Propaganda posters were posted on notice boards in the city of Kori and outside shops in the market. They were all pre-printed materials with text, mainly promoting the abolition of slavery.
It is said that the grassland owner system will be abolished in the city of Luoji and the eastern grasslands. All grasslands, rivers, lakes, mountains, etc. in the east will be presented to the Prince of Black Mountain Fort by the chief of the Yang clan, Yangtuluo, on behalf of the Yang clan. However, His Royal Highness the Prince can provide them to all herdsmen for grazing with a small tax. The division of grasslands will be signed by a contract between the chief minister appointed by the prince and the herdsmen.
The grassland land was not returned to the principality because if it was to be distributed to herders in the future or a new system was established, it would be difficult to handle legally.
Moreover, under the current principality system, state ownership is rather illusory, because there is no excellent collective leadership like in the past. Therefore, if a principality is nationalized, it will become unclear to whom it belongs. No one will cherish these public properties, and the powerful will only try to find ways to benefit from them.
The posters also urged aspiring herders to register at the recruitment office as soon as possible, form a militia, and receive training in the new system.
These sermons were broadcast on a loop on the long streets and in the markets from a loudspeaker mounted on an armored vehicle.
…
As in the feudal era, the market area in the city of Kozhi was specially fenced off. However, at this time, an armored vehicle was parked at the entrance of the market, and the loudspeaker was preaching what slavery is, how the principality will manage the eastern grassland tribes, and so on.
The tribal soldiers who were originally guarding the entrance disappeared, and were replaced by several Japanese soldiers.
There is also a table next to the entrance with the words "Recruitment Office" on it, which recruits aspiring young people to form a militia led by the principality.
Of course, nowadays there are more people who come to watch the fun, and it is rare to find people who actually come to register their names.
The space inside the armored vehicle was actually very small, but Lu Ming also sat inside to avoid being shot.
After all, it is very dangerous now. The tribal leaders of the Yang clan may completely break off relations with us in a few minutes.
Yangtuo Luo seemed to have agreed to the Principality's requirement that the tribal armed forces surrender their weapons, but it was clear that the actual confiscation of the weapons was a long way off.
However, the tribal leaders would never have thought that they had begun to publicize the evils of slavery in the city of Kori, and even regarded the surrender conditions that Yangtuo Luo verbally agreed to as established facts, publicizing that the Prince of Black Mountain Fort had become the lord of the eastern grasslands, and describing a beautiful future life to the herdsmen.
It would be normal if the grassland lords of the Lanyuan tribe or the Kori tribe turned against each other.
But if they endure it, the tempo will be completely controlled by their side, and slowly they will really have to "submit" to the principality according to the conditions set by their side.
In short, it's either fight or true surrender, there is no room for maneuver.
There was another person in armored vehicle No. 10 who was not an armed personnel of the armored vehicle. She was Ohyumiko, who was wearing a snow-white medical uniform. She was supposed to be responsible for the presentation, but the herdsmen gathered around to watch from afar and listen to the broadcast on the loudspeaker, but no one dared to get close to ask questions.
"Oh, someone has gone to the recruitment office. You go down and talk to him. You are eloquent, so you can speak better!" Lu Ming discovered from the observation hole that a young man had gone to the recruitment office.
Just as Oh Yumiko was about to get off the car, she was suddenly grabbed by Lu Ming, "It's a trick!"
There were already gunshots outside.
But when the young man got closer, he suddenly took out a box gun and started shooting at several Japanese soldiers behind the wooden table in the recruitment office.
The crowd that had come to watch the excitement immediately fell into chaos.
Several more nimble figures ran towards the armored vehicle. The one in front was holding a bundle of cluster grenades, which he was going to throw into the armored vehicle to blow it up.
Lu Ming had quickly sat on the light machine gun position and pulled the trigger at the incoming enemy. With a burst of gunfire, several grassland men who rushed over fell to the ground one after another.
With a loud "bang", the cluster bomb exploded in the arms of the leading bandit, causing screams from nearby people. Civilians who ran away without time to react were also affected.
"Kill!" A group of men wielding sabers appeared on the long road in front of the market and rode their horses towards them.
The heavy machine gunner and loader were also in position. The muffled sound like a cannon echoed in the narrow space of the armored vehicle, making Ohyumiko dizzy.
At this time, the city of Kori was in chaos, with the sound of gunfire everywhere.
Outside the city, the sound of killing was deafening. Liao Sanshi's troops, who had been ready to attack, immediately launched a fierce attack.
…
In fact, when Lu Mingbu received Wang Dayong's report on the radio, he easily broke through Yangtuo Luo's Khan Palace.
Lu Ming already had a feeling that the attack on his company did not seem to be planned by Yang Tuoluo.
His company had always been ready for battle at any time, but the fact that Yangtuo Luo Khan's palace was easily breached showed that his guards responded hastily to this sudden battle. If the attack was launched after careful deployment by Yangtuo Luo and other tribal leaders, it should not have been in this state.
It might just be an act of anger by a certain leader, or it might be that Yangtuo Luo's enemy was using a knife to kill someone.
But no matter what the truth is, the Battle of Kori will naturally be defined as the betrayal of grassland leaders such as Yangtuo Luo, who launched a rebellion after surrendering.
Regardless of whether it was the Sharp Knife Company or Liao Sanshi's troops that later entered the city, they all launched fatal attacks on the defenders and guards in the city in accordance with the established strategy.
By the evening, when the battle was over, the city was littered with corpses.
Except for Yang Tuoluo's three sons who were captured alive, all the other leaders including Yang Tuoluo were killed, including Yang Tuoluo, who died in the chaos.
…
Inside the felt tent, Lu Ming looked at the temporary statistics of the battle results on the table. It was an approximate number, but it was close.
More than a thousand enemies were killed.
Basically, now in the city of Kori, the superstructure of the Yang clan and the armed forces that maintain it have been completely destroyed.
In fact, the pastoralist population in the entire Sanyuan grassland does not exceed one million.
The three major tribes account for 70 percent of the total population.
Among the three major tribes, the Ma Quanyou tribe is the largest, with a population of about 300,000. The Kori tribe and the Hongyuan tribe are similar, both with a population of about 170,000 to 180,000.
Therefore, although the city of Kori can be regarded as the capital of the eastern grassland, its population does not exceed 20,000.
Moreover, although the grassland herdsmen have had a tradition of universal military service since ancient times, it is after all an age of firearms, and weapons and ammunition are limited. The number of young and strong men in the Kori tribe who are truly equipped with standard weapons and can be regarded as warriors is already the limit of 5,000. Among them, 3,000 soldiers were recruited by Ma Quanyou to fight, and most of the others were in the Kori city. Those who were not killed had been captured and surrendered.
Looking at the list, it was clear that almost all of the important adult members of many grassland owners had been killed.
The three surviving sons of Yangtuo Luo were weak in character and a little stupid, and were only used as temporary mascots.
Lu Ming sighed in his heart, his hands were now stained with blood, but if he didn't do this, the Sanyuan grassland would eventually continue to be ruled by these slave owners, and there would never be any fundamental changes.