Chapter 506- Attacking Taiping Country
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
8 PM, Ouyang Shuo held a meeting.
Attending the meeting, apart from Shi Hu and Shan Zhu, the rest were all at least major generals. Of the two of them, one represented the 1st division of the Dragon Legion, while the other the 3rd division of the Tiger Legion.
Before the meeting, Han Xin reported the losses of the battle.
"In this battle, including important members, we lost a total of 21,500 men. Amongst which, the Leopard Legion 2nd division suffered the heaviest casualties of more than half. Even their major general, Wei Zhang, was killed."
When the generals heard this report, there was a moment of silence.
The Shanhai City Army could be said to have lost both soldiers and generals in this battle, suffering heavy casualties.
More than eighty percent of the soldier losses came from the Leopard Legion.
The three thousand Divine Martial Guards had also suffered many causalities in this battle with the Blood Guards, losing seven hundred men. Surprisingly, the Guards Division, including Shi Wanshui's and Shan Zhu's divisions that acted as the reinforcements, suffered the fewest casualties.
"Out of the one hundred thousand mountain barbarian soldiers, apart from the casualties, seventy thousand have surrendered. They await us to organize them. As for how to do so, Lord, please instruct!"
Han Xin bowed to Ouyang Shuo and returned to his seat.
In the Battle of Wuzhou, Shanhai City had lost twenty thousand troops to capture seventy thousand elite mountain barbarians. All things considered, Shanhai City had gained more than fifty thousand more troops.
Of course, if Ouyang Shuo did not unexpectedly become the Barbarian King, these mountain barbarians would not easily submit. They would either try to escape, or they would get killed for resisting.
Ouyang Shuo nodded and looked at the generals; he solemnly said, “The Battle of Wuzhou has ended. However, there remains a bigger scale war waiting for us. Generals, we cannot slack now."
"Yes, my Lord!"
The generals replied in unison; they all looking exceedingly serious.
"Shan Zhu!"
Ouyang Shuo directly started to appoint roles.
"Present!"
Shan Zhu did not think that he would be the first general to get called.
"You will lead the Tiger Legion 3rd division to set off tomorrow and rush to the Lingnan War Zone. After handing your forces to General Cao Gui, return to Shanhai City and report to the Military Affairs Department."
The Tiger Legion had already been drafted into the Lingnan War Zone. Since the Battle of Wuzhou had ended, Ouyang Shuo naturally needed to return Cao Gui's division to strengthen the defense on the east.
As for Shan Zhu, he was Ouyang Shuo’s choice for the major general of the iron armored beast division he had planned.
From Du Ruhui’s letter, Animal Husbandry Director Xia Houying had worked hard to breed the iron armored beasts in the valley, and it was slowly working out.
The Combat Logistics Department had already started to craft armor for the iron armored beasts. The iron armored beasts equipped with full armor would form a terrifying presence on the battlefield.
Shan Zhu was from the Li Race. As such, he understood the iron armored beasts the most. He was also a strong general, so he was the best choice for becoming the major general of the division.
The members of the division would be chosen from the mountain barbarian soldiers.
"Yes, my Lord!"
When Shan Zhu heard the command, doubt filled his heart. The Lord asking him to lead the troops to Lingnan War Zone was not the weird part. The weird part was the Lord asking him to return alone.
However, he could only keep his confusion to himself.
Apart from sending away Cao Gui's division, Ouyang Shuo placed emphasis on the Leopard Legion. The Leopard Legion now lacked close to twenty thousand members. How to fill up that gap posed a huge problem.
Ouyang Shuo decided to form a heavy armored infantry division from all the mountain barbarian prisoners; they would be under Zhang Han. All the current soldiers under him would be moved to other divisions.
Apart from that, Shi Wanshui's division, apart from keeping the two regiments, the remaining soldiers would enter the Leopard Legion. With that, the number of Leopard Legion soldiers would basically get restored.
The remaining shortfalls could only wait till after they defeated Taiping Country.
Moreover, such a reorganization did not just give the Leopard Legion the elite mountain barbarian soldiers but also gave them the experienced soldiers of Shi Wanshui's division.
Along with the trial by fire of the Battle of Wuzhou, the strength of the Leopard Legion did not fall. In fact, it had increased instead.
Shi Wanshui was badly injured. Even after consuming the Peiyuan Pill, he only woke up temporarily. As for truly recovering, it would take more than a month.
It was the same as saying that Shi Wanshui's legion had lost their main general.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo decided to just name the colonel of the 2nd regiment of Shi Wanshui's division as the deputy major general. He would lead the division, bringing along Shi Wanshui and the body of Wei Zhang over the one hundred thousand mountain passage and back to Lianzhou Prefecture and the Mulan Stronghold.
The three regiments of mountain barbarian soldiers would return with Liao Kai. These soldiers were sent into Er'Lai's division. Before this, he only had two regiments of heavy armored mountain barbarian infantries. Hence, Ouyang Shuo decided to form a pure mountain barbarian infantry division in one go.
The three regiments from Er'Lai's division nicely entered Shi Wanshui's division.
With that, the three legions of the Shanhai City Army were totally split up, and they were not mixed together in battles.
The Dragon Legion would be housed in Mulan Stronghold, the Tiger Legion in Lingnan War Zone, and the Leopard Legion temporarily in Wuzhou Prefecture.
After this whole reorganization, there were still a total of fifty thousand mountain barbarian warriors left, which were formed into four independent divisions. As for their names, it would be confirmed after the battle.
Of course, one of the divisions were prepared for the iron armored beast division. However, as it was currently wartime, Ouyang Shuo kept the division by his side to face the threat of Taiping Country.
The major generals of the four divisions, apart from Shi Hu who became the major general of the 1st division, the remaining three would temporarily come from the generals of the Divine Martial Guards.
The commander of their forces would temporarily be Ouyang Shuo.
Ouyang Shuo did things this way because he had no other choice. After all, the mountain barbarians had just decided to switch sides. Apart from him, no one else could control them.
Furthermore, they were the best choices for heavy armored infantry soldiers. Ouyang Shuo naturally would not be so silly to break them apart and place them into various divisions.
The mountain barbarian heavy armored infantry divisions would form the most terrifying forces.
As for the two major generals of the heavy armored infantry division, Er'Lai was one of them. Needless to say, he had been leading them for a long time, so training and suppressing the new members would not be too difficult.
Zhang Han, this famous general might seem quiet, but he was a vicious person. If now, how could he manage to train a bunch of Lishan prisoners into such a strong army?
As such, Ouyang Shuo would not need to worry if he allowed Zhang Han to lead one division. If it was other generals, even Di Qing, Ouyang Shuo would have to worry.
After the reorganization, Ouyang Shuo had two legions, including the Guards Division and four mountain barbarian divisions for a total of two hundred thousand elite troops.
This time, Ouyang Shuo wanted to see how the Taiping Country showed their arrogance.
The next day, Shan Zhu and Liao Kai led their troops and left.
Han Xin led the Leopard Legion; they would stay at the command center for two days. First, to complete the organization of the troops. Second, to deal with post-war affairs.
Two days later, he would lead them south. Along with the Dragon Legion, they would pincer the Taiping Country south forces outside of Mulan Stronghold.
Ouyang Shuo, on the other hand, would lead the Divine Martial Guards, the Guards Division, and the four mountain barbarian divisions into Chiyou City to announce the birth of a new king.
The end of the Battle of Wuzhou did not mean that Wuzhou Prefecture had entered Shanhai City's rule.
At the very least, Ouyang Shuo had to obtain the recognition of the various tribes.
After all, those that had witness his coronation were only these mountain barbarian warriors.
The other tribesmen, especially those who lived in the city, did not see it.
Hence, he needed to show his existence at the fastest speed possible in case some other matters occur.
Ouyang Shuo brought the Divine Martial Guards and Guard Division along to prevent accidents. With such a key power in his hands, even if something bad happened, he would have the strength to face it.
Apart from that, ruling Wuzhou Prefecture would also be a problem.
In contrast to Leizhou and Zhaoqing, the people who ruled Wuzhou were all mountain barbarians. The Han people in the prefecture were all looked down upon. Between the two races, a deep conflict always ran.
After obtaining Wuzhou, the problem of balancing interests of both sides would be a huge problem.
If he took away the power of the mountain barbarians straight away, it would definitely come back to haunt him. But it he did not restore the position of the Han race, the economy of Wuzhou would not be able to rise.
Although Chiyou ran Wuzhou well, in terms of economy, it was a total mess.
The entire Wuzhou Prefecture was a burden.
Its economy was no different from a backward society.
Hence, to push it back on the right path was a long and arduous journey.
The key was to choose a suitable governor. This person must be firm to be able to suppress the mountain barbarians, and they must also have smarts and flexible knowledge to balance out the interests of both races.
Apart from that, the governor must be economic minded to revive the economy.
Last night, Ouyang Shuo had already sent a letter to Xiao He and Fan Zhongyan, appointing Fan Zhongyan as the governor.
At the current moment, only he could perform this job.
Xiao He would naturally cover the administration director position. As for the official evaluation, Xiao He would carry on with it, and it would not stop.
Before Fan Zhongyan led his officials over to take care of Wuzhou Prefecture, Ouyang Shuo needed to personally take charge of the situation.
Baiqi and Han Xin would settle the matter of Taiping Country, so there was not much of a problem.
Ouyang Shuo had to remind himself of his identity; his role was to settle his rule. Leading troops to war could be left to others to handle.
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