Zhong Yu had 500,000 troops under his command that he could mobilize, but these 500,000 troops had actually lost more than 70,000 people after successive battles in the world of Liaozhai.
After all, whether it was the previous siege of the city or the head-on confrontation on the battlefield, Zhong Yu was able to capture two places with more than two provinces, so it was impossible for him to suffer no losses at all.
Now Huaixi Province has lost another 70,000 people. In total, about 150,000 troops have completely withdrawn from Zhong Yu's army.
Although another 50,000 new soldiers were recruited in Dongjiang Province, these 50,000 new soldiers may be reluctant to fight, but they can still perform their duties to maintain local security in Dongjiang Province.
In this way, Zhongli only has about 400,000 troops left in the entire Liaozhai world.
Of these 400,000, another 160,000 will be allocated to garrison in various places, and only 240,000 can actually be used for combat.
Although the number of troops seems to be large, Zhong Yu estimates that this small number of troops is enough for him to conquer two or three more provinces. If there are more, he will be unable to succeed.
Therefore, Zhong Yu now hates the governor of Huaixi Province who killed 70,000 of his soldiers.
Although it was only 70,000 soldier lives, it was nothing in Zhong Yu's eyes.
But without these 70,000 people, Zhong Yu's progress in conquering the entire Ming Dynasty will inevitably be slower than it was by two to three months, or even longer.
This made Zhong Yu a little hard to accept.
In order to respond to the provocation of the Governor of Huaixi Province, and to revitalize the prestige of the army to prevent the defenders from all over the Ming Dynasty from being defeated by this defeat, he overcame his fear of his own army and strengthened his determination to fight against the rebels. idea.
Zhong Yu decided that except for the 100,000 troops in Huaidong Province who would stay put and not attack, he would only maintain the current basic territory and wait for his support.
The remaining 140,000 troops that could be mobilized were all taken to Huaixi Province, preparing to personally take down this difficult bone.
This time the attack went quite smoothly. Within five days of entering Huaixi Province, they invaded most of the prefectures and counties, and approached the capital of Huaixi Province, Shouzhou City.
At this time, there were only more than 10,000 defenders in Shouzhou City, and the defense was more than doubled compared to before.
Although the Huaixi Provincial Army, led by the Governor, defeated Zhong Yu's 100,000-strong army, their losses were extremely heavy.
More than ten thousand troops were buried on the battlefield, and half of the army was completely lost. This also made Huaixi Province's defense force greatly weakened.
When they arrived at Shouzhou City, because they were angry at the ignorance of the previous governor of Huaixi, Zhong Yu did not issue any surrender orders, but directly ordered the army to attack.
Just like Pingyang City before, the 140,000-strong army formed a defensive formation that continuously bombarded Shouzhou City. Moreover, because Zhong Yu personally took action, the defense time of the formation was not as long as that of Pingyang City.
In just two days, Shouzhou City's defensive formation collapsed, and the entire city was completely open to the public.
The governor of Huaixi in the city went out to fight, but was killed by Zhong Yu within 30 seconds. Then all the defenders in the city resisted until death. The governor of Huaixi committed suicide at the foot of Shouzhou City.
Although he was angry at the indifference of the defenders of Shouzhou City and wanted to anger the people in the city, Zhong Yu still calmed down rationally.
After all, with the capture of Shouzhou City, the city fell under his control, and the people in the city became his own people. Killing them would undoubtedly damage his own foundation and wealth, which would be unwise.
Therefore, Zhong Yu only limited his anger to the families and relatives of the defenders in the city. He executed them, exiled them, and even a large number of female relatives were dragged into the army to use as venting objects. It was extremely miserable.
Zhong Yu's actions not only restored the morale of his army that suffered heavy losses, but also served to deter other factors that dared to resist the city defenders.
Zhong Yu wanted to use this cruel method to make all the city defenders who wanted to resist think carefully about the consequences.
Is it worth it to sacrifice the life and fortune of one's family for the sake of the imperial court
Perhaps those high-ranking generals and officials would disregard their lives and property for the sake of their so-called loyalty to their duties, because they have received favor from the emperor and naturally have their due responsibilities.
But those soldiers at the bottom had no such idea.
They only wanted to earn a share of military rations when they became soldiers. Many of them were even forcibly recruited, not out of their own intention.
Moreover, after joining the army, the generals always deducted military pay, treated the lower-level soldiers as slaves, beat and scolded them wantonly, and suffered all kinds of humiliation.
Under such circumstances, it is unclear how many soldiers are loyal to the imperial court.
After all, situations like those of the Shouzhou City defenders are still very rare.
Not everyone can be like the Governor of Huaixi, who is honest and strict in government, is deeply loved by the soldiers at the bottom, and can die for him.
However, these soldiers also suffered the consequences of their resistance to the end, and their whole families were implicated.
As Zhong Yu conveyed the order that all the enemy generals and defenders would be held accountable, the effect was quickly produced.
Although most of the city's generals wanted to resist, the soldiers at the bottom were afraid of the enemy's revenge and resisted one after another.
They did not work hard in the war, and even directly turned against him, which made Zhong Yu's next strategy go smoothly, and he recovered the entire Huaixi Province in less than half a month.
After taking Huaixi Province, Zhong Yu left behind 80,000 garrison troops, appointed some of his own officials, established basic administrative rule, restored local order, and then led the remaining 50,000 troops toward Huaidong Province rushed over.
The previous incident of the entire army being wiped out in Huaixi Province is still vivid in his mind, and Zhong Yu also learned his own painful lesson, which still makes him regretful.
Now Huaidong Province's 100,000-strong army hangs alone outside, and there is a sixth-level governor leading 40,000 Huaidong Province defenders on the opposite side. How can he relax
I am afraid that this 100,000 army will end up like the previous army in Huaixi Province, and the whole army will be annihilated.
But what surprised Zhong Yu was that when his 50,000-strong army arrived in Huaidong Province, the defenders in the province did not organize any counterattack. Instead, they all huddled in the capital of Huaidong Province and could not hold out.
After Zhong Yu arrived, he had already received news that Huaixi Province had been captured and the governor had been killed. The governor of Huaixi Province, a sixth-level martial arts master named Lin Ye, actually led the entire province's troops to surrender.
This quite surprised Zhong Yu.
You must know that Zhong Yu's current identity is just a rebel, although he seems to be as powerful as he is now, occupying three provinces of the Ming Dynasty.
But many people believe that as long as the court can free up its hands, no matter how big the storm Zhong Yu is causing now, he is just a clown and cannot get on the stage.
After all, Ming Dynasty has eighth-level masters in charge, and Zhong Yu's apparent highest rank is only his sixth-level master, and there is only one person. No matter how you look at it, the gap is too big.
But no matter what, it is a happy thing to have an additional sixth-level master under your command.
This means that the high-level combat power under Zhong Yu's command has gradually become abundant with the addition of the natives of this world.
Moreover, many of the fifth-level people under Zhong Yu's hand have reached their peak level. Basically, their breakthrough is not far away, and now it is just the accumulation of time.
It is estimated that in another year or two, Zhong Yu will have nearly ten more sixth-level breakthroughs under his command.
And Zhong Yu himself also feels that as the territory he occupies in this world expands, his cultivation level is also showing signs of breakthrough, and he will soon break through the bottleneck of the sixth level peak and reach the seventh level.
By then, with seventh-level cultivation and more than a dozen sixth-level people under his control, he can basically compete with any force in the world without taking action at the eighth level, although the outcome is unpredictable. explain.
This is an important breakthrough.
With the situation looking good, Zhong Yu's fear of the world has become much less intense, and he has gradually gained some confidence and confidence.
(End of chapter)