East City Gate, under the banner with the character Yuan on it.
More than 3,000 new recruits gathered together excitedly and nervously, exchanging information such as their hometowns and names with each other.
"Shut up, everyone."
The cold voice first made a small number of people shut up. Under the influence of these people, the others fell silent one after another.
Surrounded by hundreds of personal soldiers, Yuan Jixian came to the wooden platform that had been set up in advance.
Looking at the crowd below the stage, Yuan Jixian said loudly: "I declare that from now on you are the government troops."
"Since we are government troops, we should be loyal to the court and protect the people. Anyone who disobeys will be beheaded as a warning to the public."
"We will follow the orders of Governor Yuan!" the voices of the new recruits rose one after another.
After the scene quieted down, Yuan Jixian said to the general in charge of training the new recruits beside him: "Starting tomorrow, divide the new recruits into two."
"Half of the training is in the morning, and the other half is in the afternoon. Soldiers who train in the morning get up at midnight, eat, and patrol the city at night. After daybreak, they go to the martial arts training ground to train until noon."
"The soldiers who were to train in the afternoon got up at noon, had lunch and went to the training ground to train until dark. After dark, they patrolled the city until midnight."
The general in charge of training the new soldiers was slightly startled and asked in a low voice: "What happened to Governor Yuan?"
"Last night, a series of murders occurred in the city. There was more than one murderer, and they are on the run. There is only one clue. One of the murderers had his left ear bitten."
"Tell the people below that whoever catches the murderer will be rewarded with 500 taels of silver."
"Oh?" The new recruit was shocked by the number. "Governor Yuan, are you lying to me?"
"Go ahead. Once I say something, I can't take it back."
"I obey your orders!"
Can we find the murderer with this arrangement?
It's difficult.
What's more, the murderer has most likely fled out of the city.
He did this not to find the murderer, but to give an explanation to the people in the city.
As long as Wuchang Prefecture is not in chaos, he will have the confidence to recover Jingzhou.
After returning to the central military tent, Yuan Jixian began to deal with the mountains of official documents.
Soldiers, food, supplies, etc. should be purchased and made as needed.
A few days later.
Yuan Jixian received the official document from He Tengjiao.
The content is concise and clear: he has no extra armor!
There were quite a few unused weapons, and Yuan Jixian had to send people to transport them himself.
Yuan Jixian sneered and threw the document away.
This result was expected.
Who is He Tengjiao?
He is a loyal "villain".
Is he loyal to the Ming Dynasty?
Loyalty.
Why is he called a villain?
Because he is too selfish, no matter what happens, he considers himself first instead of the overall situation.
Historically, his last battle was the joint attack on Changsha with the Loyal Battalion.
At that time, Jin Shenghuan was in Jiangxi and Li Chengdong was in Guangdong, fighting against the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty.
Because the Ming army was so powerful, the Qing army chose to withdraw its main force from Huguang and wait for the opportunity.
Du Yinxi led the Loyal Camp into Huguang and recaptured Changsha together with He Tengjiao.
The Loyal Camp destroyed cities and captured strongholds, attacking Changsha day and night.
When the Changsha defenders were about to collapse, He Tengjiao took action.
In order to grab the credit for capturing Changsha, He Tengjiao chose to transfer the main force of the Loyalty Battalion and handed over the task of attacking Changsha to his own troops.
He never expected that his direct troops were such a weakling.
What was even more terrifying was that the Changsha defenders had a chance to rest and recuperate during the time he was mobilizing troops.
His amazing move not only failed to capture Changsha, but also allowed the main force of the Qing army to find a flaw. Jirgalang led the main force to attack He Tengjiao from behind and captured him. He was executed for refusing to surrender.
"Governor Yuan, the last shipload of polished japonica rice has arrived at the dock and is being unloaded and loaded onto trucks for transport to the city." The messenger walked into the military tent.
"How much food and grass is stored in Wuchang City now?"
"Report to Governor Yuan, this is enough for our army to use for a month."
"All right! Beat the drum and open the tent!"
After all the generals arrived, Yuan Jixian sat firmly in the central military tent and began to issue orders.
"Jin Shenghuan, Xu Guodong, Wu Xueli, Lu Ding."
"I'm here!" Four generals stepped out at the same time.
"Each of you will lead your troops upstream along the Yangtze River, first attack Hanyang (now Hannan District), then attack Yuezhou."
"I obey your orders."
"Wang Yuncheng, lead your troops to attack Xianning."
"Xu Guodong, you lead your troops to attack Hanyang by land with Jin Shenghuan and his men. After taking Hanyang, turn south and join forces with Wang Yuncheng to attack Xianning."
"Zhang Yingyuan, lead your troops to attack Xiaogan."
After receiving the order, the six generals got up and left, leaving only Ma Jinzhong and Hui Dengxiang with nothing to do.
"Governor Yuan, what about us?" Ma Jinzhong asked.
"Didn't I write this in the envelope I gave you before? Follow the instructions!"
"this..."
"Go ahead."
Ma Jinzhong and Hui Dengxiang had no choice but to accept the order and leave.
After everyone left, Yuan Jixian issued another military order: "From now on, no one can send a letter to the court without the consent of this governor. Anyone who disobeys this order will be executed."
Ma Jinzhong and Hui Deng joined forces and left Wuchang Prefecture.
After leaving the city, they headed directly west and arrived outside Mianyang County, 150 miles away, three days later.
(Mian three tones, now Xiantao City).
As soon as Ma Jinzhong picked up the clairvoyance, he saw that the gate of Mianyang County was opened from the inside.
Immediately afterwards, the defenders in the city, led by the magistrate of Mianyang County, left the city and knelt down to surrender.
After disarming the defenders, Ma Jinzhong and Hui Dengxiang came before the Mianyang County Magistrate.
"Finally you are here! Two generals, please come into the city and have some water!" The Mianyang County Magistrate said with a flattering look on his face.
"Where are the people who offered sacrifices to Zhang Xianzhong?" Ma Jinzhong asked.
"Left a month ago."
Ma Jinzhong loudly rebuked: "Since you left a month ago, why didn't you take the initiative to contact the court, but waited until we arrived before surrendering?"
The Mianyang County Magistrate sighed and said, "Let me tell you the truth. The walls of Mianyang County are damaged and the garrison is insufficient. We cannot defend it even if we want to."
"Only by surrendering can the people of this city be kept safe!"
"I was afraid that the thief would come back, so I waited until now..."
Ma Jinzhong didn't say much. He ordered the soldiers to take over the city defense while sending a report to Yuan Jixian.
The army rested for a day.
After waiting for the grain transport team to catch up, they set out for Jingling County (today's Menshi), a hundred miles northwest.
The situation in Jingling County was exactly the same as that in Mianyang County. They surrendered immediately when the government troops arrived.
Ma Jinzhong took out the letter and said to Hui Dengxiang: "General Yuan really didn't deceive me. The defenders surrendered as soon as the army arrived. This is totally a credit!"
"Yes, but unfortunately, I won't be able to take credit for it anymore."
The two men stared at the map in front of them, thinking about how to use their troops.
The location of Jingling County is very sensitive. One hundred and fifty miles to the northwest is Chengtian Prefecture, and one hundred and fifty miles to the southwest is Jingzhou.
Neither Chengtian Prefecture nor Jingzhou was under the control of the Ming army.
Especially Chengtian Prefecture.
This city belonged neither to the Ming court nor to Zhang Xianzhong, but to Li Zicheng.
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