Chapter 234 Judgment (Part 1)

The heavy rain fell for a long time and night, and it was not until the next morning that it finally left. Thousands of sunlight shone out from behind the dark clouds, instantly dyeing the whole world golden yellow, intertwining with the fog rising from the ground, hazy and like a dream.

Thousands of corpses lay quietly under the golden mist, the same skin color, the same height, and the same faces were filled with nostalgia and reluctance. The heavy rainstorms all night had washed away the blood on their faces and hands. Even the ground was hard to see red again. They were like a group of newborn babies, lying quietly in the arms of the wilderness, with their shoulders facing their arms.

More than a dozen war horses slowly passed through the corpses, and everyone's face was very serious, especially Zhu Bashiyi. He did not expect that the Qing army's resistance would be so fierce. When he received the casualties statistics from his side for the first time, he almost became anxious. Until now, he still didn't want to believe that the scene he saw was true, and the muscles on his cheeks were still twitching.

It was so tragic that yesterday's war was almost unparalleled. Although he had received the cooperation of Zhang Song, the pseudo-Luzhou magistrate, caught the Qing army off guard, the Huai'an army still paid a huge price to wipe out the enemy completely.

Affected by the storm, muskets and artillery completely failed, and the battle between the enemy and us turned into close-killing weapons and close-killing hands. The Huai'an Army had only been more than five months since the last expansion. Its close-killing skills were far less than those of the Qing army soldiers who followed Zhang Mingjian for many years. But in terms of the number of people, they did not have any advantage. Those "Yi soldiers" who had lost their organization, the Red Army who had nowhere to go, and the gangsters who once took advantage of the situation with Zhang Mingjian were all completely desperate about their own future. Driven by the idea of ​​"surrender may be executed", they burst out with amazing combat power at the last moment of the battle. They would rather be killed on the spot than surrender.

Relying on the strong armor and the strong organizational capabilities of grassroots officers, the Huai'an Army barely achieved this battle goal, and two of the four new armies participating in the battle were crippled. In a short period of time, it would be difficult to face a stronger enemy.

"The close-knit training needs to be stepped up. The reason why our Huaian Army has been able to win many battles recently is that the enemy is not familiar with the advantages of firearms. Boluo Buhua and Timur Buhua are not favored by the court and are unwilling to fight with us. If the Yuan army discovers the shortcomings of firearms and specializes in fighting on rainy days, our advantages will not be able to be played out. In addition, our number of soldiers is too small, and we must find a way to expand as soon as possible." Behind Zhu Bashiyi, the old elder Shi Lulu was also worried.

So far, the goal of the two Huaihe Campaign he initially set has been completely achieved. The actual control area of ​​the Huai'an Army has been expanded by twice, and there is only a water separation between it and the Jiangnan grain-producing area. The crisis of food blockade that he had been worried about has been completely solved. However, the problems that everyone has to face are not less than in the past, and to some extent, have increased a lot.

"Hu Dahai and Mr. Su are already starting to recruit a group of new recruits among the refugees who came to join. In addition, if the prisoners captured in these battles are willing to stay for training, they can also stay some at their discretion, and Yangzhou City." After sighing softly, Zhu Bashiyi responded in a very low voice, "Zhang Shicheng sent someone to deliver a letter a few days ago. Many people in Yangzhou City are homeless and have no relatives to join. They fight and cause trouble in the ruins all day long. Recruiting a group of young and strong enlistment should alleviate many problems."

As soon as he thinks about Yangzhou, he hates itchy. A big city with a population of nearly one million, the richest place in the world, was ruined by Zhang Mingjian and others overnight. The reconstruction work after the disaster and the resettlement of the people have now become a huge burden on the Huai'an army. More than 600,000 mouths need to be raised. Even if you only give two meals of porridge every day, it is an astonishing number. Moreover, in this rainy winter, in addition to allowing the victims to have a meal, keeping warm, preventing diseases, and epidemic prevention are all imminent.

Some time ago, he was busy leading troops to chase Zhang Mingjian, so he arranged all the relevant work to Zhang Shicheng and Wang Kerou. Later, the two were eager to please him in exchange for support from the river, and did their best. However, no matter how good the aftermath was done, money and food could not be transformed out of thin air. Yangzhou City had not had more than ten years of situation, and it was probably impossible to restore its previous prosperity. As for the taxes and porcelain making and shipbuilding industry that they planned to obtain from Yangzhou before sending troops, it became a dream bubble and could not be obtained in a short period of time.

"According to the last general's opinion, the property that was seized from Zhang Mingjian this time can be distributed to other friendly forces, but all of them are used for the peace of the people." Xu Da stepped forward and whispered.

Because he was stationed in Sizhou for a long time and was far away from Huai'an, his third army was the least influenced by Zhu Bashiyi himself and had the lowest dependence on firearms. Therefore, in this battle, the losses were much smaller than the other three new armies, and the capture and captives were more than all the other three armies. Except for Zhang Mingjian and Fan Shutong, most of the Qing army and the generals of the rebellious soldiers became prisoners of the Third Army. Several places where the thieves buried stolen goods were also the two of him and Wang Bi. After getting the prisoners' tone, they quickly sent people to take over.

According to the unwritten rules of the Huai'an Army, the person who contributed the most naturally has the greatest say in handling the seized items, so Zhu Bashiyi did not make any rebuttals, nodded and whispered, "Since you and the Fatty have no objection, I will thank the brothers for the people of Yangzhou first. In addition, Chuzhou City will be handed over to Wu Youtu's Fifth Army to occupy. You and Wang Bi will lead the Third Army and will be stationed in Yangzhou in the future."

"I will obey the order." Xu Da immediately straightened his chest on the horse's back and bowed to Zhu Bashiyi.

Yangzhou City is the exit from the Huai'an Army to Jiangnan. Although the city was burned down, its strategic significance did not decline at all. His lord handed over Yangzhou City to the Third Army, which not only fully demonstrated his respect for himself and Wang Bi, but also allowed the Third Army to directly receive the gratitude of the people of Yangzhou, but did not allow them to seize the bloody battle and gave others a bargain.

"The Third Army has expanded to 15,000 each of the war soldiers and auxiliary soldiers. The time is not limited, and I will ask Mr. Su to provide you with the money and food required." Zhu Bashiyi nodded slightly, and then continued to announce, "We have too few people and the training level is not enough. In a short period of time, I have no plan to send troops to Jiangnan, but you two must guard this place for me. Not only Yangzhou City, but the entire Yangzhou Road is left to you in the area east of the canal. Don't let the imperial court cross the river within half a year."

"The last general will never dare to let down the governor's love." Xu Da clasped his fists again, and his heart was surging.

What does it mean to treat national talents? This means to treat national talents. In the entire Huai'an military system, Xu Da is definitely the first general to be entrusted along the way. Even Liu Ziyun and Wu Yongchun, the old team members who were the first to follow Zhu Bashi's family, did not enjoy this kind of trust.

If a person treats me as a national soldier, I will repay him with a national soldier. In an instant, many thoughts of how to repay the kindness of knowing me flashed through Xu Da's mind. However, before he could express his meaning, Zhu Bashiyi nodded again and continued to whisper, "After returning to Yangzhou, don't be busy with handing over Zhang Shicheng and Wang Kerou. The Third Army will first recruit disaster victims, use work as a relief, and clean up the area of ​​the original government office. I will publicly interrogate Zhang Mingjian and others in that area and give an explanation to the elders of Yangzhou."

"Yes." Xu Da bowed again, but his voice was far less firm than before. In his opinion, Zhang Mingjian deserved to die, but other captured enemy generals could only be considered as threats. If he could not be killed, it would be better to save his life. After all, these people were the nephews of some fortress leaders on Yangzhou Road. Killing them would not help the Third Army to stabilize the future. In addition, these people were Han people at least, and their martial arts were quite good. Instead of killing them, it would be better to give them a way out and make meritorious service in front of the army.

"The Fan Shutong, who used to be a lobbyist for Zhang Mingjian, probably didn't follow Zhang Mingjian to kill and set fire." Lu Lu Zeng thought more about the relationship with Liu Futong, and also attacked Zhu Bashiyi and whispered to remind him in a low voice.

"But he did not do anything to dissuade him." Zhu Bashiyi looked back at him and whispered to reject him, "He was not involved. It was too early to say that after interrogating several major participants that day, you would know that as for the reaction from Bianliang, you don't need to think too much about it. If Liu Shuai blindly protects his shortcomings and ignores the blood debt of more than 200,000 lives, what is the significance of Zhu's troubles in the future?

"That's true, it's better not to separate at the moment." Lu Lu knew that Zhu Bashiyi was justified, but from a safe perspective, he continued to whisper, "First, Liu Futong had not supported Zhang Mingjian before, and was obviously showing goodwill to us. Second, the governor had used the power of the Ming Cult. If he had just had his own territory, he was busy drawing a clear line with the Ming Cult and spreading it out, which would greatly damage the reputation of the governor. Third, getting into a bad relationship with Liu Shuai will only give up the Mongolian Yuan court. Which of the above is the advantage or disadvantage, please think twice."

"Indeed, I'll ask the chief executive to think twice." Chen Ji, the military officer, followed up and whispered to dissuade him.

"Please think twice." Robben, the army, also believed that killing Fan Shutong would harm the overall situation, so he stepped forward and bowed.

"Public interrogation does not necessarily mean to be killed, nor does it mean to humiliate them in public." Zhu Bashiyi was stunned at first, and then he understood what everyone misunderstood his meaning. "The punishments are definitely different from those of the main culprits and accomplices. As for whether they are guilty or not, what you, we all say is not the final word, and those victims can only say that. If the elders of Yangzhou City think that someone is not guilty, Zhu will never touch a hair, but if the elders of Yangzhou think that he will never redeem him for a hundred deaths, even if there is a fairy who serves as a backstage for him, Zhu will definitely not let him go."
Chapter completed!