Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 142 Division of Troops
"Of course, I have my own selfish motives in wanting to attack Chengdu. Although I am lucky enough to have surrendered to the leader and survived, my wife, children and mother are still in Chengdu.

So I hope Shao Shantou can attack Chengdu as soon as possible. If there is a chance, rescue the families of my subordinates. If there is no chance, let the families of my subordinates suffer less!" Xing Honghai said with a sad face.

After Xing Honghai said this, Chen Gu had no room to refuse, otherwise the 4,000 Green Camp soldiers would surely become disunited.

"Okay, then we will attack Chengdu first, then fight back along the river, then attack Chongqing, and finally fight up along the Jialing River. After going around in this way, the whole Sichuan should be pacified by then." Chen Gu said.

Bai Wencheng glanced at Xing Honghai, seeming to want to say something but hesitated. However, in the end he said nothing because Chen Gu shook his head slightly at him.

Chen Gu understood Bai Wencheng's concern. In fact, many people might have the same worry, that is, whether the Green Camp would turn against their own side and rebel back to the imperial camp.

I have to say that this is indeed a problem. Human hearts are unpredictable. No one can guarantee what Xing Honghai is thinking. Human hearts are even more changeable. They may think one way at one moment, but change their minds the next.

If you can't even control your own heart, how can you control other people's hearts?

But one thing is certain, that is, human nature is to seek benefits and avoid harm. Chen Gu doesn't trust what Xing Honghai thinks, but he believes that he can make him make the right choice.

And even if he fails, Chen Gu believes that he can go anywhere with the thousand men he leads. Especially in the current environment where the whole Sichuan is short of troops, no one can stop him.

"Give everyone one day to prepare. The army will set out to liberate Chengdu the day after tomorrow. The leaders of each department should either follow the army in person or send adjutants to accompany the army. Remember to send more people. There are large counties along the Yangtze River. After conquering them, in addition to leaving a small number of troops to garrison, each department will also need to move in to administer the affairs."

Hearing what Chen Gu said, everyone couldn't help but feel happy. Chen Gu said it sounded nice to liberate Chengdu, but in essence this trip was more about robbing money.

Those who knew the inside story knew that Chen Gu had no money. Although he must have made a lot of money from the assassination of Addis, Chen Gu was also very good at spending money. He stockpiled a lot of sulfur, saltpeter, gun barrels, and all kinds of daily necessities in order to develop in the Buddhist treasure.

To be honest, Chen Gu is really good to his subordinates, but all the good things cost money.

Why did the ten major clans in Jiangjin County surrender so quickly? Among so many people, not one person sang a different tune. In addition to the fact that Chen Gu was very powerful, it was also because Chen Gu was poor.

A powerful person is not scary, a poor person is not scary either, but a person who is both powerful and poor is very scary.

Whenever Bai Wencheng thought of Chen Gu's words about killing them bit by bit, his heart trembled. At that time, Chen Gu looked extremely vicious.

If the ten major clans in Jiangjin do not compromise, they will probably be killed one by one by Chen Gu. It is hard to say whether the land will be distributed equally or not. Chen Gu will definitely rob everyone of their silver and all supplies. When they cannot occupy the land and houses, they will naturally give them equally to the people.

Now, the ten major clans in Jiangjin have compromised, but Chen Gu is still poor, so he naturally has to go to other places to get money. The original plan should have been Hejiang, and then fight all the way up, but now the first target is set on Chengdu.

Chengdu is great. Not only is it big, it is also the richest place in the whole Sichuan. Not only can Chen Gu have enough to eat, but everyone who goes with him can also have some oily soup.

Chen Gu saw the expressions of the crowd and realized that everyone should have understood what he said, so he continued, "The county magistrate and the chief tax officer are responsible for raising three days' worth of military rations for 4,000 troops and three days' worth of soybeans for 2,000 animals. If we want to get to Chengdu as soon as possible, we need to travel light and also need mules and horses. If we don't have mules and horses, donkeys are also good, so I hope you can raise at least 2,000 mules, horses and donkeys. If there are not enough, I will think of a way on the way.

General Xing, your troops will stay behind to defend Jiangjin County. The other three generals will each dispatch 200 troops from their own troops to assist in the defense. The meeting is adjourned. Everyone go and prepare."

After Chen Gu finished speaking, he left the county government office directly, and Fobao and his men followed him, leaving the four generals of the Green Camp and the ten major clans of Jiangjin County staring at each other in amazement.

Xing Honghai led 1,600 people to garrison Jiangjin County, but there were still 500 new recruits in Chen Jue Fobao. Rifles and bullets were being manufactured continuously, and it wouldn't be long before they could all be equipped. As long as they were trained for a period of time, they would form a very strong combat effectiveness, enough to contain Xing Honghai.

Fobao, Xing Honghai and the ten major clans in Jiangjin County who hold administrative power formed a three-way confrontation, relying on each other but also fearing each other.

After the division of the troops, although Chen Gu only had 3,400 soldiers, it should be enough to capture Chengdu.

Although Chengdu still has 1,000 Eight Banners soldiers, 1,000 naval forces, and 2,000 Green Camp soldiers, it seems that it has more troops than Chen Gu, but Chengdu is too big and has loopholes everywhere, making it impossible to defend. Chengdu is not just a city.

If they wanted to gain a superior force, their only choice was to leave the city and look for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle with Chen Gu, otherwise they could only wait for Chen Gu to attack wherever he wanted.

It would be better if Chengdu concentrated its forces to defend Chengdu City at that time. Chen Gu could occupy the countryside first, fight the landlords and divide the land to strengthen his own strength.

The Qing Dynasty had occupied the world for more than a hundred years. The land had long been concentrated in the hands of the powerful. Ordinary people were living a miserable life. A small spark could start a prairie fire, let alone a fireball as big as Chen Jue, which was more than enough to burn down Chengdu.

After the division of troops, Chen Gu's control over the Green Camp will be much stronger. The three captains have only 500 soldiers in their headquarters. After leaving 200, they only have 300 trusted men left, which are enough for them to control their own battalion.

But the other 500 people were composed of the 2,000 Green Camp soldiers surrendered by Chen Gu and the civilians from Jiangjin County. This, to a certain extent, prevented them from rebelling. At least when they rebelled, not everyone would be in agreement with them.

As for how frequent personnel transfers will affect combat effectiveness, this can only be achieved through slow training on the road. Anyway, the combat effectiveness of the Green Camp troops of the imperial court is not strong. It mainly depends on the contest between the main force under Chen Jue and the Eight Banners soldiers.

As for the Green Camp Army, no matter which side they belong to, they can only play a supporting role and fight when the wind is favorable.

In the county government office, Bai Wencheng bowed to Xing Honghai and said with a smile: "General Xing, please take care of me in the future!"

"No, no, I will need County Magistrate Bai's care in the future!" Xing Honghai replied, "Whether the more than a thousand brothers under me can have enough food depends on County Magistrate Bai!"

"Okay, okay!" Bai Wencheng had a smile on his face, but he felt a little bitter in his heart. As the county magistrate, he not only had a lot of power divided, but it seemed that he still had a lot of things to do.

(End of this chapter)