Han Baihang has never been so arrogant as to think that a single company of officers and soldiers from his headquarters can suppress the bandits in Yongcheng. This is why he resolutely expands the militia. If he wants to achieve something, he must first strengthen his military strength. At the same time, he has also been wondering why the bandits
The suppression continues repeatedly.
After these days of thinking, he came up with three reasons. One is natural disasters. In recent years, floods and droughts have continued, and the government has been negligent in handling the disasters, resulting in a large number of people becoming disaster victims and turning into bandits.
Furthermore, it is a man-made disaster. Since the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the population has increased dramatically. However, more than half of the land in the country has been occupied by the landlord class. Coupled with the war, a large number of people have been driven out of the cultivated land and have become unemployed and mentally retarded.
Those who can make a living by begging will become bandits. Take Yongcheng as an example. Yongcheng has 109,873 registered households, a total population of 481,759 people, and an area of arable land of more than 1.3 million acres. The per capita arable land is about 2.7 acres, but in fact the whole city
Three-fifths of the arable land in the county is in the hands of large gentry households, and it is all fertile farmland. When it comes to the common people, the per capita arable land is only 1 mu, and most of it is barren dry land. In good years, you can rent 1 acre of land excluding tax fields to support your livelihood.
One and a half people, but in times of famine, they could not even feed one person. Forced to make ends meet, many farmers became bandits who farmed during the day and robbed their homes at night.
The last reason is much more complicated. Soldiers and bandits seem to have a subtle consensus not to attack each other. Officers and soldiers are afraid of the fierceness of bandits and are unwilling to risk their losses to suppress bandits. They often turn a blind eye to bandits.
At the same time, they support the bandits themselves and take the opportunity to threaten the local area. The local gentry and the bandits are also inextricably linked. They not only hate the harm caused by the bandits, but also fear that the officers and soldiers will use the name of suppressing the bandits to cause trouble in the local area, so in order not to offend the officers and soldiers
, often tolerate the bandits and secretly meet some demands, which makes the bandits even more arrogant.
After drawing these three conclusions, Han Baihang knew that suppressing bandits cannot be based solely on military considerations, otherwise the suppression of bandits would be in vain in the end. However, he still has no ability to change the status quo. He can only use military means to suppress bandits first, and then slowly
Think of other solutions.
…
Back at the company headquarters, Han Baihang withdrew the guards, leaving Zhou Qing alone. The two smiled tacitly at each other. Han Baihang sat down on a chair, waved to Zhou Qing, who was standing upright, and said, "Sit down."
Zhou Qing sat down respectfully. Han Baihang glanced at him and said with a smile: "You did a good job yesterday. I will mark your contribution!"
Zhou Qing chuckled and said, "I don't dare to take credit for my humble position. It's because the company commander commanded me well."
Han Baihang smiled: "That's a good job flattering me. I'm going to put more burden on you, is that okay?"
Zhou Qing said without squinting: "As long as the company commander says it's okay."
"good!"
Han Baihang looked at Zhou Qing with sharp eyes and said in a deep voice: "You are my most trusted subordinate. I will hand over the militia squadron to you. There are more than 300 people in a battalion. Do you have the confidence to lead it well?"
Zhou Qing suddenly stood up and stood at attention, straightened his back and said: "Report to the company commander, I am confident that I can lead him well, but I have one request."
"explain!"
Zhou Qingdao: "Company Commander, I have seen the militia squadrons still use broadswords and spears. When can they be equipped with rifles, even old sleeves or those made in Hanyang?"
"I will solve the gun problem. Your mission is to train the militia squadron into an elite soldier as quickly as possible." Han Baihang said firmly.
Zhou Qing thought for a while and said: "Give me three months, and I promise to make them look like soldiers."
Han Baihang shook his head decisively and said: "This time is too long. The autumn harvest will be here in another month and a half. The situation will be complicated by then, and combat power must be formed as soon as possible. I will give you a month, and I will inspect you then.
The results of military training.”
Zhou Qing looked troubled and asked him to fight without ambiguity, but he was not good at training soldiers. It would take three to five months to train a bunch of mud-legged soldiers into elite soldiers, not to mention one month.
Han Baihang looked at Zhou Qing's sad face and scolded him dissatisfied: "Look at your little potential, you can't even lead a few hundred people. I will give you a regiment and a division to command in the future, let alone catch you blind." After a pause.
He said at once: "I will teach you a method. The fastest way to train troops is actual combat. I will get firearms as soon as possible, and then you will lead the troops to suppress the bandits. After a few battles, you will all be veterans."
Zhou Qing hesitated for a moment: "Company Commander, these new recruits from the militia don't even know how to fire a gun. If we use them to suppress bandits, I'm afraid there will be many casualties."
Han Baihang said without changing his expression: "I know this, but you must keep in mind the saying that Ci does not control soldiers. As long as the soldiers can be trained quickly, it is acceptable to pay a few casualties. Besides, you are the commander, if you
A good command can minimize the casualties of the bandit suppression, so don't mention the casualties to me. I have already handed over the troops to you anyway. I only care about the results, not the process."
"Yes, I understand." Zhou Qing nodded vigorously and said.
After sitting for a while, Zhou Qing made a report and left. Han Baihang handled the military affairs alone. Suddenly he pushed his pen and shouted: "Here, go to the cooking class and call Han Leisan!"
…
Han Leisan finally understood what it means that a fallen phoenix is worse than a chicken. He remembered that when he was in Chenjiabao, he was a stomping and trembling figure, but when he came to the cooking class, he was shouted around by all the cooks.
All the work was dirty and tiring, including feeding horses, cutting firewood, washing vegetables, and cooking. Even peeing had to be tight on time.
Finally, he couldn't help but have an attack the next morning. He slapped a cook who was best at instructing him to work twice. He sneered at the cooks and said, "You all think I'm easy to bully, don't you?
Let me tell you, whoever dares to let me work again in the future, don’t blame me for dealing with him."
When the cooks saw that the new recruits were about to rebel, they immediately got into trouble and gathered around them. Just when a group of people were about to beat Han Lei San, someone from outside the crowd suddenly roared: "Are you going to rebel? It's delayed the start of the meal.
, each person weighs twenty military sticks!"
The cooking squad leader walked in from outside with a dark face. He scolded the cooks first, and then strode closer to Han Lei San. Their faces were almost touching each other, and their eyes stared at each other.
"I know you were a militia leader."
The cook squad leader stared at him with an unkind look: "You'd better not show off your authority here. This is not some bullshit militia, it's an army! I don't care what you did before, you are just a recruit now. The recruits must obey the veterans. This
It's a rule, it's military law, do you understand?"
Han Leisan sneered and said: "What kind of bullshit rule is this? I won't do it anymore." After that, he took off his military uniform and walked out.
The face of the cooking squad leader changed and he said coldly: "You are treating the army like a big shop. You can come and leave as you please. I tell you, as long as you dare to leave this door, I will treat you as a deserter!"
Han Leisan ignored it and continued to walk out. The cook's squad leader's face was extremely livid, and he put his hand on the holster of his gun. He did not mean to threaten him at all. As long as Han Leisan walked out of the door of the cooking squad, he would shoot decisively. As for the
Whether you injure or kill depends solely on your marksmanship.
Han Leisan stepped out of the door without any hesitation. The cooking squad leader gritted his teeth, pulled out a pistol and pointed it at his back, holding it firmly with his index finger.
"The company commander has ordered that Han Lei from the cooking squad come to the company headquarters as soon as possible to report. There must be no mistakes!" A loud shout came from outside.
Han Leisan walked out calmly, and the cooking squad leader put down his gun with a complicated look on his face, and said in a low voice: "You're lucky, kid."
Han Leisan walked out of the door of the cooking class. A gust of wind blew his back, and he felt a chill on his back. He breathed a sigh of relief. He would have lied if he said he wasn't scared at all. He just didn't want to surrender and be embarrassed, so he held his breath and walked out.
"Are you Han Leisan? What are you waiting for? The company commander wants to see you!" the guard shouted to Han Leisan.
Han Lei nodded three times. He originally planned to leave, but now that Han Baihang came to call him, he just went to say goodbye and leave, which can be regarded as a beginning and an end.