacking the Reinforcements (Seeking Follow-up Reading)

After convincing Liao Yongjian, Lu Jin once again drew his knife and walked towards Yin Congdao.

On the other side, Ye Sheng had also been beaten with twenty military sticks. He was staggering, his face was pale, and his forehead was soaked with sweat. He endured the pain in his back and bowed repeatedly to the Chaohu generals.

"We all served different masters in the past, so I hope you will forgive me if I offend you."

Yu Tonghai had already become a fanboy of Lu Jin. Seeing this, he immediately said, "Brother Lu is willing to accept you because he values ​​your ability. I hope you will work hard in the future and don't let Brother Lu down."

Zhao Zhongzhong patted his shoulder and said, "Don't forget what you said today."

Yu Tingyu also expressed his opinion, "Show your merits as soon as possible, and you will be one of us if you have military merits."

Ye Sheng clasped his fists again, "I will definitely live up to your expectations."

Turning around to look at Yin Congdao again, the steel knife in Lu Jin's hand was already on his neck. The cold blade scraped against his skin, giving him goose bumps. Yin Congdao kept swallowing saliva in his throat, his mouth moved, but he couldn't utter a word.

Ye Sheng wanted to plead for mercy, but he had just joined and had not done anything yet, so he didn't have the nerve to ask.

At this time, Lu Jin said.

"Yin Congdao, I know you were mostly defending the city before. Now the left thief has surrendered, and the evildoer Jia Chou who killed innocent people for credit is also dead. You are also a man, but do you still want to help the tyrant and continue to be a lackey for the Tartars?"

Hearing such an obvious hint, Yin Congdao immediately came to his senses.

No, this was no longer a hint. Lu Jin was even considerate enough to find a way out for him. He just focused on defending the city, as if he had never appeared during the suppression of the Red Turbans.

However, Yin Congdao didn't care about all that and said immediately.

"I was coerced by Zuo Junbi and deceived by Bao Yuan. We served different masters in the past and offended each other on the battlefield, but I didn't dare to kill innocent people and take credit for my achievements, which was against the will of heaven and earth.

"Now that I have met the general, I finally know what a truly benevolent and righteous king is. If you don't abandon me, I am willing to die for you!"

"Hahahaha." Lu Jin laughed immediately after hearing that. "You're not bad either. You live up to your name. Zhang Wen, untie him."

"Yes."

After Yin Congdao was released, Lu Jin spoke again.

"Follow the Tao, follow the Tao. I hope you will remember what you said today. From now on, follow me and follow the Tao. We will put an end to the chaos, destroy the tyrannical Yuan Dynasty, expel the Tartars, restore China, establish laws and disciplines, and save the people!"

"Yes, I will live up to your expectations. I will never forget your kindness." Yin Congdao immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Lu Jin, performing a great salute.

The people around were also shocked when they heard the words. This was the first time they heard Lu Jin put forward this slogan in public.

'Follow the Way of Heaven, put an end to the chaos, destroy the tyrannical Yuan, expel the Tartars, restore China, establish laws and disciplines, and save the people!'

What a big tone, what a big ambition! Everyone present was excited after hearing this. This is the spirit that a man who wants to accomplish great things should have!

Liao Yongan thought of the short ten days since Lu Jin came, the various magical things that happened to him, and Liao Yongan's own guesses. When he heard such a passionate slogan, his eyes suddenly lit up, and Lu Jin's tall figure became even more majestic.

"Brother Lu, I want to conquer the world with you!"

Yu Tonghai, the little fanboy, was so excited that he immediately knelt on one knee and bowed to express his loyalty to Lu Jin.

Lu Jin quickly helped him up and said with a gentle smile, "Isn't Tong Hai already by my side?"

"Hehe." Yu Tonghai scratched his head embarrassedly. He was very moved at this moment, but he didn't know what to say, so he could only smile there foolishly.

Turning back to look at Yin Congdao, Lu Jin said, "Ye Sheng just received twenty military sticks. If I don't punish you, some people will say that I am unfair. Are you willing to accept the punishment?"

Yin Congdao understood everything and immediately clasped his fists and asked for punishment. "I have offended you in the past. I hope you will forgive me. I voluntarily ask for punishment. It doesn't matter if I have to beat you more. I hope you can vent your anger."

"Okay, Tonghai, you will carry out the execution. Twenty military sticks."

"Yes."

After Yin Congdao had finished being beaten with the military stick and dealt with the two surrendered generals, Lu Jin spoke to Zhu Shou again.

"Zhu Shou, Jia Chou killed your father and brother, so you have avenged him by killing him today. Cut off his head and his body is yours to do with as you please."

Zhu Shou quickly agreed, "Brother Lu, I'll chop off your head, but I'll leave your body alone. Killing someone is not good enough, so what's the point of torturing the corpse?"

"That's fine, as long as you are open-minded. Once we capture Luzhou City, we will definitely take back your father and brother's heads." Lu Jin patted his shoulder and comforted him.

"I will never be able to take revenge on my own. Only Brother Lu has the ability to do so. Now Brother Lu has asked me to avenge my father's death. From now on, I will listen to you!" Zhu Shou immediately knelt down on one knee and pledged his loyalty to Lu Jin.

Lu Jin helped him up and said, "Good brother, you will see what happens next."

After dealing with Jia Chou's body, Lu Jin began to make arrangements again.

Although the war was over, there were still many enemies surrounding, and the small village of Changjiaao was not safe.

So Lu Jin ordered Zhang Desheng and Yu Tonghai's two camps to defend the north and south sides of the village respectively, and arranged soldiers to stand guard.

Because Zhang Desheng was a native of Luzhou and many of his soldiers were locals, Lu Jin asked Zhang Desheng to send out scouts to keep an eye on every move in Luzhou City and report any unusual movements immediately.

Then he asked Yu Tingyu to count the battle losses of each battalion, collect the spoils, and wait for unified distribution.

Liao Yongan's battalion was responsible for guarding the prisoners and supervising them to dig pits to bury the bodies to prevent epidemics. At the same time, they found houses in the village to accommodate the wounded. The bodies of their own people were first collected and waited to be transported back to Chaohu for burial. The logistics battalion was then asked to go to the village to make fire and cook, slaughter the dead horses, and cook horse meat for the soldiers. Liao Yongzhong was also asked to send people back to Chaohu to report the victory, telling their families that the battle was won and that everyone should not worry.

He also made an appointment with the generals to hold a meeting during dinner in the evening to discuss the next course of action, and all the generals agreed.

It was almost ten o'clock in the evening before everyone had time to eat.

In a large house near the entrance of the village, a bonfire was lit in the yard, with sizzling horse meat roasting on it. All the generals from Chaohu were present, including Ye Sheng and Yin Congdao who had just surrendered, as well as Zheng Yong and his two younger brothers who had helped a lot this time.

Lu Jin spoke first, "Brother Yu, please tell us about the casualties, prisoners killed, and spoils first."

"it is good."

Yu Tingyu took out a piece of bamboo and said to the fire, "Our entire army has lost 52 people this time, including the casualties from the previous battle to lure the enemy. A total of 173 people were injured. Except for a dozen people who were shot by arrows, the rest were just flesh wounds, and none of them were seriously injured.

"In this battle, 1276 people were killed and 1924 were captured. Among the prisoners, there were more than wounded soldiers, dozens of whom were seriously injured. They were all hit by your chariot. I went to the main road in the village and saw that more than soldiers were killed or disabled by Brother Lu."

hiss--

Everyone gasped when they heard this.

Some people were shocked by the power of Lu Jin's chariot, such as Ye Sheng. He surrendered decisively after seeing that thing suddenly break into the battlefield. There was no point in fighting against such a monster with no martial ethics.

Others were shocked by the casualty ratio between the enemy and us. For example, Zheng Yong had 52 dead and 173 wounded, while 3200 enemy troops were annihilated. The casualty ratio was 1 to 14! This was an exaggerated record in any dynasty!

Of course, those games where the outnumbered side wins over the larger side or those where the opponents are great do not count.

Lu Jin was not surprised, because the casualties of Qi Jiguang himself when using the Mandarin Duck Formation were even more exaggerated. In fact, the casualties on Lu Jin's side were higher than Qi Jiguang's. Of course, this was mainly because the training time was too short and the equipment was too simple.

The Chaohu Red Turbans did not have as many armors and sophisticated weapons as Qi Jiguang, but the street fighting terrain carefully selected by Lu Jin made up for some of their shortcomings.

"What about the spoils?"

Yu Tingyu took out another bamboo slip and said, "We have seized 1120 sets of iron armor, 680 sets of leather armor, 320 horn bows, about 2600 arrows, 510 spears, and swords.

"There are still 164 war horses, and we have dozens of horses ourselves, so we can just make up ."

Everyone was overjoyed again when they heard this. It was good to win a battle as they could seize so much spoils at one time. When Zhao Zhongzhong was thinking about how to distribute the spoils, he heard Lu Jin say it again.

"Don't divide the captured spoils randomly. Our battalions have just become familiar with the Mandarin Duck Formation. If we randomly change weapons, we won't be able to fight anymore. So we should divide them according to the original organization.

"First, replace the swords of the sword card players with regular waist swords, and give each person a set of leather armor. The wolf-whip players will defend in the front. Attacking is not important, but having a set of iron armor is very important.

"Spearmen should not despise their bamboo poles. If the government army's spears are not long enough, they can remove the spear heads and attach them to bamboo poles. An inch longer is an inch stronger. Our assassins' spears cannot be too short.

"In addition, those bows and arrows should be distributed to the soldiers in each class. The soldiers in the back row should take on the responsibility of long-range strikes. For now, they should use bows and arrows. If they don't know how to use them, they can be replaced. When you make your own weapons in the future, you will have to switch to muskets.

"The weapons of the back row boring and rakemen do not need to be changed, but they can be given a set of leather armor. The front row spearmen can also be given a set of iron armor. As for the 200 cavalrymen, two centurions can be formed to command them separately.

"If there are vacancies in the battalions due to combat losses, they can be supplemented from prisoners until the establishment is full. The remaining prisoners will be arranged separately. Ye Sheng and Yin Congdao can also lead those prisoners so that they can return as soon as possible.

"You should also pass it on to yourselves, not to insult or mistreat prisoners, otherwise you will be subject to military law.

“As for the replacement of weapons and armor, our entire army has several thousand people, so there is definitely not enough to go around. If each battalion gets a little, it won’t be enough either. It would be better to focus on three or four battalions to reinforce first. However, whichever battalion gets these weapons and armor will have to lead the attack next time. When attacking a city, their battalion will have to be the first to capture the city.

"Who of you would like to change clothes first?"

"I want to change. I will be the first to capture the city. This time when we attack Luzhou, I will be the first to take the lead." Zhang Desheng shouted immediately.

"I want to change too. There's nothing to be afraid of about the main attack. We can win without armor. With armor, we are even less afraid of the main attack." Zhao Zhongzhong also argued.

Others also expressed their willingness to change clothes first.

Seeing this, Lu Jin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Well, don't fight over it. There are only so many anyway. Why not draw lots? Whoever draws the lot gets to change first. Those who don't get the lot can't blame others. Blame your bad luck."

"Yes, this method is fair!"

Liao Yongan didn't care who changed first, but when he heard Zhang Desheng say that he wanted to attack Luzhou, he wanted to ask Lu Jin's opinion. After all, that was the Luzhou City that they had been thinking about.

"There's no rush to change clothes. Brother Lu, do you have any other ideas for the attack on Luzhou this time?"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately looked at the ingenious Lu Jin. The main reason was that the battle against Zuo Junbi was too easy this time, with few casualties and much spoils. Who wouldn't want to fight such a battle?

Hearing this, Lu Jin smiled mysteriously, "Who said we have to attack Luzhou now?"

Yu Tonghai was puzzled and asked, "But wasn't it Brother Lu who decided to lure the tiger away from the mountain first, kill the tiger and then seize the mountain?"

Lu Jin then added, "That's right. Now that Zuo Junbi is dead, the few soldiers in Luzhou City can't stop us. But there is a leopard on the next mountain, always watching us from behind. You dare to climb the mountain now, aren't you afraid that the leopard will bite us from behind?"

Everyone frowned when they heard this.

Liao Yongjian simply asked, "What does Brother Lu mean?"

"Besiege the point and attack the reinforcements! Lure out Zhu Liangzu from Lu'an and kill him. Then we can take down Lu'an and Luzhou together!"

(End of this chapter)