Chapter 216: The Story of Guan Gong (The Version of the Death in the Middle of the Road)
Mo Zhe Tiansheng was different from Cui Yanbo. Although he came from a family of military men and generals, he had never liked reading military books since he was a child.
Although he doesn't like reading military books, Mo Zhe is born with a special ability - he is good at taking advantage of other people's weaknesses.
This is his innate ability. Since he was a child, he has been able to use this ability to make his brother Mo Zhe Niansheng love him and take the blame for the troubles he has caused.
When he grew up, he was always able to manipulate and exploit the servants around him through various rhetoric.
After raising the army, Mo Zhe Tiansheng mobilized the warlords under his command, bluffing and intimidating them, forcing them to fight the toughest bones and gradually consuming their strength. By now his own troops have gained the upper hand. When other warlords reacted, they found that Mo Zhe Tiansheng had the final say in the army.
Mozhe Tiansheng also saw Cui Yanbo's weakness—Cui Yanbo was very arrogant.
Cui Yanbo was arrogant and looked down on Yang Dayan, who was a general in the same dynasty. When he was the governor of Qizhou, he also looked down on the local nobles. In the end, he was deserted by his relatives and friends.
Therefore, since the beginning of the war, Mozhe Tiansheng has always sent non-direct forces to fight against Cui Yanbo.
The first defeat at Fufeng was like this, and the second defeat at Weishui was also like this.
But Mo Zhe Tiansheng was not stupid. He knew that these non-direct descendants would not fight Cui Yanbo in vain, so he distributed the spoils he had collected to these non-direct descendants' generals and soldiers, and let them go to the battle with these rewards.
The result was that these soldiers went out to fight with the rewards, but were soon defeated by Cui Yanbo's army and died on the battlefield, and the rewards on their bodies became spoils of war for the Wei army soldiers.
After several such battles, the soldiers of the Wei army saw Mozhe Tiansheng's army and couldn't help but rush forward as if they had seen a fat sheep.
The same principle applies this time, except that the ones guarding the pontoon bridge this time are Mo Zhe Tiansheng's elite troops. These elite troops did not flee in defeat, but Mo Zhe Tiansheng had planned to let them retreat.
These elite troops deliberately left behind valuables when they retreated, leading Cui Yanbo's vanguard army to chase them to Wuzhangyuan.
The next step was to throw down more treasures to lure Cui Yanbo's central army out.
Sure enough, Cui Yanbo was fooled.
By the time Cui Yanbo's army reached the halfway point of Wuzhangyuan, Mozhe Tiansheng had already completed his oath. He and the other soldiers swore an oath of blood, agreeing that all the spoils of this battle would belong to each tribe. Then he cut off the rolling logs tied to the mountain road of Wuzhangyuan!
The huge tree rolled down the mountain path, so the force was naturally enormous.
At this time, Cui Yanbo's army was bending down to pick up the treasures left by Mozhe Tiansheng's army.
Some soldiers even took off their armor so that they could carry more belongings.
The huge logs rolled down, and there was no room to hide on the narrow mountain path. Many soldiers were directly crushed to death by the rolling logs.
More soldiers were not killed by the rolling logs, but were pushed down by their own soldiers who were running down the slope in panic, and were trampled to death!
Mozhe Tiansheng's army rushed down the mountain frantically. These refugee soldiers had no rules, but they had fought some bad battles before and had some veteran backbones.
Under the leadership of these veteran backbone soldiers, Mozhe Tiansheng's refugee army, armed with weapons of varying levels and wearing various types of armor, forcibly drove the government troops, which had more elite weapons and equipment, down the mountain.
At this time, Cui Yanbo, who was stationed by the Wei River, also found something wrong.
As expected, a scout came to report that the front troops of their side had pursued too deep and fell into an ambush by the rebels. The rebels on Wuzhangyuan suddenly rushed down the mountain, defeated the reinforcements of the central army, and headed towards the pontoon bridge camp by the Wei River!
The generals around Cui Yanbo were shocked, but Cui Yanbo calmed down and said:
"Don't panic! Our army still controls the pontoon bridge. We will be safe as long as we retreat!"
After saying this, Cui Yanbo led the way, holding a bow in his left hand and a saber in his right hand, and rode on his warhorse and said, "You lead your troops back to the north bank and join Liu Sima, and I will cover your retreat!"
After saying this, Cui Yanbo, with his white hair and beard, actually rushed forward with his personal soldiers.
Cui Yanbo was a very rebellious person.
The loss of Qizhou could be attributed to Xiao Baoyin's failure to provide rescue, but his defense of Yongcheng was already an act of loyalty to the court.
However, the 30,000 troops he led this time were ambushed by the rebels and must have suffered heavy losses.
Cui Yanbo could not tolerate such a failure.
He could have led his troops to retreat to the north bank of the Wei River, and after burning the pontoon bridge, he could have withdrawn to Fufeng. Xiao Baoyin lacked generals under his command, and nine out of ten times he would have spared his life and allowed him to make meritorious contributions again.
But Cui Yanbo could not bear such humiliation, so he chose the only way to turn the situation around.
That is to kill the enemy general in battle!
Rebels are rebels and it is impossible for them to become a well-trained army in a short period of time.
Building an army is a systematic matter. It is not something that can be easily trained into an elite force by a group of amateurs.
The first defeat was at Fufeng, the second was at Weishui. Even if Mo Zhetian faked his defeat, the impact on the morale of the rebels was huge.
The troops under his command are no less than those of the rebels. If he can make the enemy army chaotic, then the government troops still have a chance!
Moreover, the troops from the direction of Chencang are also advancing towards Wuzhangyuan. As long as they can hold their position today, there will still be a chance of winning tomorrow.
So Cui Yanbo chose the most risky method. He personally rode his horse and charged into the enemy army!
Sitting on the warhorse, Cui Yanbo couldn't help but think that on the battlefield of Dingjun Mountain in Hanzhong that year, it was the veteran Huang Zhong who killed Cao Wei's veteran general Xiahou Yuan and helped the Shu Han army win the victory!
As long as he could kill Mo Zhe Tiansheng, the rebels would collapse and the battle would be turned around!
When beheading the enemy general in the chaos of the army, Cui Yanbo thought of Xiao Baoyin who once compared him to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and his heart was filled with excitement!
The personal guards around Cui Yanbo were also the elite troops he had raised through life and death. Cui Yanbo and Mo Zhe Tiansheng had fought against each other many times. Soon, they saw Mo Zhe Tiansheng's general flag on the battlefield, and the army rushed towards Mo Zhe Tiansheng's position!
As Mozhe Tiansheng's army fought their way down the mountain from Wuzhangyuan, the officials also began to gradually recover.
The remaining government troops began to form a formation to protect themselves, and the officers began to collect the defeated soldiers. While receiving the soldiers who had been defeated from Wuzhangyuan, they began to build a defense line in reverse.
This is how the battlefield is. Sometimes it is just like a turn-based game. After you use your ultimate move, it enters a cooldown period, and then it depends on who can charge up another ultimate move.
The sun was setting in the sky, and the morale of the rebels was high, but their equipment and training were inferior to those of the government troops. Although they overwhelmed the government troops, they still could not completely defeat their resistance.
The morale of the officers and soldiers was low, but their training instincts were still there, and the organizational structure of the officers was still there. They began to mechanically line up to fight, and then began to retreat to the banks of the Wei River.
Mo Zhe Tiansheng was also very anxious.
This battle was also a matter of life and death for him.
Wuzhangyuan is south of the Wei River, while Yongcheng is north of the Wei River, and Chencang is west of Wuzhangyuan.
If he could not defeat Cui Yanbo's main force, he would be surrounded on both sides when the government troops from Chencang came to support him. So Mo Zhetiansheng raised the big banner to lead the troops and boost their morale.
In the bloody setting sun, Cui Yanbo saw Mozhe Tiansheng's banner and immediately rode his horse and rushed towards Mozhe Tiansheng!
When such a cavalry rushed over, Mozhe Tiansheng's army also reacted, and several nearby troops began to try to intercept them.
However, Cui Yanbo was an outstanding martial artist. He first charged forward on horseback with his sabers, knocking down the soldiers blocking his way. Then he raised his sabers and stabbed them, forcing back the shield-bearers who were rushing up.
Cui Yanbo swung the sword over his shoulder and used all his strength to chop at a shield bearer who was blocking in front of him. The knights on both sides quickly stepped forward to fill the position and killed their way out!
Mo Zhe Tiansheng saw an old veteran in the setting sun, his armor reflecting a bloody light, rushing forward with a saber in his hand, only a hundred steps away from him!
Looking at the white hair floating in the helmet and the old face, Mo Zhe Tiansheng was almost certain that this was the enemy's main general Cui Yanbo!
Mo Zhe Tiansheng was also shocked. He knew people's minds and was afraid that Cui Yanbo would lead his troops to retreat to the north bank of the Wei River, so he personally went to the front to lead the troops to charge.
However, he did not expect that Cui Yanbo, in extreme humiliation, would choose to rush towards him instead.
Mo Zhe Tiansheng was a little panicked, but he also knew that he couldn't retreat now.
His flag is here. If he retreats, his own morale will completely collapse.
Mo Zhetiansheng gritted his teeth and could only raise his bow and arrow, pulling the bow and shooting at Cui Yanbo who was rushing towards him.
As a nation on horseback, they have been learning to shoot bows and arrows since childhood. This is almost a natural instinct for Mo Zhe.
At this distance, we can't retreat, so we can only shoot.
Mo Zhe Tiansheng also knew that when the enemy cavalry charged, the hit rate of bows hitting vital points was very low, and Cui Yanbo was still wearing armor. The Ming Guang armor had a heart guard, which protected the vital points on the torso.
The Northern Wei armor also has a neck guard, so Mo Zhe Tiansheng aimed at Cui Yanbo's face.
Even Mo Zhetian himself felt that there was no chance that this arrow would hit the target.
Mo Zhe Tiansheng's men had already rushed forward to intercept Cui Yanbo, but the opponent's saber was so skillful that he chopped down Mo Zhe Tiansheng's men.
Shen Gu, release the arrow.
Mo Zhe Tiansheng loosened his grip and drew his sword. He was about to go up to fight Cui Yanbo on horseback when he heard cheers from the front. Everyone shouted:
"Da Sima's divine shooting!"
Cui Yanbo was shot in the face, his body stiff and unable to control his horse. Mo Zhe Tiansheng's two guards stepped forward and pierced Cui Yanbo's armpits with spears, knocking him off the horse.
The Qinzhou rebels shouted "Cui Yanbo is dead" and "Grand Sima is a great archer". Even the standard-bearer who had been trembling with fear just now, held the banner and marched forward, which further boosted the morale of the rebels.
Mo Zhe Tiansheng was just like in a dream, so this means he won?
He raised the sword in his hand and shouted, "The enemy general is dead. Chase! Chase! Chase!"
-
Xincheng, upstream of the Wei River.
Su Ze rode a horse and patrolled along the forts near the new city under the escort of his personal soldiers.
Hou Jing followed closely behind. He had also just received the order and rushed over from a fort where he was supervising the battle to report the latest battle situation to Su Ze.
Su Ze used his clairvoyance to inspect several battlefields and said to Hou Jing, "How many forts are left to be taken down?"
Hou Jing said, "Not many left. There are still twelve forts near the new city that are still resisting. We can take down four more today!"
Su Ze rode his horse up a slope and took out his telescope again. He saw that under a fort built by the Qinzhou rebels, a group of soldiers in simple clothes were clinging to the earthen wall like ants, forming a human wall and climbing towards the fort.
Arrows from the corner tower of the fort fell like rain. A large pot was lifted out from the earthen wall, and boiling water was poured on the heads of the climbing soldiers. The soldiers leaning against the wall immediately began to instinctively leave the earthen wall, and then fell heavily to the ground, and it was unknown whether they were still alive.
A group of soldiers wanted to escape, but were scolded by the military judge in the rear. A few who still insisted on running were shot into hedgehogs by their own arrows.
The remaining deserters could only kneel down and beg the officers in the rear to let them go, but after negotiations failed, they could only continue to attack the fort with simple weapons.
Hou Jing said: "General, these are the captives. I have promised them that if they can reach the front, I will give them a choice: move to the rear and grant them land or recruit them into the regular army."
The "drove" are the "livestock" being driven, people who were captured in the war and forced into slavery and driven by others.
These prisoners were the rebel soldiers captured by Hou Jing from the fort that had already been destroyed.
Su Ze's army had strict military discipline, and military merits were counted by military judges. They were not allowed to kill surrendered soldiers at will, nor were they allowed to arbitrarily plunder civilians as slaves.
However, it would be unrealistic to ask the soldiers to treat the prisoners well after they had finally captured the fort at the cost of their comrades and their blood and tears.
The solution Hou Jing came up with was to organize these captured soldiers into a group and drive them to continue attacking other forts.
Su Ze agreed with Hou Jing's idea, but suggested that these refugees should be given some hope instead of simply forcing them to die.
Standing on the battlefield, Su Ze also understood that Hou Jing's so-called promise was almost a blank check.
In Qianli's eyes, a driver who had just climbed onto the earthen wall of the fort was pierced by two spears before he could draw his weapon. His body fell heavily from the earthen wall to the ground, and it was obvious that he was dead.
However, several more drivers rushed in through the gap and forced their way out of it.
Su Deng, the vanguard soldier who was strong enough to lift a tripod, who was ready in the rear, immediately rushed over with a hook ladder and led his vanguard soldiers.
Arrows rained down from the corner tower, but the shield bearer beside Suden had already opened his shield, and a material officer archer opened his bow from behind the shield and shot down an archer on the corner tower.
While the remaining archers were hiding their heads, Suden had completed a series of actions in one go. He hooked the ladder onto the earth wall, climbed up the wall with a knife in his mouth, and cut a breakthrough in the earth wall of the fort.
The remaining vanguard soldiers also followed. They were not poorly equipped soldiers, but elite soldiers with tacit cooperation. They quickly gained a foothold on the earth wall.
Suden's knife chopped several soldiers in succession, and the blade was bent. At this time, two spears stabbed at Suden's armpits again!
Su Deng simply threw away the knife with a rolled blade, clamped the spear under his armpits with both arms, and then burst out with brute force, dragging the two soldiers with guns out!
The executioners around Su Deng followed suit and hacked the two gunmen to death on the spot.
Su Ze knew that the fortress was destroyed.
(End of this chapter)