High-mobility units have always been a headache for enemies since ancient times.
Chariots, cavalry, tanks, armored vehicles, and so on.
Now, Chu Chen's cavalry, which actually numbered only eight thousand, although they were light cavalry, their ability to raid and harass was giving Li Mengdie a headache.
"Are there any other martial arts sects in Shizhou that can be used?"
Li Mengdie thought left and right but couldn't come up with an idea, still feeling that martial artists were more reliable.
"Reporting to Your Highness, the Six Doors have all come to Shizhou now, those martial arts sects are probably... not that brave."
Fan Ju said with a look of difficulty, and in his heart, he cursed those good-for-nothing members of the association.
"A bunch of guys who are dissatisfied but dare not resist, and are afraid of death! And they still have the nerve to establish martial arts sects to teach people martial arts!"
Li Mengdie scolded with disdain, but was helpless.
After a while, Li Mengdie sighed and asked, "Fan Ju, do you have any way to deal with those bandits?"
"Your Highness, those bandits are all light cavalry. If the leading carts of the transport team are equipped with blade gates or more long spears, they might be able to cope with one or two."
Fan Ju hesitated for a moment and offered a solution that wasn't really a solution.
Li Mengdie could have thought of this solution herself, but the cost would be too high.
"Forget it, since that's the case, let it be."
Li Mengdie waved her hand with a helpless expression.
In March of the 3243rd year of the Qingzhou Continent, the imperial army's pacification force had arrived in Shizhou.
"Reporting to the Marshal, we have arrived in Shizhou territory. Another eighty li will take us to the seat of Qiancheng Commandery, Qiancheng County."
"Qiancheng County? This Marshal knows."
After Chu Chen waved for the scout to retreat, he looked around and asked, "Since the army has arrived in Shizhou territory, we cannot march carelessly as before. We must guard against enemy attacks and ambushes. Therefore, this Marshal wishes to send three thousand men as a vanguard to clear mountains and build bridges over rivers for the army, so that the army can pass unimpeded. Who is willing to lead the vanguard?"
"Your subordinate Lu Renjia is willing to lead the vanguard!"
As soon as the words fell, a young and strong man, with a look of joy on his face, knelt on one knee and requested.
Chu Chen's expression was slightly strange. Good heavens, with a name like that, he was definitely going to be the first to die!
Looking around, he saw that others were not very enthusiastic about the vanguard position, and Chu Chen felt a little strange, so he nodded and agreed, "Since that's the case, Lu Renjia, heed my order!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
"Today, this Marshal orders you to be the vanguard general of our army, leading three thousand troops, to charge directly into Qiancheng Commandery, and to clear all dangers along the way! Do you have confidence?"
"How dare I not obey?"
"Good, go gather your troops and depart immediately!"
Chu Chen handed the troop dispatch and tiger tally to Lu Renjia. The latter took them and left the central army tent with joy.
Looking at the remaining people, Chu Chen directly asked, "Gentlemen, why did no one volunteer to be the vanguard before?"
"..."
The generals were stunned. They had never seen a superior officer so direct. But since the superior officer asked, it was not good to not answer.
Although Deputy Marshal Wei Lixuan had a look of disdain in his heart, he smiled generously and said, "Your Highness may not know, but suppressing rebellion within our own country is different from campaigning abroad, so the treatment for the vanguard position is naturally different."
"Oh? How is it different? Isn't it all the same to clear mountains and build bridges and roads?"
Chu Chen asked curiously, and Princess Xinyue was also curious.
This made Wei Lixuan even more disdainful, and even a hint of contempt flashed in his eyes, but he still politely said, "Since Your Highness is interested, then your subordinate will explain a little."
"For the vanguard position, if campaigning abroad, the people of that country are not our own people, so the vanguard can do as they please, as long as the army's path is clear."
"But if campaigning domestically to quell rebellion, during the process of clearing mountains and roads, if we encounter passers-by who are our own people, it is not good to drive them away by force or kill them. This greatly reduces our power, and sometimes there is even the risk of being framed."
"Therefore, we generals are not very willing to take on this vanguard position, after all, who knows how many refugees there are in Anlan Commandery and Qiancheng Commandery of Shizhou."
His words made Chu Chen understand. This was a comparison between having benefits and not having benefits, and it was thankless work. No wonder these people were unwilling to be the vanguard.
Refugees are also our own country's refugees, and they are legal. Although lives are worthless, if too many of our country's refugees are killed, it is inevitable that someone will sue, and the reputation will be very bad.
But if they don't use force, then these refugees are not so easy to drive away.
"An Xian, where are you?"
"Your subordinate is here!"
"This Marshal orders you to lead the front army to support the vanguard, and push the front line all the way to Qiancheng County!"
"Yes! Your subordinate accepts the order!"
"The rest of you will follow this Marshal in the central army and advance slowly!"
"Yes!"
As the saying goes, every family has its own troubles. While Prince Li Mengdie was troubled by the bandits, Chu Chen was also troubled by the rot in the imperial army.
Some say that this world is a world of comparing rottenness. I don't need to be excellent, as long as you are more rotten than me.
Currently, the ninety thousand imperial troops in Chu Chen's eyes were more or less in this situation. Fifty thousand were new recruits recruited last year, and ten thousand were soldiers from the Five City Military Guard. Only thirty thousand were genuine imperial veterans.
The only good news was that a month before the expedition, the Ministry of Revenue had sufficient funds, and allocated money to the Ministry of War to purchase a large amount of supplies, and they had eaten their fill for a full month.
"Heh~ Ha!"
"Stab! Stab! Put more force!"
"Block, slash! Roll! Block!"
Around the central army tent, more than ten thousand soldiers were actively training under the leadership of their respective generals.
The central army could not advance quickly every day because it had to wait for supplies, essentially moving at the speed of the supplies. Therefore, they had plenty of time to train the soldiers in addition to marching.
With so many soldiers, Chu Chen did not have enough personnel to train them. This was not something that could be taught hand-in-hand with hundreds of people. He could only let the generals train their physical fitness and martial arts after they had eaten enough.
This method of training soldiers was basically common on the Qingzhou Continent. The only difference was that Chu Chen required training every two days, while the regular training was every three days.
Although trained every two days, Chu Chen provided three meals a day, and they ate their fill every meal. On the days of training, they could at least have a bowl of oily soup with some meat scraps.
After fifteen days, the sixty thousand troops who participated in the training in rotation had trained seven times in total. It could not be said that they would be very good fighters if they continued like this, but at least they had strength and spirit. They looked somewhat like elite soldiers, not completely a mob.
Two days later, the vanguard Lu Renjia led three thousand soldiers to within fifty li of Qiancheng County. He intended to advance a bit further, set up camp, and wait for the army to arrive, but something unexpected happened.