Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 59 Watch Me Micromanage
The spacious tent was furnished with a long table made up of several square tables, on which cakes and tea were placed. Representative players nominated by dozens of teams gathered in one tent to discuss the next strategic goals of the Beggar Army.

As the commander-in-chief of the "Northern Army", Li Guo was also invited to attend the military meeting.

However, as soon as he entered the tent, he felt it was extremely crowded. The square tables were filled with people, probably middle and lower-level leaders who were also invited to the meeting.

Li Guo was a little confused.

Important military meetings were private meetings held by the big bosses and a few of their confidants, with no more than seven or eight people involved.

Why does the beggar army want to recruit so many people?

"The special reward for the main quest shows as claimed. I went offline to ask, and the 'delivery guy' has already left and will be delivering it soon."

"So the two custom suits are already out?"

"Which lucky guy got the reward? Stand out!"

A player slammed the table in annoyance, his tone full of envy and jealousy.

"Let's be serious. We're discussing strategic issues, not judging the 'Emperor of Europe.' Besides, he'll definitely keep it to himself once he gets the treasure and make a fortune, then wear it out and show off when the time is right. Who would be so foolish as to stand up and incite hatred now?"

"Fuck! I didn't get the reward this time, I must get it next time!"

"Look, I'm going to suck all your luck away. Next time, I'll be the only one to take it!"

One player made an inhaling gesture towards everyone, and some people even inhaled back at him, acting like they were all childish elementary school students.

Everyone started criticizing the "European Emperors" who were extremely lucky, and they wished that the European Emperors would present their treasures in public for everyone to have fun.

"Hey, let's get back to the point. There's an NPC watching us, so be careful."

As soon as these words were spoken, the debate stopped abruptly and everyone immediately returned to the topic of what to do next.

When Li Guo saw the representatives looking at him one after another, he realized that someone might have mentioned him just now.

However, he didn't understand a single word of this series of arguments. He only understood words like "luck", "reward", and "stand up".

The representatives spoke fluent Mandarin, which he could understand a little, but he couldn't understand some special vocabulary. The representatives also found it particularly difficult to understand because they swallowed and paused from time to time while speaking.

He didn't understand and didn't dare to ask more questions, for fear that the other party would see through his lack of education.

"The new main quest requires: capture the prefectures and counties between the Huai River and the Dabie Mountains, forming a separatist zone."

As he spoke, he took out a thick piece of paper from his pocket. The representative next to him understood what he meant and quickly moved away the bowls and cups of cakes and tea.

A large piece of paper was slowly unfolded. Li Guo stretched his neck and looked at it eagerly. It turned out to be a map of the prefectures and counties of Henan, Hubei and Anhui provinces.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not distinguish between provinces such as Hubei and Anhui at that time, Li Guo could recognize at a glance that this was a map of the Central Plains, which was drawn in great detail.

This map not only surpassed the rebel army's by a huge margin, but also surpassed the government army's military maps.

"You drew this?"

Li Guo's fingers trembled with excitement as he pointed at the paper in disbelief.

If there were such a map, the movement of the rebel army would not be so difficult!

"Yeah." The person who answered said it nonchalantly, as if they could easily create this kind of picture.

How many unique skills does the Beggar Army have that have not been revealed?
Li Guo couldn't help but respect these "unconventional" warriors again.

Li Guo tried to force out an ingratiating smile, like a middle-aged uncle who had experienced many vicissitudes of life and begged the owner for a bowl of noodles. "Can I, can I touch it?"

"Send them all, buddies who have fought against the government troops, feel free to read them."

"Eh!"

Li Guo responded excitedly, as if a poor farmer came across a priceless porcelain vase. He lowered the map carefully, fearing that he would damage the precious map.

Rivers, county seats, garrison markings, princes' residences, and even some mountain passes were all marked out.

It turns out that the Qihuo Army already knew many of the secret passes and roads in the mountains, but our own people were trying to show off their skills in front of them. It was really shameful.

Not only did the Qihuo Army not care, but they led them to a resounding victory, and now they showed them the map, a treasure, without reservation.

This was the first time that Li Guo had seen such frank and honest volunteers. In the past, other joint volunteers either betrayed their allies in exchange for their future, or fought on their own and frantically grabbed resources.

The beggar army was really begging for mercy, and Li Guo wanted to cry.

"If we attack Guangzhou, Xinyang, or even Runing Prefecture, I think we can attack quickly and without any worries." Li Guo finally put forward his opinion.

"Why are you so confident?"

"Based on my experience with the government troops, the battle of Shangcheng destroyed the mobile forces of the government troops in southern Henan. Seeing that we are powerful, the government troops will inevitably gather more troops to suppress us, otherwise they will not be able to win.

As the number of combat troops increases, auxiliary troops and civilian laborers will also need to follow. This will require at least tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and it will take time to raise money, food, and weapons for tens of thousands of people. In my opinion, a large army will not arrive for two or three months."

"Hey, you're a veteran who's fought against government troops, like a real veteran!" One player couldn't help but give a thumbs-up. "If a 50,000-strong army comes to confront us three months later, how are we going to respond?"

"You are all geniuses in commanding troops, so I won't embarrass myself." Li Guo bowed and continued to look at his favorite map.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. In a few months, the Qing army will invade again and plunder. By then, tough guys like Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, and Lu Xiangsheng will be transferred to Zhili to defend the emperor. The remaining troops in the Central Plains will also have to monitor 'surrendered soldiers' like Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai... Even if the government troops scrape together some troops to fight us, we still have a chance of winning."

"Great, we can kill the Tartars now!"

"From here to Zhili and Shandong, it's at least a thousand miles. It will take you a long time to walk."

"I don't care. Even if I die, I will stab the Tartar with my last breath!"

"What month did the Qing troops enter the pass this time?"

"I think it's the lunar month. Oops, I forgot. My memory is terrible and I forget it after reading it once... I'll go check it out."

As soon as the player finished speaking, his body suddenly went limp and his head hit the table, causing the bowls and cups to rattle.

The sudden movement startled Li Guo. He looked at his rebel brothers on the fallen table in surprise, while the representatives around him all had expressions of familiarity.

"What happened to him?" Li Guo walked forward and lifted up the unconscious young man's head, and checked his breath. He was still alive.

"The hidden injury has flared up?"

He tried hard to tear open the player's clothes and check if the young man had any deep purple internal injuries.

But just as he opened his shirt and checked his collarbone and chest, the young man came to his senses and glared at Li Guo, "Fuck! You're really taking advantage of me. I never thought a rough guy like you with thick eyebrows and big eyes would actually like men?"

"This is nothing."

Li Guo returned to his seat in boredom, thinking that this person must have some hidden disease that made him faint suddenly, and he would recover after a while, so the others just watched coldly because they were used to it.

"Look carefully, it's the ninth month of the lunar calendar, which is only two and a half months away."

"So we can go all out and kill everyone?"

"I think we can be more aggressive and break the whole into smaller units. We can have one infantry regiment attack a county town and take over the entire territory in a very short time, so we can get the mission reward sooner."

"Oh, your suggestion is good."

"That's not bad at all. An infantry regiment only has 2,000 people. How can they attack the county town? Do you think the county town is your home and you can open the door whenever you want?"

"Have you forgotten Xia by Daming Lake... Ugh, it's the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's underground siege method!"

"Oh—" the doubter suddenly realized, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten that I had this trump card. But I remember that if there were moats and trenches, this trick wouldn't work. It would be better to pretend to surrender and delay until the Tartars enter the pass."

"Surrender, surrender, surrender what the hell!" The flabby-faced player stood up and spoke righteously, then sat back down with a goofy grin. "Sorry to offend. I've been wanting to say this for ages, and today finally gave me the chance."

"I'm sorry, most cities don't have moats. Even if there are cities that do, they're too big to be taken by someone like us."

"Okay! I think this proposal is great, I vote in favor!"

"I agree too!"

"Let me be responsible for the blasting!"

"Old Li, what do you think?"

All the players looked at Li Guo who was obsessed with the map.

Li Guo called himself Li Da in front of them, so he was also called Lao Li.

Li Guoxin said that since just now, these people have been talking in "encrypted communication" with broken information, talking about Tartars, recruiting, what is recruiting...

There was no logical connection between the whole thing, except that the troops were divided to attack the surrounding cities. He understood it, but he had no objection.

The peasant army's ability to attack and conquer was very weak, and they usually relied on "internal and external cooperation" or the surrender of the city to capture the city.

It cannot be taken by ordinary attack.

Right now, the mobile forces in the surrounding areas are almost exhausted. We should send troops to try our luck. We might come across a city where all the officials have fled and take advantage of it.

Even if there were not many advantages to be gained, everyone could gather some strong men and hungry people and rush forward to capture the city.

"I agree."

As soon as Li Guo finished speaking, he realized a big problem.

Why was He Lusi, the commander-in-chief of the Qihuo Army, absent from the military meeting? How could the generals discuss things without the leader taking charge and making the final decision?

This question continued to bother Li Guo until a few days after their group had divided into groups to prepare siege equipment, a transport team appeared in sight.

(End of this chapter)