The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 246: Being flanked by two sides
In tropical regions, the days are generally longer in summer.

In other words, they generally do not have distinct four seasons. The so-called winter is slightly lower than the summer temperature, and the temperature difference does not exceed ten degrees at most.

Therefore, their daytime hours are relatively long throughout the year.

The Xing Tang army camped in the rolling hills outside Gui Nhon City. The civilian laborers accompanying the army also dug many pits and covered them with grass and branches, which provided good shade and heat relief.

After the news of Mo Zibu's impending general attack was announced, the soldiers and civilians enjoyed a rare period of peace and quiet.

There were three meals of white rice a day, and each person had a large bowl of stewed pork or stewed mutton. The rest of the chicken, duck, fish and shrimp were available at will. At noon, each person also received a small bowl of wine.

Delicious food is the best way to satisfy people and boost morale. Historically, in the military, a good meal is more effective in boosting morale than giving money or titles.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, with the temperature at thirty-five or thirty-six degrees, Mo Zibu, wearing golden armor, appeared in the eyes of the officers and soldiers.

This set of fish-scale straight armor with a golden phoenix-wing helmet is based on the ceremonial armor of the Han generals of the Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei. Without considering the actual effect, the handsomeness value is simply amazing.

Combined with Mo Zibu's height of 1.8 meters, well, in the past few years, my General Mo's height has increased again, just over 1.8 meters, which is already considered a giant at this time.

The setting sun shines from afar, it is as handsome and cool as it can be.

Amid cheers, Mo Zibu personally beat the war drum. Every time he beat it six times, the guards around him would raise a flag representing a specific regiment.

The regiment represented by this flag would immediately raise its own flag and beat the war drums in response.

After the recognition flags of the eight regiments and the Longxiang Cavalry Battalion were raised, the officers above the rank of center guard in each regiment and the recognized warriors came to Mo Zibu under the leadership of a smaller recognition flag.

At this time, the cheers became louder, and everyone's attention was drawn to General Mo Zibu's Yamen flag and the big banner.

More than half of the troops who went to attack the Xishan Army's food supply route have returned. They participated in the battle earlier than ordinary soldiers, and their contributions will be settled before the general offensive begins.

Amidst cheers, Lei Ahu, Huang Silang, Chen Guangwen, and an Annan soldier named Li Bao walked to the front. They were the ones who made the greatest contributions in this raid.

"Lei Ahu!" Mo Zibu laughed and motioned him forward. "You did a great job! Your team successfully ambushed the West Mountain bandit grain transport team six times, burning 7,000 dan of grain and killing 100 heads of livestock. Your contribution is enormous."

As he spoke, Mo Zibu ordered the guard carrying the plate to come forward. He pulled away the red cloth covering the plate, and the silver ingot, gleaming with a dim light, appeared in front of everyone.

"You deserve a reward for your meritorious service. All members of your team will be awarded 20 taels of silver each, and all of them will receive one Merit Award, and their military rank will be raised one level."

"Thank you for the reward, General!" Lei Ahu laughed and took the large plate of silver ingots, and immediately he was met with envious glances from those around him.

Silver is secondary, although twenty taels is a lot, but compared to that, today's soldiers are more concerned about military rank.

Every time you are promoted to a higher rank, your status in the military will improve, and your retirement compensation will also be higher.

Especially if one can retire without violating military law and being severely punished, then the military rank can be converted into a civilian nobility.

With a popular nobility, you will have the power to run for republican parliament, and on a smaller scale, you can meet officials without kneeling, be granted land and houses, and have the right to own slaves.

In the current Xing Tang Shogunate, although Han people are not enslaved, Cambodians, Mon, Malays and others who have not been granted Chinese status are not included.

After Shang Yang came up with the military merit system, although its shortcomings were obvious, its advantages were also obvious.

Mo Zibu's system of military-to-civilian conversion is a patchwork of military nobility combined with the Eight Banners to provide a future. It is quite suitable in the underdeveloped Nanyang.

"Ah Si, is the wound on your head healed?" Huang Silang still had a bandage on his head. His deeds had gradually begun to spread, and Mo Zibu was also planning to use him as a typical example for publicity.

Although Huang Silang is still far from the level of a war god in history who remained unmoved even when burned in flames, his adherence to military discipline and team spirit are still worthy of praise.

Huang Silang didn't know why, but he felt a little sad when he saw Mo Zibu. Although the general in front of him was only one or two years older than him, he always felt like he was facing his father.

Thinking of how he was ruthlessly sent to the army by his snobbish parents, every time he received a letter, he either said that life at home was difficult and asked if he had received his salary, or asked if he had made any merits and received any rewards. They never cared about his situation at all.

At this moment, the general was concerned about the wound on his head despite his busy schedule. Huang Silang was very touched, but he waved his hand embarrassedly.

"It's nothing, it's just a small hole."

Although this guy is talkative in front of familiar people, he immediately becomes shy when he is around strangers or in large occasions.

"That's good." Mo Zibu put his military cap on him. "You're quite good. You know a soldier should abide by discipline and consider the overall situation. Do your job well. If you make more contributions, I'll give you a knighthood!"

Lei Ahu was happily holding a plate full of silver ingots. When he heard that he could get a title, he staggered and almost fell to the ground.

Compared with military rank, the title of nobility is undoubtedly the most eye-catching.

Because the former is completely public and can even be said to be quantifiable. The more merits you have, the higher the military rank you can be promoted to, which is visible to everyone.

However, the title must come from the grace of the superiors and is completely in the hands of General Mo Zibu. He has the final say on who to give it to and who not to give it to.

In other words, military rank can be obtained through hard work, but the title of nobility requires one to be pleasing to General Mo.

Even though Mo Zibu has only established a government and has not yet founded a country and become king, the title has been coveted by many people.

These people, referring to the customs of Lower Burma and the settings of the Republican Parliament, keenly discovered the value of the title.

"Really?" Huang Silang's eyes suddenly emitted a bright light, and his whole body lit up. "I kowtow to the general." As he said that, Huang Silang was about to kneel down, but fortunately Chen Guangwen next to him grabbed him.

Lei Ahu also put a plate of silver ingots on the ground and ran over. Together, they supported Huang Silang, whose legs were a little weak.

Lei Ahu was obviously much more clever than Huang Silang. When he supported Huang Silang, he did not forget to give a military salute. He stood in front of Mo Zibu with his eyes full of desire.

Mo Zibu laughed and saluted the four of them.

"Awen, you are my cousin, so let's not talk too much. Don't embarrass grandpa!"

Compared with Chen Guangyao and Chen Guangtai, who was appointed as the garrison commander in Lower Burma, Chen Guangwen, the company commander of Shangwei who has only recently begun to emerge, is Mo Zibu's cousin.

His father, Chen Dasheng, was the youngest son of Chen Shangchuan, only a few months younger than Mo Zibu's mother. The two siblings grew up together and had a very good relationship. Chen Guangwen was also only a few months younger than Mo Zibu.

"Don't worry, General, I know what to do!" Chen Guangwen answered loudly.

Some things need no further explanation. Under such difficult circumstances, the Chen family almost picked out the bravest and strongest men in the clan and gave them to Mo Zibu.

After entering Jiading, Chen Dali, the actual helmsman of the Chen family, took the initiative to give up his position and refused to compete with Mo Zibu for the leadership of the Mingxiang people.

One of the reasons is that the Chen family needs a strong leader.

But at the same time, the promise made by Mo Zibu before the bloody battle in Pattaya that the blood relatives of Chen Shangchuan, that is, the descendants of the Chen family with the surname "Guang" are all members of the royal family, and the non-blood relatives with the surname "Cheng" are also considered to be close relatives of the royal family, also played a very important role.

Therefore, Chen Guangwen knew that he did not have to worry about titles or official positions. As long as his abilities matched the requirements, it would not be difficult for him to even get the title of a prince in the end.

"Abao, after we defeat the bandits in the Western Mountains, we will go to fight the government troops in the Northern Rivers. We will be able to fight back to Tokyo soon."

Li Bao was one of the Annan people who first followed Mo Zibu. When his team captured a golden Buddha, Mo Zibu promised to lead them back to the Red River Plain.

Li Bao gave Mo Zibu a standard military salute. Compared with others, the Annan people who had followed Mo Zibu in Rong City that year were the ones who most wanted to fight back to the Red River Plain immediately and have Mo Zibu sit on the throne of Tokyo.

"General, I have already stored the captain's ashes in the Haxian Shengwang Temple. When we return to Tokyo, I will bring him back home."

Mo Zibu saluted Li Bao solemnly again. Among the ten people in Li Bao's team, only six are still alive. The captain died in the battle of Yenangqiang, and his ashes have been kept by Li Bao.

"You are a man. This general promises you that we will be together in Tokyo City to witness the arrival of this moment."

After saying this, Mo Zibu returned to the platform and looked at the officers and warriors below, "For this battle, I will give out fifteen titles. Those who fight bravely will receive the highest reward.

Please join me, we will first defeat the bandits in the Western Mountains, then destroy the Northern River Army, and finally reach Tokyo City to establish a kingdom that belongs to us."

In Anren City, while Mo Zibu was boosting morale, Ruan Wenyue also began to take action.

Such a large-scale mobilization of the Xing Tang Army could not be concealed at all, and Mo Zibu did not intend to conceal it. Therefore, as soon as Mo Zibu started to take action, Ruan Wenyue immediately carried out corresponding mobilization.

In the shadow of the blazing bonfire, Ruan Wenyue glanced at the corner where Li Guangcai was without leaving a trace.

Humph! He knew that this northerner would definitely throw himself into Mo Wu's arms.

Especially after he incorporated Li Guangcai's outer troops and retained only a core team of two or three hundred people, Li Guangcai became even less reliable.

That’s right, the news that Ruan Wenyue has defected to Huang Wufu is false. This is completely false news released by Ruan Wenyue.

Because the Xishan Army had a war to fight with the Xingtang Army, but it was impossible for them to be very harmonious with the Zheng Army. This level of allegiance could not be negotiated in a short time.

Even if Nguyen Van Yue really wanted to join Huang Wufu, Huang Wufu would need time to trust Nguyen Van Yue.

Without Huang Wufu's full trust in Nguyen Van Yue, the cavalry of Northern Zheng would not have been able to move south quickly.

The reason why Ruan Wenyue released the false news was that he was unwilling to attack the strong position prepared by Mo Zibu.

Although Nguyen Van Yue is somewhat disliked by his younger brother Nguyen Van Hue now, he will still think about the overall situation after calming down.

Then, Ruan Wenyue saw through Mo Zibu's plan. There was nothing to say about the conspiracy of besieging a point and attacking the reinforcements.

Mo Zibu wanted the Tây Sơn Army to attack the fortress, and then wait until the old soldiers of the division were tired before defeating them. Ruan Wenyue also saw this.

So he simply spread a false message to mobilize Mo Zibu to take the initiative to attack.

In addition, of course, it was to confirm that Li Guangcai was a traitor, and wait until after the war to slowly control Li Guangcai's last confidants, and then deal with him.

So now, Ruan Wenyue appears to be embarrassed on the surface, but he is very happy in his heart.

The Xing Tang army was finally about to leave their strong fortress, and he and his second brother Nguyen Van Lu were sandwiched between them.

In this way, the advantage is mine!

Ruan Wenyue thought happily.

(End of this chapter)