The rise of the poor

Chapter 2330 Deploying Troops, Deploying Troops, or Deploying Troops?

The following day, Zhao Wenhua originally did not plan to attend the anti-Japanese rally of the newly appointed governor Yang Yi, but remembering Zhu Ping'an's reminder the night before, and in order not to give others cause for gossip or leave any grounds for accusations of not cooperating with the new governor, he still attended.

I'll cooperate with you on anything that's insignificant and doesn't affect the overall situation, but when it comes to impeaching you, I won't hesitate to do so!

Zhu Pingan, along with Zhao Wenhua and Hu Zongxian, arrived at the Governor's Office in Zhao Wenhua's ostentatious carriage. They found Yang Yi already waiting outside the gate, greeting them before Zhao Wenhua's carriage had even come to a complete stop.

"Lord Zhao, your presence despite your illness truly moves me. If everyone were like Lord Zhao, how could we possibly stop the Japanese pirates?"

Yang Yi flattered Zhao Wenhua relentlessly.

He made no attempt to flatter Zhao Wenhua, both in public and in private.

At the mobilization meeting for the campaign against the Japanese pirates, Yang Yi first solemnly introduced and thanked Zhao Wenhua for his presence and guidance, which took up almost a third of the meeting.

Yang Yi was really going all out to secure his position as governor; he worked incredibly hard, which impressed Zhu Ping'an.

After Yang Yi gave a lengthy thank you speech to Zhao Wenhua, he finally got to the point and began his strategy for suppressing the Japanese pirates.

After listening to Yang Yi's strategy for suppressing the Japanese pirates, Zhu Ping'an realized that Yang Yi had only one main goal: to mobilize troops, mobilize troops, and mobilize troops again.

The Japanese pirates are known for their sharp longbows, so we've brought in archers from Shandong.

The Shandong archers are all skilled archers, honed through countless bows and arrows. Their archery skills are not only excellent, but they can also hit the target at ten paces. They are fast, accurate, and ruthless. Bringing them here would definitely suppress the Japanese pirates' longbows.

The Japanese pirates were skilled in mountain and jungle warfare, so they brought in the Henan Mao soldiers, also known as the Henan Mao Hulu soldiers.

The "Hairy Gourd Soldiers" got their name from the quiver they carried when shooting arrows. Unlike ordinary quivers, these quivers were made of animal hide with an inner layer of fur folded inside. The fur covered the arrowheads, leaving the shafts exposed for easy removal. Hence the name "Hairy Gourd Soldiers," or simply "Hairy Soldiers."

Mao Bing was skilled in archery, adept at mountain and jungle warfare, able to climb mountains and traverse forests as if walking on flat ground, and also adept at using weapons such as wolf-tooth rakes. From the late Yuan Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, he participated in countless tough battles and became famous for his bravery and skill in battle.

Are the Japanese pirates fearless and ruthless? Then send in more Sichuan troops.

Sichuan soldiers are hardworking, brave, and fearless. Although they are not tall, they are as fierce as tigers and wolves. Let's take them down!

The Japanese pirates were good at naval warfare, right? They even mobilized the grain transport troops...

The canal soldiers dealt with boats all year round, and each of them was as good a swimmer as a fish, so they were sure to succeed.

Good heavens! Zhu Pingan did a quick count and found that Yang Yi was going to mobilize as many as four different types of guest troops, totaling more than 20,000 men.

Yang Yi also said that this is only the first phase of deploying guest troops, and more troops will be deployed later depending on the situation.

Aside from troop deployment, Yang Yi's other anti-Japanese pirate plans were unremarkable and were mostly supporting measures for troop deployment.

For example, where to deploy the transferred troops, where to build the barracks, and how to allocate supplies and provisions, etc.

"Tell me your thoughts on Yang Yi's strategy for suppressing the Japanese pirates." After the meeting on suppressing the Japanese pirates, Zhao Wenhua invited Zhu Pingan and Hu Zongxian to his study and asked them for their opinions on Yang Yi's strategy.

"Judging from Yang Yi's deployment to suppress the Japanese pirates today, Yang Yi simply doesn't understand military affairs." Hu Zongxian spoke first, dismissing Yang Yi's strategy. "What does he think military affairs are? Addition and subtraction? The Japanese pirates are good with longbows, so he'll send in Shandong archers to overwhelm them; the Japanese pirates are good at mountain and jungle warfare, so he'll send in Henan Mao soldiers, who are famous for their mountain and jungle warfare skills, and they're also good at archery and wolf-tooth spears, so he'll overwhelm them; the Japanese pirates are fearless, so he'll send in Sichuan soldiers, who are like wolves and tigers, even more fearless; the Japanese pirates are good at naval warfare, so he'll send in canal transport soldiers, who deal with ships all year round, are as good as fish in the water, so he'll overwhelm the Japanese pirates. Does Yang Yi think military affairs are just addition and subtraction?! He's even worse than a theorist, a complete novice! He just knows how to deploy troops, if deploying troops could solve the problem, Zhang Jing would have solved it by deploying wolf-tooth spearmen and Shandong spearmen!"

"Heh, he's just an amateur. His strategy for suppressing the Japanese pirates is like children playing house." Zhao Wenhua chuckled dismissively, then looked at Zhu Ping'an and asked, "Zihou, what do you think?"

"Yang Yi's decision to bring in so many guest troops was a complete blunder," Zhu Pingan said slowly, shaking his head.

"Oh, how so?" Zhao Wenhua asked with interest.

"From what I understand, the Guangxi wolf soldiers and Shandong spearmen have run out of rations and pay. It's been over two months since the wolf soldiers received their pay, and there have already been incidents of them robbing civilians. The issue of rations and pay for the wolf soldiers and spearmen hasn't been resolved, and Governor Yang is now sending in Shandong archers, Henan soldiers, Sichuan soldiers, and canal transport soldiers. How will we manage the rations and pay for so many guest troops?! If the rations and pay issue can't be resolved, the more guest troops there are, the greater the potential danger. Aren't there already enough mutinies caused by unpaid rations?!"

Zhu Pingan said slowly.

Several incidents of Guangxi wolf soldiers robbing civilians have occurred. The Guangxi wolf soldiers are from several tribes and are stationed in different places. The camp of Lady Wa is relatively better, but the other camps are not doing so well. Because they have been without food and pay for two months, the wolf soldiers in the camps are on the verge of losing control. Some wolf soldiers, unable to endure the lack of food and pay, have started to attack villages near their camps, robbing civilians of their food and property. There have been at least three reports of such incidents from villages near the camps.

"That's right, he brought in so many guest troops, does he have enough food and supplies?! Does he think that guest troops don't need to eat, drink, or relieve themselves?! He doesn't even understand the principle that supplies must precede troops, he's really acting recklessly."

The more Zhao Wenhua listened, the more excited he became; the more foolish Yang Yi's plan seemed, the more excited he became.

Zhu Pingan continued, "Furthermore, Governor Yang has mobilized so many guest troops, but there has been no arrangement for their command. With so many guest troops gathered together without any command, chaos is bound to break out in the future. Moreover, without any command arrangements, they will fight independently, and their combat effectiveness will not be fully utilized. In the future, fighting against the Japanese pirates will be a disaster."

"Hehe, not bad, not bad. With so many guest troops, it would be strange if there wasn't trouble. Yang Yi's strategy of deploying guest troops was a huge blunder." Zhao Wenhua's grin widened as he listened, stroking his chin. "We don't even need to make things difficult for him; he'll just start causing trouble on his own."

"Then let him quickly mobilize his troops." Hu Zongxian clapped his hands, looking like he was enjoying the show.

"Excellent, excellent. Now that his strategy has been proposed, let him implement it quickly." Zhao Wenhua nodded repeatedly, chuckling, "I can't wait to see what kind of trouble the guest troops he's brought in will cause." (End of Chapter)