Chapter 226 Heroine
Yang Kan was persuaded by Su Liang and led his troops to Wuxing. Under Su Liang's leadership, he met Su Ze who was stationed in front of Wugong.
When Su Ze heard that Yang Kan was brought back by Su Liang, he walked out of the camp to greet Yang Kan without even putting on his shoes. Yang Kan was shocked by Su Ze's courtesy and quickly bowed to Su Ze and said:
"General, you have made great contributions. How could I, Yang, deserve such a reward?"
These days, Su Ze's military achievements in Liangzhou and Hezhou have spread in the Guanlong area.
The greatest contribution was made by the merchants under Su Ze. He defeated Tuyuhun in Hezhou and rebuilt Xihai County. He also defeated the Gaoche people in Dunhuang and lifted the siege of Dunhuang City. These deeds were compiled into stories by these merchants and widely circulated in the Guanlong area.
If these achievements are still far away, Su Ze's defeat of Mozhe Niansheng in Longxi is a real achievement in suppressing a rebellion.
The Qinzhou rebels have won battle after battle since they started the uprising. Xiao Baoyin suffered several major defeats on the front battlefield, which made the people of Guanlong uneasy. Su Ze's victory in Longxi was even more conspicuous.
Yang Kan had led troops to fight against rebels before, so he understood the difficulty of fighting against rebels. He killed Mozhe Dati on the battlefield, but the situation in Liangzhou was still tense. If the rebels in Wuxing County could not be defeated, the situation in Hanzhong would be even worse when the rebels reorganized.
Su Ze pulled Yang Kan up and said to him:
"Doctor Yang shot down the general at Dingjun Mountain with one arrow! There is no Huang Zhong in ancient times who can surpass him! Such a fierce general is more powerful than 100,000 soldiers!"
After saying this, Su Ze took Yang Kan and walked towards the camp. Everyone looked at Yang Kan with admiration.
To create momentum, we need to flatter each other.
Su Ze praised Yang Kan, and Yang Kan also praised Su Ze. This is a way of raising each other's reputation.
Yang Kan was a descendant of the Yang family of Taishan, so he naturally understood this, but Su Ze's gesture still made him very satisfied.
This also reflects how much Su Ze values himself.
If it were in the past, Yang Kan was the Xingtai Langzhong and Su Ze was just the Anxi General, Yang Kan did not need to bow to Su Ze.
However, after the Xuanguang coup, in the eyes of knowledgeable people like Yang Kan, the authority of the court had been declining.
But as a descendant of the Taiyang family, he has already sensed the direction of the wind——
The world is about to fall into chaos.
An official position in the imperial court doesn’t mean anything; the power in one’s hands is what matters the most.
In troubled times, the value of warriors is completely different.
Yang Kan and Su Liang communicated a lot. When they learned that Su Ze had successfully gathered the hearts of the people in He and Liang states and made Longxi County submit, they understood why their good friend was willing for both brothers to serve Su Ze.
Unknowingly, Su Ze, a military commander from a humble family, has already earned a fortune.
Yang Kan didn't even dare to think about it. If the court did not hand over Hezhou and Liangzhou to Su Ze, if Su Ze rebelled, would Guanzhong still have troops that could resist him?
Of course, Su Ze’s current “foundation” is still largely built on the Great Wei system. After Su Ze rebelled, the wealthy families in Hezhou and Liangzhou might not necessarily follow him.
However, this "deterrent power" was enough to make the court allow him to manage the two states and one county, and he had already established a stronghold in the court.
Yang Kan was also thinking that he came to Su Ze "with Liangzhou", and he needed to negotiate with Su Ze to confirm what he could get.
Yang Kan was also suddenly frightened. Before going on the expedition, he was still a loyal minister of the Wei Dynasty, and all he was thinking about was how to quell the rebellion and serve the Wei Dynasty.
How come my mentality has changed so much in just over half a year?
Now Yang Kan only wants to join Su Ze's faction and become the governor of Liangzhou.
Yang Kan then realized that he was not the only one who thought so.
In fact, the reason why the Liangzhou army followed him to Wuxing in the end was not only because of his own prestige, but more because the Liangzhou military also wanted to contact Su Ze to see whether Su Ze was worthy of their service.
Everyone is changing their mindset and starting to make final preparations for the approaching chaos.
Liangzhou is located in the area bordering Southern Liang. Every time Southern Liang launched an expedition to the north, Liangzhou would be attacked by Southern Liang's detachment.
Although Hanzhong is still relatively rich, it cannot compare with Shuzhong controlled by Southern Liang.
Therefore, without support, the army of Liangzhou would not be able to independently resist the annexation of Southern Liang.
To put it bluntly, the generals in the Liangzhou army were also observing Su Ze's character to see if he could become their new master.
After Yang Kan entered Su Ze's tent, the Liangzhou army he brought surrounded Wuxing County, and the army led by Su Ze took the lead in attacking the city.
Outside Wuxing City, dust was flying and gongs and drums were beating. Facing the siege of the city by government troops, the Qinzhou rebels inside Wuxing City were also arguing among themselves.
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Lü Bodu was also a great general in Qinzhou. He followed Mozhe Dati in the rebellion because of his ambition.
Lü Bodu was a Di people, and his ancestor was Lü Guang who founded the Later Liang.
As the royal family of Later Liang, the Lu family has always had the ambition to restore the country.
But Houliang is too far away from now, and Lü Bodu, the "descendant of the royal family", has fallen to the point of surrendering to Mozhe Dati, the old Qiang.
You should know that the Former Qin Empire of the Di people was finally destroyed by the Later Qin established by Yao Chang of the Qiang people. Lü Boduo's ancestors had a blood feud with Mozhe Dati.
But after enduring humiliation and rebelling, Lu Bodu discovered that the situation was completely different from what he had imagined.
After sweeping Qinzhou, the following wars were difficult to fight, and Mozhe Dati always sent himself to fight tough battles with the government troops.
Lü Bodu also had his own direct forces and was unwilling to fight for the Mozhe dike, so he confronted the government troops in Wuxing County for more than half a year. He did not want to consume his own direct forces to attack Mianyang County.
Later, Mozhe Dati led his troops to Wuxing, forcibly took away half of his troops, and drove them to attack Yangping Pass.
Later, Mozhe Dati died, and Lu Bodu gathered the rebels in Wuxing. Now there were more than 10,000 Qinzhou rebels in Wuxing City, and he became one of the only two destinations for the fleeing Qinzhou rebels.
Another destination was to join Qin King Hou Gang who stationed his troops at Yangping Pass.
What made Lu Bodu angry was that even though he occupied Wuxing and had so many soldiers at his disposal, the government troops besieging Wuxing didn't even send anyone to call for peace from him!
If your army offers some favorable conditions, I, Lu Bodu, will surrender!
But I can't bring up the issue of surrender myself.
If he revealed his intention to surrender, the morale of the troops in Wuxing City would be lost, and he would be surrendering without a fight.
So Lu Bodu was very distressed. On the one hand, he had to pretend to be tough and vowed to fight the government army to the death. On the other hand, he was looking forward to Su Ze sending an envoy to persuade him to surrender. As long as the position of county governor was offered, he would surrender!
But Su Ze had no intention of asking for amnesty, which made Lu Bodu very anxious. Wuxing City was not a big city, and with so many troops crowded in it, Lu Bodu had no confidence that he could defend the city.
If the city is really conquered, wouldn't I be beheaded and sent to Luoyang?
Just when Lu Bodu was getting anxious and angry, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door.
"Grandpa! I want to fight!"
Hearing this voice, Lü Bodu became even more angry, and saw a female general in armor rushing in. The female general who rushed in was Lü Bodu's daughter, Lü Xiuning.
The Di people had a tradition of women fighting in battles, the most famous of whom was Queen Mao, the wife of Emperor Taizong of the Former Qin Dynasty.
Fu Deng was a grandson of Fu Jian. When the Former Qin was on the verge of collapse after the Battle of Feishui, Fu Deng relied on his outstanding command ability to recover a lot of the Former Qin's territory.
Mao was Fu Deng's queen and often fought with Fu Deng.
However, Fu Deng was unable to hold on alone and was eventually ambushed by Yao Chang, the ruler of the Later Qin Dynasty. Mao led his army in a desperate resistance but was eventually defeated and captured.
Mao was beautiful, and Yao Chang wanted to force her to be his concubine, but she refused to yield and pointed at Yao Chang and cursed: "Yao Chang is unjust, he harmed the emperor before and now insults the queen. Heaven and earth, please do not be merciful!"
Yao Chang was angry and killed him.
Lu Xiuning was also a Di people. She had always taken Queen Mao as her role model. She loved wielding swords and guns since she was a child. She also organized an army of women in the tribe and trained these women all day long.
Because of Lu Xiuning's eccentricity, she is still unengaged at the age of 18.
After the uprising at Mozhe Dam, he wanted his son Mozhe Tiansheng to marry Lü Xiuning, but Lü Xiuning told her father Lü Bodu that she wanted to learn from Queen Mao and would never marry a Qiang bandit. Lü Bodu had no choice but to refuse the marriage.
Lü Bodu was afraid that his daughter would cause trouble again in Qinzhou, so when Mozhe Dati sent him to attack Hanzhong, Lü Bodu took his daughter with him.
But the daughter was restless after arriving in Wuxing. She kept clamoring to go out of the city to fight a decisive battle with Su Ze, and to kill Su Ze on the battlefield like Yang Kan did.
Lu Bodu looked at his daughter's heroic face and wailed in his heart again.
To be fair, Lü Bodu's daughter is not bad looking. After all, the Lü family is also a descendant of the royal family of Houliang. Although Lü Bodu is a handsome man, he is also a wealthy family with thousands of acres of land. Naturally, his daughter would not be ugly.
However, Lu Xiuning has been practicing martial arts since she was a child. Her skin is a healthy wheat color and she is taller than the average woman. Apart from her perky butt that makes her look fertile, she does not conform to the current aesthetic of the Northern Wei Dynasty after it was sinicized.
Lu Bodu immediately scolded his daughter:
"Nonsense! Su Ze is a famous general! Yang Kan is also a fierce general who shot and killed Mo Zhe Lao Qiang in the battle. Who do you want to compete with in martial arts? Look around the city, is there anyone clamoring to go to war?"
Lu Bodu sighed in his heart again. Not a single man in the city wanted to go out and fight. Only his silly daughter was willing to fight for him.
Lu Xiuning said:
"Grandpa, I'm watching from the city wall. Liangzhou's army is large, while Su Ze's army is small. Su Ze will have to fight to the death to establish his authority. As long as we can defeat Su Ze, the Liangzhou army will naturally retreat."
Lu Bodu shook his head and said, "You are a woman, what do you know about military affairs? News came from the rear that Su Ze has conquered Xincheng and captured Mo Zhe Niansheng. He must have ambushed troops in the rear to lure us out of the city to fight."
Lü Xiuning said, "Grandpa, if Su Ze had the ability to attack the city, why did he wait until now? He should have captured Wuxing and joined forces with the Liangzhou defenders to surround the Mozhe Dam."
"It must be that Su Ze suffered heavy losses in the siege of Xincheng, so he could only send a small number of elite troops into Hanzhong."
"It was only after Mo Zhe Lao Qiang was shot dead by Yang Kan that Su Ze joined forces with the Liangzhou army to attack Wuxing."
Lu Bodu also felt that what his daughter said made some sense, but he did not have the courage to gamble. Moreover, the army in Wuxing City was not completely in line with him, and Lu Bodu did not have the money to gamble.
He scolded his daughter again:
"Go, go, don't bring up the matter of fighting in the city again. If you have nothing to do, take your women and help repair the city walls and transport food."
Lu Xiuning was left speechless by her father and could only retreat in disappointment, but she became even more dissatisfied with Su Ze in her heart.
I heard that Su Ze is just an ordinary Yulin general from a humble family. How powerful can he be?
Lu Xiuning developed a rebellious mentality after being scolded by her father, and when Su Ze attacked the city, she wanted to see his ability.
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July 25th, Wuxing City.
After completing a simple reorganization, Su Ze finally ordered an attack on the city.
The initial siege was still a waste of time. Yang Kan drove the captured Qinzhou rebels and asked them to start the siege first to consume the city's defense supplies.
Su Ze's army began to chop down trees and build siege vehicles, ladders, and thunder chariots. When the first day of the siege began, Lu Bodu felt tremendous pressure.
The pressure on the battlefield comes more from the enemy's rhythm.
Just like running, whether it is long-distance running or short-distance running, you can stick to it as long as you control the rhythm.
But alternating long-distance running and short-distance running is the most physically demanding.
The same was true for defending the city. This time, Su Ze personally commanded the siege, and the coordination among various departments was in good order.
The chariots on this side of the city wall were climbing up and attacking the city like ants. Lü Bodu had just stopped them when the thunder chariots and the siege began again.
The defenders on the city wall who failed to dodge in time were taken away by the stone bullets from the thunder chariot. Lu Bodu then ordered the defenders on the city wall to dodge.
But when the Thunderbolt Chariots' attack paused, battering rams and ladders arrived. The defenders were mobilized again, using hook knives to chop the ladders and pouring fuel and fire on the battering rams.
Throughout the whole day, Lu Bodu's nerves were extremely tense. Not only was he the commander-in-chief, but the ordinary soldiers were even closer to collapse.
After finally making it to night, Su Ze ordered the prisoners to start digging tunnels. Lu Bodu could only arrange for the soldiers with good hearing to lie on the ground, and they continued to do this until midnight.
But when the cockcrowed, Su Ze started attacking the city on time again, starting the cycle of yesterday again.
Three days later, the entire Wuxing City's rebels were in a trance, and Lu Bodu saw that many defenders were on the verge of collapse.
Lu Bodu can't hold on any longer!
No, it’s you, Su Ze, who is trying to surrender!
As long as you surrender, as long as you can protect the entire tribe, at worst I can go back to farming!
Lu Bodu has completely lost his ambition. What's the point of reviving Houliang and dominating the world? Is this something he can do?
He regretted that he had been possessed by the devil and followed Mozhe Dati in rebelling. Conquering the world was beyond his ability.
Looking at Su Ze's troops outside the city, each doing their own job and taking turns to fight, it seemed that Su Ze was using himself as a target for training!
But Lu Bodu just didn't have the temper. His scattered men were no match for Su Ze's elite troops.
Su Ze's side was completely exhausted in one round of expulsion. When the offensive paused, the west gate of Wuxing City suddenly opened, which frightened Lu Bodu to death. He thought that the army in the city had rebelled and opened the city gate to welcome Su Ze.
However, a group of cavalry rushed out of the city gate, and then the gate was quickly closed. It turned out that there was no rebellion, but someone went out of the city to fight.
But when he saw the attire of the leading knight, Lu Bodu collapsed on the city wall again.
(End of this chapter)