Traveling through time and space and becoming a deposed prince, he just wants to survive!

Chapter 451 The Mission of the Convict Army

After a while, generals arrived one after another in front of the Shizhou garrison government office.

Fang Zhixing took a look and found that most of them were familiar faces.

Among them were Chen Songtao who was promoted to general, deputy general Han Ziqing, lieutenant general Zhu Zhanhui, and even Qin Zichuan who only had the rank of a thousand households.

At present, the total strength of the defenders of the entire Shizhou, plus the soldiers who escaped from the forest, is no more than 100,000.

However, the Hun army they were about to face had a population of 200,000 in the first batch of arrivals.

According to information gathered from the front, another 200,000 Hun troops were also preparing to set off.

At some point, Qiao Mang arrived at the hall. He ordered his men to let all the generals enter the hall to discuss military affairs together.

After everyone had gathered, Qiao Mang said solemnly in a resonant voice, "Everyone, now that the Xiongnu have invaded our border, the soldiers and civilians of Shizhou City should unite to resist this foreign enemy. What are your thoughts on this?"

As the general of Shizhou, Chen Songtao's status is second only to Qiao Mang, and he is equivalent to a general in the army.

Seeing Shangguan asking the question, he naturally spoke first: "Sir, as soldiers, we must live and die with Shizhou!"

As soon as Chen Songtao finished speaking, the generals below echoed in unison, their morale was high, and no one showed any intention of retreating.

Among these people, Fang Zhixing was once a criminal. Although he has now become a good person, it is inevitable that people will have some concerns.

However, Fang Zhixing is a chivalrous man who treats foreign enemies with passion.

Seeing Chen Songtao take the lead in expressing his opinion, he was unwilling to lag behind and said loudly: "Sir, although I was once a prisoner, I was loved by you and was appointed as a chief.

Since the last battle, although some of the 20,000 prisoners were injured or disabled, there are still 10,000 who can fight.

This time, I am willing to be your vanguard, charging into battle!"

Seeing Fang Zhixing's sentiments, Qiao Mang was deeply relieved and said with joy, "Fang Zhixing, it is rare for you to have such a noble character.

However, the enemy situation is dire this time, and having you lead the convict army as vanguard soldiers might be disadvantageous. I will make other arrangements later."

Seeing that Qiao Mang had other arrangements for the prisoner army, Fang Zhixing said no more and quietly stepped aside to wait.

Qiao Mang continued, “Although Shizhou City is not very large, we have soldiers and civilians who are united as one.

Today, I have sent a message to Jinyang, requesting them to send reinforcements. For now, we just need to defend the city."

After hearing Qiao Mang's arrangements, everyone bowed in agreement.

After some arrangements, Qiao Mang announced the end of the meeting, leaving only Fang Zhixing behind, saying that he had something to discuss with him.

Fang Zhixing was confused and didn't know why Qiao Mang left him alone, but he knew it must be a confidential matter, so he didn't say much and waited quietly.

After everyone in the hall had left, Qiao Mang finally spoke: "This time the Xiongnu army is coming with such force that I'm worried that the reinforcements won't arrive smoothly.

Therefore, we need a special force to wait outside the city for an opportunity to attack the enemy when necessary."

Qiao Mang's meaning was very clear, which was to ask Fang Zhixing to lead the criminal army to launch a surprise attack on the Huns and catch them off guard.

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhixing immediately agreed without hesitation: "I will definitely fulfill my mission!"

Qiao Mang continued, "Currently, the prisons in the city have mobilized and can provide your prisoner army with an additional 2,000 prisoners. People from surrounding counties may also be sent over."

At that time, regardless of the number of people, you only need to lie low in one place and wait for the opportunity."

Qiao Mang's voice was deep, yet deliberately low, as if every word carried a heavy weight.

Fang Zhixing knew that the matter was confidential, so he nodded in agreement without saying anything.

"You, the convict army, will immediately go down and form teams. You must keep a close eye on the newcomers and make sure there is no confusion during the battle."

Qiao Mang warned earnestly.

"Don't worry, sir. We have over ten thousand capable warriors in the village, so it won't be difficult to guard two thousand newcomers."

Fang Zhixing patted his chest and promised.

"Perhaps there will be more than two thousand men. Yamen runners, government soldiers, and guards from various counties may also join you. This will be a major battle, and you, Fang Zhixing, will be the commander of this extraordinary force in this battle."

Qiao Mang seemed to suddenly remember something as he continued, "If you, the Convict Army, achieve new merits this time, I will report it to the new governor, who will allow you to be released from the ranks and reward you accordingly."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhixing was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes. He knelt down with a plop and said in a trembling voice, "Thank you, Lord Town Guard, for giving me a new life!"

During the Zhou Dynasty, household registration management was extremely strict. In addition to the four types of household registration: scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants, there were also exile registrations and criminal registrations.

The registration of exiles is not much different from that of criminals and slaves.

For those with exile household registration, firstly, they will not be allocated land and will have to work more than twice as much as ordinary people; secondly, even if they have children in the future, this household registration will still be passed on to their descendants.

Liuji mainly refers to those who have no land and live in other places. They can only work as tenants, slaves or long-term laborers.

The court kept these people because it regarded them as a kind of productive force. When necessary, they could be used as human resources, whether for corvée labor or conscription into war.

The household registration of prisoners is equivalent to labor reform. Although they are supervised, it is not strict. It is also intended to serve as a population reserve for future corvee labor or war.

Therefore, for these people, being able to sever their citizenship is a great blessing.

In the Zhou Dynasty, only by making meritorious contributions can one start a new life.

It has to be said that this, to a certain extent, gives people who make mistakes the opportunity to reform themselves, which is more humane than some modern people's ways of thinking.

The weapons that Qiao Mang equipped the criminal army with were mostly swords and guns, with very few pieces of armor.

In the prisoner army, only the leaders were qualified to own armor.

After Fang Zhixing returned, he hurriedly distributed the weapons and a small amount of armor he had received, made all preparations, and waited for new orders.

The next day, two thousand prisoners and a hundred or so yamen runners arrived at the camp.

Fang Zhixing held official documents that authorized him to be the chief, so when the yamen runners arrived, they had no choice but to obey his orders. He appointed them as squad leaders and put them in charge of the new and old prisoners in the team.

Such a staggered arrangement facilitates team management.

Moreover, most of these people brought their own weapons when they came, which also reduced Fang Zhixing's worries about weapons.

Another day passed, and three hundred prisoners were sent over, along with guards and yamen runners, nearly three thousand people in total.

Fang Zhixing did not disband these people, but retained their original organization.

It was on this day that Qiao Mang gave Fang Zhixing a letter, asking them to lead the team to hide in the mountains and wait for the opportunity.

Fang Zhixing immediately reorganized the troops. Qi Niu and Wang Sili each led 5,000 people as the left and right armies respectively, and the rest of the people formed the central army, led by Fang Zhixing himself.

Under the cover of night, the team quietly hid in a designated mountain ten miles outside Shizhou City, quietly waiting for the moment to attack...