Chapter 222: The Rise of the Mozhe Dam
When Fu Jingshao heard Mozhe Dati's challenge, he also climbed up the city wall of Yangping Pass himself.
All they saw was this old Qiang general standing in front of Yangping Pass, shouting and cursing at people inside the pass.
Mozhe Dati was a powerful Qiang leader who had more experience in scolding people than Fu Jingshao had ever had.
After Fu Jingshao followed his father to take office in Liangzhou, he always heard compliments from people around him. No one had ever insulted him like Mozhe Dati, the old Qiang.
The more Mo Zhe Dati cursed, the harsher it became. The point he attacked the most was that Fu Jingshao was the son of Fu Shuyan who was born in his old age.
In Mozhe Dati's mouth, Fu Jingshao became a bastard of unknown origin. On the one hand, he madly praised his father Fu Shuyan as a hero of his generation, and on the other hand, he belittled Fu Jingshao as a dog son of a tiger father, whose actions were far worse than his father's.
This can be said to have hit Fu Jingshao where it hurts.
Fu Shuyan had a son when he was old. He was strict in disciplining his son, but he was also full of expectations for him and put tremendous pressure on him.
Fu Jingshao, who grew up in such an environment, was extremely arrogant. He believed that he was very capable and could assist his father in handling state affairs. He was a rare talent in the court.
But on the other hand, Fu Jingshao was extremely inferior, because both the people close to him and the soldiers and civilians of Liangzhou would compare him with his father Fu Shuyan, and there were often people who secretly said that he was "not as good as his father."
So it can be said that Mozhe Dati's insults hit his sore spot.
Fu Jingshao was extremely angry and ordered his men to bring bows and arrows. He personally drew the bow and shot an arrow at the Mozhe dike.
It's a pity that Mozhe Dati was very cowardly. He was more than a hundred steps away from Yangping Pass and was guarded by shieldmen. Fu Jingshao did not have the archery skill to shoot an arrow through the target from a hundred steps away. The arrow missed the target by a long distance and caused a burst of laughter from the rebels.
Mo Zhe Dadi became even more excited, and even took a few steps forward and shouted to Fu Jingshao on the city wall:
"If General Fu were here, I would never dare to challenge him here! You are far inferior to my father!"
Fu Jingshao was extremely angry. He immediately led his troops out of the city to attack Mozhe Dike, but this time he was stopped by the old deputy general.
"Major General! The bandit leader is deliberately cursing, I'm afraid there is an ambush, you can't be impulsive!"
Fu Jingshao said angrily: "The old Qiang insulted me, how can I let him return to the camp?"
But before Fu Jingshao could gather his troops, Mozhe Dadi immediately sounded the call and retreated to the barracks.
Fu Jingshao was furious, but he could do nothing about the old Qiang. There were only 5,000 people in Yangping Pass, and they were not strong enough to attack the military camp at Mozhe Dam. He could only order the soldiers to guard the city strictly. He also punished two slack soldiers to vent his anger, and then returned to the garrison to rest.
In the next few days, Mozhe Dati would prepare to come to Yangping Pass every day to curse, and they would always say the same thing, but every time Fu Jingshao would be furious.
But every time after cursing, Mozhe Dati would retreat back to the military camp, and each time he would escape with one strike, not giving Fu Jingshao the chance to leave the city and take revenge.
Fu Jingshao's temper became more and more violent, and even his close confidants would be severely punished if they made mistakes.
By the fifth day, Fu Jingshao could no longer bear it. He summoned his confidants and discussed a night attack on the camp at Mozhe Dike.
This naturally met with strong opposition from the generals.
There are only 5,000 defenders in total, and they were able to hold the Yangping Pass by relying on the geographical advantage. If they go out of the pass and fight a decisive battle at Mozhe Dam, wouldn’t that be giving up their own strengths?
Fu Jingshao was secretly angry, but he also knew that it was difficult to go against the will of the army. However, he had always been domineering and arbitrary, and now he hated the generals who prevented him from leaving the city to take revenge.
Fu Jingshao used various excuses to punish those generals who opposed his sending troops. The worst hit among them was the veteran general who opposed most fiercely. He was the deputy general sent by Fu Shuyan to assist Fu Jingshao in defending the city. It can be said that he watched Fu Jingshao grow up.
In the past, Fu Jingshao was very respectful to this veteran on the surface.
But that night, Fu Jingshao was on night patrol of the military camp and reported for duty. Because the old deputy was a little late, Fu Jingshao ordered him to take off his armor and be whipped in public as punishment.
Finally, he stripped the veteran general of his position as deputy general and ordered him to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors.
Fu Jingshao punished a group of people who took the lead in opposing him, and the troops in Yangping Pass hated him even more.
On the tenth day, Mozhe Dati came to Yangping Pass again to curse, but this time what he said was new.
This time, Mozhe Dati no longer attacked Fu Jingshao, but repeatedly praised Yang Kan.
Sometimes it is said that Yang Kan has a "strict military appearance" and is "well versed in military affairs", and is a rare military talent.
Sometimes he said that Fu Shuyan had a keen eye for talent and knew that his son was not capable of great use, so he asked Fu Jingshao to lead 5,000 men to guard the Yangping Pass, which was the easiest to defend, and asked Yang Kan to lead 5,000 men to guard the difficult Dingjun Mountain. This clearly showed that he did not trust his son, but trusted Yang Kan's ability more.
Mozhe Dati also said that he saw that Yang Kan was a good leader, so he did not attack Dingjun Mountain, which was easier to attack, but instead attacked the more dangerous Yangping Pass, just to pick on Fu Jingshao, the weak one.
After saying these words, Fu Jingshao was really furious.
He was also dissatisfied with his father's arrangement. It was obvious that Yangguanping did not need so many people to defend it, but his father insisted on giving himself 5,000 people and also giving 5,000 people to Yang Kan, who had a larger defense area and was more difficult to defend. This showed that he did not believe in his own abilities.
Although his father had only met Yang Kan a few times, he always praised Yang Kan and asked Fu Jingshao to learn from Yang Kan.
How could Fu Jingshao tolerate this? After Mo Zhe Dadi pointed out the weakest part of his heart, Fu Jingshao could be said to have completely given up his rationality.
He drew his sword on the spot and said, "I will not be a human being if I don't kill Lao Qiang!"
Mo Zhe Dadi attacked again and broke away. After cursing, he retreated back to the military camp. Fu Jingshao said to the generals: "Pass the order down, prepare to attack the enemy camp tonight!"
The generals looked at each other and wanted to object, but they swallowed the words back when they reached their lips.
The old generals who had advised Fu Jingshao before were all whipped, and the generals who had opposed Fu Jingshao were all given a hard time.
Why should I step forward and anger Fu Jingshao?
Anyway, the main general is Fu Jingshao, and attacking outside the city at night is also one of the strategies for defending the city. Just obey orders.
Those generals who had advised Fu Jingshao were punished. Even if they could continue to stay with Fu Jingshao, they had learned their lesson and dared not object.
The rest of them did not try to persuade Fu Jingshao last time, so naturally they didn't dare to say anything more this time.
Seeing that his tribesmen all "supported" him, Fu Jingshao became even more determined. He must teach that old Qiang a lesson today!
That night, Fu Jingshao personally led his troops out of Yangping Pass and attacked the camp of Mozhe Dike under the cover of darkness.
The camp at Mozhe Dike seemed to be lawless. Fu Jingshao led his troops into it as if there was no one there.
This made Fu Jingshao look down on Mozhe Dike even more. This old Qiang man really didn't know how to lead troops. Their subordinates were all peasants who couldn't even do such a simple task as setting up camp.
Fu Jingshao burned, killed and looted wantonly in the camp, and even those generals who opposed fighting outside the city gradually began to underestimate the enemy.
But just when Fu Jingshao was enjoying the killing, the sound of military drums suddenly rang out.
Only then did he realize that he had been rushing for too long without realizing it and had already entered the camp on the Mozhe Dike.
An ominous premonition arose in his heart. After the sound of military drums, flames shot up into the sky all around, and he saw Mozhe Dati, wearing armor and leading his elite troops, who had surrounded Fu Jingshao's army.
Only then did Fu Jingshao realize that he had fallen into an ambush by the old Qiang.
Fu Jingshao made up his mind and said to Mozhe Dam:
"Don't break the levee, you old Qiang dog, how dare you challenge this general in a duel!"
But this time, Mozhe Dati ignored Fu Jingshao's challenge and ordered his men to surround and attack Fu Jingshao's army.
As soon as this group of besieging troops came forward, Fu Jingshao felt tremendous pressure.
This is completely different from the armies we fought before!
What’s more important is that the enemy has more troops and we are fighting in the enemy’s camp. The time, place and people are all on the enemy’s side. How can we win this battle?
Fu Jingshao wanted to quit, but how could he quit now?
Dense numbers of rebels rushed forward, overwhelming Fu Jingshao's army like a tide. By dawn, the entire camp was filled with corpses. Fu Jingshao showed his courage in the end. He personally held a sword and fought to the death until the last moment. It was not until his death that the Liangzhou army laid down their arms and surrendered.
After defeating Fu Jingshao's army, Mozhe Dadi encouraged his troops and headed towards Yangping Pass again.
Because Fu Jingshao brought too many troops, the number of defenders in Yangping Pass was insufficient.
Mozhe Dadi ordered his subordinates to hold up Fu Jingshao's head and armor and launch a propaganda offensive towards Yangping Pass, spreading the news that Fu Jingshao had died in battle and that the army that had left the city to rob the camp last night had been completely wiped out.
At this time, Fu Jingshao's deputy general stepped forward. The old general with white hair and beard personally commanded the army despite being whipped and organized the army at Yangping Pass to resist the Mozhe Dam.
The battle lasted until the evening. Mozhe Dati did not expect that the remnants of Yang Guanping could hold out for so long even though their main general had died.
But if we can’t take Yangping Pass today, we will have no chance in the future.
Mozhe Dadi gritted his teeth and pushed all his elite troops forward to serve as the first to climb the mountain. However, the number of defenders in Yangping Pass was really insufficient, and they finally broke into Yangping Pass before dusk.
The old deputy general died in the battle, and when Yangping Pass was breached, many officers and soldiers committed suicide. After Mozhe Dadi entered the dangerous pass he had always dreamed of, his generals immediately requested to rob the city.
Mozhe Dati wanted to recruit these defenders. He also did not want to rob Hanzhong after capturing it. He turned against him and beat and scolded his subordinates who proposed to rob the city.
But Mozhe Dadi had just ordered his soldiers not to loot, hoping to recruit the prisoners and leave a good impression on Liangzhou.
But that night, a camp riot occurred in Yangping Pass. The soldiers spontaneously began to rob and kill in Yangping Pass. Mozhe Dati personally sent people to suppress it, but the camp riot still spread to all the military camps stationed in Yangping Pass.
Mozhe Dati was so scared that he fled from Yangping Pass overnight. The next day, after the soldiers in the city had satisfied their desire of robbery and killing, Mozhe Dati sent people to contact the deployment inside Yangping Pass and confirmed that they had robbed the city. Then he re-entered the city and took control of the army.
Hou Gang, who saw all this, seemed to be thinking about something. While the Mozhe dike was in a state of panic, he began to show goodwill and win over the people around him.
Hou Gang immediately asked to see Mozhe Dati and offered a new strategy.
Today is the Dragon Boat Festival and I am away from home, so there are 2000 words missing today. I will add another 4000 words this week.
(End of this chapter)