After a fierce battle outside Hecheng

all night, the Fengzhou Zhenguo Army completely occupied the position outside the city. There were already 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers crossing the river and stationed outside Hecheng.

The defenders of Hecheng gathered all the soldiers in the city and continued to resist stubbornly, but the atmosphere of despair spread in the city. Without the natural barrier of Pinghe, how could they stop the Zhenguo Army?

"General, the casualties are counted. After a night of fierce fighting, our army died more than 1,300 people, injured more than 2,800 people, killed 4,600 enemies, captured more than 10,000 people, and seized hundreds of boats, mainly fishing boats. The enemy should still have more than 50,000 people, including more than 20,000 defeated soldiers."

In the afternoon, Xie Yunfeng said to Lin Jiang. After a simple inventory, the results of last night's battle have come out. The Zhenguo Army also suffered heavy casualties in this battle, adding up to more than 3,000 people.

"When can all the troops cross the river?"

"We can build a pontoon bridge before dusk, and all the combat troops can cross the river tomorrow morning. As for the auxiliary troops, it may take until the day after tomorrow to cross the river."

Xie Yunfeng said. He has arranged for people to build a pontoon bridge urgently. Once the pontoon bridge is built, the speed can be increased. However, with nearly 200,000 people and a large amount of supplies, don't think about it for two or three days.

"Too slow, we will attack the city early tomorrow morning. You arrange for the soldiers to have enough food. Only 10,000 people will participate in the siege tomorrow. I will lead the team myself."

"General, the general of an army should not

take risks easily." Xie Yunfeng kindly reminded. He also found the disadvantage of the Zhenguo Army, that is, it all depends on Lin Jiang. If Lin Jiang gets into trouble, the Zhenguo Army will soon collapse and disintegrate. In this case, Lin Jiang should protect himself better.

Now that they have crossed the river, they have 200,000 troops, and the enemy army is so small, they can take their time, and there is no need to let Lin Jiang take risks.

"Your words make sense, but now the Zhenguo Army has no shortage of elite soldiers, but lacks strong generals. Who can I count on?"

"General, if you trust me, I will lead the charge."

"Forget about you. If a martial arts master goes up, he will die. You are more talented than others. Take care of the rear for me."

Lin Jiang shook his head. Xie Yunfeng is a martial arts master. It seems very good, but it is useless in such a large-scale war. Ordinary martial arts saints can't do it. He has to come in person.

Moreover, Lin Jiang doesn't want Xie Yunfeng and others to make any great achievements. Lin Jiang has to balance the internal forces and let the grassroots class rise quickly. Giving them military merits is the best opportunity.

The next morning, most of the 80,000 soldiers had crossed the river, but most of them failed to reorganize. Lin Jiang counted 10,000 troops out of the camp with a large number of siege equipment.

"Qin Yong, according to the old rules, I will kill my way up to the city wall first, and you will lead the team to follow, cut down the drawbridge, and open the city gate. When I move, you follow, and the others will make a detour to keep all the enemy troops behind."

"General, don't worry, we will definitely win in one battle."

"Okay, let someone prepare, and start in half an hour."

Lin Jiang nodded. The Zhenguo Army was still mainly composed of pure infantry, with very few cavalry, only two thousand people in total, but if used well, it would be of great use, such as cutting off the enemy's escape.

When the time came, Lin Jiang started again. He still charged alone, but this time he saved a horse and directly used Qinggong to move forward. Lin Jiang flew to the top of the city, which was a living target. I don't know how many arrows were aimed at Lin Jiang.

Lin Jiang held a shield in his hand, which was as sharp as a porcupine. Before he reached the top of the city, the shield was thrown out, knocking down a group of people.

The one-sided battle was actually very boring. The King of Thailand did not even dare to send out the Martial Saints in his hands. How could anyone stop Lin Jiang from fighting? In a quarter of an hour, the city wall was swept seven or eight times, and Qin Yong had already led his men to attack, put down the drawbridge, and went to open the city gate.

Once the city gate was broken, the battle was almost over. The enemy collapsed and fled in all directions, but Lin Jiang had already arranged people at other city gates, and it was hard to say how many could escape.

Large-scale street fighting still did not happen. Three days later, the battle in Hecheng was completely over, and the Zhenguo Army captured 40,000 to 50,000 prisoners.

Lin Jiang left 5,000 people to guard Hecheng, waiting for the follow-up work team to move in, and sent Qin Yong to lead 5,000 elite soldiers as the vanguard to go straight to Taizhou City, while he led most of the troops and horses to slowly hurry on the road.

After Hecheng was taken, the front was flat, and there was no natural barrier to defend at all. However, when Lin Jiang was about to reach Taizhou City, he received news from Qin Yong that the King of Thailand had run away.

Not only did the King of Thailand run away, but all the dignitaries in Taizhou City also ran away. Qin Yong took Taizhou without bloodshed, which made Lin Jiang very depressed. Why are you running away? If you run away, who will he kill?

Lin Jiang asked someone to write back to Qin Yong, asking them to hunt down the King of Thailand. They should kill the people and keep the wealth they took away. Now the savings of the nobles in Fengzhou for hundreds of years have been squandered by him. Without the spoils, Lin Jiang could not reward his men.

Two days later, Lin Jiang entered Taizhou. Qin Yong only left 500 men, and the others all went to pursue him. Lin Jiang also left only 5,000 men in Taizhou. The remaining 20,000 troops went to pursue Qin Yong and replenish his troops. The others were divided into several groups to take other prefectures in Taizhou.

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Taizhou has eight prefectures and 37 prefectures. When Lin Jiang easily occupied Taizhou City, most of the prefectures surrendered, and the Zhenguo Army made rapid progress.

Lin Jiang's side also welcomed the first wave of surrendered troops, led by a martial arts saint named Fang Rui.

"Fang Rui, a Taizhou noble, I heard that you are also a martial arts senior in Taizhou, the leader of the martial arts world?"

Lin Jiang looked at Fang Rui in front of him. He looked quite young, about 30 years old, but his real age was already over 60 years old. He had a good way to keep in good health. If there were no accidents, he could live to be a hundred years old.

"In front of the general, I am just a nobody, I dare not act presumptuously in front of the general"

"Okay, you know the current situation. Since you have surrendered, I don't have the habit of killing prisoners. You call all the people in Taizhou who have martial arts skills above the innate level to fight beside me. In the future, I will sweep the world, and you will be given

high positions and generous salaries." Lin Jiang nodded. Since the other party was very humble, Lin Jiang would not make things difficult for them. He would keep them by his side in the future. They would follow Lin Jiang in charging into battle. If they could survive to the end, they would be rewarded with high positions and generous salaries.

"Thank you, general."

Fang Rui felt bitter. He knew that Lin Jiang had the habit of charging into battle, but he didn't have the ability. This was bad.

Half a month later, Tian Xiong came to Taizhou with tens of thousands of internal affairs talents, including the children of the five surnames. Xie Yunfeng and his companions did not come to Lin Jiang alone. Each of them had hundreds of clansmen who were both capable of literature and martial arts behind them, not to mention their disciples and old officials. Lin Jiang could not refuse these people and could only let them start from the bottom, but it was conceivable that their promotion would be faster than others.

"According to the old rules, in Taizhou, anyone whose hands are stained with the blood of the soldiers of the National Defense Army, whether they are officials or nobles, will be killed,

their property will be confiscated and their land will be divided. Those who have not opposed us and surrendered will be required to contribute half of their property to reward the army. The land can be confiscated, but hiding the population is not allowed. The tenants cultivate the land for them, and the rent cannot exceed 30%. Fang Rui, is that okay?"

"Reporting to the general, it's okay,"

Fang Rui said with a stiff upper lip. If they leave half of their property, they can still guarantee that they will have food and clothing. If they refuse, they will die and their clan will be exterminated. Of course, he knows that there will be many people in Taizhou who value money more than their lives, so he can't do anything about it. Anyway, they are dormant now.

The big families all have their own ability to survive, just like the five surnames of Xie Yunfeng. Basically, they have been rich since the previous dynasty, and the change of dynasties has not allowed them to decline. Why? They know how to endure and lie dormant.

They knew very well that the newly rising power must be a powerful leader and a wise ruler, so they would keep a low profile and would not hesitate to let their family head commit suicide. They only needed to teach their descendants generation after generation. Time was on their side, because even the royal family could not guarantee that every generation of monarchs would be wise.

Lin Jiang had been stationed in Taizhou City for three months. When he learned that the King of Thailand was hiding in Linjiang Prefecture in Taizhou and Qin Yong had been unable to capture it for a long time, Lin Jiang stood up and took Fang Rui and others to help.

The news soon leaked out. Before Lin Jiang’s people arrived, the King of Thailand abandoned Linjiang Prefecture and fled to Taizhou. Taizhou was also the King of Thailand’s territory, but he was a little out of control.

"General, let's go to Taizhou,"

Qin Yong suggested when he saw Lin Jiang coming. Lin Jiang took down every city he attacked in one battle, but he had been fighting Linjiang Prefecture for three months and still hadn't taken it down, so he was very angry.

"Of course we have to fight Taizhou, but there is no rush now. After the summer harvest, the army will stabilize Taizhou first,"

Lin Jiang said. Taizhou was too easy to fight, which also led to the enemy's power being too well preserved. During this period, there were many rebellions in the territory they conquered. Lin Jiang had to stabilize the rear first.

Tactical victory is not necessarily useful. Think about the King of Western Chu. He fought against Liu Bang and won many times, almost all of them, but the number of people became fewer and fewer, and he lost completely after losing once.

Lin Jiang would not make such a mistake, otherwise he would not have to train so many internal affairs talents. Now is a critical period, especially the summer tax. Lin Jiang wants to let the people of Taizhou see that the government led by the Zhenguo Army can bring them a good life, so that they will truly support the Zhenguo Army.