The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 453: The militia is not for everyone
Chen Yanzu's siege looked like a war, but in fact it was not even as good as playing house.

He had read a few military books and had some knowledge, but he had never expected that even 20,000 people would be so difficult to command.

What’s more serious is that Chen Yanzu is too greedy. He takes the lion’s share of the benefits for himself, and then gives a little to the people around him.

As for the one at the bottom, when he is in a good mood, a little bit may show through the gaps between his fingers.

So these 20,000 regimental warriors were truly regimental warriors. He didn't even arrange anyone to manage the logistics and supplies. All the members had to take care of themselves.

When setting out from Wuchang City, Chen Yanzu brought 100,000 dan of grain on board the ship, thinking that it would be enough to feed 20,000 people for five months. Chen Yanzu even felt that he brought too much.

But reality gave him several slaps in the face.

Before the order to requisition 100,000 dan of grain left the governor's office, 50,000 dan were intercepted by the grain inspectors he had arranged and his close confidants.

These 50,000 shi were never taken out of the warehouse, but were just recorded in the accounts. When the militia left Wuchang Prefecture, the grain supervisor left his brother behind and started selling them in Wuchang Prefecture.

Even after the Xing Tang army entered the city, there were still more than 20,000 shi of the 50,000 shi of grain left unsold.

Since the people above were playing such a big game, the people below were naturally no less enthusiastic. When the grain ship was still halfway on the way, some officials dared to dock the ship and transport the rice bag by bag.

Ordinary soldiers escorting grain did not dare to embezzle grain by the boatload, but they dared to embezzle grain by the bagload.

Most of them are locals. The grain-carrying ship is sailing in front, and their families are chasing behind in small fishing boats. The white rice on the big ship is thrown down with a clanging sound.

Therefore, after only ten days of siege, the military ration officer came to report that the food supply was almost exhausted and could only last for half a month at most.
The corruption was so rampant that even Chen Yanzu was shocked. He ordered a thorough investigation, but found nothing.

The accounts were in a mess, and there were no account books at all. Everyone who might have touched military rations claimed that he was extremely honest and had never embezzled a single grain of food.

In the end, Chen Yanzu could only let the matter go, because it was not just one person who was greedy, but everyone was greedy, including Chen Yanzu himself.

Because this time he openly mobilized 100,000 shi, but in fact he took out 100,000 shi more from the warehouse, all of which were transported to Jingzhou, where he occupied a large amount of land.

There was no other way, Chen Yanzu could only send his cousin back to Wuchang Prefecture to transfer another 50,000 shi of grain to speed up the capture of Anlu Prefecture and then withdraw the troops.

The reason why only 50,000 shi were transferred was because this was basically the limit of the Wuchang treasury. In a province that was rich in fish and rice, they almost emptied the treasury in just half a year.

The army only has enough food to last for ten days or half a month, and the next batch of food will have to be transferred from Wuchang, so it is best to keep it secret.

Because from Wuchang to Zhongxiang, the capital of Anlu Prefecture, it is about 250 kilometers by land and water.

Moreover, when the army was loaded with rations, it was still against the current. No matter how fast it ran, it would take at least ten days to arrive. If it was not kept secret, it would probably cause panic.

But not only did Chen Yanzu leak the information, he also issued a strict order with great fanfare that the military supplies must be delivered within ten days.

Chen Yanzu originally wanted to express the seriousness of this matter and to sound a warning to the rats below, so that they would not delay things by being greedy again.

As a result, the army's food shortage was soon exposed. For a time, the people in the barracks were in a panic, and no one was willing to fight. Even the siege was just a pretense, and eight out of ten people were just slacking off.

The moonlight was dim, but it would soon be light.

Twelve kilometers east of Anlu Prefecture, this place still barely belongs to the Jianghan Plain. The only thing around it is the long Wujie Mountain in the southwest of Jingshan, which is only one or two hundred meters high.

Torches flickered on the vast plain, and the advancing cavalrymen held their mouths shut and their horses' hooves wrapped, moving silently.

The soldiers at the back grabbed the clothes of the soldiers in front and moved forward in order. For every fifty people, there was only one who could light a torch.

Reinstein was a little worried at first, because Wujie Mountain looked like a good place to set up a guard post.

This place is only a dozen kilometers away from Anlu Prefecture City. Even if beacons are used along the way, it is enough to build an effective communication network.

But Chen Yanzu knew nothing about military affairs and he was not aware of this at all.

After walking for more than an hour, they were only four or five kilometers away from Anlu Prefecture City. The sky was beginning to brighten slightly, and Reinstein ordered a rest.

The soldiers immediately stopped and took out dry towels to wipe the bodies of the horses, which were wrapped in blankets and slightly sweaty.

After wiping the body, he used his cloth hat to fill it with salt-fried soybeans, etc. to replenish the energy of the warhorse.

After doing all this and settling the horses, they took out a big rice ball from their backpacks and started to eat it.

This kind of rice ball is made by cooking high-quality glutinous rice and kneading it into a ball. It is filled with the same cooked bacon with fat and lean parts. The surface of the glutinous rice is also coated with syrup or even honey.

As for the taste, sweet and salty are not very delicious, but they are the first choice for quickly replenishing energy.

Reinstein's two thousand cavalrymen are basically the main cavalry of the entire Dayu Dynasty.

Among them, 800 are Hungarians, and the rest are mostly recruited recently in Huai'an and Xuzhou in Huaibei, areas with a tradition of horse riding.

These Hungarians have good language skills, and most of them can already communicate in simple Chinese.

This is also a major characteristic of the Hungarian nation. Since they were ruled by the Turks and Austrians successively, there are many foreign words in their language.

Even Hungarian is in a constant state of flux, which results in their ability to learn languages being quite good.

"According to the captured militiamen, the east and south sides of Anlu Prefecture are controlled by the Wuchang militia. The west side is the Han River, which is also patrolled by their boats. The militia from Xiangyang is stationed in the north."

Rakocz Zog talked eloquently, and his Chinese proficiency was even better than Reinstein's, because the big golden retriever still wanted to return to Europe in the future, but Rakocz Zog's family had arrived in China and had no plans to go back.

"They are not of one mind, Lieutenant General. I suggest leaving only 100 cavalrymen to watch the enemy in the north and scare them away.

Then, we will storm the enemy camp in the east and drive them south, not seeking to kill or injure them, but to cause great confusion. This will be much easier."

"Very good, let's fight according to your plan." Reinstein agreed, but he wanted to say that there was no need for so many arrangements to fight such a mob, but then he thought that this was also an opportunity for Rakoczi Zog to show his abilities.

Recently, the cavalry brigadier general who commands the Changshui Hu Cavalry Regiment is seeking to be given a surname by the emperor. He thinks it would be best if he could be given the surname Liu, which would be considered as "returning to his roots."

Outside Anlu City, even before Reinstein launched his surprise attack, Chen Yanzu's army, where rumors were flying everywhere, had already shown signs of instability.

Just as Li Huang analyzed, the powerful gentry in Hubei promoted Chen Yanzu just to make him the one to take the blame, not because they really respected him.

Chen Yanzu also knew that the powerful gentry in Hubei thought so, so he would never show mercy as long as he could be greedy.

Chen Yanzu even secretly hoped that at some point in the future, he might be able to sell the powerful gentry of Hubei to Emperor Guangzhong for a good price.

"Don't worry, brother Zhang. My elder brother has already assembled a hundred thousand elite soldiers in Hunan, and you, my elder brother, also have over ten thousand elite soldiers. As long as you and I take the lead, we will be able to advance and retreat together in the future, covering the five prefectures and one state of Changsha, Yueyang, Changde, Baoqing, Jingzhou, and Lizhou.

The world is in turmoil these days. We are such a powerful force, and we still occupy the land of fish and rice in Huguang. No matter who comes, we must treat them with courtesy."

As he spoke, Chen Yanzu tried to win him over again, whispering, "Look, I didn't call on our Jingzhou troops for this campaign. You know, in my heart, you, Brother Zhang, are different from other Hubei people."

Zhang Zhengmo nodded his head repeatedly. Although this guy looked extremely mercenary, he was actually a good fighter. In history, he and Nie Jieren were both tough guys who could secretly train troops in the mountains and gather tens of thousands of people.

"I thank the Governor for his appreciation. Please rest assured, I know who will lead me to a better future."

Although he said this, Zhang Zhengmo looked down on Chen Yanzu. This guy had been in Hubei for more than a year, and his militia had trained more than 20,000 people.

His administration was completely ineffective and the people of Hubei suffered terribly, living worse than when the Qing Dynasty was in power.

Such incompetent people are not worth joining. Those from Hongyang Sect seem reliable. At least there are a few heroes among them.

"Bang, bang, bang!" Just as Chen Yanzu was speaking his heart out to Zhang Zhengmo, bursts of musketry were heard from outside, but the sounds were not dense.

Chen Yanzu didn't take it seriously, thinking it was the Hanchuan militia's turn to attack the city today. However, Zhang Zhengmo felt something was amiss and found an excuse to leave the general's tent to investigate.

The militia on the east side had set up a very loose camp, with no defenses against cavalry raids. In many places there were not even fences, so it was very easy for Reinstein and others to charge.

A soldier holding an iron pot looked up blankly and heard the sound of horse hooves. He looked up in confusion and saw a group of cavalrymen wearing very strange clothes galloping at full speed in the distance.

He instinctively felt that something was wrong, so he shouted, put down the iron pot, turned around and was about to run. At this moment, a flash of fire appeared in the distance, and a short-barreled flintlock rifle designed specifically for horseback fired.

The soldier screamed and fell to the ground groaning. His fellow villagers heard the scream and rushed out of the barracks.

These regiment soldiers were basically from the same place, so they were quite united. They tried to drag the hit regiment soldiers into the barracks.

Three or four others took out their equipped spears and held them at an angle, trying to stab the galloping knight down.

But the knights who were about to rush forward pulled out more than a dozen muskets from their arms and fired one after another. Several regimental warriors with spears fell down, and the others did not dare to care about the wounded and ran away.

At the door of the barracks, the two musketeers who did not come forward were sweating profusely. Without a long period of training, it would be very slow to load a matchlock gun on a life-and-death battlefield.

Although there were musketeers among the militia, due to the Qing Dynasty's strong suppression, few people in the community knew how to use it.

Even if you know how to play it, it's hard to master it.

Therefore, under the threat of the cavalry, the two musketeers were so nervous that they were shaking all over, and they couldn't insert the connecting rod after a long time.

A whistle sounded, and two Hun hussars broke away from the team, rushed forward on horseback, and each of them chopped the musketeer who was still stabbing the rod to death with a sword.

After killing people, this group of cavalry did not stop to continue killing, but quickly passed through and went to the front to try to create panic.

Inside the tent, seven or eight of the thirty-man militia were killed or injured in an instant. However, they were not frightened. Instead, they were extremely angry because of the deaths of their fellow villagers and even relatives.

Led by a nominal captain, they rushed out of the tent again with weapons in hand, wanting to chase in the direction of the galloping cavalry.

But as soon as they went out, they immediately found something wrong, because the cavalry team was still fighting in front of them, and as soon as they went out, they ran into another team of cavalry.

This time, it was not a simple pistol and saber, but three bombs that exploded and then they came up and chopped randomly.

These thirty-odd regimental soldiers were actually ordinary people. They came up on the strength of their blood and bravery, but after being hit by three bombs and more than a dozen people were killed or injured in an instant, their minds basically collapsed. They screamed, dropped everything they had, and ran away in panic.

This is how regular cavalry would raid a camp; it wouldn't be a one-time attack by the entire army.

Instead, they send a small group first to create chaos. When the ambushed enemy begins to resist, that is when the second group of cavalry will charge.

This group may not have the largest number of people, but they definitely have the best weapons. The final third group, with more people and simpler weapons, is here to reap the battlefield.

Zhang Zhengmo and Nie Jieren stood on a high place and saw chaos everywhere. The peasants' regiment was completely defeated by the back and forth attacks of the unknown cavalry.

"Let's go, leave here immediately and go back to Yidu!" Zhang Zhengmo was obviously a little scared, and he muttered softly after saying that.

What's wrong with Emperor Mo? If he really has such powerful soldiers, why is he so slow in doing things?"

Zhang Zhengmo and others all knew they had to run, and so did other militia leaders.

Without waiting for orders from the so-called governor Chen Yanzu, they were the first to be attacked by thousands of brave warriors in the eastern camp, who ran towards the main camp in the south crying and shouting.

The South Camp was better, as it was built on a hillside and had some fences. Chen Yanzu also ordered loudly that the gate of the camp should not be opened, no matter who came.

However, the militiamen of the South Camp and the East Camp were basically related to each other. At this time, they no longer cared about the orders of Chen Yanzu, a foreigner.

Seeing their relatives and friends crying outside, many soldiers from the South Camp wanted to open a small gap and pull their own people in.

As a result, the door could not be closed even if it was opened a little. What was even more terrifying was that the cavalry of the Xing Tang Army were following behind.

Soon, they drove the militia of Dongying and successfully broke through the gate of the militia of Nanying.

When dense gunfire rang out and huge bombs continued to explode in the dense crowd, the South Camp fell into chaos and no one thought of resisting.

(End of this chapter)