Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 51 Then there is only one answer
A team of ten people dressed as businessmen entered the county town, led by Li Laiheng.

He led his men around for a few rounds and carefully observed the behavior of the Beggar Army in the city before he took the initiative to reveal his identity, hoping to meet the leader of the Beggar Army.

Li Laiheng was quickly taken to the lobby of the county government office. The lobby was surrounded by soldiers of the Beggar Army, but no one came into contact with him.

He waited quietly for a long time, until the whole pot of tea was finished, but there was still no sign of the visitor.

He suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart. Could it be that the Beggar Army wanted to kill him?
But after he entered the city and observed for a long time, he found that the other party was cleaning the streets, repairing the roads, providing relief to refugees, and training new soldiers. Even beggars and hooligans were restrained and forced to work. The entire street seemed to be brand new.

Citizens praised the Beggars Army for not being like a rebel army but more like a real government. They handled every little thing, even the details that the common people were not aware of, beautifully and cleanly.

How could the righteous army, which was unanimously praised by the people, wantonly kill an "envoy" who had no grudge against them?
As expected, a young man arrived, exhausted. He separated the tightly packed guards and said repeatedly, "Excuse me, I just received a special mission and came here so soon."

"Special? Mission?" Li Laiheng didn't quite understand, but the negotiations had to continue. It was just that there were too many guards around him.

Li Laiheng added, "I want to discuss an important matter with the Marshal, is it possible..." He winked, signaling his attendants to leave.

"I'm not the commander-in-chief. They don't obey my orders."

"Ok?"

Li Laiheng was a little confused, but soon realized that this person was a military advisor who offered advice and suggestions. Generally, if a military advisor was not valued, he would indeed have no military power.

But these guards are so strange. How come they get closer and closer after just a few words?

The dozen or so guards seemed to have become a screen, surrounding him tightly on three sides. Li Laiheng could even feel the hot breath of the people behind him hitting the back of his neck.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you talking?" The righteous army's military advisor said with a hint of displeasure. "You came to visit us, aren't you just here to have some free tea?"

"Puff." Li Laiheng almost spit out a mouthful of tea.

Who would surround the envoys with guards like this during negotiations? How can I discuss confidential matters?
Li Laiheng looked around and saw more than a dozen pairs of murderous eyes shooting at him. Li Laiheng felt uncomfortable all over.

Oh!
Li Laiheng suddenly realized that this was a "show of force" by the Qihuo Army, using the ferocious guards to intimidate the newcomers in order to test the envoy's patience and ability to respond.

Just like when Zhuge Liang visited Jiangdong, Sun Quan wanted to test Zhuge with civil and military ministers.

it is good!
Since the other party had already made a move, he would just respond, "Military Advisor, do you know that the Qihuo Army is in great trouble?"

"To make a long story short." The military advisor brought a cup of tea.

Li Laiheng was slightly startled, thinking that this military advisor was really experienced. He was not disturbed at all and even pushed the problem back.

He glanced at the guards who hadn't moved a step beside him, and immediately got straight to the point, "My people have learned that the government has assembled a large army and is heading towards the mall. There are no fewer than 5,000 soldiers. If we gather the local militia along the way, we will soon have over 10,000 soldiers. I'm afraid they will reach the mall in a few days."

"You came just in time. We just slaughtered a few wealthy people and they offered no resistance. Everyone is complaining about being bored. We were just worried that no one would satisfy our cravings."

Li Laiheng was very surprised, as if he saw a naughty boy shouting that he wanted to beat ten strong men. This was not overestimating his own abilities, but seeking death.

"No? Don't you understand what I just said? I see that your army has less than 10,000 soldiers and horses. You are completely powerless to fight against more than 10,000 government troops, let alone defend the city. Once the government troops arrive, all the gentry in the county will immediately fight alongside them. At that time, the county city will be a cage for your defeat."

"Why defend the city? Just go out and fight. We don't even have 10,000 beggars. We just recruited a few thousand new soldiers, but that's enough."

"Is that enough?" If the area wasn't swarming with guards, Li Laiheng would have stood up and questioned loudly, "How can we resist a government army this size without tens of thousands of volunteers? A few thousand of you are just asking for your own death."

"Back then, with just over a hundred of us, we were able to defeat 800 county soldiers. Now, with only a few thousand of us facing 10,000 government troops, the gap between the two sides is much smaller. Thank you for the news. We, the Beggars' Army, will remember this favor."

"Ah this."

Li Laiheng was speechless for a moment. How could war be treated as a simple arithmetic problem?

If the two sides were to compare their troops, the one with more people would win. The peasant army of hundreds of thousands would have killed the government army in seconds.

But the result was that a few hundred government troops could chase tens of thousands of peasant soldiers for dozens of miles. Weak troops could not be compared with elite troops.

He followed King Chuang in his battles for many years, and only in recent years did he gradually understand that building a strong army is not an easy task. Training, armaments, officer organization, and logistical supplies are not something that the Chuang army can obtain stably.

The rebel army could only recruit a group of veterans from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, but it took them several years to form a team of veterans that could confront the government army head-on.

The beggar army only has a few thousand soldiers, but they dare to fight to the death with tens of thousands of government troops?
Should we say that they were courageous, or that they lacked experience in rebellion and did not realize the powerful fighting capacity of the government army?

It would be a pity to see the "beggar army" praised by the people die by hitting their heads against the wall.

Li Laiheng decided to make another effort to rescue them. "My army is willing to join forces with the Qihuo Army and march south to Huguang. The military pass there was destroyed by the rebels a few years ago, and some secret paths around it are unguarded. If we move south quickly, by the time the government troops reach Shangcheng, we will have already entered a new world, and it won't be too late to make plans then." "Oh, so you guys are here to join forces and escape. It's a pity that my Qihuo Army only knows how to move forward bravely. We can only win by standing, not by kneeling!"

"If we don't accumulate strength, how can we win the battle? It's foolish to die in vain." Li Laiheng didn't understand.

"Where do you want to run to? If you go to Huguang, do you want to go to Nanzhi? If you go to Nanzhi, do you want to go back to Henan? You are always running, and you can only run forever! The best way to defeat the government troops is to face them bravely. Without the courage to fight a decisive battle, refugees will be chased and beaten all their lives!"

"!"

When these words came out, Li Laiheng felt deafened, as if the bronze bell of a temple suddenly exploded above his head, making his head buzz.

He recalled that over the years he had followed the old King Chuang and fought against the new King Chuang, running around all the time. Even if he occasionally won a victory, it was only a lucky victory. The military strength and combat experience of the corps did not improve at all.

Until recently, when the rebel army was defeated and scattered, the remaining troops were still running, running non-stop.

But what else could they do if they didn't escape? Compared with the rebel army, the imperial army was too powerful, like a mountain pressing down on the rebel forces.

Just as Li Laiheng was thinking, he suddenly saw the military advisor in front of him raising his hand and pointing in the air without changing his expression, as if to signal him to look around.

Li Laiheng looked around and saw a terrifying scene. Dozens of guards crowded around him raised their hands at the same time and touched the air in unison, as if they were drawing talismans in unison.

what's the situation?
Li Laiheng was so scared that he almost jumped up from his chair. All the pores on his body opened up and sweat and heat poured out.

His muscles were tense and he gripped his thighs tightly to prevent himself from losing control and running away.

"The new version update adds the war group function, great!"

"Holy shit, look at the new rewards for the main quests! Custom cosplay costumes! I want to be an Astartes! I want to set the Ming Dynasty on fire!"

"Brothers, choose me as your commander. I'm proficient in Total Combat, Mount & Blade, Hell on Earth, and Battlefield. I'm so good at commanding the battle!"

"It's decided!" The military advisor stood up amid the clamor of the guards. "Go back and tell your leader that my Qihuo Army will leave the city soon to fight the government troops to the death. If you want to escape, you can do so. If you want to fight, you can meet me at the express delivery shop at the western county border."

After receiving the reply of the joint venture, Li Laiheng hurriedly led his men back to his old nest in the mountains, gathered the remaining troops of the rebel army who had been gathered for many days, and barely gathered 2,000 people.

"Father." He bowed to his adoptive father Li Guo, "They agreed to cooperate, but they have to take the initiative to fight against the government troops."

"Fight the government troops?"

Li Guo shook his head bitterly. The troops on his side and the beggars' army did not have the capital to fight against the government army.

"Why not take this opportunity to escape south?" another rebel leader suggested.

"No! Others risked their lives to resist the government troops, but we took the opportunity to escape. How is this any different from those government troops who kill innocent people and take credit for it?"

Li Guo immediately rejected this proposal of using others as a stepping stone.

Why did he follow his uncle Li Zicheng to rebel? Wasn't it because he couldn't stand the corrupt practices of the officials and gentry?

Now that the rebel army was defeated, he tried his best to gather a group of defeated soldiers and their families, but one of his most valued confidants was nowhere to be found.

The boy was a relative of the Li family. He joined the rebel army at the age of twelve. The following year, he was selected by Li Guo and recruited into his personal army. Then, because of his intelligence and alertness, he was adopted as Li Guo's son.

As a few years passed, Li Guo felt more and more that the boy had unlimited potential. If he was trained well, he would definitely be able to help his uncle in the future.

It's a pity that the rebel army was defeated, the dream of hegemony was shattered, many soldiers and confidants were separated, and Li Guo has gathered many people but has not seen that kid yet.

I don't know whether he is dead or alive.

Alas, Li Guo secretly cursed himself for not being able to be cruel.

So Li Guo had only one answer to the Qihuo Army's proposal to fight.

"Go tell the Qihuo Army that we will arrive on time to assist in the battle. Regardless of victory or defeat, we will buy time for the other rebel forces to evacuate."

Li Guo added in his mind that he only wanted to fight this battle with a clear conscience.

Li Er, you must stay alive.

(End of this chapter)