Yicheng, Sweet Water Fang.

As the first area to get the news of recruitment, the registration point near Sweetwater Square has been surrounded by dozens of people at this moment.

Some of them are talking to each other, some are watching from a distance with a little fear, and some have already begun to ask about treatment. Next to this, Shi Yuanliang was wearing the standard leather armor of the imperial light infantry, holding a knife in his hand, standing beside him quite majestically, looking at these people who were hesitant to sign up.

This leather armor was specially rewarded by Chen Wu for fighting bravely in the previous attack on Yicheng.

After receiving such honors and rewards, Shi Yuanliang was very grateful to Chen Wu, and slept all night with this thick leather armor in his arms. Knowing the news of today's recruitment, regardless of the hot and humid weather, he put on this leather armor and came to the platform without showing off. He had made up his mind to do today's thing beautifully, so as to be worthy of Chen Wu's appreciation. What's more, the people who levy it today may become their own subordinates in the future.

Everyone wants to lead a team of capable strong soldiers, not a group of soft-footed shrimp.

There are two reasons for this, Shi Yuanliang can be said to be full of motivation, and he has been secretly observing the young people who are suitable for entering the Volunteer Battalion.

The impasse in which everyone was just watching and no one signing up was broken half an hour later by a dark-skinned man in his twenties. Seeing that there were more and more people nearby, he finally couldn't help it after wandering around the registration point for more than a dozen laps, and stamped his feet up.

Shi Yuanliang suddenly perked up.

He had already noticed that this man with a somewhat thin figure had already noticed, although he didn't seem to be beaten much, but the other party's muscles were very strong, and his steps were also very calm when walking, and he should have practiced a little bit of style. After entering the rebel army, as long as the food is better, the strength is raised, and a little training is a qualified soldier.

"That, may I ask ......?"

The man was a little nervous and didn't seem to know what to say.

"Do you want to join the Volunteer Battalion?" Shi Yuanliang couldn't help it, walked over in a few steps, and said with a lure: "The treatment of the volunteer battalion is very good, not only food but also food. ”

Seeing Shi Yuanliang's conspicuous leather armor, the man probably knew that the person in front of him was the leader of the rebel army with some status, and immediately looked at him and said, "I don't know how to call the general?" I really want to sign up for the Volunteer Camp. ”

"I don't dare to be a general."

Shi Yuanliang was taken aback by his title, and quickly shook his head and said, "The righteous army only has two generals now, so you can't scream nonsense." I'm now the captain of a ten-man squad in the infantry army, so you can just call me Senior Brother. ”

"That's good, big brother."

Seeing that Shi Yuanliang seemed to be very easy to speak, the man's nervousness disappeared a lot, and he changed his name according to his words, and said: "Little brother, I am from Sweet Water Fang, called Ba Liangcai, and I am an authentic Yicheng person. There are a few acres of land outside the city, and when I was poor before, I also ran with the caravan a few times, but because my wages were deducted badly, I didn't grow up. ”

"It turned out to be Brother Ba."

Shi Yuanliang nodded, wrote down his surname, and said, "So, are you sure you want to join the Volunteer Battalion?" It should be noted that once you join, you will be officially a rebel army, and you can't just quit, and you have to abide by military regulations. ”

"Huh? Can't you just return it? ”

Barang didn't know this, and his face couldn't help but hesitate a little. But touching his hungry stomach, he hesitated again and again, but still asked: "The eldest brother of the righteous army who preached with a rice basket before, the treatment he said should be true, right?" Won't be deducted? ”

"Of course it's true."

Shi Yuanliang patted his chest and assured him: "Our Taiping Righteous Army has always been the same, but if you are recruited to join the Volunteer Battalion, you will be guaranteed that there will be enough rice for two meals a day, and your family will also have food." Join now, and you can immediately bring back two catties of grain. I also heard ......" He looked left and right, and said mysteriously: "The Tiangong General of my righteous army is preparing a new battalion, called the Taiping Battalion, and only the elite of the Volunteer Battalion can join. Once selected, the treatment will never be worse than that of the horse team and the infantry battalion, and I think you have a great hope of being selected. ”

"Then I'll join!"

Ba Liangcai was really tempted, thought about the hungry people at home, gritted his teeth and pressed the ink, and pressed the handprint on the yellow silk cloth at the registration point. Shi Yuanliang did not lie to him, and immediately asked someone to bring two catties of grain to him in a cloth bag, and told him to report in front of the school field of the city defense camp in the afternoon.

If they don't go by then after receiving food, the rebels will not be relenting.

Barangcai's first addition undoubtedly stimulated the people around him. Seeing that Shi Yuanliang really gave enough food, the rest of the people no longer hesitated, and rushed to surround them, reporting their goals one after another.

"I'm going to join the Volunteer Battalion!"

"Big brothers, can I be a laborer like me?"

"I know how to carpenter!"

One after another people poured up, making Shi Yuanliang anxious and at the same time, he couldn't help but be a little happy. With these people joining, the strength of the rebel army is only afraid to usher in a leap. Moreover, once the army is expanded, he, the captain who has been rewarded by Chen Wu, will be able to become the captain of the brigade naturally.

That's an official position commonly known as a hundred households!

………

Shi Yuanliang's registration point in Sweetwater Square is just a microcosm of many registration points.

At the registration points in other neighborhoods of Yicheng, a large number of people were also surrounded. Although it was not that no one came to make trouble and accuse the rebels of stealing their grain before, after arresting a few people in a row, no one dared to come out and make trouble. Everyone lined up honestly, explained their intentions, and pressed their handprints on the yellow cloth.

Those rich families who had bad intentions and were secretly preparing to see the jokes of the rebels were dumbfounded when they saw that the rebels were collecting people with the grain they had stolen, and it was quite effective, which greatly eased the contradictions. Some smart people even felt uneasy from the orderly actions of the rebels. For the purpose of preparing for a rainy day, they began to secretly move around in tandem, but they couldn't discuss any good way for a while, so they could only decide to install people to monitor the movements of the rebels first.

Otherwise, there is nothing they can do.

The really powerful people in Yicheng were either raided like Rongfu, or they paid the money and were released in advance. These people who are still in the city are not strong enough to serve the people. When the four gates of Yicheng were closed, the news could not be transmitted, and the city was blocked by the rebels, they could only curse the rebels in the dark, relying on the little food they were hiding to survive, praying that the officials and troops would come to quell the rebellion as soon as possible.

However, these people who pinned their hopes on Longshan Mansion did not know that the series of actions that Chen Wu had begun was aimed at Longshan Mansion.

Smoke bombs have been released to show the enemy's weakness, and if nothing else, the officers and troops of Long Son Province will quickly march west to quell the rebellion. Combined with the experience in "Empire", Chen Wu can probably deduce the strength of the official army of Longshan Mansion, which can mobilize up to 600 infantry troops and 100 cavalry. It's a force that makes it difficult to defeat them in the wild. In the case of an ambush, there is no suitable location between Longshan and Yicheng. Therefore, Chen Wu was ready to use a deception scheme.

The previous arrangement for Xue Guang to collect money and release people was a foreshadowing. Now another group of people can be arranged, pretending to be dissatisfied with the rebels, and want to open the city gate privately to let the officers and soldiers in. The officers and soldiers who came out in a hurry to quell the rebellion could not carry large siege equipment, and most of them would be fooled. Once they were tricked into the city, Chen Wu closed the city gates, and then modified the terrain of the nearby streets in advance, so that he could catch turtles in the urn.

At that point, there is a way to clean them up.

To carry out this plan, it took a lot of manpower, which is why Chen Wu recruited laborers and various craftsmen on a large scale. These people don't understand what they're doing when they get a job. Only after the officers and soldiers come in will they wake up: what they have cultivated will actually become the graves where the officials and soldiers are buried.

Of course, defeating the enemy by stratagem is only one aspect, and the other is strengthening oneself, which is the right way.

This righteous path is to expand the army!

The Taiping camp mentioned by Shi Yuanliang was one of Chen Wu's plans to expand the army.

Before this, Chen Wu's main combat force was the infantry of the two brigades. The rest of the young and strong laborers were assigned to the volunteer battalion, and the rest of the women, old and young, were integrated into the women's battalion. Now that there are 30,000 people in Yicheng as the foundation, this establishment is naturally no longer suitable. As a volunteer battalion with ordinary combat strength, he planned to expand from the existing three or four hundred to 1,000 in one fell swoop, and carry out preliminary elimination and integration.

It is worth mentioning that at the beginning, this number actually doubled.

But in the end, Chen Wu's sanity still suppressed the unrealistic, unlimited plan of the rioter.