Chapter 169: A Battle to Defeat Hezhou (5k)
Huang Xin, the new secretary of the General's Mansion, was completely shocked.
What kind of monsters are under the command of General Su? They actually snatched the rebel leader from the rebel camp like this!
What was even more dumbfounded was the rebel leader Que Tiehu himself. He was sitting peacefully in his tent when this group of big men rushed in, robbed him, and then ran out of the camp in a hurry.
It's not so easy for a mountain bandit to rob someone, right?
Don’t the rebels have any dignity?
Que Tiehu, the King of Tianchi who had just been crowned king, looked at Murong Shaozong and Hou Jing blankly, listening to them discussing how to deal with him.
Murong Shaozong was more mature and prudent. He said, "We should report to the general immediately. The rebel leader has been captured by us. We can defeat this mob as long as the general sends troops."
Hou Jing also agreed to report the news, but he had his own plan for the next step. Hou Jing said:
"We have captured the bandit leader. Now is the most chaotic time for the bandit army. When the general's army arrives, the bandit army may have already elected a new bandit leader. We should continue to harass the bandit camp and make them live in fear."
The two of them were arguing, so they looked at Yang Chounu.
Yang Chounu was originally a little unconvinced. Hou Jing and Murong Shaozong were not Su Ze's direct descendants, but now they were on equal footing with him, one of the earliest Yulin who followed Su Ze.
There are many Yulin who think like Yang Chounu. Most of them have followed Su Ze earlier, and Yang Zongjia has known Su Ze for a long time.
Murong Shaozong and Hou Jing, who surrendered during the Northern Expedition, were considered the second echelon within the system. Su Ze attached great importance to them, which naturally caused dissatisfaction among the direct line.
Snatching the leader of the bandits from the enemy's camp of 10,000 people, both the courage and the execution made Yang Chounu's dissatisfaction disappear.
In the military, everything depends on your ability. If you don't have the ability, why should your brothers fight for you?
Similarly, if you have ability, people will be willing to follow you, because following you can save their lives and achieve merit.
The military camp is such a cruel and realistic place.
Yang Chounu immediately intervened and said, "Don't ask me, I will just follow your orders."
While the two were still arguing, Su Ze had already received a report from the Northern Army's entourage and learned about their battle process in which they captured the bandit leader Que Tiehu alive.
Su Ze could only sigh, this was indeed Hou Jing's style.
In the history of the past, this great general dared to attack the heavily armed Jiankang City with only 3,000 remnants, crossed the Yangtze River and captured the fortified city that Fu Jian's hundreds of thousands of troops failed to capture, and completed the most gorgeous counterattack in desperation. Hou Jing also seized the enemy's loopholes in this way and created opportunities from the chaos.
Being able to keenly discover the enemy's weaknesses is the talent of a genius general. Su Ze was right about him.
However, Hou Jing is a guy who is often very proud, and he must be suppressed.
In the history before Su Ze traveled through time, Hou Jing had always been loyal to Gao Huan, and Gao Huan's son wanted to rebel as soon as he succeeded to the throne.
Hou Jing had been in charge of Henan for more than ten years under Gao Huan without any trouble. But when he came to Southern Liang, he killed nine out of ten people in Jiankang, causing a huge catastrophe in Southern Liang.
This is a knife. If you don't use it properly, you will hurt yourself.
In addition, Murong Shaozong is also a very interesting person.
In fact, Su Ze guessed Murong Shaozong's intention from the moment he asked for sheep. He wanted to persuade the Que Tiehu rebels to surrender.
However, after meeting Que Tiehu, Murong Shaozong found that Hou Jing's method was better, so he decisively modified his plan and cooperated with Hou Jing to complete the plan of capturing the bandit leader alive.
All this shows that Murong Shaozong was a general who knew how to adapt to changing circumstances. He was able to make plans based on local conditions and hand over the plans to the most suitable people to carry them out.
If they faced each other head-on, Murong Shaozong would probably not be a match for a general like Hou Jing who was good at breakthroughs. But if he were asked to organize a siege and encirclement, or fight a battle of attrition, Murong Shaozong would be able to make his opponent despair.
As expected, geniuses will shine. Both of them have their own strengths and are worthy of leaving their names in history books.
But the next thing will be done by Su Ze.
Su Ze immediately gathered all the men in Jincheng, and forcibly demanded servants and guards from Li Shizhe. He also recruited 200 good family men in Jincheng, and gathered 500 people to leave Jincheng.
Finally, Murong Shaozong and Hou Jing discussed and decided that after sending the messenger, they would use Yang Chounu's fifty cavalry to find an opportunity to harass the rebel camp.
At this time in the rebel camp, the rebels were arguing over the kidnapping of Que Tiehu.
Among the rebels, Que Tiehu and several tribes that had allied marriages were the most determined to rebel. They were unwilling to establish a new Tianchi King, and instead demanded to send troops to take back Que Tiehu.
Other tribes demanded the election of a new Tianchi king to lead everyone back to the northwest grasslands and stop attacking Jincheng.
Some small tribes were clamoring to separate. They were originally forced to rebel, and now even the one who forced them, Que Tiehu, was gone, so they had even less motivation to rebel. They hoped that the rebels would disband on the spot and return to their own pastures.
What's even more embarrassing is that, apart from Que Tiehu, there is not even a single person who can be named in the entire rebel army. Even if they want to elect a new leader, most tribes don't know this new leader!
The rebel leaders quarreled in the tent for a long time, and then received a report that the imperial cavalry were coming again!
Now the direct descendants of the Tiehu tribe were angry. You robbed our leader and now you come to fight us. This is too much of a disrespect to us as human beings!
So Que Tiehu's younger brother, Que Tiesheng, led 300 light cavalry from his own tribe and rushed out of the camp directly to drive away Yang Chounu and others who came to harass them.
Yang Chounu was also puzzled at first. He led his soldiers to "tease" the rebels around the camp, setting fires and cursing, but the other side was like a coward and did not react at all.
Yang Chounu yawned. It was like when you did everything you could the night before, but the other party didn't even make a sound. You immediately lost interest.
When Yang Chounu saw Que Tiesheng rushing out with three hundred cavalrymen, he was not frightened but instead became more energized.
He waved his whip and said, "Brothers! Here's your chance to make a contribution!"
This is when the effect of training comes into play.
The cavalry under Su Ze's command were divided into heavy cavalry and light cavalry.
The most elite among the heavy cavalry are the three teams of armored cavalry. They are Su Ze's treasures and the sharp knives on the battlefield. Su Ze keeps them by his side and commands them personally.
The rest were the direct lineage heavy cavalry led by Yang Chounu. They used spears and lances as weapons and wore half-body armor. Compared with the armored cavalry, they did not wear leg armor, and their horses were not armored either. Their mobility was slightly better than the armored cavalry, but they were also an elite force that used thrusting charges and close combat, and were generally used by Su Ze as a supplement to the armored cavalry.
The light cavalry, like Que Tiesheng's grassland archers, were mainly used for battlefield harassment and pursuit.
The people on the grassland are indeed good at riding and archery, but their advantage is only mobility.
Facing Su Ze's carefully trained heavy cavalry, this advantage was lost. Yang Chounu led the charge with a long spear in hand, and defeated the archers led by Que Tiesheng with one blow. When he charged again, Yang Chounu directly killed the dazed Que Tiesheng and the bandits immediately fled back to the barracks.
After the battle, Yang Chounu felt even more unsatisfied when looking at the corpses of the bandits on the ground. He ordered his soldiers to dismount and cut off the heads of the bandits. Then he led his men to set fire around the bandit camp, and then left with a load of heads.
In the next few days, Yang Chounu still led the cavalry to curse and set fire. This time the enemy camp was like a turtle and dared not send anyone to fight again.
Five days later, even Yang Chounu felt bored. Just as he was leading the cavalry to continue harassing the rebel camp, he felt a vibration on the ground.
Hou Jing quickly lay on the ground with his ears pressed to the ground. He immediately stood up and said, "A large number of cavalry! Coming from the rear!"
Now everyone became nervous, and Murong Shaozong asked, "Is it General Su's support, or is it Que Tiehu's ally?"
Hou Jing said decisively: "Mount your horses! The general's support will not come so quickly. If it is Que Tiehu's ally, we will fight to the death to send Que Tiehu to the general!"
Murong Shaozong nodded, he also mounted his horse with a bow, then held Que Tiehu, who was tied up like a dumpling, in front of him, looking into the distance ready to break out at any time.
At this moment, a large banner appeared on the horizon. Hou Jing and his two companions immediately felt relieved. The cavalry shouted, "The general is coming!"
When Su Ze's scouts arrived at the temporary camp, Hou Jing and his two companions immediately escorted Que Tiehu to Su Ze's banner.
Quetiehu looked at the young Huqiang general and the armored cavalrymen beside him. His arrogance of declaring himself king had long since vanished. Quetiehu knelt down with a plop.
Su Ze pointed at Que Tie and suddenly said:
"Calling yourself king and treason, Que Tiehu is guilty of a capital crime that cannot be pardoned. Do you want to save your entire clan?"
Que Tie suddenly said in a rage: "General, you are too merciful! The previous governor was too greedy, so we had to rebel!"
"Can you read?"
Quetie suddenly shook his head.
Su Ze said, "You dictate, write down the crimes of the previous governor, and the names of the officials who plundered your tribe, and sign your name."
"Also, please write down the names of the local heroes and the Han people's fortress owners who instigated your rebellion. This general can only kill you, the ringleader, and forgive your followers."
Hearing Su Ze's promise, Que Tie suddenly burst into tears and said, "General, you are so kind!"
After saying this, Su Chao led Que Tiehu to copy the confession, and Su Ze called Hou Jing and Murong Shaozong.
Su Ze asked the two men, "When can we defeat the enemy?"
Hou Jing said: "General, if you charge now, you can defeat the enemy immediately!"
Murong Shaozong said: "It will take another three days."
Su Ze looked at Murong Shaozong and asked, "Why does it take three more days?"
Murong Shaozong said, "I have interrogated Que Tiehu. When I captured him, the enemy army was already short of food. These days, Commander Yang has been harassing the enemy camp with his troops, and they have no chance to go out and rob food. Even if we send them fifty sheep, the enemy army should be out of food now. In three days, the enemy army should start killing horses. That will be the best time to attack."
Su Ze said with satisfaction: "Set up my banner opposite the enemy camp, set up camp, light a stove, and reward the whole army!"
While Su Ze was building the camp, he acted as if he was going to fight the enemy for a long time. At the same time, he slaughtered the livestock he brought. The aroma of barbecue drifted into the enemy camp with the wind. Even the soldiers guarding the camp gate kept wiping the saliva from the corners of their mouths.
Murong Shaozong’s calculation was correct; the enemy army was really out of food.
In order to boost morale, Que Tiehu kept the old, the weak, women and children in the camp. These tens of thousands of people needed a huge amount of food every day. They were recently harassed by Yang Chounu and could not go out to plunder. Someone had already suggested slaughtering war horses to satisfy their hunger.
Su Ze cooked meals in front of the enemy's camp for three days. After the soldiers had eaten their fill, on the morning of the fourth day, the sound of war drums finally rang out in the camp. Three teams of armored cavalry came out and lined up neatly outside the camp.
The remaining cavalry also lined up in an orderly manner. Su Ze, who was in the center of the army, pulled out the Great Xia Dragon Bird from the scabbard of the Great Xia Dragon Bird beside him. The sword flashed with a cold light, and Su Ze ordered a charge!
The following time can be regarded as garbage time on the battlefield. The enemy's camp itself had no order at all. The armored cavalry quickly broke through the simple wooden fence. After Su Ze's cavalry broke through the camp head-on, the morale of the enemy army completely collapsed and they fled in all directions.
Su Ze did not order a pursuit, but instead asked his soldiers to gather the old, weak, women and children in the barracks, and then find some slightly stronger ones among them, and let them follow the scouts to persuade their respective tribes to surrender.
Su Ze, with the prestige of a great victory, sent cavalry teams to the surrounding Qiang generals' ranches, Han forts, and towns to ask for supplies to reward the troops.
In fact, ever since Su Ze led his troops here, the three chiefs of the towns near the battlefield, the lords of the Han fortresses, and the Qiang generals have been paying close attention to the developments on the battlefield.
Su Ze had already discovered that there were countless spies around the battlefield. He accepted Murong Shaozong's advice for the sake of safety. He wanted to wait until the army had rested before fighting again, and defeat the enemy army in one fell swoop, so as not to give any chance to those Hezhou tyrants who were sitting on the fence.
As expected, war is the continuation of politics, but war is also the best solution to political problems.
After the great victory, those local tyrants who were sitting on the fence no longer dared to sit on the sidelines. Several Qiang generals and Han fortress lords personally drove the livestock and escorted the convoy to Su Ze's camp to entertain the troops.
Several surrounding three-story villages also sent able-bodied men to assist Su Ze's army in doing some menial labor.
Su Ze did not have a good face towards these fence-sitters. Many of them were on Que Tiehu's list and were the guys who had once agreed with Que Tiehu to rebel.
However, seeing that the government troops were powerful, they quickly crossed the fence to their side.
Su Ze ordered his men to slaughter livestock and cook, giving priority to replenishing the strength of his own men, and distributed part of the food to the captives and women and children.
He stayed there for another two days. When he heard that Su Ze not only did not kill the prisoners, but also treated the elderly, the weak, women and children left behind by them with kindness, several tribes returned to the camp and surrendered to Su Ze.
As for these surrendered bandits, Su Ze separated them from the women and children of his own tribe, and asked the nearby Sanchang generals to escort them back to Sanchang Village for custody.
Finally, Su Ze led the well-fed cavalry and began to pursue the largest fleeing bandit troops along the routes left by the scouts on the map.
-
Ever since Su Ze led his troops away, Li Shizhe in Jincheng has been restless.
He didn't even unload his belongings from the carriage, and sent his trusted confidants to guard the city gate. If Su Ze failed in the battle, he would be ready to take his belongings and escape immediately.
However, since Su Ze went on the expedition more than ten days ago, there has been no news coming back.
Just when Li Shizhe was hesitating about whether to escape, a messenger with news finally appeared outside the city.
Li Shizhe, who received the notification, immediately asked, "Is this a victory?"
The soldier guarding the gate was one of Su Ze's soldiers. He immediately said, "Report to the governor, great victory!"
Li Shizhe was immediately overjoyed and said, "Quick! Open the city gate! Let the messenger ride into the city! Announce the victory!"
Li Shizhe's trembling legs finally calmed down. Just as he was about to return to the backyard to rest and relax his tense nerves, Su Suan immediately came up and whispered in his ear:
"Prefect, those guys in the governor's mansion?"
Li Shizhe then remembered that before Su Ze left, he had controlled several corrupt officials in the governor's office.
Those were all children of local powerful people. At that time, Su Ze only detained them but did not punish them.
When he thought that it was these guys who were levying heavy taxes and extorting money that led to the civil unrest, and when he thought that these guys were eating the meat while he was the one cleaning up the mess, Li Shizhe became furious.
He didn't dare to deal with them before because it was uncertain whether Su Ze would live or die in the battle. If Su Ze was defeated, Li Shizhe would have to rely on these local powerful people.
But now that Su Ze has put down Que Tiehu's rebellion, Li Shizhe no longer has to care about the faces of those powerful people.
He said to Su Suan, "Put those guys in jail immediately! Make them spit out everything they swallowed!"
Li Shizhe was particularly upset and said, "No! We need to make them spit out twice as much!"
Now Li Shizhe finally felt proud and couldn't help but sigh that the old ones are still the wisest. It was really foresighted of his father to arrange for Su Ze to come to Hezhou to take office!
With the victory over Su Ze, Li Shizhe instantly overwhelmed the local tyrants and took control of the governor's mansion.
Li Shizhe completely forgot how panicked he was the day before yesterday. He was thinking about how to take control of Hezhou and make great strides in the future, and how to plunder the land.
-
In Baohan City, the Qiang leader Liang Zhao also received the news of Que Tiehu's defeat.
Su Ze destroyed Que Tiehu's camp, then deliberately waited for three days before continuing the pursuit. In one fell swoop, he defeated several tribes involved in the rebellion and captured a thousand Qiang cavalry.
What shocked Liang Zhao was that Su Ze captured Que Tiehu alive. He sent people to contact Que Tiehu and incite him to rebel, but he did it in secret and did not leave any paper evidence.
But as long as there is Que Tiehu's confession, Su Ze, the newly appointed General Hu Qiang, will not let him go.
When Liang Zhao was considering whether to raise an army in Baohan City, news came that Su Ze had chopped off Que Tiehu's head and sent it to Jincheng to report the victory.
Maybe Su Ze failed to interrogate him about the matter of contacting Que Tiehu?
Just when Liang Zhao was hesitating, a group of elite cavalry suddenly appeared near Baohan City. The leading cavalryman, wearing the imperial seal granted by the court, ordered the Baohan defenders to open the city gate.
(End of this chapter)