Now that the decision has been made to occupy the two counties, the next step is a matter of strategy.

They called for Qi Xiuwu, who had finished applying the medicine. Although Qi Xiuwu was no longer in pain after the medicine was applied, he still walked with a limp in front of his older brother.

"Xiuwu, what's wrong?"

Shenxi asked with concern, "We can't have the commander injured before the battle!"

Qi Xiuwen glared at Qi Xiuwu. The kicks he delivered weren't hard; at most, they only broke the scabs.

Where does the pain cause you to limp when you walk?

When Qi Xiuwu saw his elder brother glaring at him, he immediately recovered and walked straight.

Shen Xi smiled, her lips pursed. To outsiders, Qi Xiuwu was very arrogant, but to Qi Xiuwen, he was just like a silly husky.

So cute and silly.

Shen Xi felt relieved to see that Qi Xiuwu was alright.

"Xiuwu, sit down. I have something to discuss with you."

Qi Xiuwu sat down next to Qi Xiuwen, looking aggrieved, as if Qi Xiuwen had done something to him.

Qi Xiuwen ignored his expression and instead reprimanded him, "We're about to lead the army into battle, and you're still so rash. How can you possibly succeed?"

"Leading an army into battle?"

Qi Xiuwu immediately perked up, his aggrieved expression completely gone: "Where are we going to fight?"

"Sit down." Seeing Qi Xiuwu about to stand up, Qi Xiuwen said with obvious disdain, "It seems you're not suited to command an army; you don't even have a sense of composure!"

Qi Xiuwu immediately sat down seriously: "Who said I'm not reliable? Big brother, look, is this okay?"

Qi Xiuwen was completely fed up with his younger brother. He had beaten Qi Xiuwu countless times since they were little, but it was no use.

Even now that I'm all grown up, I still haven't changed my bad habits in front of him.

It was with the leader that, because of familiarity, their true nature was revealed.

Chen Xi chuckled and immediately smoothed things over: "It's alright. Cultivating martial arts in this way... this lively spirit is quite to my liking. Don't be too reserved."

Unable to refute his superior, Qi Xiuwen could only glare at Qi Xiuwu again.

Qi Xiuwu didn't care at all; his elder brother wouldn't resort to violence directly in front of the commander.

"Commander, are you really sending me to fight?"

Shenxi nodded: "We've been training for this for a long time, it's time to put it to use. It's time to go out and see the battle."

"This is the place where you led your troops to attack Shanghe County and Xiahe County."

Chenxi pointed to the map, and with a flick of his finger, he delineated the territories of Shanghe County and Xiahe County.

"Latest intelligence indicates that these two locations have been occupied by the rebels, who are harassing our territory. We should use this as a pretext to attack the rebels."

They were called rebels because several groups in the two counties were led by mountain bandits.

Qi Xiuwu was extremely excited when he was told that he was really being asked to lead troops into battle.

"Commander, I'll definitely beat them until they cry for their parents."

Shenxi then pointed to the map: "First, attack Qinxiang in Shanghe County. A group of mountain bandits occupy Qinxiang, and they are the ones harassing us."

"There weren't many people, only about a hundred, and they had submitted to Wang Zecheng, the leader of a large group of bandits who occupied Xiahe County."

Shenxi pointed out that there were more than thirty bandits, big and small, in Xiahe County, all of whom had already fallen to Wang Zecheng.

Wang Zecheng's own troops were the largest, numbering over three thousand, while the rest of the bandits numbered between one or two hundred, or three or four hundred.

There are more than 10,000 people gathered together.

The regular army in Xiahe County numbered a thousand men; how could they possibly deal with these mountain bandits?

Even though the attack on the county town was only led by Wang Zecheng's own troops and a few bandit groups from the surrounding mountains, the difference in numbers was still significant. The regular army was now severely corrupt and lax in its training, especially the county town's troops, whose training was no longer rigorous.

Therefore, they were routed by Wang Zecheng's attack; some fled, some hid, and some were killed.

Shanghe County was similar to Xiahe County, except that Shanghe County was divided up by three forces, three groups of bandits, each occupying a part of the territory.

"I plan to have you lead five hundred elite troops, along with a thousand ordinary soldiers and five thousand militia, to attack Xiahe County. Is that feasible?"

The ordinary soldiers, led and trained by Lin Yanjun, numbered five thousand.

Don't underestimate these ordinary soldiers; their training is just as rigorous as that of elite troops.

The elite troops are all young and strong, carefully selected.

Among the ordinary soldiers, there were also men in their thirties and forties, including veterans from the county.

Shenxi was reluctant to use his elite troops casually, so he sent out 500 to simply verify the results of the training.

Qi Xiuwu was overjoyed when he heard that he would be given 500 elite troops, as he knew that elite troops were much better than ordinary soldiers.

He immediately stood at attention and saluted: "Rest assured, sir, I will absolutely not fail in my mission."

"Alright, starting today, I will send people to mobilize troops."

He handed a transfer order to Qi Xiuwen: "Xiuwen, go and send someone to mobilize troops, and hand them over to Xiuwu to lead."

Qi Xiuwen took the transfer order: "Yes."

Shenxi handed the military tally to Qi Xiuwu: "Go directly back to the county town. All the soldiers must assemble in the county town. Then you will lead your troops to Puxiang to garrison."

Puxiang is located at the border of Bian'ai County and Qinxiang Township of Xiahe County. Troops were dispatched directly from Puxiang to attack the mountain bandits in Qinxiang.

Qi Xiuwu accepted the military tally, bowed, and then led several of his men directly to the county town.

As for how to fight the war, Shenxi left it to Qi Xiuwu to decide.

A general's growth requires repeated battles.

One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand.

This is no joke. Without numerous battles, no one can easily become a qualified general.

Qi Xiuwu took Feng Tao with him to experience the battlefield, which was also at Shen Xi's behest. Feng Tao's composure and Qi Xiuwu's passion complemented each other perfectly.

With Qi Xiuwu, the team becomes more aggressive; with Feng Tao, it becomes more stable.

The few dozen elite soldiers who remained were handed over to Zheng Ankang, who was tasked with organizing them into a guard unit.

Qi Xiuwen sent people with transfer orders to various places to gather people in the county town.

The reason for gathering in the county town was twofold: firstly, the ordinary soldiers were all in the capital, and secondly, most of the militia members mobilized were from the vicinity of the county town.

Chenxi still needs to leave Qiaozhen to oversee the recruitment and selection of civil servants.

Not long after Qi Xiuwu left, the transfer order from Jianming Prefecture arrived.

Each county was ordered to send 3,000 soldiers to report to the capital city of Jianming and, upon being summoned by the capital, to quell the rebellion.

Each county town didn't actually have three thousand soldiers; every time there was a conscription, the county would temporarily recruit soldiers.

Male members of ordinary families, aged 15 to 50, are eligible for conscription.

In peacetime, it would be relatively easy to manage a county with 3,000 soldiers.

But now, with many people in the counties starving, dying of disease, or fleeing, the county can no longer afford to conscript another three thousand militiamen.

Because during normal times, when conscripting soldiers, it is necessary to retain some of the labor force in each family; we cannot only focus on fighting and neglect production.

Taking Bian'ai County as an example, if Chenxi had not taken over, the remaining population of the entire county would not exceed 10,000.

There are no more than three or four thousand adult males, so where can we recruit more soldiers?

Doesn't Prefect Wu Aimin of Jianming Prefecture understand this?

Chen Xi snorted coldly: Three thousand militiamen? Not even a thousand.