Dominate the Country

Chen Ming selected 3,000 of the more than 30,000 volunteers from Yunbei and Yunnan. All the remaining people will go north to Nanyang Prefecture and become the biggest capital of the General's Mansion to fight against the encirclement and suppression of the Qing army in the next few months or even longer years.

While Chen Ming and his wife were rolling in bed, countless people inside and outside Fancheng County were also saying their final goodbyes.

Brothers, younger brothers, husbands, fathers, sons..., the 3,000 volunteers selected by Chen Ming have their own families and another identity different from soldiers. They are either brothers, younger brothers, or heads of a family, fathers of several children, and sons of their parents.

No one wants to leave their parents and relatives in an unfamiliar environment, but the conditions offered by Chen Ming are temptations that these volunteers cannot resist. All 3,000 people signed up voluntarily, just for the resettlement fee of five silver dollars, and the military dependents' subsidy of 50 kilograms of rations per month promised by the Chen family army.

The fifty catties of rations were all fine grains, which would be at least eighty catties if they were replaced with coarse grains. If a portion of the coarse grains were replaced with miscellaneous grains, it would be enough for a family of four to live for a month. Even a family of five could make ends meet.

These men from refugee shanties could not resist the temptation offered by Chen Ming. ‘There must be brave men under a heavy reward.’ Don’t think that no one will be happy just because it’s a life-saving reward. In the high mountains and dense forests of Yunyang, a life can sometimes not be exchanged for three or five catties of miscellaneous grains. Chen Ming selected three thousand people from the volunteers who stood up excitedly. He was not conscripting men.

With family members under the jurisdiction of the general’s mansion, the credibility of these three thousand people is higher than that of the new recruits of the twelve armored battalions.

…

By the Han River, the Chen family army’s position.

The new moon hangs high in the sky, casting a faint silver light on the water. Winter has arrived. In the night, you can’t hear any insects chirping, not even a single bird flying, only the sound of the Han River washing the shore.

Occasionally, a big firework will hit the sky, and the explosion will spread across the two banks, breaking the suffocating silence of the night sky and adding infinite tranquility to the world.

The quiet river water sparkles in the cool east wind, just like silver moonlight.

If a scholar faced this scene, he would probably write a poem to express his feelings. Unfortunately, Jiang Tianfang is just a warrior. You can ask him to wield a sword and a gun, but he can't say a word of poetry.

He is now a team officer in the newly formed Jiabing Battalion. He was able to pass the exam for the military scholar of the Qing Dynasty, so at least his kung fu is much better than that of ordinary people. He was jumped out of the mine at the beginning of his surrender, first to the logistics team, and then to the recruits. With a big gun in his hand, Jiang Tianfang made many merits on the battlefield, and his rank was constantly promoted like flying on an airplane.

The team officer has a real hundred men under his command, which is more than the number of men led by the general in the Qing Dynasty Green Camp.

But Jiang Tianfang had no joy in his heart. Just like Jingkong, Jiang Tianfang was not optimistic about the future of the Chen Family Army. Even though he had made up his mind to "stand out" in the Chen Family Army from the beginning, it was more for his family. Let his family enjoy better treatment in the present time.

Jiang Tianfang, who has a family, even if he has no hope for the future, he also made a decisive choice opposite to Jingkong.

But Jiang Tianfang, who used to be very wild, unconsciously became a kind of literary youth in his character. He suddenly liked to be alone for a while. It’s not that he has always been alone and isolated, but sometimes he likes to be quiet, after the start or end of the war. If there are mountains and water, and there is moonlight and starlight at night, he will be better.

Sit alone. In the empty and quiet night, you will feel that the world is very wide, very wide, which will make his depressed heart become relaxed. The night covered him like the earth, covering his sorrow for his future and the pain in his heart.

In fact, Jiang Tianfang knew very well why he liked to sit alone in the moonlight. In the final analysis, he still had resentment towards Chen's army in his heart.

Unfortunately, it was really difficult for the Qing court to "forgive" him in this situation, otherwise it would be hard to say how much real fighting spirit the surrendered soldiers represented by Jiang Tianfang would have.

Tonight, Jiang Tianfang's camp was guarding the artillery position by the river. Today was the birthday of Jiang Tianfang's youngest son. When the night came, he really became a literary youth again. Sitting on the stone by the river, listening to the sound of the waves of the Han River washing the embankment, Jiang Tianfang was completely lost. Because he could not see the light of the future. As long as he looked into the future, it was the shadow of swords and blood, and it was hiding his identity. Even living in anonymity in the future is a luxury, and it is the best outcome...

Jiang Tianfang looked at the lights on the other side of the river, and in his eyes, the officials of the court were all fools.

The Hubei government troops have all rushed to Xiangyang, but I don’t know if Fancheng can reach De'an Prefecture by going west? A 3,000-man team of the Chen family army has already gone west from Fancheng. In Jiang Tianfang's eyes, there is no problem for this team to kill to Hanchuan, hundreds of miles away. If the Chen family army crossed the Yangtze River and Han River in Hankou, or directly killed Hankou and Hanyang to threaten Wuchang, would the team in Xiangyang move? And how much would it move?

Jiang Tianfang didn't think the team would fight under the city of Xiangyang. The latter has a strong city defense, sufficient number of defenders, and no shortage of food and wages. More importantly, they also have no shortage of reinforcements. The Hunan Green Camp is rushing to the north with great momentum.

If Chen Ming continues to stop here and fight, the battle of Xiangyang will be the battle of fate for Chen's army. And what they have been promoting in their team these days is the expedition, to the south and east, to the land of wealth in the south of the Yangtze River. But I haven't heard that the team will fight the government army in Xiangyang.

The next day, the sun just rose. The winter sun dispelled the mist on the Han River, and the sound of cannons blasted resounded over Xiangfan.

Shi Liang and Xue Shiyan didn't know that when the cannons rumbled, hundreds of thousands of refugees and shantytowns on the north bank of the Han River had already embarked on the road to the north. In the next month, they will be in Nanyang and Ruzhou.

A large number of swords, guns, and armors are waiting for the volunteers. As long as they go through a short training, such as spending the current winter and waiting until the beginning of next spring, these people will become qualified soldiers, at least better than the Qing army's green camp.

Chen's army was rampant in half of Henan, sweeping the area north of the Han River. It was unknown how much food they had taken from their own nest. These were the most convenient weapons for the General's Mansion to digest these refugees and shanty towns. It was impossible for Chen's army to distribute land to all the hundreds of thousands of refugees and shanty towns in Ruzhou, which lacked farmland, and Nanyang Prefecture, which had a relatively dense population. The young and strong among these people became soldiers of the Chen's army, and the rest, including women, could become road construction teams, construction teams, and even workers in factories such as mines, ironworks, and cement plants. They leveled the land and built fortifications. Of course, these fortifications were not cement buildings. In winter, the cement of Chen's army could not be put into use. But the influx of hundreds of thousands of people will surely expand the output of steel and cement of Chen's army and improve people's livelihood, transportation, and other aspects under the rule of the General's Mansion.