SFS Chapter 375 Another military expedition, targeting Zhuge Jin
Chapter 375 Another military expedition, targeting Zhuge Jin
After the execution, Li Tong was carried away, and Guan Xing took over as the host of Peng Qi's funeral.
Li Tong has completed all the preliminary work for the funeral and is just waiting for the burial. He will be carried to the grave that has already been dug and buried.
The bandit army was also full of talented people. One of them, who had disguised himself as a Taoist priest and had been a flower thief, was somewhat proficient in the business of Taoist priests. He personally read out the eulogy and gave Peng Qi a proper funeral.
After completing their tasks, they returned to the main camp to settle the soldiers, and then held a meeting in the commander's tent.
Upon seeing everyone arrive, Guan Xing spoke first: "I am as saddened as everyone else by the unfortunate passing of Boss Peng. But the dead are gone, and the living must go on. Before the battle, I promised you all that after defeating Pan Zhang, all the spoils of war would belong to you, the Shanyue people. Although Boss Peng is gone, the promise remains. If you wish to leave, please select a new commander as soon as possible and take the provisions from the camp with you."
These words were utterly insincere. After speaking, his gaze swept over the leaders, trying to see who was stubborn enough to actually want to leave.
The leaders naturally understood what was meant by polite words. Upon hearing this, Wei Hu was the first to kneel down and said urgently, "General, you said you would represent the King of Hanzhong to grant us pacification. Apart from Boss Peng, the person I admire most is General Guan. General Guan is a man of great righteousness and keeps his word. You are the General's eldest son, so you can't go back on your word."
"This humble subject is willing to accept the imperial amnesty and surrender to the Han army. Please take me in, General. I promise to follow your lead from now on, and I will go through fire and water without hesitation."
With Peng Qi dead, the bandit army was thrown into chaos. If they really turned against each other, this disorganized group wouldn't be able to stop Guan Xing's Han army and Li Tongliuzan's surrendered Wu troops.
Besides, everyone knows that being a bandit has no future. Now that he has finally encountered an opportunity to clean up his act and go ashore, Wei Hu naturally does not want to miss it.
The other leaders did the same, kneeling down and begging Guan Xing to take them in. Soon, only Bi Kui remained standing out of the thirty-odd leaders.
Guan Xing smiled gently and said, "Does Fourth Master want to inherit Boss Peng's great cause and return to Poyang Lake to continue reigning as king? If so, then take your share of the spoils and leave."
Wei Hu hurriedly tugged at Bi Kui's sleeve and advised, "Fourth brother, don't be foolish. Wu Jun will definitely retaliate if Pan Zhang dies. What will you do if Yu Fan and Zhou Tai attack from Nanchang and Chaisang at the same time?"
"Besides, you have a wife, children, and elderly parents. Do you really want to be a bandit for the rest of your life?"
Bi Kui said in a muffled voice, "I just want to capture that traitor Chen Yang to avenge our boss. I must kill Chen Yang, otherwise I won't be able to face Boss Peng after I die."
All the leaders realized who the real murderer of Peng Qi was, except for Bi Kui, who was completely out of his mind and actually believed that Peng Qi was killed by Chen Yang. Now all he could think about was revenge.
Wei Hu continued to persuade him: "Chen Yang has already run away. The world is so big, where are you going to find him? Besides, surrendering and revenge are not mutually exclusive. After surrendering, you can send people to look for Chen Yang. Once you find him, I will go with you. We will definitely chop Chen Yang into eight pieces and feed him to the dogs to avenge our boss."
Although Bi Kui was not very intelligent, he was someone who listened to advice. Upon hearing this, he also knelt down and said, "I am willing to surrender."
Guan Xing put away his smile and said seriously, "This general is willing to accept your surrender on behalf of the King of Hanzhong, but there are some things that need to be made clear beforehand. Our Han army has discipline. Once you join the Han army, you must abide by its discipline. Discipline is an ironclad rule, and no one is allowed to disobey or compromise it. Can you accept this?"
"If you can accept this, I welcome you to join. If not, please take your troops and your spoils and leave. But one thing: our Han army respects individual choices. The departure of your soldiers is their own choice. If they do not wish to leave, no one may force them in any way. Do you understand? If you understand, I will give you a final quarter of an hour to consider."
The leaders shouted in unison, "No need to consider, we are willing to surrender to the Han."
How many men do they have? If they return to Poyang Lake and continue their banditry, who can stop Wu's army from attacking?
Guan Xing then stepped forward and helped everyone up one by one, saying warmly, "On behalf of the King of Hanzhong, I welcome you to join us. In the next few days, I will reorganize the Yue bandit army and assign you official positions. I hope you will cooperate during the reorganization."
Everyone turned around in unison and said, "Look..."
After subduing the leaders, Guan Xing immediately convened a mobilization meeting for the bandit army.
It's the same old routine: first, they complain about the damned world and understand the helplessness of bandits; then, they select a few representatives to publicly recount their tragic experiences before becoming bandits; next, they reason with them and make grand promises; and finally, they unleash their killer move by giving travel expenses to those who miss home to go back.
After the whole process, the camp was filled with the sound of crying. That's how men are. They are fearless in the face of wind, frost, snow, and rain, but their kind words can make you cry your eyes out.
After venting their emotions, everyone chose to stay. Not a single one of the 20,000 bandits went back. They were all bandits; why would they go back to their hometowns to get beaten up?
Soldiers returning to their villages are warmly welcomed by their families and villagers, but these bandits are beaten to death by the villagers. They are disgraceful bastards. Who told you to come back? Why didn't you just die out there?
Therefore, what these bandits feared most was going home; if they were allowed to go home, they would rather fight Wu Jun to the death.
After dealing with the bandits, it's time to deal with the surrendered Wu soldiers. None of them went home either, as their families were all in Jiangdong. With Lu Xun and Cao Ren blocking their way, how could they get back?
With the ideological work done, the rest was easy. Guan Xing began to reorganize and select the old, weak, sick and disabled from the Wu and bandit armies and incorporate them into the logistics. He dispersed and mixed all the able-bodied men and thousands of Xuanjia soldiers into the army, giving them important positions such as garrison commanders and battalion commanders. This would make it easier for Guan Xing to control them and allow the Han soldiers to act as instructors for the Wu and bandit armies, turning them into true Han soldiers as soon as possible.
It should be noted that the Han army was also reorganized from the Wu army. Not only did they share the same roots as the surrendered soldiers of the Wu army, but they could even find some relatives among them, so there was no obstacle to their integration.
As for leaders such as Bi Kui and Wei Hu, official positions were assigned based on the number of troops they previously commanded. Five captains and more than a dozen battalion commanders were appointed, and these bandit leaders were transformed into mid-level officers in the Han army.
The matter took two whole days to work, and then three days were left for them to get to know each other. During this time, Guan Xing also took Liu Zan and the bandit leaders to the battlefield where they fought against Wu Jun that day, and personally delivered the compensation for the trampled rice fields to the rice field owners.
The compensation standard is calculated based on the yield per mu of rice paddies. The amount paid is roughly based on the yield per mu, which is equivalent to allowing the villagers to harvest this year's rice ahead of time. However, the two sides in the conflict only trampled the rice paddies, rather than pushing them over like harvesting. In other words, only part of the paddies were destroyed and some could be salvaged. The salvaged parts are considered a profit for the villagers.
The villagers were moved to tears of gratitude, and they knelt down, shouting praises of the Han army's benevolence and righteousness. They stood at the village entrance, watching Guan Xing leave for a long time, reluctant to depart.
Having witnessed the entire reorganization and compensation process, Liu Zan finally understood why Guan Xing had been able to sweep through Jiangdong so quickly without any foundation.
Guan Xing treated the lower-ranking soldiers well, giving them the respect and choices they had never experienced under other generals. He was willing to suffer losses himself to protect the interests of the people, and thus he was loved by both ordinary soldiers and the common people.
After the compensation was paid and he left the village, Liu Zan turned around and looked at the villagers who were still waving and lingering at the village entrance. He said with a complicated expression, "The benevolent are invincible. This is the true meaning of the benevolent being invincible."
Guan Xing patted him on the shoulder without saying much. He returned to the camp and immediately summoned the army for a pre-battle mobilization, preparing to attack Yu Han and punish Zhuge Jin.
The next morning, the sixth day after Peng Qi's burial, Guan Xing handed over the selected old, weak, sick and disabled to Li Tong, instructing him to contact Yu Yang to transport grain and fodder. He then personally led more than 20,000 carefully selected men straight to Yu Han City.