Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 136 Pressing Jiangjin County
“A big family like the Han family would not have clearly joined any side unless they saw great hope.

Whether Chongqing is easy to defeat has a lot to do with the Han family.

If we attack Chongqing now, the Han family may not necessarily stand on our side. Even if they compromise temporarily, they may secretly collude with the imperial army.

But after we capture Luzhou, Yibin, and even Chengdu, and then turn around to attack Chongqing, the Han family will definitely completely turn to us, and then it will be much easier to attack Chongqing.

Furthermore, our current strength is not strong. If we occupy Chongqing at this time, we will face simultaneous attacks from the large army at the junction of Sichuan and Shaanxi and the troops from various towns in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. After all, the two rivers flow downstream, making it very convenient to attack Chongqing.

On the contrary, if we occupied Jiangjin County and fought upstream, we would first resolve the threat from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. As for the imperial army from Sichuan and Shaanxi, if they wanted to attack Jiangjin, they would have to go to Chongqing first, and then go upstream to attack Jiangjin County.

Whether it is transporting supplies or troops, it is not so easy. As for taking the land route, that is even better. After all, the land route is slow, and what we need most is time for development."

After listening to Chen Gu's explanation, everyone nodded in agreement!

After taking Jiangjin County, it is indeed the best option to keep fighting upwards. It will definitely be much easier for Jiangjin County to defend against attacks from Chongqing than to defend against attacks from the upper reaches of the Jialing River in Chongqing. It can also stretch the enemy's logistics line.

Moreover, there is another advantage to defending Jiangjin. Because Chongqing will be the garrison of the imperial army at that time, the leading generals will inevitably plunder the major families in Chongqing, which will deepen the conflict between the two sides.

It will be easier for Chen Ke to attack Chongqing in the future.

"Send someone to contact the Bai and Bian families. They should repay the favors they owe us. Ask them to prepare for our siege. At the same time, select suitable people from the captives to go to Jiangjin County to contact the generals of the two thousand Green Camp troops and persuade them to surrender." Chen Gu said to Lao Nian.

Lao Nian smiled and said, "By now, the news of Lebao's defeat should have reached Jiangjin. As long as the two thousand Green Camp generals in the city are not fools, they should accept our good intentions."

"I hope so. But even if they don't appreciate it, it doesn't matter. As long as we have the cooperation of the ten major clans, it should be easy to attack the two thousand Green Camp troops!" said Chen Gu.

Everyone laughed, especially Lao Piao who laughed the most exaggeratedly. The strength of the Green Camp was indeed very poor.

It can only be said that corruption has become rife in the Qing court, and has spread to the military. The soldiers are having a hard time, so how can they have much combat effectiveness?

It costs money to maintain an army. Weapons, armor, training and other things are all bought with money.

Thinking of money, Chen Gu couldn't help but look towards the east. Chen Gu really wanted to rob Shanghai.

The next day, Lao Piao's intelligence department set out first, and Chen Gu personally led a thousand soldiers and escorted two thousand Green Camp out of the mountains.

Chen Gu's troops were insufficient, so he had to take back these 4,000 Green Camp soldiers. The reason why he only took away 2,000 Green Camp soldiers was because there were still 2,000 people left in Fobao. These guys could not be used for the time being, so they had to quit smoking opium first.

Chen Gu did not expect that half of these soldiers were actually heavy smokers. They would be guarded by 500 new recruits, and anyone who had a craving for smoking would be tied up and thrown aside. They would not be released until the craving was over, and anyone who dared to resist would be killed without mercy.

Last night, Chen the Executor killed a few people to scare the smokers.

Faced with the threat of death, the addiction to smoking didn't seem so terrible. I could endure the snot and tears and trembling all over.

Chen Gu has some confidence that these people can quit smoking.

"The court is unjust and oppresses the people. It imposes heavy taxes like ferocious tigers. There are countless corrupt officials, and corruption is rampant among the civil and military officials. The only way for common people like us to survive is to rise up in resistance. Today we must fight. We must put people first, distribute land equally and keep taxes low, the emperor is under the law, and we must be pioneering and enterprising." Chen Gu finally shouted.

"People-oriented, equal distribution of land and low taxation, the emperor under the law, pioneering and enterprising."

Amid the shouts of all the soldiers and civilians in Fobao, Chen Gu set off with his army.

Each squad of Buddhist soldiers walked in front, followed by two squads of Green Camp soldiers.

The Buddhist soldiers would march in step. The Green Camp soldiers' steps were a little messy at first, but gradually they also followed the Buddhist soldiers and marched in step.

"Cheer up, you are soldiers, not blind vagrants. Take heavier steps. If you get hungry, there is plenty of food for you!" Lao Piao and his trusted men rode back and forth on horseback to urge the Green Camp soldiers.

Considering that the Green Camp soldiers had just started training, Chen Gu did not push them too hard and took a quarter-hour break every half hour.

Including the time wasted on eating, we still hadn’t reached Baisha Field in the entire day.

At this speed, it would take more than two days to reach Jiangjin County. It would take at least until noon on the third day to arrive.

However, Chen Gu was not in a hurry. Compared to taking Jiangjin County two days earlier, Chen Gu hoped that these two thousand Green Camp soldiers could play a role.

After a day's march, there were some results. Although the two thousand soldiers looked exhausted, their original panic-stricken expressions had completely disappeared, and they looked more energetic.

After all, their lives were completely saved. Since Chen Gu was willing to spend time training them, he would naturally not give up on them easily, let alone kill them directly.

The food at Chen Gujun's place was also very good. Not only was there enough rice for everyone, but they also purchased some meat nearby for everyone to eat. Regardless of the amount, in that era, having meat was already excellent food.

The next day, Chen Gu led his army to camp in Longhua Field, and there were only the last thirty miles left to Jiangjin County.

Chen's army's relentless pressure put great pressure on Rong Zhao of Jiangjin County.

After Na Yancheng arrived at Tanghe Field, Rong Zhao returned to Jiangjin County. Originally, as long as he waited for Le Bao to capture the Buddhist treasure, Rong Zhao would take action against the ten major clans in Jiangjin County.

The charge was collusion with Chen Gu, and the purpose was of course to get money. After all, the army needed money everywhere when it was deployed, and the dead soldiers also needed compensation. Although the court would pay the money, some of it would be embezzled by those who handled it, and there would not be enough money in the hands of Le Bao, the Governor of Sichuan.

Therefore, Lebao had to raise part of the money himself, and at the same time, Lebao also needed some hard work fees, so it was not just talk that the sky would be three feet high when the army passed by.

However, Rongzhao did not wait for the news that Lebao had conquered Fobaochang, but instead waited for the news that Lebao was defeated.

The army was defeated, and Lebao and Na Yancheng disappeared.

First Attis and later Delentang were also missing, but no one thought they were still alive.

(End of this chapter)