The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 679 Using Bandits for Practice

Jiang Wei was also well-versed in military strategy and believed his command abilities were second to none. However, he suffered a complete defeat as soon as he entered the battlefield, which left him somewhat frustrated. Upon hearing this, he smiled bitterly and said, "We didn't even manage to escape. Where did things go wrong?"

Liu Shan patted Jiang Wei's shoulder with the hand that had touched his toes and laughed, "Isn't it normal that you didn't escape? When you took over, you had less than a hundred men with you, while Ma Zhong had several thousand men, dozens of times more than you. If you had escaped, where would Ma Zhong put his face?"

"Besides, although I haven't read many military books, I do know that war is a game of the many bullying the few, the strong bullying the weak. Isn't it only natural that the side with more troops wins? As for victories like those at Guandu and Chibi, how many examples of the few defeating the many can you find throughout history?"

"If you still can't understand, think about Bai Qi. Even though Bai Qi was so powerful, he still bullied Zhao Kuo by relying on his superior numbers. Han Xin also bullied Xiang Yu by relying on his superior numbers. So there's really nothing shameful about this battle. If you were in Ma Zhong's position and still lost, that would be shameful."

Jiang Wei chuckled awkwardly, "It seems so. Your Highness's words make me feel much better."

Liu Shan put his arm around his neck and laughed, "Come on, help me find the army doctor to apply some herbal medicine. I didn't feel it when we were running, but my feet really hurt now that we've stopped."

Jiang Wei helped him walk with difficulty and advised, "Your Highness, we are going to suppress bandits. Suppressing bandits is not a drill and is somewhat dangerous. Why don't you go back to Jiangling to rest?"

Liu Shan quickly shook his head and said, "I won't go back, I'd rather die than go back. If I go back, I'll be trapped in the palace and won't be able to go anywhere. How is that more interesting than following you guys to fight bandits?"

By evening, all the personnel had returned and rested in the mountains for the night. At dawn, the army crossed the mountains again and headed towards Lingyang. On the way, they sent messengers to Lingyang to inform the county magistrate and ask him to arrange food and lodging.

Upon hearing that His Highness the Crown Prince and Marquis Shence had arrived in Lingyang, the magistrate of Lingyang was at his wit's end. Why had he invited these big shots here out of the blue?

The magistrate of Lingyang County was extremely unwelcoming of Liu Shan and Guan Xing's arrival.

You see, Lingyang is located in the Wuling Mountains, surrounded by mountains and with inconvenient transportation. The county magistrate is a veritable local tyrant in the county. But now that Liu Shan and Guan Xing have arrived, this local tyrant has to be humble and smile, not to mention take responsibility. If these gentlemen get hurt, it will all be his responsibility.

But Liu Shan and Guan Xing were already at his doorstep, so he couldn't very well send them back, could he?

Left with no other choice, he led the county officials ten miles outside the city to greet them. After waiting for a long time, when the army finally appeared, he hurriedly ran forward and bowed, saying, "Your subject, Bao Sheng, the magistrate of Lingyang County, greets Your Highness the Crown Prince and Marquis Shence..."

Liu Shan reached out to help her up and said with a smile, "I hope my sudden arrival hasn't disturbed you, my dear minister?"

Bao Sheng quickly shook his head to indicate no. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Liu Chan and Guan Xing left the army outside the city and followed Bao Sheng into the city to rest. On the way, Guan Xing asked, "Magistrate Bao, on the way here, I saw that the villagers along the way were still using wooden farm tools. What's going on? If I remember correctly, the imperial court should have allocated a batch of new farm tools to Lingyang, right?"

The main task of the Han Dynasty at present is to recuperate and accumulate wealth and grain. However, farming requires agricultural tools. Therefore, after Liu Bei ascended the throne, he allocated a batch of agricultural tools to each county, ranging from several hundred to over a thousand. However, agricultural tools also need to be produced, so many remote counties have not yet received their allocations. But the agricultural tools for Lingyang County were allocated two months ago.

Bao Sheng smiled bitterly: "Two months ago, the imperial court did allocate five hundred sets of farm tools, which I have already distributed. However, Lingyang belongs to Wuling County, which is also the gathering area of ​​the Wuxi Barbarians. When the Barbarian King Shamoke was alive, he could control the various tribes. Now that the Barbarian King has gone to Longxi to guard the border with General Guan Ping, the Wuxi Barbarians are leaderless. While they are constantly fighting each other, some of them have chosen to occupy the mountains and become kings. Among them, there is a group in Ma'erling, led by a man named Youchi, with more than two thousand soldiers."

“This Youchi is the second son of the old chief of the Youxi barbarian tribe. After the old chief died, he failed to compete with his brother Youlong for the position of chief. He then led his people into Ma'erling to become a mountain king and robbed people everywhere. He stole all five hundred sets of farm tools allocated by the imperial court. He even came to the county town to show off his power a few times. I have requested the prefect to send troops to suppress him, but there are too many bandits in the Wuling Mountains. The prefect's small number of soldiers are simply not enough to suppress them.”

The claim that they couldn't be encircled and annihilated is pure nonsense. The real reason is that Youchi is too strong and occupies a strategic location. If they can't be defeated, they can escape at any time. Annihilating them would be a long process, but the county doesn't have enough money and food to spare.

To put it simply, it means they were poor. If they had money, the governor would never have let such a military achievement go unrewarded.

Guan Xing laughed and said, "Our three thousand troops are training in the mountains and we're just looking for an enemy to practice against, but several thousand bandits have taken over Ma'erling. Isn't that a coincidence? Don't worry, Magistrate, I'll take care of this Youchi for you, and I'll bring back five hundred sets of farm tools for you intact. How about that?"

Upon hearing this, Bao Sheng was overjoyed and exclaimed with delight, "Thank you so much, Marquis Shence! You are truly the savior of the people of Lingyang!"

If the bandits in Ma'erling only numbered in the hundreds, he might have been willing to help them with some dirty work. However, the number of bandits in Ma'erling had exceeded two thousand, and all sorts of people from various ethnic groups were still gathering there, increasing their strength every day. This had seriously threatened his position as the county magistrate and even his life, so he had to wipe them out as soon as possible.

Bao Sheng had originally decided to go to the prefect's mansion in a few days to ask the prefect to suppress the bandits. If the prefect didn't suppress them, he would throw a tantrum and refuse to come back. But now that Marquis Shence has arrived, he doesn't need to run anymore. With Marquis Shence's ability, dealing with these bandits is like a strong adult beating a three-year-old child.

After having a simple meal at the county government office with Bao Sheng, Guan Xing returned to the military camp outside the city with the map of Lingyang County and all the other necessary materials provided by Bao Sheng. He then summoned the generals to discuss the matter of suppressing the bandits.

After briefly explaining the situation, Guan Xing announced, "Everyone, in units of hamlets, should write down a strategy for the encirclement and suppression campaign. We'll discuss the specific implementation plan tomorrow."

The purpose of this bandit suppression operation is to provide training, so everyone needs to have the opportunity to practice.

Ma Zhong was extremely shocked by this. In the previous hundreds of years, no one had ever trained officers in such a systematic way, yet Guan Xing was so dedicated to training them. He couldn't imagine what kind of storm these three thousand men would cause after they all graduated.

I have to say, I'm actually looking forward to it.

After several days of field training, the soldiers finally got a good night's sleep. At dawn, each unit reported their action plans to Guan Xing, and they argued fiercely with each other.

After the argument, Guan Xing ordered Li Gousheng to lead the scout team and the guides arranged by Magistrate Bao to Ma'erling to conduct an actual survey of the terrain and draw a map. After returning, everyone discussed the map drawn by Li Gousheng again, but still couldn't reach a conclusion.

After all, everyone has their own way of doing things, and if no one can convince anyone else, they can only continue arguing. Guan Xing said he didn't care about this. Although arguing may not yield results, it can spark ideas and make the soldiers realize their shortcomings, improve their plans, and avoid making unnecessary small mistakes.

After arguing for two days, Guan Xing called for a halt and said, "We've argued enough, it's time to get down to business. Now we'll decide on the commander. I said everyone has a chance to command, so to ensure fairness, we'll draw lots."

After saying that, he unfolded three small slips of paper, one labeled "Chief" and the other two labeled "Deputy." After everyone had seen them, he said, "Each time we go into battle, there will be three commanders: one chief and two deputy. Whoever is caught will be the commander of this operation. Next time we draw lots, the three of you will withdraw."

Then they brought over a box, crumpled the slips of paper into balls and threw them into the box. Upon closer inspection, the box was already filled with countless paper balls. These paper balls were all blank. Only those with words on them could take command. Whether they were the lead or the deputy was up to fate.

Guan Xing held the box and shook it vigorously for a long time to make sure it was evenly mixed. Then he held it up and let the soldiers draw one by one. The soldiers who drew blank slips of paper were extremely dejected.

A moment later, Sun Lang stood up, holding up the unfolded paper ball with both hands, showing off the big tally mark on it, and excitedly said, "I'm the tally mark, brothers, you're too kind!"

Soon, the two deputy titles were also drawn. There was no need to draw the rest. Guan Xing told those who had already drawn the paper balls to put them back in the box and said, "Sun Lang will command this battle. Sun Lang, you will formulate the battle plan!"