The armies divided into two groups quickly devoted themselves to their respective tasks. Liang Chongxin's main force also took action immediately after Mulige led three regiments of infantry to disappear into Yese. With the cover of the night, they divided into several groups and quietly They moved towards the high ground where the Shentu Hua rebels were stationed, and soon formed a considerable encirclement. But this encirclement was not perfect, because in terms of quantity, Liang Chongxin's army was only more than 10,000 more than Shentu's rebel army, which was far from enough to form an absolute numerical advantage.
Just as the battle situation in Bonan Mansion in the south was worrying, the battle situation in Guide Mansion in the north seemed particularly "calm".
On November 9, after the reconnaissance force searched almost the entire western part of Guide but still found no trace of the enemy, Cui Wenxiu and Kamapov and their deputies Sang Sheng and Shenei studied and decided to divide their forces into two groups again, attacking from the north and south. A sweep was carried out in two directions to eliminate the small groups of rebels that might have been left behind, and it was agreed to meet in Guide Fucheng in five days.
On November 10, Cui Wenxiu led the Qingyang Second Guard Division on the Northern Front to enter Majiaji, an important town in the northwest of Guide Prefecture. He encountered a small group of rebels and annihilated them in one fell swoop, capturing 263 people.
On November 12, Kamapov led the Qingyang First Guard Division on the southern front to recapture Shilipu, an important town in southern Germany, and was warmly welcomed by local residents.
The weather is still bad, and the first snow of winter has been falling intermittently for several days, but the bad weather has not stopped the local people's desire for a stable, peaceful and happy life.
Marching on the spacious street, the pace of the army was obviously much slower. Looking at the people crowding in the streets and alleys in the wind and snow, Kamapov said to his deputy Sang Sheng with deep feelings: "It seems that a happy life is important." The desire is enough to make all difficulties timid. From the popularity of the people here, you can know how disgusting the rebels are, which is also doomed to the fate of these rebels."
"My lord, I'm afraid you don't know much about the life of country people. If real farmers can really have a mouthful of food, and who is willing to risk beheading to join some rebel army, they will be forced to leave only if they have no other choice. Take this road. A humble job means that I was born in a peasant family, so I know these situations very well. In my hometown, Yanyun County, almost every year, many farmers cannot pay taxes and their families are ruined. If there is a natural disaster, then Either sit back and wait for death, or fall into the trap of being a bandit, or kill officials to make a living, and live one day at a time." After a pause, the deputy commander of the division Sang Sheng, who was riding on the horse, sighed deeply, "If the whole world is like this. The Qingyang Jinzhou under Lord Li’s rule is just like that, I don’t think there are any rebellious troops anywhere.”
Speaking of these rebels, Sang Sheng felt a surge of complex emotions in his heart. He deeply understood the mood of those desperate people. Who is willing to rob homes and become thieves? Who is willing to risk thousands of lives? How about going against the government despite being tortured to death? That was just a helpless choice.
Although Kamapov was quite familiar with his deputy, he did not know Sang Sheng's family background and asked quickly: "Then how did you join the army?"
"My family's financial situation is relatively good, but with the large number of people in the family, it became increasingly difficult to maintain it. Fortunately, I studied with a neighbor's private school teacher for a few years before joining the army and earning a living." Sang Sheng still had a living. Immersed in the memories of the past, his voice became much deeper.
Kamapov also snorted from his nose, "Now the officials at all levels in the empire are becoming more and more incompetent. The officials are also taking advantage of the opportunity to plunder, and the people are even more unable to survive. The so-called harsh government is more fierce than the tiger, and the officials force the people to rebel. This is not true at all. .”
Looking around carefully again, Kamapov was a little surprised. The buildings around him were still relatively complete, with no broken walls as expected, and the welcoming people looked pretty good. It seemed that the situation reported by the intelligence organization was indeed true. To be precise, it is said that a team of volunteers was active in the southern part of Guide, and defeated the rebels several times, so that the rebels were never able to fully control the southern part of Guide. Now that his army has been stationed in Shilipu, he will have to see the true appearance of this team when the time comes.
Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly heard Sang Sheng's surprised voice: "Division Commander, look, whose army is that?"
Raising his head and following Sang Sheng's gaze, he saw that he had arrived at the town center of Shilipu. There was a fairly decent square here. It was quite good to have a square of this size at the market town level. In the square In addition to some officials and gentry-looking people, there were also several rows of soldiers neatly arranged. Although their clothes were a little messy, their momentum was very strong. Could this group of people be the volunteers
As the distance got closer, the faces of the group of people who came to greet them gradually became clearer. The first person was a fat man who looked like a gentleman, and the one on the left was a middle-aged man dressed as a businessman. The images of the two people on the right immediately attracted the attention of Kamapov and Sang Sheng. The person on the left is about thirty years old, of medium height, with a thin face, yellow skin, but very smart eyes, a short beard under the chin, hands behind his back, and a calm demeanor; the person on the right is only in his twenties, tall, with a gap between his eyebrows. He has an arrogant aura, and his golden hair is combed into a ponytail and swung casually behind his back. He looks very fashionable, but with both hands, he puts a sheathed giant sword into the soil in front of him and looks at him coldly. Kamapov and his party.
"My lords, Xiaguan is the first seasoned master of Shilipu Town. I have been waiting here for a long time." When Kamapov and Sang Sheng dismounted from their horses and stepped forward, the fat man who looked like a gentleman greeted them enthusiastically. Came and introduced myself.
"This is Mr. Chu Juezhi, the president of our Shilipu Chamber of Commerce and the largest wine merchant in the south of Guide Prefecture." After introducing the businessman on the left, Ji Gaoming introduced the two people on his right, "This is This is Mr. Long Zizi, the leader of our Shilipu rebels, and this is his deputy Hillman."
Immediately afterwards, Ji Gaoming gave a speech of gratitude to the government troops for coming to save the people from the fire and water. After some greetings, Sang Sheng left to arrange the troops' campsite, while Kamapov talked with a few Together they walked into the town office.
Even before leaving, Li Wufeng had special talks on establishing good relations with local government officials in order to minimize resistance and win their support, and Kamapov was no exception.
While chatting enthusiastically with several officials, I also learned about the basic situation of Shilipu. Shilipu is the most important and largest market town in the south of Guide. It is located on a transportation thoroughfare, with fertile land and a very suitable climate for growing grapes. There are grape plantations everywhere. Several surrounding market towns are also important grape producing areas. Shilipu The shop also houses several famous wine workshops in the Tanghe Empire, producing various brands such as "Beauty's Tears", "Hero's Blood", "Rose Angel", "Spring Dream Without Trace", and "Forgetting Water". A series of red wines renowned throughout the continent. Every grape harvest season, the best grapes from the surrounding vineyards are sent to Shilipu. It is said that the long carriages pulling grapes line up to ten miles away at the longest time, hence the name Shilipu.
But this is decades old. Ever since the Luobei people became powerful in the East Tengger Prairie, they quickly controlled the northern passage across the eastern, central and western continents. Not only did they control passing caravans Heavy taxes were levied, and goods were arbitrarily seized. Many military personnel even dressed up as bandits to rob passing caravans. The local social security also deteriorated rapidly. Many real bandits also chose this important northern passage as a good place to find food. So much so that no one dares to take this once glorious trade route anymore.
Taking a detour through the southern passage, not only is the journey much longer, but there are also countless checkpoints in the middle. When shipped to the central continent, the price has increased several times, and when shipped to the western continent, the price can even rise to ten times the ex-factory price. Within the empire, except for the upper class, ordinary people were not very fond of wine. Due to the various reasons mentioned above, the wine industry in southern Guide Prefecture declined rapidly and has been in a sluggish state. It was not until Li Wufeng defeated the Luobei people in succession in the past two years that the vineyard owners and wine merchants of Guide Prefecture began to work in the dark night. I saw a glimmer of dawn.
While chatting and laughing, Kamapov also learned some information about the volunteers. Most of the members of the volunteer army came from the children of farmers in the vineyards in the south of Guide. In addition, some people were recruited from other places at the expense of the town's chamber of commerce, totaling about two thousand people. Their leader, Long Ziben, was originally an officer in the Guide Prefecture Guard Division. Two years ago, he was at odds with the superior of the then Guard Division, and his superiors took revenge on him. They dismissed him from the military and dismissed him. He returned to his hometown of Shilipu to make a living by farming. It was not until this year that riots broke out throughout Guide Prefecture and developed into a full-scale rebellion. The rebels looted everywhere, which aroused the panic of the Shilipu merchants. So they jointly funded the town government office to suppress the epidemic. In the name of the Office, volunteers were recruited, trained, and defended their homeland. Long Zizi was also hired as the commander-in-chief, responsible for leading this group of volunteers.
After he took over the leadership of the volunteers, he stepped up the training of the volunteers and recruited some reservists from Guide Prefecture who he had trained before, quickly forming a certain combat effectiveness. The young man named Hillman was an Orion he met while performing a mission in the area bordering the Taixuan Palace, and he took this opportunity to recruit him to assist him.
In several battles where the rebels came to attack, he led the rebels to take advantage of his familiarity with the local terrain and adopt guerrilla tactics of fighting when they could win and running away if they couldn't. At the same time, he constantly harassed the supply lines of the rebels, so that the rebels never stopped. He was able to successfully fight against the rebels until the rebels disappeared some time ago.
Kamapov admired Long's own tactics very much. When the enemy was strong and we were weak, not only could he completely preserve himself, but he also effectively attacked the enemy. This was indeed an amazing achievement. Long Zizi saw that Kamapov admired the tactics he used and the results he achieved, and he felt very proud in his heart. However, he also knew that it was because he had not encountered a strong opponent that a truly large-scale insurgent army invaded. His tactics may not be applicable.
Hillman, who had always had a cold attitude at first, saw that Kamapov was approachable and did not look down on the rebels because he was a regular army. On the contrary, he praised his own side's achievements. His attitude also changed greatly, and he took the initiative to talk to him. Kamapov started talking.