Chapter 74: Gaining the Support of the People

Monk Xiao originally took two steps instead of three to enter the tent, but when he saw Wei Jichen sitting under the lamp with a calm face, the tension in his heart disappeared immediately for no reason, and his steps became much more steady.

"Sir, the brothers have taken control of the situation in the town. Those fleeing soldiers who were making trouble everywhere have been arrested. Brother Yunfei asked me to bring people back to report to you first." Monk Xiao said respectfully.

He now admires Wei Jichen. Not only is he skilled in martial arts, but he is also calm and has the style of a great general. Compared with the previous Ye Liuyun, he is really a world apart.

"Oh, it's a bit beyond my expectation that the situation was controlled so quickly." Wei Jichen put down his hand and said with a little surprise.

Rubbing his eyes, Wei Jichen continued to ask: "Did the group of defeated soldiers escape from Xiuyan City?"

Monk Xiao nodded and replied: "Your Excellency is really a god. They escaped from Xiuyan City. According to the captured defeated soldiers, it seems that Xiuyan City has been breached by the Japanese."

Wei Jichen was shocked and stood up immediately and said: "Such a big thing, why didn't you say it earlier? Let's go quickly with me."

Monk Xiao's face looked very innocent, and he thought to himself: I was very anxious at first, but seeing your stable appearance, I became calm.

Wei Jichen handed the camp to Cheng Buzhi for command, and he led his personal guards to the town in a hurry.

Before entering the town, he heard a lot of crying inside.

When he entered the town, he saw that it was really in a mess. After several houses caught fire, they were burning fiercely. Fortunately, there were soldiers from the Weizi Army helping the people put out the fire.

Most of the people hid in their houses when the riots started. Now, when they heard that the riots outside had subsided, they quietly opened their doors and looked outside.

Until they saw soldiers helping to put out the fire and maintain order, which was very different from the previous fleeing soldiers, they carefully half-opened the door and walked out.

"It's General Wei!"

"General Wei is here, let's go and take a look."

Some people knew Wei Jichen and saw him riding into the town. They talked about it. If the news spread, countless people opened their doors and quietly followed Wei Jichen to see how he would deal with it.

When Wei Jichen rode to the center of the town, he saw Li Yunfei leading the soldiers of the Wei army to surround a group of 200 fleeing soldiers in the middle.

And outside the Wei army, there were densely packed people, probably no less than a thousand people, and the people were still surrounding them from all directions at a terrifying speed.

Several girls stood by and cried, and some civilians pointed at several people among the fleeing soldiers, their faces full of resentment, and they knew what happened at a glance.

"Fuck, dare to touch my soldiers, I will make you pay for it." Among the fleeing soldiers, a general who was in charge of the uniforms was shouting loudly.

In front of him, Nie Cairong tied a fleeing soldier with a horse whip and wanted to pull him out, while Li Yunfei seemed to be persuading her.

In short, the whole scene was in chaos.

"What happened!" Wei Jichen frowned and walked into the field, turned over and dismounted, and asked.

Li Yunfei hurriedly walked to his side and whispered: "Zijie, as soon as this group of defeated soldiers entered the town, they looted everywhere, and even several soldiers tried to rape civilian women. Fortunately, we arrived in time and rescued them. Brother Rongcai was so angry that he caught one of the main culprits and wanted to shoot him."

"Oh, Rongcai is a boy with a strong sense of justice." Wei Jichen was relieved when he heard that there was no murder case, and said jokingly.

"Zijie, this group of defeated soldiers are all from the Fengtian Shengzi Training Army under the deputy governor Feng Sheng'a. Among them, a famous lieutenant even claimed to be a distant relative of Feng Sheng'a." Li Yunfei said with some concern.

The deputy governor is a second-rank official in the Eight Banners military system, with the same rank as Wei Jichen, the general, but Wei Jichen is naturally not as capable as him. Feng Sheng'a leads the Eight Banners soldiers with a good family background and can report directly to the emperor.

Li Yunfei was afraid of causing trouble to Wei Jichen and affecting his career, so he advised Nie Cairong not to be impulsive.

After hearing what Li Yunfei said, Wei Jichen couldn't help but sneer. Feng Sheng'a's relatives were really powerful.

"Fuck, whose soldiers are you? You dare to surround us? Call your commander." The lieutenant in the defeated soldiers saw that Nie Cairong was persuaded, and his words became more arrogant, and he ignored Wei Jichen who was walking slowly.

Wei Jichen walked to the furious Nie Cairong, patted her shoulder gently, and whispered: "Leave it to me."

"Well, big brother, you must not let these beasts go." Nie Cairong pulled out the whip, stood beside Wei Jichen and said nothing.

"Who are you?" The lieutenant saw Wei Jichen appear and shocked the whole audience, and couldn't help shouting at him.

"Didn't you say you were looking for me just now?" Wei Jichen put his hands behind his back, and his voice was calm, and no joy or anger could be heard in it.

"You are the leader of this army, why are you blocking our way? Why don't you quickly order the soldiers to let us go?" The lieutenant said sternly.

Wei Jichen did not leave, but turned to ask Li Yunfei: "Yunfei, if the soldiers are allowed to plunder and flee when they encounter the enemy, how should they be dealt with according to military law?"

Li Yunfei replied: "My Lord, according to military law, they should be killed."

"What nonsense are you talking about, dog slave, I am the nephew of Feng Sheng'a, the deputy commander of Fengtian Shengzi Lianjun. If I lose a hair on my body, you will be killed." A trace of fear flashed in the eyes of the lieutenant, but he still tried to scare Wei Jichen with his relationship.

"Dear fellow villagers, I am Wei Jichen, the commander of the Wei army. This defeated soldier just now did a lot of bad things. He is the scum of our army. Please come forward and bring evidence to accuse him. I, Wei, will definitely take care of you." Wei Jichen clasped his fists to the people around him and said righteously.

The people around him were in a commotion. In the end, whether it was Wei Jichen's reputation that worked or the damage they suffered was too great, someone finally stood up.

"General Wei, you have to take care of this old man. The silver that I have saved for more than ten years has been robbed by these beasts." An old man who could be Wei Jichen's grandfather knelt on the ground, pointed at the inside with snot and tears, and gritted his teeth.

"Old man, get up quickly. I can't stand it. I will definitely take care of you." Wei Jichen hurriedly stepped forward to help him up and said.

They are really beasts. They even robbed the old man in his seventies and eighties.

Someone took the lead, and then hundreds of people came out one after another, pointing out the crimes committed by the deserters inside.

The most serious of these was that some deserters entered the house to extort money but failed, and they were so crazy that they set fire to the house. There were also many deserters who were tempted by women and tried to defile women. In a small town, more than a thousand families were victimized in a short period of time.

No wonder there is a saying that we are not afraid of bandits, but we are afraid of deserters.

The more the people talked, the more excited and angry they became. They asked Wei Jichen to make a decision for them and severely punish the soldiers who committed crimes.

The deserters surrounded by the soldiers of the Weizi Army saw the people outside who were eager to cut them into pieces, and they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.

Not long ago, they were a group of sheep crying in front of them, but now they have turned into ferocious beasts.

Wei Jichen gently pressed his hand down, and the people stopped shouting for a while. Only slight sobbing and angry breathing were heard in the whole field.

"What else do you have to say?" Wei Jichen turned to the lieutenant, his two sword-like eyebrows raised, and his eyes were filled with unstoppable anger.

During the day, these people were still talking and laughing with him and others, and they respected him very much. Unexpectedly, they suffered such a disaster at night.

"I am the nephew of General Feng Sheng'a. If you dare to kill me, my uncle will definitely not let you go." The lieutenant felt the murderous aura coming from Wei Jichen and shouted in fear.

"Drag him out and kill him for me." Wei Jichen didn't even look at him, but said to his personal guards.

Wang Huaiqing took a few personal guards and walked in like wolves and tigers. A group of fleeing soldiers were so scared that they moved aside and dared not make a sound.

The lieutenant naturally did not surrender, but drew his gun and tried to resist stubbornly. Wang Huaiqing had long been on guard against him jumping over the wall in desperation. Before he raised his gun, Wang Huaiqing raised his hand and shot.

After the gunshot, the lieutenant held his chest, blood slowly seeping out from his fingers.

"You will regret it, my uncle will... avenge me." The lieutenant fell down, still pointing at Wei Jichen in disbelief before he died.

He didn't expect Wei Jichen to actually dare to kill him.

Even the lieutenant was killed, and the other defeated soldiers were all silent and trembling, and no one dared to stand up and speak.

"Take away their guns for me, and deal with them one by one according to the military law." Wei Jichen gave an order.

All the soldiers of the Wei army shouted and came forward, and the defeated soldiers raised their hands one by one and handed over their guns. The bloody facts proved that if they resisted, they might be lying on the ground later. If they did not resist, they might not be sentenced to death according to the military law.

"General Wei, please accept the greetings of our Mayang Town folks." Led by several village elders, thousands of people suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to Wei Jichen to express their gratitude.

They were grateful in their hearts. If Wei Jichen had not sent troops to suppress the rebellion tonight, there might be more trouble.

"Fellow villagers, please stand up. This is all my responsibility. Please go home and pack your luggage and leave this place tomorrow morning. The Japanese have already captured Xiuyan City. Maybe the pursuers have already sent their troops to pursue us." Although there was no definite news that the Japanese were coming, Wei Jichen did not dare to joke with the lives of the people.

"The Japanese are coming. I didn't expect it's not safe here."

"Yes, mother, let's go home and pack up and leave tomorrow morning."

"What are you afraid of? Isn't General Wei here? No matter how brave the Japanese are, they dare not provoke General Wei."

"That's true, but for safety, let's go to our relatives."

The people around were not so scared when they heard Wei Jichen's words, but there was deep helplessness in his tone. First, it was not a critical moment, and second, most of them had escaped from other places. They were used to running and running, and they were numb. If they ran to Beijing one day, I believe they would not be surprised.

After seeing Wei Jichen finishing up the defeated soldiers, the people in the town hurried back to pack their luggage. For a while, the whole town was in chaos, with lights in every house, children crying, and adults shouting.

Since Wei Jichen shot Feng Sheng'a's nephew, the group of defeated soldiers no longer showed their previous arrogance. They acted like good grandchildren, fearing that Wei Jichen would be unhappy, and they would kill them one by one.

Wei Jichen found two mournful-looking lieutenants among the defeated soldiers.

"General Wei, spare us, we have not done anything against the law." The two lieutenants kowtowed repeatedly.

"Okay, I have something to ask you. How and when was Xiuyan City lost? Tell me in detail." Wei Jichen said with a serious face.

According to his and others' speculation, it would not be a problem to defend Xiuyan City for ten days or half a month, but before the three days, the city was lost inexplicably.

What the hell is going on?

The two lieutenants hesitated at first, until Wei Jichen raised his eyebrows and was about to get angry, they just poured out all the beans.

After hearing this, Wei Jichen became more depressed.

It was not that their speculation was wrong, but that the two defenders of Xiuyan City, Nie Guilin and Feng Sheng'a, were too greedy for life and afraid of death. Seeing that the Japanese troops were approaching the city, they only defended for one day. Seeing that the reinforcements had not arrived, they secretly led their troops to flee back that night.

These two people were not only afraid of death, but also incompetent. Even when they fled, they were in a mess and had no rules. Soon, the Japanese learned the news.

This is exactly what the Japanese want. If you hide in the city, I really can't do anything to you for a while. If you escape from the city, it will be like an old man hanging himself - you are too long-lived.

The Japanese 5th Brigade, Osako Naotoshi, set up an ambush outside the city that night and launched a massive sneak attack while the Chinese army sneaked out.

A retreat turned into a rout. In the middle of the night, the Chinese army suffered countless losses, countless soldiers were killed and wounded, countless were captured, and the loss of guns and ammunition was immeasurable.

Those soldiers who escaped also didn't care about the direction, as long as they were away from the Japanese army. They were driven away by the 5th Brigade like ducks, and they fled in all directions without forming a formation.

The defeated soldiers who fled into Mayang Town were small troops that were separated from Feng Sheng'a's main force. I don't know how much more there are like them.

According to the two lieutenants, they were still the fastest runners. Those who ran slower either surrendered to the Japanese or were caught up and killed by the Japanese cavalry.

In short, Xiuyan City was finished and had completely fallen into the hands of the Japanese.

"Did Feng Sheng'a tell you where you should retreat to?" Wei Jichen frowned and asked. Five thousand troops were destroyed in one fell swoop. Nie Guilin and Feng Sheng'a were really amazing.

"To reply to General Wei, before the retreat, the deputy governor ordered to retreat to Ximu City, but we were ambushed by the Japanese in the middle of the night. We fled in a panic and lost our way." The two lieutenants now knew everything.

"Are there any pursuers behind you?" Wei Jichen asked again. Although he had already sent out flying cavalry to investigate everywhere, it would be better to ask the person involved.

"To reply to the general, when we escaped, there was a Japanese infantry team following us closely, but we were all running for our lives and then lost their trace." The two lieutenants did not dare to hide anything and told the truth.

This Xiuyan City was lost three nights ago. In order to expand the victory and annihilate the Chinese army as much as possible, the Japanese will definitely not give up. Maybe the pursuers are already on the way.

Wei Jichen thought for a moment, then turned to Li Yunfei who was standing aside and ordered: "Yunfei, you hurry down, first notify Lord Ma and explain the situation to him clearly, and then let Cheng Buzhi bring all the troops into the town. We have to set up a defense line at the other end of the town to prevent the Japanese pursuers from coming."

"Yes, sir." Li Yunfei hurried down with a serious face.