The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 173 Military Order
Before they came to find Gan Minglan, all they wanted was to escape the red tent.

But they didn't know where else they could go if they left here.

Let's not even talk about whether we can leave the border town smoothly.

Without a travel permit, they could not reach Jinzhou Pass.

They are all mothers, and their children are their greatest weakness.

The border town implemented a system of collective punishment for exiled criminals.

If one person runs away, all the dozen or so people in the compound will suffer.

This road is blocked.

Before the three of them arrived, they learned that after returning from Haijin Town, the She family and others continued to learn skills from the military doctors.

They were completely inexperienced when they joined the medical team, before they learned any medical skills.

Probably, maybe, or probably, they won't have to go to the battlefield, right?

It is said that the Tatars outside the border city usually only harass the pass after the autumn harvest.

What can they possibly grab this season?

From early spring to late autumn, there are still more than half a year left!
If they were in the red tent, most of them wouldn't survive more than three months.

Therefore, even if Gan Minglan presented the facts and reasoned with everyone, describing the future of the medical team as full of thorns.

Despite their reluctance, the three insisted on joining, repeatedly promising, "We will diligently learn medical and nursing skills from the senior military doctors, we will never let you down, and we will absolutely not regret it!"

However, the plan could not keep up with the changes.

It was the day after Guan Dade had just married off his eldest daughter.

The sound of rapid hoofbeats echoed along the official road leading to the border town.

That was an urgent troop mobilization order sent from Shangdu!

Two months ago.

The imperial court levied military pay in various regions and drew 300,000 main force troops from the local militia, along with 200,000 militia recruited from the populace, to deal with the refugee army.

Who would have thought that the massive army of 500,000 would be routed when it faced a few well-organized and large-scale peasant armies from the provincial administration?

Nine out of ten battles ended in defeat!

They also contributed a large amount of weapons and military supplies to the refugee army.

Several days ago, several groups of refugee rebels were about to approach Shangdu.

Emperor Wen of Bei did not want to become the first emperor in the more than two hundred years since the founding of the Bei Kingdom to be dethroned by displaced people.

He issued a death order to the Ministry of War.

If he cannot wipe out the major bandit groups in the country within three months, he will make all the officials in Shangdu pay with their lives.

With their own heads at stake, the five Grand Military Commissions and the Ministry of War all ceased their internal strife.

Let's sit down and discuss it.

The national treasury has no military pay, and it has no large army.

These troops in Shangdu still have to guard the safety of the imperial city.

It absolutely cannot be used to suppress bandits.

A high-ranking official in the Ministry of War slapped his forehead:
"Our dynasty's troops occupy more than half of the nine border towns; who can possibly be stronger than them!"

Some have argued that external threats pose a greater risk than internal ones. What if the Tatars invade if the border troops are mobilized?

However, many military generals believed that if the internal troubles were not resolved, the dynasty would change, and it was better not to mention the external threats now.

Moreover, the nine important border towns were all built on strategic passes and fortresses, and have not been breached many times in the past few centuries!
The minority obeys the majority.

The plan to send border troops to suppress the refugees was submitted, and Emperor Beiwen readily agreed without the slightest hesitation.

He was secretly pleased:

For over a decade, the border troops had been self-sufficient, requiring no expenditure of the national treasury or collection of military pay from the people, making them the ideal candidates. Consequently, several military orders were issued from Shangdu.

The military command ordered that five of the nine key border towns, based on the number of their respective military households, dispatch elite troops to suppress the nearby refugees.

Not to mention how furious the various generals were upon receiving the military orders from the Ministry of War.

As long as the imperial power remained, they dared not disobey the imperial decree.

The mission assigned to Biancheng and Yulinwei, the closest garrison to Biancheng, is to eliminate the million-strong Po Jun army that has used Xijing City as its stronghold!
The Po Jun (破军) formation is not the same as it was six months ago.

They firmly controlled the clans and merchants of Xijing City.

They forcibly allocated large areas of land in the Guanzhong Plain to farmers whose families had Po Jun.

If one person enters the Po Jun rank, their family can be allocated five acres of fertile land.

The leader of the Po Jun army also promised: no taxes, no grain levies!
In the entire Shaanxi Provincial Administration Commission, most of the farmers had sons who had joined this organization.

The land has been allocated, and spring plowing is now over.

As long as Po Jun can hold out until autumn, the harvested grain will belong entirely to the farmers.

Before setting off, Zhao Muyun received a message from the Guanzhong Plain, and his brows furrowed so deeply that they could crush his troublesome illegitimate son!
The bearded guard asked, puzzled, "My lord, isn't it a good thing that the farmers in the Guanzhong Plain have been allocated land?"

Zhao Muyun kicked him:
"After we capture Xijing City and break through the enemy lines, how should the officials govern? If the imperial court wants to take back the land from these peasants, the peasants will definitely fight to the end!"

The bearded man spread his hands:

"Then just don't take their land! Farmers only care about whether their families can have enough to eat; they don't care who the emperor is!"

Zhao Muyun listened to the soldier's words and seemed to be deep in thought.

However, they don't have time to think too much right now.

According to reliable intelligence, Po Jun is showing signs of forming a cooperative alliance with the rebel army of Nanhe Prefecture during their territorial struggle.

If the two strongest groups of refugees in the country were to merge into one, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Given their rapid development, even if the imperial court doesn't order a crackdown on the bandits, they will inevitably clash with them sooner or later.

It would be better to take advantage of the fact that they haven't yet united as one and defeat them one by one.

I understand the logic.

No general would be happy to have to bring their own rations to work.

Moreover, the food we have now is hard-won!

Soldiers consume far more energy during wartime than in peacetime.

Twenty-five thousand cavalry and thirty-five thousand infantry were withdrawn from the five major garrisons.

With the addition of 40,000 troops from Yulin Guard, Zhao Muyun personally led an army of 100,000 towards Xijing City.

Leading the main force were tens of thousands of grain transport militia (mainly composed of retired veterans), cooks, military doctors, and the entire medical team.

Gan Minglan, the leader of the medical team, was left behind in the border town.

General Zhao: Leave one of the most capable individual combatants behind, just in case, for any eventuality.

He dared not let his guard down against the Tatars for even a moment.

Po Jun, a ragtag organization, is quite confident in mobilizing 100,000 border troops.

The three cousins ​​who had just joined the medical team yesterday were crying: As new members, shouldn't they first learn to carry a stretcher, suture wounds, and bandage things?
Military doctor: The best results come from learning and applying what you learn immediately! Didn't you see that after one battle, the She family and others learned how to suture wounds, brew medicine, and bandage wounds?
After another two weeks of intensive training, these medical team members were able to work independently.

Because of the outstanding performance of She Shi and others, when Gan Minglan proposed to add new team members, no one, from General Tian to the senior military doctor, had any objections.

More helpers on the battlefield can save more lives of border troops!

They had just seen off the large army.

Shortly after, Gan's father and Gan Mingshou drove sixty sheep from Huyan County back to the border town.

(End of this chapter)