Chapter 197 Operation Mountain Hammer

Chapter 197 – Operation Mountain Hammer

As soon as Ju Shou arrived at the central government hall, he sat on the main government seat.

"Summon all government workers and all remaining officials in this city. Should anyone resists, arrest them."

"Second order, change all flags of this city. We will use our yellow "Zhang" flags instead of the purple ones. All this city military attires will have to change into our designated uniforms."

…

It did not take long before all officials gathered. When they arrived at the central government building and saw the yellow flags with the word "Zhang," they were confused.

"Isn't our lord's flags purple?"

"Why are these yellow?"

Their questions were answered the moment they saw Ju Shou, Zhang He, and hundreds of burly soldiers inside the hall. Looking at their different armor sets and their clothing, they knew that the city was secretly taken by this group of men.

"I knew that you're confused, so I'll keep it short. This city has been taken by our Lord, Zhang Tong. I want all of you to choose if you want to surrender unconditionally, or you will be expelled with your families."

The officials gulped.

Ju Shou affirmed again to quicken their decision, "I'll give you one incense stick time to decide. Anyone who wants to surrender, walk toward the guards on my left and report your name and your address. Our soldiers will inspect your residence later, and we shall inform you what to do next."

"However, if you don't want to surrender to us, you can report yourselves to the officers on my right. We will have our men escort you and your family out of this city. We will not harm you unless you resist."

The officers and government workers panicked and murmured. Their eyes widened, and their faces paled. They were so shocked that they could not make a decision.

"Screw you and your Lord!" An official protested, "Do you think we're herbivores!? We will not surre-*SOEK*."

However, before he could finish his sentences, a guard stabbed him with his spear through the official's back. The tips of the spear appeared from his chest along with his blood.

The soldier pulled his spear back and returned to his previous position, glaring at the remaining officials.

"Please choose wisely." The soldier said in a soft voice.

The murmur stopped like magic. Every eye was on the corpse of the protested official and the soldiers around them. Seeing the blood pool below the body of the dead officials, every civil officer trembled.

…

Within a day, Ju Shou consolidated Shangdang Commandery into Tong's system. All private forces of the nobles were transfer to the central military camp in peace while the stubborn nobles were chased outside of the wall and were left to their fates.

By the end of the day, the original troops of 10,000 men increased to 15,000 men by absorbing the remaining noble private forces and the city garrison forces.

Although Ju Shou stole the troops from the local nobles, he had not touched the merchants yet as the foundation of this city was not as stable as Julu. There was a lot of work to do in this city.

…

October 23rd.

A messenger showed up in front of the north gate of Shangdang City. He was wearing a uniform of Jinyang military soldier with grey clothes, and he carried the messages from Ding Yuan.

The messenger passed the letter to Ju Shou.

[I am Li Feihong, the military strategist of Jinyang Commandery Army. I'm assuming that Sir Jia Xu had already told you about the "Operation Mountain Hammer" details so I will keep it short.

Our task force is currently under the disguise of Xiangnu barbarians, and we are lurking around in your vicinity. Should your scouts detected us, please ignore our existence and pretend you see nothing.

Secondly, I'm sending this letter here to inform you that Liu Ping has sent a force of 120,000 men to reclaim Henei City, which they should show up in front of your city tomorrow. We want you to reveal your identities and fortify the city, so we can deal with these Liu Ping troops from the back to help you.

By the way, if our general happens to show up in front of your gate and demands wines and food, I will have to apologize in advance. Please let him and his men inside and comply with his demands before he gets angry, or he will create a mess again.]

Ju Shou read the letter and recollected his thought. He passed the note to Zhang He while he was thinking about what he should do next.

…

The [Operation Mountain Hammer] involved Julu Army and Jinyang Army. In this operation, all troops in Julu would be transferred to Jinyang while Jinyang Army, leading by Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, and Gao Shun, had to sneak behind Liu Ping's marching army while dressing as Xiangnu barbarians.

If Liu Ping requested Ding Yuan's assistance by any form, Ding Yuan had to refuse it even if it was unreasonable or it was an edict from the Emperor himself. They had to provoke Liu Ping into marching toward Jinyang and leaving Shangdang City behind.

Once Liu Ping moved toward Jinyang as planned, Lu Bu would have to strike down the rear troops of Liu Ping and destroy all of their supplies for good.

Meanwhile, Julu forces would deal with Liu Ping's main force, and withstand the onslaught until the Imperial forces self-destruct from the weather and the lack of supplies.

However, these were the only beginning parts. There was the other hidden plan that Jia Xu did not tell Tong or anyone in Jinyang as the crucial parts lied with Ju Shou and Zhang He.

Jia Xu had given them a tough homework. First, they had to capture Shangdang City instead of Henei City. The Henei raiding plan was a decoy to fool the strategists from the Imperial army if Zhang He and Ju Shou were detected when they trekked through the mountain ranges from Ye City.

If by chance Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, or Dong Zhuo managed to react and fortify Henei on time, both of them and their 10,000 men would be safe from the detached Imperial forces and moved toward Shangdang as planned.

Fortunately, such a scenario did not happen. Since the Imperial forces neglected Henei city defense, Ju Shou exploited it and ransacked the city for gold and provisions as he had to authority to improvise.

Secondly, they had to increase their numbers from 10,000 to 50,000 soldiers at the minimum to block off Liu Ping's paths of escape.

In a scenario, if Lu Bu were to fail, both Ju Shou and Zhang He had to rescue Jinyang Army and bring them back to Shangdang.

This newly established Shangdang Army would be their backup army and a wild card that could hammer a nail to the coffin, which was the reason why this operation was named by [Mountain Hammer].

…

"General, please conscript more militias from this city. We need at least 50,000 men for the garrison force."

Zhang He peered at Ju Shou as the order was a bit excessive, "That's too sudden, Sir Ju Shou. The city only has a bit over 100,000 people in the population. Drafting 30,000 more will hurt this city's economic and the population growth."

Ju Shou sighed, "I don't want you to draft the militias from the civilians, but I want you to buy over the private troops from the merchants. We have enough gold and coins for it. You know what? Let's do it this way. Let's invite all merchants to the main government hall. I will draft a contract for them and deal with the negotiation while you deal with the soldiers. Fair enough?"

Zhang He nodded. He returned the letter to Ju Shou after he finished reading it and left to complete his duty.

…

Three hours later, merchants from all affiliation gathered at the government hall. Five hundred well-dressed men, which 450 of them were chubby from overeating, and a thousand men with ordinary clothes were presented.

The fat men were self-proclaimed nobles who gained their status by their wealth. All of them dibbed their hands into slave trades and shady businesses. As a result, they amassed their wealth quickly and obtained many stores, as well as possessed private troops.

Meanwhile, the ordinary clothes merchants were the residents of this city. Their wealth was either moderate or self-sufficient, and they only have a dozen or so private guards to protect their businesses. These men were honest businessmen who had never touched the dark side of the underground industries yet.

Zhang He had told them that they would buy private troops and slaves, so the chubby men thought of it as an ordinary slave trade deal by the crooked officials. Thus, they came here with high-expectation to gain good profits from the trade.

On the other hand, the local merchants came here to observe the deal to learn from the seniors and expand their horizon. They also received Zhang He's invitation as they had private guards as well.

"Is everyone here?" Ju Shou asked and passed a small note to Zhang He. It was an instruction of the next plan.

Zhang He looked around. He read the instruction and nodded, "That's about it."

"Good." Ju Shou cleared his throat and spoke to the crowd, "Gentlemen, I'm the new deputy governor of this city, Ju Shou. I have a few simple requests to ask for your cooperation. Please follow my instruction carefully, and you will reap more benefits from our affiliate cities than you can imagine."

Ju Shou paused to examine their facial expression. As Ju Shou had expected, the eyes and faces of the wealthy merchants revealed their greed without having to inspect thoroughly. Meanwhile, the local merchants watched Ju Shou in curiosity.

Seeing the high-expectation expression of the crowd, Ju Shou continued, "Is there anybody who can make a deal with me regarding slave-trades, money loaning, or prostitution? Anyone who possesses businesses in these categories, please report the officers on my left side. I have a deal for you."

Listening to the instruction, 450 men of the 500 wealthy men straddled to the designated officers without hesitation. They got used to dealing with these kinds of businesses, and the officials were always their best customers. The fat merchants followed the instruction with a bright smile.

"There is a blank scroll for each of you. Please write down your merchandise of the number of goods you will be able to trade with us, the prices of your products, and the address of your companies that we can contact you. Once you're done, you can follow us this way."

Zhang He guided all fat merchants away, leaving the remaining 50 merchants and local merchants behind.

Ju Shou talked to them again, "Gentlemen, congratulations! You are the chosen ones that will work with us from now on."

"What do you mean?" A local merchant asked in confusion.

Ju Shou gave them a cunning smile, "Their businesses will be transferred to you, but we will need you to form a contracted agreement with us first."