Chapter 138 Good news!
"Great General! Great victory in Pingcheng! Captain Su defeated the enemy!"
When the messenger reporting victory came to Li Chong's tent and reported the news to Li Chong, the officers around him were stunned.
Defeating the enemy?
What great defeat of the enemy?
Wasn't Su Ze appointed by General Li to stay in Pingcheng? There was no battle in Pingcheng. How could he defeat the enemy? Where did the enemy come from?
A few days ago, rumors about Su Ze and Princess Shouyang suddenly spread in Pingcheng, and the rumors became more and more outrageous.
Li Chong later ordered Su Ze to stay in Pingcheng temporarily, while he led part of the army to the Six Garrisons first.
All the soldiers thought that Li Chong was punishing Su Ze and asked him to stay in Pingcheng because he was afraid that Su Ze would conflict with the Rouran King in the army. It was a disguised protection.
But what victory was reported today? Where did the enemy come from?
But Li Chong showed a satisfied smile on his face, as he had expected this result.
Li Chong had already sent people to search for the Rouran troops near Pingcheng, but the court's tone of urging became increasingly severe, and Li Chong could no longer stay in Pingcheng.
This is why I discussed with Su Ze to lure the snake out of its hole.
However, there is a difference between defeating the enemy and greatly defeating the enemy. Li Chong called the messenger to his front and asked, "How many enemies have been defeated?"
The shabby-looking messenger held up five fingers and said, "Defeat five thousand enemies!"
After saying this, the generals around Li Chong all laughed.
Is Su Ze crazy?
There could be five thousand enemies near Pingcheng?
All the generals present laughed, and some even stood up to accuse Su Ze of lying about military intelligence and going crazy in his pursuit of credit.
Li Chong was like a tiger waking up from sleep, and suddenly said, "Silence!"
"Military judge! Anyone who makes noise again will be tied out of the tent and flogged twenty times!"
Only then did people remember that this old man in armor was the Crouching Tiger of the Wei Dynasty, the pillar general of the Wei Dynasty who defeated the enemy in the Battle of Fushan Weir!
After Li Chong showed his aura, all the generals immediately shut up and looked at this wretched messenger quietly.
"After my captain was ordered to defend Pingcheng, he suddenly heard that elite Rouran cavalry had invaded Pingcheng. Captain Su led the thieves into the city and defeated them!"
"In this battle, one thousand heads were beheaded and three thousand prisoners were captured!"
Hearing this, the faces of the generals who had just had expressions of watching a show changed.
Lying about reporting a victory is a common practice in the military. After all, killing a hundred enemies in a battle is also a victory. Even if no enemies are killed, it is also a victory if they run away.
But for someone like Su Ze, who clearly reported the number of people killed in battle and captured, there is no way to falsify the numbers.
The world today is no longer in the state of disorder like the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Five Barbarians. Naturally, there are strict laws in the army. Those who falsely report military flags or kill innocent people to claim credit will be held accountable, and the reported military exploits must also be verified.
Other generals in the army broke out in cold sweats.
Hengzhou hides 5,000 elite Rouran cavalry! These people are not coming to Hengzhou to get money. Think about it carefully. After the army sets out, these Rouran people will attack Pingcheng. This is a big plan! Pingcheng is the main hub of the army's supply. If Su Ze hadn't stayed in Pingcheng and defeated these Rouran people, even if Pingcheng was not broken, these 5,000 Rouran people trapped Pingcheng and cut off the food and grass of their own army. Then the army is now in danger!
Everyone looked at Li Chong. It turned out that Li Chong deliberately left Su Ze in Pingcheng!
After hearing what the messenger reported, Li Chong showed a surprised expression on his face. Based on his understanding of Su Ze, Su Ze was definitely not a person who would take credit for himself, but wasn't such a record too exaggerated?
Cavalry combat is completely different from infantry combat.
Great victories on the southern front often resulted in tens of thousands of results. This was because the South was basically a siege and positional war, and after defeating the defending enemy, they would surrender in an organized manner, so results of this magnitude were not uncommon.
But it is different in the north. The cavalry comes and goes like the wind, and it treats the enemy and us the same. Even if you win a cavalry duel, it is difficult to wipe out the enemy completely.
But this time, Su Zete did not engage in a field cavalry duel. Instead, he lured the Rouran people into Pingcheng and used Pingcheng itself as a pocket to completely trap the Rouran people.
The first ones to enter the city were the elite troops around Yujiulu Brahmin, but they were all grassland light cavalry, and they were crowded at the city gate and were directly crushed to pieces by Su Ze's armored cavalry.
After one round of attack, Yujiulü Brahman's left and right adjutants were all killed in the battle, and Yujiulü Brahman himself fell off his horse, was seriously injured and fell into a coma. If it weren't for [Calm Armored Cavalryman] Su Jing who remained calm and saved Yujiulü Brahman, who looked like a leader, Yujiulü Brahman would have been trampled to pieces.
Yujiulü Brahmin led his elite troops into the city. Behind the remaining Rouran people was Pingcheng. Su Ze led his men to attack them from behind. Behind these Rouran people was Pingcheng, so they had to bypass Pingcheng to escape. There was no one to lead them, so they were defeated by Su Ze's attack.
Then the city gate opened again. Su Jing, with the head of the Rouran elite stuck on the halberd, led his armored cavalry squad to charge again, completely shattering the Rouran people's will to fight.
Relying on the advantage of terrain, Su Ze finally swallowed up all of these Rouran elite cavalry. Except for the one thousand people who died on the spot, the remaining three thousand Rouran people chose to surrender, and only less than a thousand people escaped by chance.
After listening to the messenger's report on the battle process, even Li Chong's palms were sweating. Su Ze's use of troops was really too risky!
The task that Li Chong gave to Su Ze was to defend Pingcheng. If that didn't work, he could wait for his army to come back for support. All he had to do was drive the Rouran people out of Hengzhou and ensure the safety of the rear.
However, Su Ze used Pingcheng as bait to lure these Rouran people in and kill them, and finally swallowed them all in one breath!
Li Chong asked, "Where is Su Ze?"
The messenger proudly said: "The captain has already taken the prisoners to meet the general!"
Li Chong immediately said: "Send someone to pick them up!"
When the military meeting was over, Li Chong's son Li Shizhe hurried to the commander's tent and said:
"Grandpa! Please kill Su Ze!"
Li Chong looked at his son and didn't even feel angry anymore. He just yelled, "Get out!"
Li Shizhe was very angry, but his long-standing fear of his father made him instinctively leave the tent.
Upon hearing that Su Ze had wiped out thousands of Rouran elite troops, Li Shizhe immediately panicked.
With such a great victory, the Rouran people and the Wei Dynasty have a blood feud, so how can we ask them to withdraw?
If the war in the north lasts for several years, when will I be able to return to the court?
Moreover, if he fails to complete King Jiangyang's commission, he will not have the opportunity to become the governor of a large province. How can he become a minister in the future?
Just as Li Shizhe was returning to his tent dejectedly, a messenger with a wretched appearance suddenly appeared in front of him.
The soldier beside the [Corrupted Messenger] pointed at Li Shizhe. He immediately handed a string of Taihe Wuzhu to the soldier, then strode up to Li Shizhe and said:
"But Li Shaoqing is in person?"
Li Shizhe was somewhat puzzled. He only heard the other party say, "I am following the order of my captain Su to send Li Shaoqing a fortune."
(End of this chapter)