The second one to be attacked was the Dongxiang stronghold. This place is close to a traffic artery, and there used to be many gangs of horse bandits, road bandits, and thieves. After the arrival of the rebels, they cracked down on the vicious bandits who stubbornly violated the people, and focused on reforming and integrating the green forest people who were forced to live in poverty.
However, the two types of people are actually not easy to distinguish. Due to the overwhelming power of the people, many bandits obeyed on the surface, but in fact they hated the rebels' policy of unified management of assets and weapons and prohibiting disturbance and looting.
Now that the reactionary forces are counterattacking and the rebels are gradually losing power, these grassroots have left their ranks and once again bared their fangs against the soldiers and civilians. The gangsters, together with the local guards, continued to harass the areas where the rebels were active. These people were well aware of the defense situation and personnel composition of the rebels, and they had the upper hand from the beginning.
The traitors especially hate those former bandits who loyally follow the rebels, such as the Five Black Mountain Evils who were previously influenced by Oster. Under the leadership of a companion who "blinded" and then regained his sight, he continued to fight for the people without hesitation. During the resistance, they had already sacrificed three people.
Due to insufficient troops, Captain Eric finally had to abandon most of his activities and relied on the camp to shrink his defense. But if they continue to be isolated and helpless, it will only be a matter of time before the camp falls.
What happened next was Xishan, and the situation was more complicated.
It is close to the Montenegro Mountains, with a vast area, a large population, and fierce folk customs. After the blight disease spread in the northwest of the wilderness, it was the place where a large number of refugees who came from afar to escape the desert camped and settled. Not only are the reactionary forces powerful, but they also involve an important issue: the conflict between foreign refugees and local residents.
Wherever there are people, there will be conflicts. The arrival of large numbers of refugees actually competed for the cultivated land, drinking water and various resources of the indigenous residents. In terms of customs, beliefs, habits, etc., the two groups of people have always been at odds.
Within the Xishan Rebel Army, which is mainly composed of militiamen, the contradiction between the Hakka faction and the indigenous faction has penetrated into all aspects and even reached the point of being irreconcilable. When handling some conflicts, the rebel cadres did not fully take into account the sentiments of the residents of the two groups, resulting in a series of misunderstandings. The indigenous faction believed that the rebels favored the refugees and were the main culprits in occupying their homeland. The Hakka faction believed that they contributed more in the battle and that the natives took advantage of their sacrifices and did not appreciate it.
In addition, during the previous activities of the rebels in Xishan, they carried out two major measures. First, we launched land reform, hanged a group of landowners who had committed heinous crimes by enclosing their fields and barren hills, and distributed their land equally among the refugees. Second, in view of the collusion between officials and businessmen, taking advantage of the disaster to exploit the military and civilians with loan sharks, a campaign was launched to burn land deeds and debts, and a group of outside bourgeoisie were executed.
At first, they received enthusiastic support from the people. However, later on, these two measures began to expand blindly, and even became a tool for the native and foreign factions to weaken each other. As long as they are local farmers who own land, they are regarded as landlords. As long as they travel to various places to do business or hire others to help foreign businessmen, they are regarded as bourgeois, and they will be deprived of their property or even executed. This resulted in many unjust cases and unnecessary killings, many of which involved relatives of rebel officers and soldiers, further intensifying conflicts.
In the chaos, many ordinary farmers and wealthy businessmen were also forced to flee. Most of these people who lost their property and left their homes stayed in areas controlled by the government and were extremely hostile to the rebels. Under the instigation of the government, it is easy to gather together and carry out sabotage operations against the base area.
Not long ago, in a fight between soldiers from two factions, an indigenous soldier was accidentally beaten to death by a refugee soldier. Incited by government spies, a large number of indigenous soldiers surrounded the battalion headquarters and demanded an explanation from Captain Price.
Price did not correctly assess the situation and was shot and killed by a spy hidden in the crowd while trying to negotiate. Subsequently, the demonstration turned into a rebellion. After the rebels were suppressed, the battalion headquarters began to arrest and execute a large number of indigenous officers and soldiers, forcing many soldiers to leave the team or defect to the official army.
Taking advantage of the chaos within the rebel army, the expelled landlords and merchants took the opportunity to form a returning regiment, which they joined with the official army to launch a massive counterattack. The rebels, whose leadership was paralyzed, were unable to organize effective resistance and were retreating steadily. Currently, only the camp and surrounding areas are still under control. After falling into the hands of the enemy, a large number of villages and market towns were brutally executed. For a time, rivers of blood flowed and mourning was everywhere.
This is the situation for the remaining two large strongholds. In addition to areas with external activities such as Dongxiang and Xishan, the power of the county government also began to become rampant again in the towns in the central area.
In Heishan Town, with the rise of riots and resistance movements in various places, especially a month ago, the rebel army organized a beautiful ambush at the headquarters camp thirty miles outside the town, and almost wiped out all the guards who came to clear it up ( But in the eyes of most people, the reason for the victory was attributed to Auster, who defeated the enemy single-handedly); the county forces suffered a fatal blow, huddled in the city hall and fortified fortresses, and completely lost their ability to fight back.
Because the rebels lacked offensive weapons and Skaar did not want to break up with the kingdom for the time being, they did not completely clear them out. The remaining officers and soldiers did not dare to step out of the barracks. After the harassment of harsh taxes and taxes in Heishan Town, the production, life and commerce of the townspeople gradually recovered, the streets became prosperous again, and a large number of refugees were resettled and assisted.
However, now that the situation has declined and the four strongholds are in crisis, the main force of the rebel army has left its headquarters in the suburbs. The Western Territory Prefecture in Sentinel Ridge took the opportunity to dispatch a large number of troops and weapons to support the Black Mountain Prefecture. Guards with sufficient strength began to return to the streets, restored sentries and tax offices, and vigorously hunted down progressives and rebel informants.
A large number of people and progressive gentry were arrested and hanged in public without trial. Because the rebels often disguised themselves as beggar gangs and operated in cities and towns, the government also arrested many innocent vagabonds and imprisoned them, indiscriminately sentenced them to prison sentences, forced labor, and even killed them. Guards in the town went around arresting people suspected of having an affair with the rebels. For a time, white terror was rampant and everyone was in danger.
In just half a month, the rebel base area has shrunk by more than half.
Two of the four strongholds in the southeast, northwest and northwest were destroyed, two were in critical condition, two captains were killed, and there were numerous military and civilian casualties. The central towns fell back into the hands of the county government, and the activity areas except the headquarters and stronghold camps were basically lost.
Faced with the incursions of elite enemy forces from all directions, the rebel army's actual disadvantage of insufficient combat power was also exposed. The Kingdom's garrison continued to send support from Sentinel Ridge, and two more regiments came in and were stationed at the Crossroads Fortress. The Holy Knights of the Knights were also ready to take action. Not content with taking back the church territory, they crossed the border and occupied several towns under the county in the name of assisting defense.
Skaar is stretched thin and has no time to save. The only rebel troops that can fight against mid-level and above enemy forces are the Beggar Musketeers. They are very few in number and are running around without repairs. Their continuous battle losses cannot be replenished.
The rebels have never faced such a severe situation since they raised the banner. It is exactly in response to that sentence that it is darkest before dawn. At the last moment, the reactionary forces will unite and the counterattack will become more crazy and cruel. But if we can't survive, the night will last forever and the light will never come.
