Chapter 733: Liangshan's Military Strength Summary

"it is good!"

"We are not going to win a great victory this time, but to establish our authority. Mr. Jialiang, please tell us about our plan."

Song Jiang nodded, looked at Hua Rong with satisfaction, and then threw the question to Wu Yong beside him.

"We can select 15,000 troops for this expedition, including 3,000 cavalry, led by Hua Rong, Suo Chao, and Yang Zhi, as surprise troops, waiting for an opportunity to attack the flank of the Hengzhou army."

"The rest of the infantry, led by leaders Lu Zhishen, Yang Xiong, Shi Xiu, Jie Zhen, and Jie Bao, will meet the enemy head-on, but remember not to fight too long. Focus on harassment and make the Hengzhou army restless."

"As for Brother Zhang Shun, you lead the navy and cruise around the lakes. Be ready to support the leaders and retreat at any time."

Wu Yong stroked the handle of his fan gently, glanced at the people below, and spoke slowly.

In the Water Margin, the number of Liangshan heroes during their victorious period was approximately between 6.5 and 12.

How do you solve the problems of food, clothing, housing and transportation for so many people?

More than 100,000 troops is not a small number, and simple financial resources are certainly not enough. At the beginning, Liangshan Marsh was originally a group of bandits and robbers. Robbing was their main business, and they relied on looting to survive in the beginning.

Later, when they attacked Zhujiazhuang, they did not move many of the people in the original stronghold. There were already three to five thousand people in the stronghold before, and with the six thousand people at this time, there were about ten thousand people in Liangshan. Song Jiang and others gained a huge harvest from the attack on Zhujiazhuang. Not counting other gold, silver and treasures, there were 50 dan of grain, more than horses, and kilograms of gold, silver and treasures.

Also, because Song Jiang treated old man Zhongli well, he won the support of the people of Zhujiazhuang. The reputation of Liangshan became famous throughout the country, attracting many loyal and righteous people to join him.

Liangshan's power further expanded.

Later, the total force of Liangshan when attacking Gaotang Prefecture would not be less than 12,000 people.

It was also this battle that made the imperial court discover the powerful force of Liangshan.

At this time, Liangshan was still expanding. When it attacked Zengtou City, the number of troops sent by Liangshan reached an astonishing 20,000 people, which was no less than the size of the standard army of a big city at that time.

Later, because of Hu Yanzhuo's surrendered generals and the people who were recovered and defected, such as the Battle of Defeat the Linked Horses, the Battle of Qingzhou, the Battle of Huazhou, the Battle of Mangdang Mountain, etc., when the great gathering came, the total number of Liangshan troops was no less than 30,000.

Around 30,000 to 50,000 people.

After that, the imperial court officially launched the attack on Liangshan. Tong Guan's two encirclement and suppression campaigns involved a total of 23 troops (with more than remaining after the war), and Gao Qiu's three encirclement and suppression campaigns involved a total of troops, a total of people. This is no small number!

In the end, Liangshan returned with a great victory. At this time, after the battle, there were about 100,000 soldiers including the surrendered generals.

Therefore, the heyday of Liangshan was after the game of Gaoqiu and before the imperial edict, when the number of Liangshan troops was approximately between 80,000 and 120,000.

Because when they went to fight Fang La after the edict of amnesty, Song Jiang and Lu Junyi each led 5 elite soldiers, plus naval forces, which clearly meant there were troops.

After the Northern Song Dynasty recruited Liangshan, it did not provide any soldiers to Liangshan, so it sent the Liangshan army to fight Fang La.

Before the expedition against Fang La, Liangshan had already fought three battles after the Zhao'an, namely, the expedition against Liao, the expedition against Wang Qing, and the expedition against Tian Hu, and suffered some losses.

In addition, many people were unwilling to surrender when they were recruited, and they took the money and left the mountain. In addition, there were relatives and other people in Liangshan. Before the recruitment, Liangshan had at least 100,000 people including civilians in its heyday. It was just a pity that the Liangshan faction, which was still at its peak, turned around and ran into the Hengzhou army under Su Ye, and there were Taoist soldiers - Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and heavy armored infantry corps - Halberd Soldiers in the Hengzhou army.

Needless to say, the result was that the Liangshan army of nearly 100,000 people, including Hu Yanzhuo, Guan Sheng and other five generals of Liangshan and a group of leaders, were either killed or scattered.

Now, under Song Jiang's command, including some Liangshan soldiers who were gathered along the way and the defeated Yellow Turbans, as well as some old, weak, sick and disabled people, there are only about 30,000 to 40,000 troops in total.

"As for weapons and preparations, we Liangshan heroes are always good at using local materials. We can ask the craftsmen to make some simple spears, swords, as well as harpoons and water arrows suitable for the navy."

"As for the cavalry, although we don't have enough horses, we can select some strong mules and horses. Although they are a little slower, they have long endurance and are not easy to be detected."

Wu Yong continued, then paused and looked at Song Jiang.

Speaking of equipment, Song Jiang and Wu Yong smiled at each other, and they already had a plan in mind.

In their minds, the equipment of the Liangshan heroes, including most of the Yellow Turban Army, has always been a major problem.

Among the Yellow Turban Army today, apart from the thousands or tens of thousands of direct lineage soldiers under the command of the Taiping Sect's mastermind, all of them are fully armed and well-equipped.

Only the Qinglong Army of about 80,000 people under the command of the commander-in-chief Longxiang, who is now entrenched in Luzhou and makes the Daqian Dynasty dare not invade, has this treatment, and this is only possible by gathering the strength of millions of Yellow Turban Army.

For most of the other Yellow Turban soldiers, being given an iron hoe before going to the battlefield was a great honor, as they were given the best weapons. Most of them went into the battlefield with wooden or even bamboo weapons.

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Although the Liangshan army was not as miserable as the ordinary Yellow Turban Army, it was not much better either. Iron weapons were still a rare commodity among the Liangshan army.

But now that Zhu Wen and Jiang Xiaobai want them to be cannon fodder, they naturally have to squeeze some benefits out of them.

"Brothers, we Liangshan heroes have never lacked courage and fighting ability, but we are indeed lacking in military preparations."

"For this expedition, we will ask Zhu Wen and Jiang Xiaobai for the best equipment, including swords, spears, halberds, bows and arrows, horses, and even armor and weapons made by the Mohists."

Thinking of this, Song Jiang immediately understood and spoke.

"That's right. Now that they need us to send troops, we can not only ask for equipment, but also use this as an excuse to ask them to provide logistical supplies to ensure that our soldiers will not get into trouble on the battlefield due to shortage of supplies."

Wu Yong also smiled and continued.

"Moreover, we also want them to promise that once we achieve military merit, they will give us corresponding rewards and territory, so that the heroes of Liangshan can truly gain a firm foothold."

As he said this, he stroked the handle of his fan, his eyes gleaming with a gleam.

Since the Liangshan clique is destined to be cannon fodder, they naturally have to maximize the lives and interests of their minions and try to exchange them for some good things, otherwise how can they be worthy of the sacrifices of those minions!

After hearing this, although the anger in the hearts of the heroes was not completely dissipated, they all understood that this was the best way at the moment. They could only nod in agreement and began to prepare to send troops.

Zhang Shun and others are even more eager to fight, ready to let those who look down on them know that the heroes of Liangshan are never pawns to be manipulated by others!

(End of this chapter)