The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 292 The Long Sword Rises, the Rebels in Hand

The newly captured rebel soldier was so excited that he almost jumped up when he heard that Tu Chengyu had actually paid attention to him.

He quickly turned to Tu Chengyu and said, "Your Highness, it's not just me. All the brothers who were arrested want to atone for their crimes through meritorious service. If you don't believe me, Your Highness can ask him."

The soldier next to him immediately understood and nodded frantically, saying:

"Yes, Your Highness, we were all deceived by the general and forced into rebellion. If we had known the general was going to rebel, we certainly wouldn't have followed him."

These two soldiers were from the lowest ranks; it wouldn't be accurate to say they were determined to rebel with the generals.

They were merely being manipulated and opportunistic; if the general who led them in rebellion succeeded, they would also share in the spoils.

If they fail like they have now, they will immediately turn against them and try to redeem themselves.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu did not suspect that they had any other intentions; they simply did not want to be punished as rebels.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu said to the two of them:

"Since you are willing to redeem yourselves through meritorious service, I may give you a chance. If you perform well in the future, I will put in a good word for you with the Emperor. It's nothing."

The two men were overjoyed to hear Tu Chengyu say that; otherwise, if Old Yao hadn't been there, they might have knelt down and kowtowed in gratitude.

Although he didn't act on it, he kept saying it:

"We thank Your Highness. Rest assured, Your Highness, we will definitely obey your orders."

Seeing that they were about to continue, Tu Chengyu quickly waved his hand and said:
"Alright, you guys should go back now." After saying this, Tu Chengyu said to Lao Yao:

"Take them there and ask around to see how many people want to atone for their crimes. Make a list of them; I'll need them later."

After hearing this, Lao Yao left with the two men.

Not long after he left, Gan Ze returned from inspecting the terrain.

"Your Highness, I have found a place that is a good place for an ambush."

"You've found it so quickly? Where is it?"

Gan Ze pointed to the bend not far ahead and said:

"Your Highness, it's that place. The curves here are quite sharp, making it difficult for people coming from below to see what's happening above, so they can ambush people."

Following the direction he pointed, Tu Chengyu looked into the distance and indeed found the features he had described.

Furthermore, Tu Chengyu discovered that due to the sharp bends and steep slopes, people on the upper level could easily gain a height advantage, which was another great advantage for ambushes.

After reading it, Tu Chengyu asked again:
"Are there any other advantages to this ambush?"

Upon hearing this, Gan Ze said, "Another advantage is that it's easy to block the retreat route here, Your Highness."

As he spoke, Gan Ze pulled his hand back slightly and pointed to the road behind the bend, saying:

"This section of road is the last main road before the enemy reaches the bend, and it's also very close to where we plan to ambush them. When they get close to the bend, before they discover the ambush, we'll quietly send someone down the slope to block their escape route, leaving them nowhere to run."

Tu Chengyu hadn't seen this place at first, but now that he'd mentioned it, he could see it clearly.

So he said to Ganze:

"Since you found the way, you're also in charge of setting up the ambush. We'll all do as you say."

Upon hearing this, Gan Ze thought for a moment and said:

“In that case, aside from leaving some people to guard the prisoners, the rest of you come over. Then divide everyone into two groups: the larger group will lie in ambush at the top and be responsible for the charge, while the smaller group will slip down to block their retreat.”

This method is simple and practical, but Tu Chengyu still gave him a suggestion.

"There's no need to leave anyone to watch over the prisoners; in fact, if you're short-handed, you can even consider using the prisoners."

Upon hearing this, Gan Ze asked incredulously, "Does Your Highness intend to use prisoners?"

Tu Chengyu nodded and said, "These prisoners are not those who are thinking of rebellion. They are thinking of redeeming themselves through meritorious service. There should be no problem using them."

Seeing that Tu Chengyu had said this, Gan Ze did not refute it. He said:

"Since prisoners can also be used, our manpower has greatly increased. In this way, I am confident that I will not let a single one of them go."

Seeing his self-reliance, Tu Chengyu also gained confidence.

Next, Tu Chengyu discussed a few words with Gan Ze, then stepped back and quietly waited for Gan Ze's arrangements.

Although Gan Ze is a guard in the palace, he should know how to deploy troops and command Tu Chengyu's men very easily.

It took about fifteen minutes for Gan Ze to set up the ambush position, and all the men were in their respective positions.

Just then, the person who was observing the enemy situation from a high place ran down and quietly informed them that the enemy on the other side had reached a place not far from them.

Upon hearing the news, everyone held their breath and waited for their arrival.

Not long after, with the soft sound of horses' hooves, the group reached the flat road at the foot of the mountain.

At this moment, Gan Ze, as the commander, quietly lay on the mound above the bend in the road, hiding in the weeds and watching the situation below.

When he saw that all these people had entered the ambush area, he first waved his hand towards the center and rear.

Behind them, Lao Yao, leading a group of men who were preparing to cover their retreat, saw the hand signal and immediately got up from the roadside. They all slid down the slope along the weeds, blocking the retreat of those men.

When Lao Yao and his group took action, they didn't try to hide their movements, so it immediately attracted the attention of these people.

But when they turned around to look at what was behind them...

Seeing the opportunity, Gan Ze decisively waved his hand at the people lying in ambush ahead.

The person hiding on the bend in the road, upon seeing the gesture, immediately stood up and shouted at the top of their lungs.

"Go ahead."

Before those people could even see what was happening behind them, they suddenly saw several times their number rushing out from the front.

They were startled.

However, these people all have good mental fortitude.

Seeing so many people surrounding them from the front and back, they did not panic. Instead, they immediately drew out various weapons of different lengths.

Then a dozen or so people who looked like guards worked together to protect the three generals behind them.

They all moved very quickly, and by the time Tu Chengyu's group rushed over, they had already formed their battle formation.

I don't know if Tu Chengyu's people are too incompetent, or if the other side's people are too skilled, or if the mountain road is too narrow to take advantage of having more people on their side.

In short, after charging forward, Tu Chengyu's men failed to break through the enemy's formation for a long time and even injured two prisoners.

Gan Ze and Tu Chengyu stood on the high mound, having a clear view of the entire standoff.

Their dozen or so guards are well-coordinated with their long swords and short guns, while our side is just a makeshift force. So if we charge in head-on, we'll probably suffer heavy casualties.

Therefore, dealing with these people requires a different approach than a direct assault. At this moment, Tu Chengyu's first thought was that it would be great if there were some archers. With their high ground, it would be easy to break through their formation with bows and arrows.

Unfortunately, Tu Chengyu did not ask Zhang Jin for archers when they left.

Just then, Gan Ze seemed to have come up with a solution and prepared to take action himself.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu quickly asked, "How do you plan to break the formation?"

Gan Ze said, "Their formation is very tight, and their long swords and short spears are well coordinated. We don't have long weapons, so it's difficult to break their formation. Therefore, I thought we should use what we have on hand, cut down a few big trees, and then have a few people carry the trees and rush over. That way, we can break them apart in no time."

This method is indeed problematic. The only problem is that cutting down trees and changing personnel both require a certain amount of time.

Meanwhile, those on the other side, after the initial assault, were already figuring out how to escape from the encirclement.

Therefore, time is still quite tight.

Tu Chengyu initially had no good solution to this problem and only hoped that his subordinates could hold on a little longer.

But when he turned around and inadvertently saw the earthen cliff by the roadside behind him, a plan came to mind.

He quickly said to Gan Ze:

"Don't rush to cut down the trees. Look at this earthen cliff. We can dig up some big clods of earth and throw them down from there. They definitely won't be able to defend against that, and it will surely break up their formation."

Gan Ze looked at the earthen cliff, and his eyes lit up when he heard Tu Chengyu's words.

Without saying a word, he led his men to the earthen cliff and, with a flurry of chopping and hacking, dug out many clods of earth from it.

Then each of them picked a relatively large piece and carried it back to where Tu Chengyu and Gan Ze had been standing.

This location is on a high platform on the inside of the bend in the road, and below are the people who are trapped.

Once Gan Ze and the others stood to the side holding clods of dirt, they threw them directly at the heads of those people.

These people were focused on guarding against the people on both sides, but they didn't expect that a huge clod of earth would fall from above.

Caught completely off guard, several people were knocked to the ground, and their formation was broken.

Those who had been eyeing the area and preparing to attack, seeing this, immediately brandished their weapons and launched another attack.

The people on the other side reacted quickly. Seeing that their formation was in disarray, they immediately abandoned their defenses, protected the people in the middle, and rushed out towards the weak point in the encirclement.

Since Tu Chengyu's attack was a pincer movement along the main road, the two sides of the road became the weak points.

However, the inner side of the main road was a high platform, which they could not climb, so they chose the steep slope on the other side.

However, they didn't realize that if they could spot the flaws in such a short time, how could Tu Chengyu not have thought of them?

So before they could rush very far, when they reached the deep ditch at the bottom of the slope, the people who had been lying in ambush in front of them immediately came out and blocked their way again.

At that moment, the two groups of people behind them rushed up and blocked every part of the ditch.

Trapped in the deep ditch, those people knew they had no way out, so the general, who was being protected in the middle, shouted at the top of his lungs:

"This general is Wanhe. I wonder which general is on the other side."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu did not step forward. He simply gave Gan Ze a few instructions and then sent him forward to answer.

Gan Ze calmly walked over, stood on the ditch, and said:

"Stop howling here. Given the situation, you should surrender immediately."

Upon hearing Gan Ze's reply, Wan He looked at Gan Ze and then said:

"You are not in a position to make this decision. We would like to ask the general who is in a position to speak."

Gan Ze sneered and said, "We've come this far, what are you still putting on airs for? I'll give you three numbers. If you don't surrender, we'll have to attack. At that point, swords have no eyes, and life and death will be irrelevant."

Upon hearing this, Wan He immediately panicked and shouted:

"This general has an important matter that will surely bring those who know it great success and wealth."

If Tu Chengyu weren't here, his words might have influenced some people, but with Tu Chengyu keeping things under control, who would dare to dream of such wealth and luxury?

Moreover, since this person is at his wit's end, what he says may not be true.

Therefore, Gan Ze disregarded everything else and immediately waved his hand to order an attack.

Seeing that these people were unmoved by his demands and had no other choice but to order his men to lay down their weapons and cease resistance.

After they laid down their weapons, Gan Ze quickly sent men down to bring them all up.

Once back on the main road, they searched everyone again and then tied them up.

During the body search, Gan Ze also found several hidden crossbows on several people.

Although this thing has a short range, it can still cause damage if used unexpectedly.

Seeing these things, Tu Chengyu was very glad that he hadn't personally come forward.

Otherwise, he wouldn't know what these desperate criminals would do.

After everyone had helped him, Tu Chengyu slowly got off the detour.

As soon as he came out, Wanhe immediately recognized Tu Chengyu.

He shouted in surprise:

"Prince Su?"

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu asked softly:
"Are you the king of men?"

Wanhe said, "Last year, when the emperor inspected the Beijing garrison, I was in the garrison and naturally met several princes."

After saying this, he suddenly burst into laughter.

Tu Chengyu smiled at him but ignored him, simply watching quietly.

After laughing for a few moments, he said self-deprecatingly:

"I originally planned to send someone to kill you to create chaos and then take the opportunity to escape. But I never expected that I would become your prisoner in the end. It's ridiculous."

Tu Chengyu then realized that the reason why those people were chasing after him was actually this guy's arrangement.

However, now that this person is in his hands, Tu Chengyu has nothing to be angry about.

He simply said slowly:
"Since you've become a prisoner, stop pretending and just stay put. That way you can avoid a lot of physical pain before you die."

Wanhe thought that Tu Chengyu would ask him some questions or inquire about some news if he showed up.

He was stunned for a moment because he didn't expect Tu Chengyu to talk to him like that.

(End of this chapter)