Recruitment here in Dongzhou is in full swing, but on the other side of the sea, Zhoushan Island is calm and completely turned a blind eye.
Su Qi'an was very calm after hearing the news. He was right as he thought. The people on the other side were also resting and recuperating, waiting for reinforcements to arrive. Once the time was right, the third battle would begin.
Both sides are now preparing their troops, and everyone is waiting for a good opportunity.
There was no movement from the pirates on Zhoushan Island, so Su Qian felt more relaxed, but just in case, he still asked the soldiers left behind to set up defenses on the Dongzhou coast and monitor the actions on the other side at any time.
The recruitment in the past few days has achieved great results. There are two to three thousand people who have passed the first level. Even the eliminated youths will stay as long as their height and weight can meet the standards.
The checkpoints set up by Su Qi'an were mainly for training grassroots officers, so they should naturally be stricter.
As for those who are eliminated, as long as their weight and height meet the standard, they can also join the army, but one is a grassroots officer and the other is a recruit.
After the battle between the two counties, there were still many casualties on Su Qi'an's side, so it was impossible not to replenish his troops, so he took advantage of this opportunity to recruit some new soldiers.
The recruitment of new recruits will last for about half a month. Those who think they have the strength and want to challenge themselves to be junior officers can sign up.
For those who think they can't do it and just want to join the army, the assessment is much simpler. Two registration routes are specially opened. In this way, they will not waste time and can be notified in advance.
In a flash, ten days passed by in the blink of an eye. The number of soldiers recruited this time has reached tens of thousands, which does not include those who signed up for grassroots officers.
The addition of new soldiers has somewhat alleviated the problem of insufficient troops in the battle between the two counties. Su Qian does not have high hopes for these new soldiers.
Even if the third battle begins, most of these new recruits will be in the rear, accompanied by veterans.
Su Qi'an already had some considerations in mind regarding the number of troops to be sent out for the third battle.
The Dongshan and Split Mountain armies sent a total of 10,000 troops, and the remaining veterans and new recruits stayed behind to guard Qingchong County. However, Wu Dingguo's Dongzhou soldiers, after two consecutive battles, were able to fight only less than 30,000 out of 50,000. .
Even if we expand the number of new soldiers, we will have more than 40,000 troops. In order to maximize our strength, we will mobilize 10,000 elite troops, and the remaining troops will be deployed in Zuohai and Sanming counties.
In addition to the 40,000 state soldiers mobilized from the rear, although the rear state soldiers are weaker, 10,000 will be mobilized, and the remaining 30,000 will be deployed to defend Haizhou City and other six surrounding counties.
In this way, there were a total of 30,000 land troops, and three lines of defense were also deployed in the first nine counties of Dongzhou.
As for the navy, in addition to the 20,000 Dongzhou navy, Su Qi'an also asked Yuezhou for reinforcements of 20,000 navy, a total of 40,000.
This time they launched a counterattack to wipe out the pirates on Zhoushan Island, with a total of 70,000 troops dispatched.
With a scale of 70,000 people, it is already a very large-scale battle. This only includes combat troops, if you add logistics troops, and various civilians.
The scale of this battle will reach an astonishing 150,000 people. It can be said that it has reached the scale of a battle.
It was also the largest battle that Su Qi'an had commanded in the past few years.
Sending so many people to encircle and suppress a small Zhoushan Island may seem like a big fuss to outsiders, but once you have come into contact with these pirates and Japanese pirates, and know the determination of the supporters behind these Japanese pirates, you know that a naval battle involving 70,000 people is not a big deal at all. many.
According to Su Qi'an's estimation, if Yamashita Isamu and Sakai Jiro want to defend the important stronghold of Zhoushan Island, the number of troops they must dispatch will definitely be similar to theirs, at least 60,000 to 70,000 people.
There are about 20,000 people on the island, and the real leader is the Fuso royal family behind them. For this siege, Fuso may send tens of thousands of naval troops. Only in this way can it be possible to defend the island. Zhoushan Island.
This battle not only determines whether the people of Dongzhou can live a stable life in the future, it is also an invisible contest between Daliang and Fusang.
If they win, Fusang will reconsider the plan and timing of the invasion of Great Liang. If they lose, it won't be long before a full-scale invasion will be launched.
This battle can only be won but not lost, and it is also Su Qian and Fusang's hard work.
A tough fight.
Looking at the large number of people passing the first level, Su Qi'an nodded happily. Among so many people, Su Qi'an saw a familiar figure.
This person is none other than the first person Su Qi'an received the bounty from, Mu Lixin, a disciple of Zigui County in the rear. Wang Wu
He didn't expect that this Wang Wu would go all the way to the front line to join the army.
Wang Wu quickly sensed Su Qi'an's gaze. He looked in the direction of Su Qi'an with a look of surprise on his face. He was about to run over, but was stopped by Su Qi'an's gaze.
Wang Wu understood that Su Qian wanted to avoid suspicion and let him pass the test first.
Wang Wu nodded, clenched his fists, nodded heavily in the direction of Su Qi'an, and slowly moved forward with the flow of people. After about half an hour, it was finally Wang Wu's turn.
Although Wang Wu felt terrified in his heart at the rotten and smelly corpse in front of him, and even couldn't help but feel nauseated, but thinking of Su Qi'an's expectant eyes on him, the vomit that rose up in his throat was swallowed by Wang Wu.
After a while, a voice sounded in Wang Wu's ears. "The fifth Prince of Zigui County has passed the first test. A quarter of an hour later, he will set off with the 25th batch of teams to participate in the second monthly training test."
When he heard that he had passed the examination, Wang Wu's face was filled with joy and he almost couldn't help but jump up.
He quickly left the team and turned his eyes to look for Su Qi'an, but where he was just now, Su Qi'an was nowhere to be seen.
Wang Wu stood there with a somewhat lonely expression on his face. He then thought about it. After all, the other party was a superior supervisor, and he was just a civilian. Being able to save his life that night and arrange for timely treatment was pie in the sky. .
How can I expect to be able to talk to Su Qi'an.
Just when Wang Wu gathered his mood and prepared to leave, Su Qi'an's voice sounded softly from behind him.
"Haha, it seems you are a little disappointed because you didn't find me."
Wang Wu turned around fiercely, with an excited look on his face. Just as he was about to say something, Su Qi'an signaled him to be quiet.
After all, this is a public place, and other people are still undergoing assessment. If Wang Wu is excited and can't help his emotions and is attracted, it will be another troublesome thing.
Wang Wu nodded repeatedly and whispered, "Your Majesty is right to remind you, it is the common people who are excited."
Su Qi'an waved his hand, looked Wang Wu up and down, and said softly, "It seems that your injury is almost healed. By the way, why are you thinking of coming to the front line to sign up to join the army? Will anyone at home take care of you once you leave?"
Wang Wu clasped his fists and said, "Return to your lord. The villain's injuries are almost healed, thanks to the lord's care for the villain. Without the lord, I'm afraid I would have to explain where I am that night."
"I'm a rough man. I don't know how to repay such a great kindness. I heard about the recruitment of troops from behind. After thinking about it over and over, I decided to go to the front line and join the army in order to repay my kindness."
"Before I left, I left enough money. I asked my relatives and friends to take care of my family. It should be fine."
"I have to thank you for all this. Without your bounty, my life would not be so good. Moreover, under your supervision, the officials in Houjiu County have restrained themselves a lot. Bullying is rare in Zigui County now. The phenomenon of men dominating women is all thanks to adults."
"Coming to the front line to join the army is not only to repay your kindness, but also to protect our country. These damn pirates and Japanese pirates have been invading Dongzhou for so many years, and they will eventually have to pay the price."
Listening to Wang Wu's series of stories, Su Qi'an nodded slightly and met with Wang Wu, not only to understand his situation, but also to understand the grassroots situation in Houjiu County.
Only the people at the grassroots level can understand the most real situation from their mouths.
However, Wang Wu's story made Su Qian quite satisfied. After he left, the officials in the last nine counties did not make as many mistakes as before.
The original rectification still achieved good results. Of course, for now, most of these restrained officials are just waiting and watching.
If Su Qi'an fails to win this battle, the rear nine counties that have been reorganized will return to their original shape in a short time.
Everything has to rely on strength. Only by catching all the pirates and Japanese pirates on Zhoushan Island can we truly have an absolute shock to all the officials in the eighteen counties of Dongzhou.
Su Qian looked at Wang Wu, patted him on the shoulder, and encouraged him, "Wang Wu, work hard. Remember what you said. You came to join the army to protect your family and the country, not for me personally. I believe in you." I will definitely pass the junior officer assessment. It’s getting late, so go ahead.”
Wang Wu looked excited, nodded heavily, then turned around and quickly joined the twenty-fifth batch of teams that passed the first test. Under the leadership of the instructor, they quickly left the Dongzhou coast.
Su Qi'an watched, and after a while, a soldier quickly ran over from a distance, cupping his fists and reporting.
"Sir, the state soldiers from Houjiu County, along with 50,000 shi of grain and grass, under the leadership of Dongzhou Mu, have arrived at Qingchong County."
Su Qi'an looked surprised, nodded slightly, and waved to leave.
It took ten days to arrive at Qingchong County. Su Qi'an was not surprised. After all, it would take a while to prepare 50,000 stones of food and grass before gathering 40,000 state soldiers.
Being able to prepare for departure and arrive at the front line on the 10th was relatively fast. Su Qi'an was surprised that the person in charge of the state soldiers was Dongzhou Mu Zhou Zibin.
With his status, he could appoint anyone else to lead the troops this time. Su Qi'an had thought that someone else would come, but he never expected that Yizhou State Shepherd would take the initiative to take charge of the commanding task.
If you didn't know Zhou Zibin a little bit, other people would definitely be deeply impressed by this move and think he is an extremely responsible and good official.
If this were the case, it would be impossible for Dongzhou to remain in chaos for so many years.
Regarding Zhou Zibin, Su Qi'an originally thought of waiting for the war to end before going back to deal with him. Since he was so anxious, he took the initiative to go to the front line.
He took advantage of this battle to fully expose his fox tail.
