Wu Shigong's current bandit suppression operation was different from the previous military operation to suppress the Holy Spirit Society's rebellion.
In the last rebellion of the Holy Spirit Society, although Wu Shigong could be said to have achieved a perfect victory in the end, he also gained huge economic benefits.
However, no matter when Wu Shigong was guarding the county seat or later when he launched an assault to rescue Guidefu City, all of Wu Shigong's actions were completely in accordance with the actions of the Holy Spirit Society mobs and the orders of his superiors. They were very passive reactions.
It can be said that there is no plan.
However, Wu Shigong's bandit suppression this time was a purposeful and proactive military operation. He had enough time to formulate his own military action plan.
Needless to say, Wu Shigong is a person with strong learning ability. He actually understands that in his two lives, he has never studied military command at all and has no knowledge of military command. Therefore, he himself is no longer ingenious.
Just follow what the experts say.
That expert was the Qin Bai who caused Wu Shigong to travel through time. That Qin Bai said: Before every military operation, the purpose of the military operation must be determined. Moreover, only one purpose can be determined.
That’s good! Wu Shigong has determined a purpose in suppressing bandits this time. What purpose is it? It’s just for money!
Putting aside the fact that Wu Shigong had to ensure that the trade routes were open and he could earn money for escorting the salt cargo; also putting aside the fact that if the stronghold of the bandits Li Yaozi was wiped out, some supplies could be seized. The key thing now is that Wu Shigong discovered
A huge money making opportunity.
Wu Shigong learned from Lei Ying the number of bandits and mountain people in this mountainous area. Calculated from these numbers, these people need at least three hundred shi of salt supply every month.
If Wu Shigong completely monopolized the supply of salt in this mountainous area, he would be able to earn at least one thousand taels of silver per month. For Wu Shigong now, this income of one thousand taels of silver per month could make him salivate.
Moreover, this is only the case at present, when this mountainous area is relatively sparsely populated after the Holy Spirit Society rebelled. As the situation stabilizes, the number of people settling in this mountainous area will further increase, and Wu Shigong's salt income will also further increase.
improve.
However, there are three difficulties in completely monopolizing the supply of salt in this mountainous area:
First of all, there is indeed no fixed seller for the supply of salt in this mountainous area, but this does not mean that there are no sellers supplying salt to this mountainous area.
What does this sentence mean? This sentence means: In fact, there is still a supply of salt in this mountainous area. That is the salt sellers near this mountainous area, including Lu Jianchen and Lu Yunhuan, who then pass
The second dealer raised the price of salt and sold it to the bandits and mountain people in this mountainous area.
When Wu Shigong monopolizes the supply of salt in this mountainous area, the sellers near the mountainous area, except for Lu Jianchen who directly supplies salt to Wu Shigong, will be expelled by Wu Shigong. And they are under the benefit of money.
, will definitely not accept the situation, and will also fight back against Wu Shigong's monopolistic behavior.
At that time, Wu Shigong must maintain a strong enough force in this mountainous area to maintain his monopoly position;
Secondly, this mountainous area is located in Runing Prefecture and is not within Wu Shigong's defense area. Therefore, Wu Shigong cannot blatantly station troops in this mountainous area. Therefore, Wu Shigong wants to completely control the bandits in this mountainous area.
To achieve the purpose of maintaining force in this mountainous area.
Finally, because he wanted to completely control the bandits in this mountainous area, Wu Shigong's previous method of giving Thunder Eagle some supplies in exchange for Thunder Eagle not being hostile to him was somewhat lacking.
Because now Wu Shigong does not want the bandits of Thunder Eagle to be his allies. He wants the bandits of Thunder Eagle to become his vassals. In order to strengthen the control of Thunder Eagle, he must not only use profits to
He was bound, and blood was needed to clear Lei Ying's mind and let him know the consequences of betraying Wu Shigong.
From the above analysis, it can be seen that Wu Shigong's attack on Li Yaozi's village this time was to uproot the power of Li Yaozi and this group of bandits in this mountainous area. There was no second option at all.
In addition, Wu Shigong did not consider this option at all: through his military operation, he only weakened the strength of the Li Yaozi bandits so that he could control them in the future through the internal struggle between Li Yaozi and Lei Ying.
Bandits in the mountains.
Not to mention that Wu Shigong showed little confidence in his ability to play such sophisticated political skills. If something goes wrong in the future, Wu Shigong may not be able to blatantly send out a large army to carry out something in this mountainous area.
"Peacekeeping Operation"?
As soon as that kind of action is taken, Wu Shigong's enemy Yu Zilian will definitely come to the rescue. Even if Wu Shigong is eventually impeached for rebelling, it is not impossible. After all, Wu Shigong has moved his troops out of his own defense zone.
Now that the purpose is clear, the conduct of Wu Shigong's military operation is also clear. Wu Shigong's military operation is to capture the bandit stronghold of Li Yaozi and defeat all the bandit forces of Li Yaozi.
And after capturing the stronghold, a group of soldiers were stationed in the stronghold. These soldiers were used to deter the forces controlling the Thunder Eagle and completely monopolize the supply of salt in this mountainous area.
Wu Shigong was not afraid of how strong Li Yaozi's mountain stronghold was. Not to mention that Wu Shigong sent troops this time with all five artillery pieces. Even if the artillery could not capture the stronghold in an instant, Wu Shigong would also besiege the stronghold for a long time.
With such a large supply of materials in his Qianhu fortress, Li Yaozi's village will definitely not be able to compete with his own if they struggle for a long time. In the end, even if they are hungry, everyone in Li Yaozi's village will starve to death.
Wu Shigong was not afraid of Li Yaozi's escape. In a hurry, Li Yaozi could at most escape with some of the bandits in the village. If he lost his base in the village, Li Yaozi would definitely not be able to settle down and survive in this mountainous area.
At that time, Wu Shigong also eliminated Li Yaozi's banditry in this mountainous area, and was able to ensure his monopoly on salt products. As for Li Yaozi's future troubles outside the mountainous area, it was not in Wu Shigong's defense zone anyway.
.Wu Shigong doesn’t need to worry about this.
Therefore, after Wu Shigong's army entered the mountainous area, they marched leisurely without pursuing military speed. In addition, Wu Shigong's army, with a large amount of supplies and tools, was preparing to attack Li Yaozi's mountain stronghold.
Carrying out a long-term siege is indeed not going fast. Of course, Wu Shigong and the others are always vigilant to prevent any ambush.
As a local snake, Li Yaozi soon knew the movements and attack targets of Wu Shigong's army as soon as they entered the mountainous area.
Knowing that Wu Shigong's army was coming to attack him, Li Yaozi was indeed a little nervous. However, Li Yaozi was also an old bandit leader who had experienced many storms, and this was not the first time he had encountered an official army to suppress bandits. Therefore, Li Yaozi was also
Immediately gather manpower and prepare to defend your mountain stronghold.
But Li Yaozi made some mistakes in his judgment this time. Li Yaozi regarded Wu Shigong's military operation to attack his village as a general military operation by the army to suppress bandits in the past.
In the Ming Dynasty's past bandit suppression campaigns, if the officers and soldiers encountered a well-defended bandit village, they would generally not attack it desperately. This was because the main force of the attack were the soldiers around the military attaches. If
If the loss of personal soldiers is too great, the military attache's strength will also be greatly damaged. In order to preserve their strength, those military attaches will not engage in such a loss-making business.
Therefore, the process of the officers and soldiers suppressing bandits is generally as follows: both sides pretend to fight, and then the bandits throw some gold, silver, pigs and sheep from the village as a reward to the officers and soldiers. The officers and soldiers then follow the trend and withdraw their troops.
The next year, the same drama was staged again. In the end, some officers and soldiers who hated deception even skipped the pretentious fighting procedures. They simply collected gold, silver, pigs and sheep and then left, forming a kind of
Institutionalized, the behavior of officers and soldiers coming to bandits to collect New Year goods.
And Li Yaozi thought that Wu Shigong was such a bandit suppression operation. At most, it was because Li Yaozi robbed the caravan escorted by Wu Shigong's army and lost Wu Shigong's face. Wu Shigong came to take revenge on himself.
But Li Yaozi thought this in his heart: He didn't rob any goods in the end, and the casualties suffered by his bandits were greater than that of Wu Shigong's army. In the end, he suffered a loss. It was not an unrelenting situation.
As long as you say more soft words, give more gold, silver, pigs and sheep, and rely on the strong defense of your village, you will be able to resolve this misunderstanding.
Li Yaozi is indeed very confident about the solidity of his stockade. After all, this stockade has been managed by Li Yaozi for many years. Moreover, the location of this stockade is somewhat similar to Wu Shigong's Qianhusuo Fortress.
The stronghold is a frontal attack, so it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
In addition, the material reserves in the stockade are also very sufficient. Li Yaozi estimated that it would be enough to support three months of consumption. Li Yaozi did not believe it: Could it be that Wu Shigong had been attacking his stockade for many years? Wouldn't he go back to celebrate the New Year?
?
Li Yaozi had no idea that Wu Shigong would be able to capture this stronghold in a year, let alone three months.
So when Wu Shigong's army finally arrived at Li Yaozi's village, Li Yaozi shouted loudly from the village: "Master Wu, this is all a misunderstanding! The villain gave Master Wu ten pairs of pigs and sheep, and one hundred taels."
Silver, as compensation and reward for you. How about just giving up?"
The soldiers around Wu Shigong all looked at Wu Shigong after hearing this. Although these soldiers of Wu Shigong have received long-term military training, they have not experienced the test on the battlefield after all, and they still have the mentality of ordinary people.
In the minds of these soldiers: Since Li Yaozi had given in, he had given some gold, silver, pigs and sheep as rewards, and he had not suffered any damage. The result of subduing the enemy without fighting was still acceptable.
of.
But Wu Shigong didn't seem to notice the expressions of the soldiers. He calmly waved his hand and ordered: "Fight!"
