Chapter 346

The shouts of the people echoed in his ears like waves. Lu Zhisen pulled the communications team members over to him, almost mouth to mouth, and then retreated under the wooden platform. Only then could he hear the voices clearly. "Is the news that the main force of the Ming army has been dispatched authentic?"

The communications guy whispered into Lu Zhisen's ear, "It's absolutely true. They all went out this morning. One of my brothers was acting as a blacksmith's apprentice in Jinan City. The other day, he heard the Ming army holding a rally outside the city. They were reviewing the soldiers and practicing battle formations. Dozens of drums were beating so loud that the entire city could hear them. It seems they also beheaded ten spies as a sacrifice."

"Were our people killed?"

As soon as Lu Zhisen finished speaking, he heard a commotion on the stage. Three criminals suddenly fell down, and the ropes tightly around their necks made a whipping sound.

The dead man's legs swayed gently beside them, and the stench of feces and urine emanated from between his legs from time to time.

"No. We can use 'subspace communication', so there's no way we'll be exposed."

The guy who reported the news had a look of joy on his face, as if he was showing off to his brothers that he had just gotten a pentakill in the game.

Several players walked to the stage and were surprised to find that Lu Zhisen and the other man were having a secret meeting there. So they moved closer to listen to the gossip and even forgot to complete the task of collecting the corpse.

"How many troops does the enemy have?"

"I didn't see this clearly. The brothers were just minor characters. They couldn't even get close to the Ming army camp. All we know is that the marching direction was straight towards Qingzhou."

"That should mean the troops from Lubei and Zhili have arrived..."

Lu Zhisen pondered for a moment, and a sketch of Shandong's territory emerged in his mind, with a marching route crossing rivers and hills outlined on the map.

He vaguely remembered that Jinan was about three hundred miles away from Qingzhou. According to the Ming army's regular marching speed, it would take about ten days to reach the area controlled by the Red Turban Army.

"Damn it, what are you doing!" A head popped out from the gap in the wooden platform, and the other party angrily accused the brothers who were collecting the bodies of being lazy.

The three corpse collectors shrugged and said with a smile, "Nothing, just listening to important military intelligence! The main force of the Ming army has arrived, and we have another big battle to fight!"

"No matter when the Ming army arrives, even if the world is about to end, we must hang all the criminals first. Let's take the dead away quickly. The gallows are waiting to be hanged! Hurry up!"

"Brother, please notify the representatives of each guild to come to the government office for a meeting." Lu Zhisen said this and turned to walk out. He paused halfway and turned back to add, "Also, tell the brothers in the frontline fortress to raise the observation balloons to keep a close eye on the movements of the enemy's main force."

"Oh." The communication guy raised his right hand and gestured without turning his head.

Climbing back onto the wooden platform, Lu Zhisen seemed to have crashed into a curtain of exciting sounds, and the sounds in his ears instantly became louder.

Crowds of people from all directions crowded towards the wooden platform, and the anger that had been suppressed for a long time in the hearts of the people continued to erupt. People were constantly allowed to go up to the wooden platform to take turns as "executioners", and then they couldn't wait to swing their hammers and drive the sharp stakes into the dog thieves' intestines.

Batch after batch of criminals were brought to the trial stand and beheaded. With the organizer's announcement of the death penalty, more than a dozen criminals were executed.

Gradually, the firewood pile at the far end of the wooden platform was piled with hundreds of broken corpses, emitting a bloody and terrifying smell.

Every time the organizer shouted out the death sentence, the people in the audience would loudly echo him, killing his entire family, skinning him alive, and chopping him off with a guillotine!

Later, the people responded to the player's lines in unison, shouting out the sentence of "death penalty" together.

The crowds of onlookers became increasingly excited and enthusiastic, and one person even fainted from overwhelming emotion. The attendant in charge of maintaining order at the scene heard the call for help and immediately rushed over to rescue the fainted person from the surging crowd.

Even though many players had held "Trial Meetings" as early as the Beggar Army era, there had never been such a deafening scene as today.

Everyone seemed to have taken out their hearts and lungs, and they were running wildly with the strong wind, waving their fists and legs, vowing to smash and sweep away all the dirty and filthy things.

Lu Zhisen sighed secretly, the people's hearts that the Ming Dynasty didn't want were now in the hands of the Red Turban Army.

The people of Lu can be used!
Lu Zhisen suddenly felt that the people were rivers and clouds, supporting the Red Turban Army's prosperity.

As the piles of firewood containing the corpses began to burn, Lu Zhisen clenched his fists and walked to the front of the wooden platform, "The imperial court is sending troops to encircle and suppress our Red Turban Army!
The relatives and friends of these criminals will follow the soldiers to fight back. They will come back to take away the land distributed to you, take away your reunited wives and daughters, and make you bear a mountain of debt!
They will tear you all into pieces, leaving you with no hope of reincarnation and forcing you to work like slaves for them for the rest of your lives. Do you agree?"

"No!" The people responded indignantly.

"Kill the dog official!"

"Fight the court's lackeys!"

"Rebellion against Zhu Ming! Rebellion! Rebellion!"

Some young students were inspired by the atmosphere at the scene. Seeing the short hair of Magistrate Lu, they immediately made up their minds.

In order to cut off their own retreat, they were completely tied to the Red Turban Army. They took out a knife and cut off their hair buns and threw them onto the wooden platform, shouting that they would live and die with the Red Turban Army.

Many people were moved by this impulsive act, and they kept throwing broken hair onto the stage as rewards.

The fierce trial continued. Some people bought some dry food from vendors and then raised their arms and shouted "death penalty". However, Lu Zhisen and some player representatives did not stay any longer.

They quickly squeezed out of the venue and ran all the way back to the Qingzhou government office. There were not many people in the office.

Like Lu Zhisen, many guild representatives had returned from the trial and were chatting about interesting stories about the reclamation of Liaobei and immigration to the New World.

The number of players who arrived at the new world alive recently finally exceeded 100!
I heard that some players who have obtained advanced exploration tickets have already set foot in Japan, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia...

Lu Zhisen pricked up his ears to listen to these interesting stories, his eyes flashing with envy, and the Shandong sand table in front of him seemed to become boring.

He played with the flag that symbolized the Ming army's fighting power. "The main force of the Ming army is about to attack. Everyone knows it, right?"

"I just don't know the exact strength of the Ming army. How about sending a detachment to conduct reconnaissance?"

"Yes." Lu Zhisen moved a small flag eighty miles westward. "I also think we should scout out the enemy's details. Sending a few hundred cavalry will do the trick."

"I believe the Ming army is either staying put or concentrating its main force to attack. The border troops, combat troops, and garrison troops combined should be no less than 50,000. If we include the militia and civilian laborers, I'm afraid the total number would be even higher."

"Let's not even consider the miscellaneous troops. Let's just assume the Ming army gathers 50,000 main forces to attack. Wait a minute—" A player with an afro suddenly seemed to have an idea, and drew a semi-arc with his hands covering the land of Lunan. "If the Ming army attacks from the west, then Lunan will definitely be empty. We can completely switch bases."

"What are you talking about? Do you want to hand over the people of Qingzhou to the Ming army?"

"Alas, that was a mistranslation. We should have a two-pronged approach. We would hold back their main force head-on, and send a detachment from the flank to sweep across the prefectures and counties of southern Shandong.

If the Ming army comes south to rescue us, we will surround them and attack the reinforcements. If they don't come to rescue us, we will just sit back and eat up the territory."

"Your plan doesn't sound reliable. The Ming Dynasty is a vast nation. There might only be one large army to the west, and there might be another army gathering to the south."

"Impossible! It's already the thirteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, and we've even opened up a second front in western Liaoning. The Ming has been decimated countless times by the Qihuo army, and Chongzhen's mismanagement has cost the Ming a number of its elite troops. It's far weaker than it was in history. How could it possibly have the manpower to station two large corps in Shandong?"

"There's no need to argue. Let's go offline and ask if there are any main forces of the Ming army in Lunan." As soon as the speaker finished speaking, he fell asleep in the corner like a drunkard.

After a while, the "drunkard" woke up from his dream.

He excitedly pulled down most of Lunan's flags, "Good news, I just asked the brothers of Kun Gang, they said they haven't seen a large Ming army for a long time, only some garrison soldiers patrolling the outskirts of the city.

The last large army I saw was when they passed through Yanzhou nineteen days ago.

I have reason to speculate that the Ming army learned the lesson of being defeated one by one by the Qihuo army in the past, so they dispatched the northern army and the southern army to meet in Jinan to form a large military group, and then dared to come to encircle and suppress us.

My brothers in Jiangbei also confirmed this speculation—the Ming army in Jiangbei has remained silent.”

"Ah? This is not right, right? What kind of high-ranking official is brother Jiangbei, that he can know the movements of various Ming soldiers?" The guy with the afro was puzzled.

"Do you remember the Lin brothers who went undercover in the Ming army earlier?"

"Oh my!" The man with the afro slapped his cheek and exclaimed in sudden realization, "Three months and three months undercover, and these guys have made it to the top of the Ming army?"

"Yes, before Kaifeng was captured by the Qihuo Army, their immediate superior, Chen Hongfan, led them to Jiangbei. They knew who was passing through their jurisdiction. Now, several powerful generals in Jiangbei all obey orders but not decrees. When the court orders them, they claim they fell from their horses and can't move, or they just caught a cold..."

"Oh my god, Zhu Youjian is probably going to be pissed off to death. The entire nation's military is practically a dead end."

"Who says it isn't true? The imperial court has fewer and fewer troops to mobilize, and the other warlords are just standing there watching the show."

"How can we heal the entire country with these insects? Only our leader Li Mu remains 'die-hardly' loyal to the Ming Dynasty. He is truly the most loyal minister in the world."

"Of course, anyone as loyal as our Marshal Li would deserve a separate chapter in history books."

"I heard the Black Flag Battalion heading north has arrived in Hejian Prefecture, and it seems they're all player-only!"

"When we reach the capital, if the Black Flag Battalion accidentally opens the city gate for us, I wonder what Zhu Youjian's expression will be?"

"Hahahahaha!" Dozens of representatives suddenly burst into laughter upon hearing this. They immediately looked at each other, and the wave of laughter intensified. "Didn't Zhu Youjian hate civil servants in history until his death? When the time comes, let's put them all in the same ring and fight, and let Zhu Youjian vent his anger personally."

"Can this brat Zhu Youjian win?"

"Well, you're right. It's said that Zhu Youjian is very strong. He can easily knock out a corrupt scholar with one punch."

"Hahaha! Then I'll place a bet on Zhu Youjian to beat ten!"

"Hey, hey, hey, we are discussing military strategy, why are you guys going off topic again! Can you guys be serious for a bit, you idiots? Wait until you can invade Beijing before you can bully Zhu Youjian." 'Lu Zhisen' curled his lips in annoyance.

"Since Lunan is short on manpower, we should send 10,000 to 20,000 troops south for a tentative attack. If we succeed, we'll cause the Kun Gang and Lunan's hidden brothers to rebel. We still need more players to fill out the middle and upper levels..."

"There's nothing you can do. Some people just like being lone wolves, playing all sorts of roles, and experiencing the ups and downs of ancient life. You can't stop them."

"The miscellaneous troops we have on hand, retainers, surrendered soldiers, recruits, and police, all together, seem to number about a hundred thousand, don't they?"

"Well, it sounds impressive, but they're all scattered all over the place. Qingzhou alone has 45,000 soldiers. Excluding the thousands guarding Qingzhou and the thousands guarding the frontline fortresses, the total mobile force available for combat is only 35,000."

"Qingzhou's main force will remain stationary for now. We can mobilize one to two thousand garrisons from each prefecture and county, and form a detachment of 20,000 to 30,000 men to march south."

"With this kind of recruitment, the average number of garrisons in various places will be less than a thousand, right?"

"It's enough. Historically, when Li Zicheng conquered the northern provinces, he only sent one chief officer and two or three hundred soldiers to each county. We have much more garrisons than he did.

Most of the guilty wealthy people have been eliminated, and the bandits have fled. The local security is not that bad, and it is time for us to withdraw our troops for expansion.

Don't forget we also have newly recruited police officers, with about one to two hundred per county—the recent purges of wealthy individuals show that their combat effectiveness is average, but their loyalty is high."

"This is all thanks to the identity verification. If a group of wealthy children had sneaked in, our operation wouldn't have been so smooth."

"Ok?"

Lu Zhisen looked at the increasingly clear deployment on the sand table, and thought that although these idiots were not serious in their daily lives, as long as they brainstormed around a common goal, they could still accomplish something big.

After all, they have fought dozens of battles on the Liaodong battlefield, the Korean battlefield, and the Shandong battlefield. Even a pig should have been trained into a veteran.

After sorting out his thoughts, Lu Zhisen said, "Ahem, let me summarize - Qingzhou is sending a cavalry of 600 people westward for reconnaissance to find out detailed information about the enemy's strength and combat effectiveness.

The main army corps assembled first and then moved westward to approach the front-line fortress.

Jiaozhou assembled 25,000 troops and waited for the right time to march south. If the Kun Gang joined in the rebellion, they would seize southern Shandong and northern Nanzhili, that is, the area north of the Yellow River, in one fell swoop.

I've finished speaking, is there anything else you want to add?"

"Yes!" A player with a shark head stepped forward. "The Beiwei Army wants us to launch a few hot air balloons off the coast of Denglaiqing, heading north with the southerly wind, to test how far they can reach in western Liaoning."

"Alright." Lu Zhisen immediately looked around. "Since everyone is okay with this, let's adjourn the meeting and inform everyone. I wish you all can enter the capital as soon as possible and realize your dreams."

The players cheered and some even stood on the sandbox and waved their fists.

"Crush the nobles' bones! Capture Zhu Youjian alive!"

"Kill all the corrupt officials and corrupt businessmen! Kill all the insects and rats!"

"Kill kill kill kill kill kill!"

"Destroy Zhurihe! Capture Man Guangzhi alive!"

"I want to use up all nine of my SeSe coupons at once!"

"Fight to unify the world!"

Looking at his brothers who were so excited, Lu Zhisen felt very excited, as if he was giving an inspiring speech to the soldiers before a battle.

"Our Red Turban Army—attack!"

He walked to the door, raised his arms and pointed to the north, but the players rushing out from behind him bumped into his shoulders one after another until he was knocked to the ground.

Lying on the ground, chewing a mouthful of dust, he looked up at the swarm of figures and cursed, "Fuck! You bunch of idiot players, can you please behave like human beings when the atmosphere is so heated!"

(End of this chapter)