Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 418 Five kilograms and one hundred thousand!
Xianyu Ahu's original intention was to set out in early March, block the exit of Baidao in mid-March, and engage in a tug-of-war with Su Ze at the exit of Baidao.

However, from the time Xianyu Ahu ordered the army to assemble, it was already late March when the military leaders led their troops to arrive outside Pingcheng.

At this time, Xianyu Ahu had already received the news that Su Ze's cavalry had already left Baidao.

Xianyu Ahu also felt a little regretful at this time. Su Ze's march was so fast that it could not be achieved without elite troops. Looking at his troops, he began to think about holding on.

So Xianyu Ahu summoned all the generals outside the city to discuss matters. The reason for choosing outside the city was that he was afraid that these subordinates would rob indiscriminately after entering the city, so he had to let them camp outside the city.

Xianyu Ahu raised his tent, and all the generals gathered together in a mess, lacking due respect for him as the commander-in-chief.

I sighed secretly in my heart, thinking that my prestige was too low.

He was not the initiator of the uprising, nor did he have any great military achievements. The reason he was supported and enthroned was because of his surname "Xianyu".

It is even unclear whether Xianyu Ahu and Xianyu Xiuli are related.

After maintaining order for a while, Xian Yu A Hu said:

"Today, the enemy general Su Ze is coming with great force. He has come from a long distance, and his army must be exhausted. Why don't we build a camp in Pingcheng and defend it, and then attack when his army's food is cut off?"

The generals were in an uproar, and one of them stood up and said:

"General Qu! We have 100,000 men. Are we still afraid of 5,000 Su bandits?"

This was an old subordinate of Xianyu Ahu from the time when he was still Qu Shuai. Since the other party was so opposed, Xianyu Ahu immediately swallowed the rest of his words.

Someone else stood up and said:

"Your Majesty! I heard that Su Ze is very rich, with complete armor and weapons, and his war horses are all top-quality horses. How can we not eat this meat while it's hot!"

All the soldiers burst into laughter. In fact, for Xianyu Ahu's army, the speed of gathering troops this time was already very fast.

It was also because Xianyu Ahu spread the news that Su Ze's soldiers were well-armed that these military leaders brought their troops here in order to rob the spoils.

Several generals stood up and said that they were unwilling to build camps near Pingcheng. If Xianyu Ahu did not attack, they would lead their troops away.

The atmosphere in the commander's tent became increasingly tense. Looking at this group of rabble, Xian Yu Ahu finally had no choice but to give up.

He drew out his sword and said:

"I am also testing the generals! It is rare that the generals are eager to fight, so I am relieved. This victory is a sure win!"

"Then tomorrow morning, the army will march towards Baidao. Anyone who talks about retreating will be punished like this!"

After saying that, Xian Yu Ahu directly cut off the chair beside him.

Seeing his behavior, the soldiers shouted "Victory!" instead. There was nothing they could do as the rebels just fell for it. If the leader did not have personal charisma, he would not be able to suppress these guys.

Xianyu Ahu had no choice. He ordered his men to put Su Jie in a prison cart, park the cart next to his tent, and head towards the front line.

In order to humiliate Su Jie, Xianyu Ahu even allowed him to sit in on military meetings, and every time after the meeting was over, he would start to laugh at Su Jie.

In any case, in Xianyu Ahu's opinion, if he won, he would kill Su Ze and Su Jie together.

If I lose, if I die in battle, why would I still think so much? I should vent my anger first! I should feel good first!

However, Xianyu Ahu didn't know that all his arrangements had been reported to Su Ze by Su Jie. After Xianyu Ahu's army set out, Su Ze knew the movements of his army very well.

The mighty army marched towards Baidao. Xianyu Ahu had no concept of logistics. Whenever he arrived at a place, he would summon the local nobles and demand taxes. If they refused, he would directly send soldiers to rob them.

Along the way, the counties and prefectures along the way all hated Xianyu Ahu deeply. When many people heard that Xianyu Ahu's army was coming, they would rather burn their property and join Su Ze than stay in their hometown and be exploited by Xianyu Ahu.

As for Su Ze, after leaving Baidao City, he did not move forward.

He stationed troops in the Fengzhou Beach area at the exit of Baidao. The grass had sprouted in early spring in March. Su Ze ordered the grass to be harvested and the war horses to be raised here. He also ordered livestock to be sent from the rear for slaughter so that the army could recuperate here.

After the brutal destruction caused by the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms, fertile land is now everywhere.

During the Ming Dynasty, the Mongolian Khan Aldan built a city at Fengzhou Beach, which made Aldan Khan's hegemony come true. He had attacked the capital several times, which frightened the old Emperor Jiajing so much that he could not live in peace.

But now there is not even a grazing tribe here, and Su Ze feels it is a huge waste.

Su Ze called Wei Xiaokuan and said:
"Once we take Hengzhou, we can build a city here and open up good farmland for military settlement."

After Wei Xiaokuan built the city in Wuyuan, he also had his own experience in building cities. Looking at the land near Fengzhou Beach, he also felt that this was a very suitable place to build a city, and hurriedly recorded it.

On March 10, Xianyu Ahu's army finally arrived slowly at Fengzhou Beach.

On this day, the wind was calm and the sun was beautiful.

Su Ze reorganized his troops and arranged them in battle array on the high western slope.

With the general's flag flying behind him, Su Ze was in the center of the cavalry team.

The cavalrymen on his left and right were all wearing iron armor, and the rising sun shone on the armor, emitting a bright light. The generals in Xianyu Ahu's army drooled.

The government troops’ equipment is really good!
Compared with the equipment of the government army, most of their generals did not have full armor, and many of them even wore armor that was pieced together and did not fit them at all.

Looking at the war horses in Su Ze's army, those that can steadily carry fully armored cavalry must be the best horses.

In times of war, weapons are the most valuable hard currency. A high-quality warhorse is more valuable than gold, silver and jewelry. These are the hard currency in the army.

Not to mention the rebels, when Cui Yanbo's government troops were fighting in Guanzhong, they saw the armor dropped by Mozhe Tiansheng and couldn't help but snatch it. This set of equipment was too dazzling for Xianyu Ahu and other refugee soldiers who were used to poverty!
Xianyu Ahu also deployed his troops, but his army had poor discipline and could only be roughly divided into the front and rear armies.

Xianyu Ahu himself led the vanguard of his own troops and raised the commander's flag that had been bestowed upon him by Xianyu Xiuli. The other generals were scattered in the rear army, waiting for Xianyu Ahu's order to go forward to support.

There's no other way. When it comes to fighting a war, sometimes you have to do it all by yourself, especially when you have to fight for your life.

This is also the reason why Su Ze insisted on leading the troops to attack Hengzhou personally despite the opposition from his ministers.

If it was a favorable battle, such as when Qinzhou was being conquered, the subordinates would of course be willing to go, and they would receive military merit if they won.

But if everyone is against the battle, then you have to fight it yourself.

The leading generals were unwilling, the middle-level officers did not want to work hard, and the lower-level soldiers wanted to go home.

This army has a thousand reasons to turn back during the march, or to slack off near the battlefield and drag down the logistics.

The last time he went to Luoyang, and this time he came to Hengzhou, all the ministers and generals did not understand, so Su Ze had to fight himself.

Even a military genius like Li Shimin had to lead his troops into battle personally, right?
Xianyu Ahu was no exception. He claimed to have 100,000 troops, but in reality, only more than 50,000 of them could fight. Although he was ten times more than Su Ze, he had many troops on his side.

If you want the army to fight to the death, you must first make a hole yourself. The generals in the rear will see the opportunity and rush up to grab the spoils.

If non-direct troops were allowed to charge in the front, their will to fight would not be strong to begin with, and they would even suspect that Xianyu Ahu was deliberately sending them to the front to die.

If these non-direct lines are defeated, it will trigger a chain reaction of defeat.

Su Ze was already fully aware of Xianyu Ahu's arrangements, and even knew which generals under his command were afraid of fighting and which were timid.

Su Ze reiterated the military order to the entire army:

"In today's battle, regardless of the gains, whoever wins will be promoted to a higher rank and awarded ten pieces of silk!"

"Anyone who dismounts and beheads in order to seek credit will be executed without mercy!"

Su Ze was afraid that the soldiers would compete for military merit and dismount to chop off heads, so he issued such a military order.

The soldiers were delighted after hearing this. Su Ze always keeps his word and has never failed to reward military merits. Today he promised such a generous reward, which further boosted the morale.

The army was ready and the military order had been passed down. Su Ze then ordered Su Bei to beat the drum. He drew his sword and said:
"The time to defeat the enemy is today! Charge!"

Su Ze divided the five thousand cavalry into two parts.

The four thousand cavalrymen formed the vanguard and were heavily armored cavalry.

The one thousand armored cavalrymen were the rear army, and they were armored cavalrymen wearing three kinds of armor.

The first to charge were the front army, and Su Ze led the rear army to prepare on the slope.

Four thousand heavy cavalry charged together, truly shaking the earth and mountains!
What followed was a scene that Xian Yu Ahu would never forget.

Four thousand heavily armored cavalry rushed into Xianyu Ahu's army like a tiger descending from the mountain. The vanguard troops collapsed at the first touch and were torn open directly.

The most terrifying thing was that under the guidance of Su Ze's flag, this cavalry unit went straight to the central army position where Xianyu Ahu was located like a tracking arrow.

Xianyu Ahu regretted it now, but he had not built a camp at all, and now he couldn't even retreat.

Hengzhou is mostly pastures, and there are no passes along the way. Once defeated, there will be no way to retreat, and they will definitely be hunted down by the cavalry one by one.

Xianyu Ahu had no time to regret, so he quickly sent his personal soldiers to the surrounding areas to mobilize troops, hoping to fill the gap opened by Su Ze.

But it was too late. The charging cavalrymen took out iron rods tied to the horses' bellies and used the kinetic energy of the horses' charge to hit the target, causing serious injuries.

The battlefield was filled with blood and flesh flying everywhere. Xianyu Ahu's direct subordinates were soon frightened and some of their troops had begun to disband.

Xianyu Ahu also became afraid. He ordered a retreat to the rear, trying to use the distance to exhaust the morale of Su Ze's cavalry.

But his general flag retreated backwards, and the vanguard troops, which were already unable to hold on, could no longer hold on and began to flee backwards.

Seeing that the battle was already decided, Su Ze personally led a reserve of 1,000 armored cavalry and rushed down the mountain.

The outcome has been decided.

(End of this chapter)