Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 309, Deploying Troops

"With the arrival of the Huaiyin Army, Kaifeng will be at peace; with the arrival of the Huaiyin Army, justice will prevail!"

After the Huaiyin army entered the city, the entire aristocratic family of Kaifeng Prefecture was ruthlessly purged, with the pretext being readily available: "colluding with the traitor Tian to plot a rebellion!"

If it were during the early stages of the uprising, Fang Yong would have been somewhat wary of these powerful families and would have chosen to make some compromises.

Now, Fang Yong has basically controlled half of the Central Plains, and his strength is enough to crush any resistance. Naturally, there is no need for him to tolerate these people anymore.

"Purge! Exterminate the entire race!"

Of course, limited by the era and social system, Fang Yong could not completely eliminate a class like a certain major power in his previous life.

After all, Fang Yong himself was also in this class.

Fang Yongneng's only guarantee is the elimination of those corrupt, lawless, and perpetually oppressive people who treat them as slaves.

Even so, it is still an unimaginable good thing for ordinary people.

For example, in Kaifeng Prefecture, there was a Master Mei.

He wasn't a high-ranking official; he was just a timber merchant with some connections, and could be considered a wealthy individual by some means.

In terms of social status, when Huan Laosan arrived, Master Mei's whole family would have to come out to greet him and kneel on the ground to kowtow ten times.

This is the kind of person who has a huge blood debt on his hands.

He had a son when he was fifty-two years old, which was considered a blessing in his old age. He only had this one son, so he was extremely precious to him.

Perhaps it was divine retribution for his many misdeeds, for this son was born with a severe deficiency, suffering from qi and blood deficiency, palpitations, and angina.

Master Mei sought out renowned doctors and prayed to Buddha, but to no avail.

Later, Master Mei somehow obtained a folk remedy that could cure heart disease. He only needed to take one dose of the medicine each year, and it would last for a year.

The medicinal materials weren't particularly precious, but the key ingredient was a bit troublesome—it required a human heart that was born on the same day, month, and year as the child.

Thus, her son, now eight years old, has nine families to blame for his crimes.

The extra family was killed because they hadn't gathered good news before making the move; they killed the wrong person...

It's hard to imagine that such an outrageous act could have been committed by a small but large timber merchant.

Master Mei was soon executed in public.

Their property was confiscated, and the entire family was executed.

Her eight-year-old son was no exception.

The corpses were hanging on the city walls.

Several days after the incident, an old man with a white beard rushed over. He looked at the city wall and saw that Master Mei's body was already rotting and infested with maggots, and was unrecognizable.

Even so, the old man recognized him at a glance.

He'll never forget it, even if he becomes a ghost!
"Ah!" the old man cried out, laughing and crying at the same time. His tears fell on the ground, raising dust.

He regretted it, he hated it, he came too late.

I didn't get to witness my enemy's death...

No one knows the old man's story, but thinking about it, it's easy to guess that it wasn't a pleasant one.

I just hope that such a thing will never happen again.

If it really happens again, I hope a new Huaiyin Army will emerge then...

The tragedy in Kaifeng terrified the gentry of Henan.

The Huaiyin army wantonly slaughtered innocent civilians, wiping out entire families—an act that aroused the wrath of both gods and men. Unfortunately, they were outnumbered and powerless to resist.

Some people are trying to stop a moving train with their bare hands.

As a result, under the crushing blows of the Huaiyin Army, these people were instantly wiped out, their families exterminated, and nothing remained.

Seeing this, the others had no choice but to flee and leave their homes.

They heard that Liu Xiang of Sichuan intended to become king, so they planned to go and seek refuge with him...

In the capital, Fang Yongzheng was contemplating troop deployment, preparing for the "righteous sweep" across the grasslands soon.

He planned to assemble an army of 200,000 and, taking advantage of this large-scale mopping-up operation, essentially end the war on the grasslands in one fell swoop.

Having come from the modern era, Fang Yong knew that such long-distance foreign wars could not be dragged on indefinitely, otherwise even the most elite troops would get bogged down in a quagmire.

He currently commands approximately 500,000 troops.

Of these, approximately 300,000 to 400,000 are in a state of war.

Zhou Shuan, who was fighting on the grasslands, had 80,000 men under his command, of which 20,000 were Huaiyin troops stationed in Datong, 40,000 were Huaiyin troops who accompanied him on his campaigns, and 20,000 were grassland people.

According to the plan, Zhou Shuan will recruit another 40,000 grassland people, bringing the total to 60,000. Fang Yong decided to include these 60,000 people in a separate army, named the Wu Xie Army, meaning a foreign army that would assist him in his Wu Kingdom's conquests.

In addition to these 40,000 men, Fang Yong also needs to provide Zhou Shuan with another 100,000 men to help him complete the sweep. Of course, after the sweep is completed, these 100,000 troops will return to their original positions.

Besides Zhou Shuan, Fang Yong currently has several generals leading troops outside the region, including Ma Laohei, Zhai Xun, Wei Xing, Zhang Yuan, and Niu Jin.

Ma Laohei, who was attacking Henan, had 100,000 men, including 20,000 Huaiyin soldiers, 30,000 surrendered imperial troops, and 50,000 Shandong soldiers recruited earlier.

During the campaign, many government troops surrendered to Fang Yong. The largest number of surrenders came from Mao Cheng, who surrendered nearly 80,000 men at once. Fang Yong dispersed these surrendered troops and incorporated them into various armies. The 30,000 men under Ma Laohei's command were among them.

As for the surrendered Holy Guards, they were not included in the count because these people could hardly be called an army; they were just ordinary civilians. Apart from a small number of people who had shed blood, most of the rest were sent back to their hometowns by Ma Laohei.

Zhai Xun of Shanxi had 110,000 men under his command, including 30,000 Huaiyin soldiers, 30,000 original Shandong soldiers, and 50,000 newly recruited Shanxi soldiers.

Wei Xing in Zhejiang had less than 80,000 men, including 20,000 Huaiyin soldiers, 20,000 original Shandong soldiers, and more than 30,000 Huaiyin soldiers who were temporarily transferred from various places by Gan Ba, Lin Lin, Ding Wanke and others, as well as some prisoners.

Niu Jin has 50,000 men under his command, including 20,000 Huaiyin soldiers and 30,000 newly recruited Zhili soldiers by Zhang Yuan, who are currently deployed in the Qianxi-Tangshan area behind Shanhaiguan.

Zhang Yuan still has 30,000 elite naval troops under his command.

Tens of thousands more remained by Fang Yong's side, guarding the capital.

There are also some scattered garrison troops in various places, which are not included in the statistics.

The next step requires military operations abroad. Whether it's conquering Hubei and Hunan or attacking Liaodong, a large number of troops are needed. Fang Yong currently has ample food supplies, so he has decided to expand the army again.

He decided to expand the army by another 100,000 men, recruiting soldiers from Henan and Zhejiang.

The 50,000 Shanxi troops under Zhai Xun and the 50,000 Shandong troops under Ma Laohei were transferred to the grasslands for combat.

Zhai Xun was located in Shanxi, which was closest to the grasslands and had little warfare, making him the most suitable person to transfer troops.

Ma Laohei has already defeated Tian Tianrui, and taking over the remaining areas is no longer a problem. Transferring 50,000 men is not a big deal, and since soldiers will be recruited from Henan soon, the troops Ma Laohei transferred can be replenished quickly.

Currently, the resistance forces on the grasslands are the stubborn grassland tribes led by Tuolei.

The total number of these people is probably between 10,000 and 20,000. Because they are using guerrilla tactics, the troops are very dispersed. Apart from the troops that Tuo Lei himself is in, there are no other main forces. Each unit has only a few hundred or even a few dozen people.

Due to the huge disparity in troop strength, it is no longer necessary to deal with these people using elite troops; we can simply use sheer numbers to sweep through and squeeze their living space.

This is a good opportunity to have experienced soldiers mentor new recruits, train them, and enhance the combat capabilities of these newly recruited soldiers.

(End of this chapter)