Chapter 58 The Militia Team Goes Down

  At the same time, in other villages, similar situations were also being repeated. Some village heads had good eloquence and explained things more clearly, while others had poor eloquence and achieved poorer results. However, the outcome was roughly the same: they basically made it clear to the common people that Ye's army would not abandon this place and flee, they could definitely defeat the barbarian army, and according to Ye Xuanye's requirements, each village organized a militia team and began to fulfill their duty of protecting their own villages.

  As for the weapons of the rural soldiers, for the time being, the Ye family army was not yet able to equip them, so the village and township heads took matters into their own hands. They used some farm tools they had on hand, such as pitchforks, and also found some long wooden poles, sharpened at one end, to serve as spears, temporarily arming these people.

  These temporarily formed militia teams, whose combat effectiveness is not yet to be mentioned, quickly wove a dense defensive network within the territory under Ye Jiajun's jurisdiction. Within just two or three days, some unidentified individuals were discovered and caught by these militia teams and soon sent to Dongye Town, where they were handed over to Chen Fei for disposal.

  Chen Fei soon found out a few spies among these people, they were basically the barbarians who were sent to scout out Ye's military deployment in advance. Unfortunately, they didn't belong to any place here, their target was obvious, once the militia team was organized, they had nowhere to hide and were quickly caught by the militia team and brought to Chen Fei.

  Chen Fei was not polite, after pulling out these details and interrogating them with severe punishment, he squeezed out some intelligence from them, and without saying a word, he beheaded them. As for the others who were suspicious of their identities, after questioning, some were found to be thieves who had sneaked into this area to steal things, while others were unclear situations flowing into this area and had not yet been settled. Since there was no time to deal with them at present, they were all temporarily locked up in a large courtyard in Dongye Town, waiting for the end of this war before being dealt with again.

  Through the propaganda of the village heads in various villages, the local people's hearts also gradually calmed down and were no longer as panicked as they were at the beginning. However, after all, it is impossible for everyone to be of one mind, and there are still a small number of people who choose to leave with their families to avoid the war.

  For those who fled their hometown, the local Baos were also merciless. They could leave, and they could take their own belongings with them, but all the farm tools borrowed from the Ye family army had to be left behind. The land originally allocated to them was immediately confiscated and made public, and their names were also deleted from the household register. From then on, they would never be allowed to come back here to continue living.

  These measures greatly stabilized the situation within the Ye family's jurisdiction, allowing various areas in southern Hebei to regain stability, reducing a significant amount of trouble for the Ye family army, and enabling them to withdraw their original patrol troops and concentrate their forces. The task of local patrols could basically be handed over to these local militia teams, who would take responsibility as long as they were not faced with well-trained strong enemies. As the training of these militia teams progressed, it became increasingly difficult for small groups of bandits to infiltrate Ye family's territory, and each village had a certain degree of self-defense capability.

  The militia in Ye's territory, compared to the private guards of wealthy families and organized village braves, may not have had better equipment for the time being, but their enthusiasm was much higher than theirs. The purpose of taking up arms between the two sides is fundamentally different.

  The militiamen of the Ye family's army were protecting their own interests, while those in other places were working for others, at most just to save their lives. In comparison, the militiamen on the side of the Ye family's army dared to fight more desperately.

  The high and low combat effectiveness of cold weapon era is affected by the quality of equipment, but to some extent, whether people are afraid of death or not determines the high and low combat effectiveness.

  Apart from the farmers who tilled the land, many hunters in the mountains also heard that the barbarian army was coming to attack the Ye family's army and were very displeased. Although the Ye family's army had divided up the land and had little to do with them, after they arrived, they cleared out the local bandits, making it much safer for the hunters to enter the mountains and hunt, and they no longer had to worry about their homes being raided by bandits. Moreover, the Ye family's army did not extort from them, only taking two-tenths of their harvest, with the rest belonging entirely to the hunters themselves. They absolutely did not use clever excuses to extort from them. Furthermore, the Ye family's army had specially set up trading posts to buy animal hides and game from them at a very fair price, without forcing them to sell, so that in just a few months, their quality of life had greatly improved.

  The improvement of the hunters' quality of life is probably the fastest change in this area. As a result, as beneficiaries, the hunters are even more unwilling to see the barbarians or the government control this area, otherwise their days will be difficult again. This time, when they heard that the barbarians were going to attack the Ye family army, many of them refused to participate.

  Hunters enter the mountains to hunt every day, and their temperament is much more ferocious than that of the common people who farm. Among the various local gangs, it is also these hunters who are most valued. The backbone of the gang is basically composed of hunters, after all, they can fight with knives and shoot bows, and they don't need to be trained much at all, making them pretty good warriors.

  Among these people, after receiving the news, many of them immediately ran out of the mountain to find Ye Jiajun for help. Ye Xuan didn't hesitate and ordered Chen Fei to select a few people from his instructors to organize these hunters who came to join them. They formed a separate militia team of about 300 people, almost catching up with the combat team's one-horned soldier power. This militia team composed of hunters was all good archers. Although their hunting bows were not as good as the official army's infantry bows, they couldn't compare to Ye Jiajun's Divine Machinery Camp, but at least they were a force of archers that couldn't be ignored.

  It was also thanks to the strong support of the local people that Ye's army could defeat the barbarian troops of the Zhongjin Kingdom with a relatively small price.

  At the same time, Ye Jiajun in Hebei was also on the rise, with a growing reputation and being hailed by many as the third generation of Ye Jiajun, or the righteous and benevolent army, the king's army...

  To some extent, it also acknowledged the status of Ye's army, and the news of Ye's army's victory slowly reached the ears of Emperor Xun Ning Xu Jun.

  ……