The purpose of Shen Bing's previous battle with the Roman legion was not only to test his skills, but also to let the Seleucid coalition treat the arquebusiers as infantry, preferably phalanx infantry like the Seleucid coalition.
The next actions of the Seleucid coalition told Shen Bing that they had been fooled... Shen Bing discovered that the Seleucid army was concentrating its efforts on rafting wood to build a trebuchet.
Needless to say what the purpose of this is, of course it is to use the trebuchet to deal with the musketeers.
If the musketeers are infantry, especially in phalanx, trebuchets may be a good idea.
Because the Seleucid coalition could put the infantry in front, the trebuchets behind, and then use the trebuchets' stone bullets to cover the infantry charge.
It can be imagined that as long as there are enough trebuchets, the firepower of the musketeers will be suppressed, and then the infantry will take advantage of the momentum and rush into the musketeers to kill them.
Shen Bing waited for two days in Huomosang.
The past two days have been purely about waiting for information, waiting for information from Seleucid Command.
Shen Bing analyzed the situation of the Seleucid coalition.
This was a coalition led by Seleucid, and was still commanded by Seleucid.
It would be very difficult or even impossible to defeat them all, even if Shen Bing had a matchlock gun in his hand.
The reason is that the Seleucid coalition has a total of 150,000 people, and after deducting the 10,000 cavalry that they underestimated the enemy, they still have 140,000.
And most of these armies are super pikemen and Roman heavy infantry that can restrain cavalry.
The Qin army only had 40,000 cavalry, and at the same time, the people in Homusang were still eyeing it and had the potential to rebel.
The people of Homusan are not Greeks... As mentioned before, they are the Central Asians after Alexander conquered Persia, that is, the modern Iranians.
Moreover, Europe was still in a semi-feudal and semi-slave state at this time: although there were many free people, there were also a large number of slaves, gladiators, etc. who had no personal freedom. The conquered Central Asians were even more inferior and were oppressed by the Greeks.
The first thing Shen Bing did after entering Homusang was to announce the liberation of all slaves and return them to freedom.
At this time, Huo Musang was full of joy and supported the Qin army.
However, public sentiment is actually very fragile and easy to change.
The reason is that everyone is afraid of death and will weigh the severity secretly.
Before that, the Qin army defeated the Seleucid army. The people of Homusang thought that the Seleucid army was gone. At the same time, the Qin army could give them their freedom, so why not? Of course they support the Qin army.
But now, when more than 100,000 soldiers of the Seleucid Allied Forces surround Homusang, at least in the eyes of the people, they think that the Qin army is gone. If you support the Qin army at this time... After the city is broken, won't you be defeated by the Seleucid army? Liquidation?
So the anti-Qin forces were secretly surging again.
In just a few days, two large-scale organizations attempted to break through the city gates to welcome the Seleucid Allied Forces into the city. Fortunately, Shen Bing discovered them in time and got ahead of them and put them out.
The reason why Shen Bing was able to discover it was not by chance, but because Shen Bing tightly grasped, or could also be said to unite, the slave class of Huo Musang.
What Shen Bing did to them was more than just liberating them.
If you just set them free, it will not be enough to make these slaves or gladiators "dead-hearted" towards the Qin army.
Although the slave class was fed up with Seleucid oppression, slavery and even abuse, they also had a problem: they were used to succumbing to the Greeks and obeying their will, and subconsciously believed that as long as they disobeyed their master's orders, they would die. , even a painful death.
So Shen Bing said something to these slaves when he set them free:
"I hope you understand that when you break free of your shackles, there is no turning back."
"You can only stand on our side."
"Otherwise, if the Seleucid army comes back one day, you will be slaves who defy their will!"
"You know where this will end."
"So, you can either continue to stay here and wait for the Seleucid army to come back, or you can stand with us wholeheartedly."
This is very convincing.
Because all slaves know what will happen to them after the Seleucid army fights back... Even if they don't die, they are still slaves.
So they had no choice but to stand with the Qin army and hope that the Silk people would win the war.
This trick is very effective.
Because there are more than 60,000 slaves out of a total population of more than 500,000 in Homusan, a ratio of more than one-ninth.
Moreover, as long as the common people in Homusang have some financial resources, that is, the common people or businessmen who have the ability to organize large-scale operations, they have many slaves.
After these slaves regained their freedom, they could obtain a lot of information based on their connections and familiarity with the original owners.
The fact that Shen Bing was able to put down those two rebellions was the result of the slave's tip.
The only people Shen Bing could trust in the city were slaves.
But most people in Homusan are not happy to see this, especially the wealthier people...the slaves in their hands have become free people, which harms their interests.
Shen Bing knew this, but he still preferred to believe the slave.
Because he knows that slaves are his "die loyal", and what the war wants is "die loyal".
Facts also proved that Shen Bing's approach was right.
Because Huomousang has formed an army armed with more than 2,000 gladiators to defend the city.
There is also a "slave army" of more than 5,000 people... to be precise, it is an army formed by slaves.
Moreover, the two armies were highly motivated and powerful. The two armies were commanded by a gladiator named Jalali. He even asked Shen Bing to fight:
"Let my troops fight the Seleucids, General!"
"Our swords thirst for the blood of our enemies, to avenge our relatives and friends, and to wash away the humiliation on our bodies!"
Shen Bing replied:
"You will have a chance, but not now!"
"What you have to do now is to ensure the internal stability of Homsang."
"You are more familiar with Huo Musang, and you even know who is more likely to rebel."
"Only in this way can we fight the enemy with confidence!"
Jalali nodded and replied:
"Leave everything to me, my dear general!"
"I will never allow rebellion in Homusan."
Jalali did a great job.
To be precise, it's a little "too good"... Once slaves turn over, they will return their hatred to their masters twice as much.
This led to many "rebellion trials" in Homusang, and many slave owners were suspected of "rebellion" and their heads were missing.
Shen Bing acquiesced to this.
On the one hand, Shen Bing believed that these people were indeed guilty... Under slavery, which slave owner didn't have a few slaves die at their hands?
On the other hand, extraordinary means are used in extraordinary times. Only in this way can the internal stability of Homusan be guaranteed.