Flying Clouds in Another World

Chapter 333: Enemy at the Gates of the City

Liu Feiyun rested for a day at Wangchenpo, while also counting the results of the battle and making preliminary processing of the prisoners of war and seized materials.

The supplies are easy to deal with, but the main thing is the prisoners of war.

In the Battle of Wangchenpo, the Zhenhuang Army captured more than 25,000 people, of which more than 8,000 were still able to fight, and the rest were wounded.

Among these wounded, most were seriously injured and they are unlikely to survive for more than a few days.

Even the small number of people who were slightly injured would be in great danger in the absence of medicine and time to treat them in this hot summer season.

Those who are lucky may suffer from a disability of varying degrees, while those who are unlucky may even die as a result.

In this regard, Liu Feiyun could only sigh: Who told them to have such bad luck!

In troubled times, human life is worthless, and this troubled time has just begun.

As for the eight thousand captives who were still able to fight, Liu Feiyun wanted to imitate what he did in the Northern Wilderness and directly incorporate them all into the system of the Wilderness Suppression Army.

But this is not the Northern Wilderness, and these people are not rescued Chen slaves or barbarian captives.

It is inappropriate both in terms of the court's laws and in terms of replenishing the combat power of the Zhenhuang Army.

But he always felt unwilling to give up the fat meat that he had worked so hard to get into.

In the end, he selected 4,000 people to serve as coolies in the Zhenhuang Army. At the same time, he personally drafted a memorial to the emperor, asking him to allow the expansion of the Zhenhuang Army and grant him the right to recruit soldiers on his own.

After selecting the prisoners of war to join the army, Liu Feiyun left the Crossbow Brigade to guard the prisoners and supplies, waiting for the nearby government troops to come and hand over, while he led the rest of the troops and began to rush towards Hanchuan City.

When Liu Feiyun arrived at the foot of Hanchuan City and met up with Qin Jiu, almost the entire Zhenghuang Army had gathered together except for the Crossbow Brigade.

At the same time, the number of government troops coming to support from nearby counties increased to more than 30,000.

Together with the more than 10,000 government troops that already existed in Hanchuan City, there were now nearly 90,000 government troops gathered inside and outside Hanchuan City, surrounding more than 100,000 barefoot soldiers outside the west wall of Hanchuan City.

The decisive battle of Hanchuan is about to begin.

As the commander of the strongest army at this time and place, Liu Feiyun undoubtedly became the person with the highest combat command authority.

On this day, Liu Feiyun sent out a military notice, inviting all the commanders of the local barracks, the county brigade commanders, and the Liangzhou division commanders to come to his military camp in the evening to discuss how to launch the final battle under Hanchuan City.

Before evening came, he even went to the camp of the government troops that came to provide assistance.

When Liu Feiyun saw the so-called government troops coming to support him, he felt very uncomfortable.

The vast majority of these reinforcements were local soldiers, with only a small number of county brigades.

But these militiamen were completely different from the militiamen in his hometown of Anping.

Logically speaking, the local soldiers should all be young and strong, and equipped with standard armor, even if it is the lowest quality rawhide armor.

However, among these militiamen who arrived, only a small half were young and strong. The rest were either in their teens, in their forties, or looked thin and weak.

As for armor, the armor coverage rate is only 30%!

Not to mention the comparison with the rural soldiers in Anping County, even compared with the rural soldiers who were transferred to the Northern Wilderness to participate in the Northern Expedition, they were a world apart.

As for the soldiers of the county brigade, their equipment and ages seemed quite similar: they were fully equipped, everyone was wearing armor, and they were all young men in their twenties or thirties.

But when Liu Feiyun looked carefully, he found something wrong.

Liu Feiyun is an expert in both medicine and martial arts, so he naturally knows a lot about what kind of breathing rhythm a person should have under what kind of conditions.

The breathing rhythm of most of these county brigade soldiers is obviously not what a professional soldier who regularly participates in military training should exhibit.

Moreover, their hands don't look like the ones that normally hold weapons.

"Just to fill in the gaps!?"

"I heard that although the treatment of the county soldiers is not as good as that of the state division and the imperial guards, it is still a good job for most people in a place without war!"

"Every month, I get a few taels of silver, and my food, clothing, and housing are basically free. Sometimes I get a fair amount of gray income, and I don't have to travel far from home."

"Moreover, even if we encounter a major war like the Northern Expedition to the Northern Wilderness, we will usually only deploy a portion of our troops. As long as we get the news in advance and make some arrangements, we can always find an excuse to avoid going on the expedition and let others fight!"

"In addition, there are many cases where people are paid without working during peacetime and some civilians are temporarily arrested to impersonate others during wartime. I'm afraid there will be many such cases."

"It seems that these so-called reinforcements are really useless as Qin Jiu said!"

"If we want to completely wipe out these hundreds of thousands of barefoot soldiers, we still have to rely on our own Zhenhuang Army and the nearly 10,000 Liangzhou divisions in Hanchuan City."

After Liu Feiyun visited more than a dozen military camps of varying sizes, he finally had some idea of ​​the situation.

That evening, a grand yet simple banquet was held in the camp of the Zhenhuang Army.

The lamb racks cut into large pieces are roasted over the fire and stewed in the pot, and the aroma is everywhere.

A group of officers sat in a circle on the ground.

In this way, the differences in status between people are not so obvious.

Liu Feiyun stood up first, raised his glass and said:

"My dear uncles! My dear brothers! I am Fei Yun, and I came to Liangzhou to gain experience under the order of His Majesty! Thanks to His Majesty, I was lucky enough to defeat some of the Barefoot Rebellion Army!"

"There are still more than 100,000 remaining barefoot soldiers, still resisting stubbornly outside Hanchuan City. I invited you all here tonight to discuss a battle plan so that we can eliminate this group of rebellious troops as soon as possible!"

"I wonder what your opinions are, uncles and brothers! Why don't you speak out and let us discuss it carefully?"

"After all! You are all Feiyun's elders, seniors in the army, and have lived in Liangzhou for a long time. You must have more combat experience than me, Feiyun, and have more say!"

"Come! I will toast you first, and then I will ask you to express your opinions!"

After saying that, Liu Feiyun drank the wine in the cup and showed the empty cup to others.

After hearing this, all the officers raised their glasses in response, and many of them felt a ripple in their hearts:

This little butcher is lowering his status and at the same time taking credit for himself!

So what should I do?

As the saying goes, everyone wants to carry a sedan chair. Since someone wants to help me and add some credit to me, I should return the favor and cooperate with him!

Those who thought so immediately expressed that General Liu was a young hero and a rare military talent, and that as long as he gave an order, they would obey it.

The flattery is so corny and the slogans are so loud!

Of course, there are also many people who are proud of their status.

For example, the brigade commanders of several counties and the commander of the Liangzhou provincial division.

"Young man from the Liu family! It's rare that you still have some self-awareness! You didn't get complacent because of one or two small victories! If you want to wipe out this group of bandits as soon as possible! I have an idea!"

Shangguan Zixin, the commander of the Liangzhou Prefecture, said with narrowed eyes.