The Red Chamber: Starting from Saving Xue Baochai

Chapter 83 Growth comes at a price

When the dust settled, it was clear that a huge gap had been smashed into the gate of the village, large enough for five people to enter side by side.

Seeing this, Shen Yuan did not hesitate and ordered in a deep voice: "Control the gate of the village, and the army will follow me to kill."

After saying this, he led his troops and charged in.

Upon hearing this, Feng Ziying, Jiang Fan and others led their troops and rushed forward like arrows, vying to kill the bandits first.

Inside the mountain stronghold, many bandits were hit by stray arrows and fell into a pool of blood before they could recover from the great shock they had just experienced.

"Ah! I don't want to die!"

The thieves had already been weakened by the bombardment of the hot air balloon in front of them. Now faced with an army that crushed them in terms of numbers, equipment, and combat power, they had no intention of resisting and fled in panic.

However, all the ways out of the village had been blocked by bows and arrows by the New Army guards, and anyone who went out would be shot to pieces.

In an instant, limbs were flying everywhere in the mountain stronghold and blood was splattered everywhere. The deaths of these bandits were horrific, but they deserved it.

"Eradicate all evil and leave no one alive!" Shen Yuan gave the final order.

After receiving the commander's order, the soldiers had no more scruples and competed to kill the bandits and strive to be the first to make merit.

Soon, more than half of the thousand bandits had fallen, and those who were still alive were in a very miserable state.

"Have mercy! Sir, have mercy!" Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Jiang Shan blocked the attack of the government troops while begging for mercy. He approached Shen Yuan and shouted at the top of his voice: "I have important news to report, which concerns some dignitaries in the court! Please show mercy!"

As expected of the leader of a village and the chief of the bandits, he still keeps thinking even in desperate situations.

Obviously, he saw that Shen Yuan was the supreme commander of this group of government troops, so he tried his best to demonstrate all his surplus value in order to fight for the last glimmer of survival.

He really made the right bet.

Shen Yuan became interested after hearing what he said and pointed at the knife in Jiang Shan's hand.

Jiang Shan did not hesitate at all and decisively dropped the weapon in his hand. He was then taken to Shen Yuan by the soldiers.

"Send me your identity."

"I am the leader of the bandits in Fenghuangling. My name is Jiang Shan." Jiang Shan put on a very humble attitude and wagged his tail to beg for life.

"Tell me in detail what you just said." Shen Yuan's tone was indifferent, with no expression on his face.

"Sir." Jiang Shan's eyes turned and he said very carefully, "If I tell you everything, could you spare my life?"

Shen Yuan thought for a while, then said, "If you tell the truth, I promise to spare your life."

If what this person said is true, he can serve as a witness and we won't have to rush to kill him.

"Thank you, sir." Jiang Shan heard this, as if he had grasped a life-saving straw, and said happily: "Then Jia Zhen from Ningguo Mansion is one of them. He has been cooperating with me since a few years ago."

Jia Zhen has been exiled, so this information is obviously worthless. Shen Yuan looked at Jiang Shan, with impatience and a hint of coldness in his eyes.

Jiang Shan seemed to sense something and shuddered. He hurriedly continued, "In addition to Jia Zhen, there is another high-ranking official in the Beijing camp named Li Yuan."

"Oh?" Shen Yuan thought for a moment, but he had no memory of this person. He asked, "Who is this person?"

Jiang Shan slowly uttered a few words: "Assistant Commander of the Yangwei Camp."

Things have come to this point, there is absolutely no reason for him to cover up for the people behind him.

He paid tens of thousands of taels of silver to those corrupt officials every year, but in the end, he still suffered an iron-blooded encirclement and suppression by the court without receiving any warning at all.

At this moment, he was extremely resentful towards those corrupt officials.

Shen Yuan's eyes flashed as he pondered over what Jiang Shan had just said.

The Deputy Governor of Yangweiying was a third-rank military post, a high position. Above him were the Associate Governor of the second rank and the Governor of the second rank.

After thinking about it carefully, I felt that what Jiang Shan said was mostly true.

The twelve regiments of the Beijing Camp were stationed in the four directions of the Shenjing City, and the Yangwei Camp was stationed just in the southern suburbs of the capital, not far from Fenghuang Ridge, making it suitable for providing shelter for this group of bandits.

"Do you have any evidence?" Shen Yuan stared at Jiang Shan.

"We have exchanged letters, and I have kept them." Shen Yuan nodded and instructed the guard of the New Army beside him, "Take him to get the letter."

"Yes!"

Several soldiers escorted Jiang Shan into the Juyi Hall.

Shen Yuan raised his eyes and scanned the entire battlefield. Under the crushing of absolute strength, the mountain stronghold had been basically cleared out at this time.

Bandits' corpses could be seen everywhere, broken limbs and arms were scattered all over the ground, and there was a pool of blood. The whole village was filled with a strong bloody smell.

As the saying goes, these more than a thousand evil bandits finally received the retribution they deserved.

Just as Shen Yuan was lost in thought, Zhao Huan and his men came in front of him, bringing a naked man.

Zhao Huan said, "This man claims to be the Fifth Master, so I left him alive. Your Excellency, how do you want to deal with him?"

Shen Yuan took a look and frowned when he saw that the man was naked.

"When this beast was caught, he was still in the cellar, raping women!" Zhao Huan explained.

The cellar had excellent soundproofing, and despite the shouting and screaming outside, the people inside were unaware of anything.

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan's eyes turned cold, and he said in a cold tone: "Cut off his five limbs, tie him up in the forest, and feed him to wild animals."

Upon hearing this, the Fifth Boss's face suddenly turned as pale as paper, his whole body felt cold, his legs trembled, and he fell to his knees, begging for mercy.

"Have mercy! Sir, have mercy!"

This man no longer had any of his former arrogance and was dragged away by the soldiers like a dead dog.

Shen Yuan looked at Zhao Huan and asked in a clear voice, "How many women are imprisoned in that cellar?"

"There are thirty-six of them."

Shen Yuan was silent for a moment after hearing this, and then said, "Those who are willing to go home will be sent to accompany them. For those who really don't want to go back...each of them will be given ten taels of silver and sent to a safe place, and then they can leave on their own."

"Yes, my lord."

"There is one more thing." Shen Yuan said: "Find all the valuables in the village, count them and seal them up."

After a pause, he continued, "Pass the order down, no one is allowed to take any money privately, and anyone who violates it will be punished by military law.

Tell everyone, when I return to Beijing, I will ask for rewards on behalf of the soldiers."

"Yes." Zhao Huan took the order and left.

The news of the new army's suppression of bandits has probably spread throughout the court and the country by now.

Countless eyes are watching the new army's every move, and it is inevitable that someone will look for opportunities to criticize them.

A blacksmith must be strong himself. There is no need for the new military guards to be confused about trivial matters and give others an advantage.

After everything was settled, Shen Yuan, Feng Ziying, Jiang Fan and the other two gathered together to summarize the casualties and gains of the battle.

"In this battle, our army lost five men, 81 were seriously injured, and 350 were slightly injured."

Feng Ziying slowly told the summary information.

"A total of 1,869 bandits were killed, except for the bandit leader Jiang Shan. The rest were all killed."

"More than 108,000 taels of silver and other grain were seized from the stronghold."

"..."

Shen Yuan listened quietly without saying a word, but the number of casualties of the New Army Guards kept flashing through his mind.

This battle loss ratio was already extremely outrageous. Although he felt sorry for the sacrifices, he didn't think it was a big deal.

Since it is a war, casualties are inevitable. In today's situation, it is impossible to survive from the bandits, let alone against the more powerful Jianlu and Japanese pirates, it will be even more difficult to survive.

Growth always comes at a price, and this is true for individuals and even more so for the military, so there is no need to be soft-hearted...

(End of this chapter)