Chapter 201 How many soldiers do I have?

Chapter 201 How many soldiers do I have?

Chapter 201 How many soldiers do I have?
Less than half a month after Shao Xun and Wang Yan entered the palace for questioning, Wang Mi's army attacked Xuchang.

The defenders only had a ridiculous number of a thousand people, but after a sound of war drums, they took the city directly.

What followed was a "gluttonous feast"!
The soldiers of Wang's army lost their humanity and fully displayed their bestiality, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of atrocities in Xuchang, a famous city in Yuzhou.

Wang Mi didn't care.

If you don't let your men vent their anger, who will fight for you in the battlefield?

First, you don't provide money or food, and second, you have no gratitude. What do they gain from following you all the way here?
Therefore, he thought very clearly. He would be happy when he should be happy and fight when he should fight. He would drink and enjoy himself while he could. When a person dies, the birds fly up to the sky. He is not afraid of anything!
"Since you have raised an army to pacify the world, you should discipline your troops and set a good example for the world." A kidnapped scholar advised, "Now, wherever you go, you kill a lot of people, and the people are scattered and dying. The streets are filled with complaints. If this continues, you will be criticized by others, and I am afraid that your reputation for benevolence will be damaged."

"What are you talking about, old man?" Vanguard General Liu Ling laughed and said, "If you have the guts, don't eat the food we looted."

Wang Sang, who had just rushed into the government office, also laughed and said, "This old man is saying one thing and thinking another. He ate a lot yesterday, three full bowls of food."

The old man blushed, sighed, and gave up trying to persuade her.

Wang Mi, who was wiping his sword, put down the cloth and said, "Mr. Xie, you have read books, and so have I. We'll talk about the future later. When Emperor Guangwu of Han was successful, was the military discipline good? When Emperor Wu of Wei pacified the world, didn't he kill innocent people indiscriminately? When we capture Luoyang, I will enforce military discipline, and then I will ask Mr. Xie for advice."

"Luoyang is the hub of the world. How can it be conquered just by fighting?" Xie Gong shook his head.

"Isn't Xuchang an important town?" Wang Mi said disdainfully, "I thought it would take some effort, but in the end, the bravest warriors took the city after just beating the drums. What do you think, Lord Xie?"

Xie Gong was speechless for a long while before he said, "Taifu is responsible for the great responsibility of the country and has a large army under his command, but he does not help the people in distress. Sooner or later, he will be abandoned by the world."

"Haha!" Everyone in the hall laughed, and the air was full of joy.

No one expected that Sima Yue, who was so powerful in the government, would not dare to wait for them in Xuchang. He hastily gave up this important town. If it were a leader with a lower vision, Xuchang would be enough for him to ascend the altar to offer sacrifices to the gods and establish a country and become emperor.

Incomprehensible! Incomprehensible!
"Sima Yue is just a name in name only." Wang Mi smiled complacently and said, "When we came out of Qing and Xu states, he didn't dare to go to Juancheng and stayed in Xuchang. When I went deep into Yuzhou, he abandoned Xuchang and moved to Juancheng. What do you mean by pacifying Hebei? I think he is afraid and doesn't dare to fight."

"He has never won a battle, so why should he be afraid?" Wang Sang said with a smile, "We will march into Luoyang and capture his wife and children, and then we will see how he can live in the world."

"The skin on his face is stronger than three layers of armor. What if my wife and children are captured? I will remain unmoved."

"I don't know what he is thinking. If Luoyang is gone, he will be the one who bears the greatest responsibility. If the whole country is in an uproar, will he still be able to keep his position as prime minister?"

"Perhaps he would be happy to see Luoyang fall."

The middle-level generals in the hall also ridiculed Sima Yue, and their cunning and vicious ways made people laugh.

After hearing this, Xie Gong shook his head. It was obvious that he did not understand Sima Yue's behavior and thought that he had gone crazy.

After Wang Mi wiped his sword, he threw it on the table with a clang.

Some people heard the noise and stopped smiling.

Some people were still laughing and didn't take it seriously.

What's worse, some people even shouted at the soldiers passing by the door what they wanted to eat today.

Wang Mi's mouth twitched. He suddenly thought of a question, so he turned to look at his brother Wang Sang and asked, "How many troops do I have now?"

Wang Sang was stunned and asked, "Fifty thousand?"

"Are you crazy? The number was more than 50,000 when we left Qingzhou." Wang Mi glared at him.

"Eighty thousand?" Wang Sang said uncertainly.

"I think there are 100,000." Liu Ling said.

"No less than 100,000."

"It's 120,000 or 30,000."

"More than that, more than that, there should be 150,000."

"You said it's too little. There are about 170,000 or 180,000 people."

Listening to everyone's answers, Wang Mi's mouth twitched even more violently.

He didn't know if he was the first military commander in history who didn't know how many soldiers he had.

But it's not his fault.

Along the way, people kept joining and leaving. Who could tell how many soldiers there were?
He appointed dozens of generals, some of whom he had never seen before and only existed on paper. He didn't even know where they were stationed or whether they were still there.

It doesn’t matter! Wang Mi comforted himself silently.

At least we have reorganized a few tens of thousands of decent troops, which are led by the old brothers. They are constantly training along the way and are able to fight in the battlefield.

Let others do whatever they want, it's always good to show off some strength.

When attacking passes and cities, they can also be pulled over to clear a path at the cost of their lives.

As long as we take Luoyang! As long as we take Luoyang, everything will be fine.

When the time comes, I will not run away. Instead, I will settle down in Luoyang to build an institution, reorganize the troops, appoint officials, and consolidate this foundation.

"Xuchang is an important town. Can you find any weapons?" Wang Mi asked again.

He mainly looked at Liu Ling.

This man was from Yangping. His family was extremely poor and he could not even get enough food to eat. Yet, he had great strength and no one knew how he grew up.

He easily subdued the running cattle and horses with his bare hands.

Because of this skill, he became famous in the countryside. Later, he joined the Tianshi Dao and gradually became a master. When Gong Shifan started the rebellion, he gathered thousands of people and called himself a general, but was later dispersed. This guy is a die-hard rebel.

When the world was peaceful, he would often stroke his chest and sigh, "When will the world be in chaos?"

After the great chaos, he was like a fish in water and became the bravest among the three armies.

It can be said that he is the most capable fighter in this team except Wang Mi, so he is the vanguard with a group of 20,000 to 30,000 people.

"General, there are only tens of thousands of weapons in the armory, which is too few." Liu Ling said, "Sima Yue must have been deceived by his subordinates. Many of the weapons are in a state of decay. I even suspect that they are second-hand goods from the Cao Wei era."

"Didn't you torture the storekeeper?" Wang Mi asked.

"We fought and killed several people, but it was useless." Liu Ling sighed: "The storekeeper kept complaining, saying that the Marquis of Luyang led his army to attack and occupy Xuchang, and the treasury was emptied."

"really?"

"It can't be fake. Many people have seen it."

"What position does Marquis Luyang hold now?"

Liu Ling was speechless and couldn't respond.

"Mr. Xie?" Wang Mi asked again.

"The Marquis of Luyang is Shao Xun, a talented general. He was born in a humble family but has outstanding skills." Xie Gong said, "Last year, he conquered Hebei and defeated Jisang, capturing and killing more than 10,000 people. The year before last, he surrounded and killed 5,000 Xianbei cavalry in Chang'an. He was also a very daring person."

When Wang Mi heard this, he sighed and said, "I can't use this person."

"Marquis Luyang is a general of the Yue family. How could he surrender to you?" Xie Gong sighed.

Wang Mi snorted coldly and said, "When I conquer Luoyang and capture Sima Yue's wife, I will give her to Shao Xun as a reward. He insulted my mistress, who else can he surrender to if not me? I don't believe it!"

"You!" Xie Gong cursed, "Marquis Luyang has fought for the court and the Grand Tutor many times and has been loyal to him. How could he do such a shameful thing?"

"I'm afraid he's thinking about his mistress too." Wang Mi said casually, then ignored him and turned to look at Liu Ling, saying, "Pick out the weapons in the armory and send out the ones that are usable. We'll have a big battle next."

"Yes." Liu Ling was a little excited when he heard the word "battle".

"Brother, where are we going next?" Wang Sang asked.

"I intend to attack Huanyuan Pass and go straight into Luoyang," said Wang Mi.

"Why don't you go through Yique Pass?"

"My men are shouting every day, wishing they could fly to Luoyang and not delay for even a day. What can I do?" Wang Mi said with a headache: "Who said Huanyuan Pass is more than a hundred miles away?"

"Is Huanyuan Pass easy to get to?"

Wang Mi recalled it and felt a little unsure.

When he was young, he traveled around the country, visited Luoyang, and even met Liu Yuan, the emperor of the Han Dynasty. But he could not remember clearly whether he had been to Huanyuan Pass, so he could only say: "Let's go and see first, maybe it will be easier to go."

"That's right." Wang Sang nodded and said, "We have come all the way here in the past two years. Who cares? When we encounter soldiers, we just charge and fight for a while and then get defeated. They are all like that."

"Luoyang is peaceful and military-friendly. I heard that the imperial guards are also finished, so we should not fight."

Hmm? Wang Mi glanced at the person who spoke.

The journey was smooth, but someone actually said that the imperial guards couldn't fight? Even if they couldn't fight, could they be worse than the state and county troops? Could they be worse than Sima Yue?
He subconsciously felt that something was wrong. Some people were so arrogant and conceited that they would suffer in the long run.

However, we cannot carry out a large-scale rectification at the moment.

Morale should be boosted, not let down. Once we capture Luoyang and formally establish the system, we will definitely deal with these bastards.

"Second brother." Wang Mi suddenly shouted.

"Brother."

"Forget about these two days. Starting from the day after tomorrow, you will gather the troops and make sure they don't get scattered." Wang Mi warned, "If anyone disobeys, send them to Yique Pass and don't let them follow us."

"Yes." Wang Sang agreed readily and said, "Let's go through Huanyuan Pass and enter Luoyang first, and let those guys follow behind and eat dust."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone laughed.

Xie Gong shook his head helplessly, as if lamenting that such a motley crowd had managed to rush all the way to Xuchang and even near Luoyang without any hindrance. Wasn't this the most ridiculous thing in the world?

After "resting" in Xuchang for a few days, in late April, Wang Mi's army left Xuchang in batches and headed straight to the northwest.

Along the way, there was an endless stream of people and horses.

The aristocratic families in Yingchuan simply closed their doors and guarded themselves in their fortresses like quails, not wanting to have any conflict with the rebel army.

There are simply too many thieves!

They were everywhere, endless and dense. If we stopped to attack a particular fortress, no one would be able to resist, and the possibility of family destruction and death was very high.

Everyone secretly begged these plague gods to leave quickly and not bring disaster to Yingchuan anymore.

Of course, there were also brave people who stared with bright eyes, looking around for villages and fortresses that had been harmed by the bandits, to see if they could annex them.

This is a chaotic world. There is no strict boundary between victims and perpetrators, and they can switch easily.

(End of this chapter)