With Sheng Rong’s attitude, this group of 700 to 800 water bandits submitted to Zhou Jing.
The lackeys did not care about this. As long as the leader was doing well, it was the same for them to follow anyone. Moreover, Chen Feng was so fierce. No matter how they looked at it, he was stronger than Sheng Rong.
Relying on the reputation and skills of the Green Forest, he easily subdued this small group. Zhou Jing immediately got everyone to tally the number of people in the village. In less than an hour, there was a result.
There were 872 people in this group of Small Wind Lake Bandits, and about 430 of them could fight. They all had a certain level of swimming skills. Although they were malnourished and their bodies were average, their attitudes were still considered valiant because they were poor all year round.
This water stronghold was very small, and their inventory of supplies was limited. Their weapons were only about 300 daggers and sharp blades, as well as a few kitchen knives and pitchforks. They did not have armor, and there was very little food stored. However, everyone usually fished for a living, so they would not starve to death.
The most important resource were the boats. There were actually more than a hundred of them. The stronghold possess a multitude of small boats that were fast, but they were all quite old. There were cuts everywhere and many traces of repair.
After roughly understanding the situation, Zhou Jing called everyone over and explained his thoughts.
“Since we chose to use this place as our base, so we naturally have to make a name for ourselves in the Green Forest. Since Sheng Rong has changed sides to me, we’ll most likely go against Fan Zong. Therefore, we’ll deal with this person first and take down more of his territory to lure him out. Then, we’ll defeat him and let us brothers gain a foothold in Huyang.”
He had just arrived and had no foundation. Swallowing the existing bandits was naturally the fastest way to develop.
His current strategic intention was very simple. Because he had poached people from the “Golden Scale King”, Fan Zong, it was impossible for him to settle things peacefully. He might as well keep attacking Fan Zong.
First, he would use his reputation and martial arts to pry away more of Fan Zong’s water bandits and force this guy to attack him. Then, he would finish Fan Zong off in one battle and swallow this person’s faction.
The three flood dragons of Huyang were competing with each other. He would make use of their animosity to only deal with one of them and not provoke the other two for the time being.
In this way, the other two sides could either watch from the sidelines or join him in beating up the other party together. The chances of them helping Fan Zong deal with him were very low.
After he replaced Fan Zong with a thunderous method, the other two would either sense the threat and join forces to resist him, or use him as a borrowed knife to kill another party before disposing of him when he had outlived his usefulness. It was all possible. In short, he would act according to the circumstances.
Hearing Zhou Jing’s plan, everyone was quite excited, including Sheng Rong, who had just joined.
Good lord, as expected of a hero of the Green Forest. The moment he came up, he directly chose to face one of the local bosses. What a fearsome man!
Zhou Jing paused for a moment before continuing, “Our group isn’t big yet, so we won’t be arranging any hierarchy for the time being. Our old brothers will first take the title of leader but won’t be assigned any real positions for the time being.
In addition, there are many lakes and rivers in Huyang. Currently, only Brother Sheng Rong is good at water battles and understands the terrain, so he will temporarily train the navy. The other brothers will follow him to practice their swimming skills first.”
“We understand.”
Guo Haishen, Fang Zhen, and the others nodded.
Zhou Jing then looked at Sheng Rong and instructed,
“Although you and your subordinates have just submitted to me, we treat everyone equally. The secret manuals we plundered in Jiangchun are not only spread among the people, but also open to you. If you want to practice any martial arts, you can practice them yourself. If there’s anything you don’t understand, go and ask the leaders.”
Sheng Rong was stunned for a moment before he was overjoyed. “Thank you, Brothers!”
It was quite beneficial to be able to learn profound martial arts as soon as he joined the group and even receive guidance from a group of experts from the Green Forest. As bandits who had licked the blood of others through their blades, martial arts was a skill that could potentially save their lives. Everyone wanted to improve their skills.
Zhou Jing waved his hand and continued,
“Currently, we’re using the Small Wind Lake as our base, but it’s just a temporary measure. Our end goal is to occupy Yueshan Lake, but now is not the time to move towards it. Brother Sheng Rong, you understand the nearby situation best, so we still need you to tell us the distribution of the 22 generals on the waterway under Fan Zong’s banner. Let’s take down the nearby water bandits first and expand our territory.”
“Understood.”
Sheng Rong was solemn.
At this moment, Fang Zhen thought for a moment and suddenly asked, “Second Brother, Fan Zong doesn’t know that we’re here. Why don’t we let Brother Sheng Rong request to see Fan Zong? We’ll pretend to be followers and capture him when we approach Fan Zong. To capture the bandits, we’ll capture the leader first. It’s just like in Tiger Head Mountain. Wouldn’t that be faster?”
Zhou Jing touched his chin and pondered,
“I’ve also thought of this plan, but the situation in Huyang is different from the Lu River. The water bandits’ territories are too scattered. Although it’s convenient to take down Fan Zong directly, we can’t make a name for ourselves. Even if we replace this person, most of the water bandits under him will not submit to us.
Instead, they will seek refuge with two other people among the remaining flood dragons in Huyang. In this way, we will become an empty commander with no troops. We can only subdue the troops of Fan Zong’s headquarters and can’t command the water bandits everywhere, with the danger that our territory will be surrounded by the other two flood dragons.
At that time, if we want to go out and subdue others, we will definitely attract the other two to attack us from both sides. We will be restricted and it will not be easy for us to build.”
Duan Yunfeng’s eyes flashed as he replied,
“I see. Brother Chen wants to subdue many water bandits first and pretend to occupy this place. Then, you can lure Fan Zong to gather his troops to attack. At that time, you can defeat the other party on the battlefield. Not only can you capture Fan Zong, but you can also capture many water generals under him. From there, you can defeat them in one go and subdue a large number of water bandits in one go. You can also become famous in one battle?”
“Something like that.”
Zhou Jing nodded. Duan Yunfeng understood his intentions.
Even if he subdued a few more water bandits, the number of troops would still be far inferior to Fan Zong. However, his group was filled with experts. If he wanted to win a battle with fewer numbers, he had to use this advantage.