Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 444: Thousands of Cavalry Destroy Shu!

Yuwen Tai raised his head, looked at Su Ze and said:
"But please promise me one thing, Lord."

"Be bold!"

All the generals started to shout and rebuke loudly, but Yuwen Tai remained calm and continued to look at Su Ze.

Su Ze waved his hand and said:
"Go ahead."

Yuwen Tai said:
"Please ask the Duke to let us garrison the grasslands in the north, or go to Liangzhou."

Su Ze immediately understood what Yuwen Tai meant. It seemed that he had already negotiated terms with the soldiers. Even if they surrendered to Su Ze, they were unwilling to follow Su Ze to attack Erzhu Rong and face their former comrades.

Yuwen Tai continued:
"My Lord, most of these brothers are from Xiurong. Their parents and wives are all in Erzhurong's territory. Are you really confident that they will appear on the battlefield against Erzhurong?"

Su Ze nodded slightly. What Yuwen Tai said made sense. Anyway, his goal was to weaken Erzhu Rong. One's weakness would mean the other's strength. Besides, keeping this army to guard the northern border could also greatly deter the grassland.

Besides, since she has slept with me, Su Ze, how can she not be mine?

Parents and family members can find a way to pick up the child.

Su Ze nodded and agreed to Yuwen Tai's request. Yuwen Tai then breathed a sigh of relief, bowed and left the general's tent.

Chen Chong looked at Yuwen Tai, and waited until he left the general's tent before he said to Su Ze:

"My Lord, Yuwen Tai is still serving Erzhu Rong despite his brother's vengeance. He is so cunning at such a young age. Please be more cautious when you use him."

After Chen Chong finished speaking, everyone present nodded.

Su Ze looked at Chen Chong with some surprise. In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Houmo Chen Chong followed the Wuchuan Group headed by Heba Yue into the pass. After Heba Yue was killed by a traitor, he resolutely supported Yuwen Tai as the head of the Wuchuan Group.

After that, Houmochen Chong remained loyal to Yuwen Tai, and was finally killed by Yuwen Tai's nephew Yuwen Hu.

Unexpectedly, the first person to stand up and advise Su Ze to be on guard against Yuwen Tai was Chen Chong.

Come to think of it, without the collective struggle of the Wuchuan Group, although Chen Chong and Yuwen Tai were both from Wuchuan, they did not have any friendship as fellow villagers and comrades-in-arms. Instead, Yuwen Tai was despised for being willing to serve Erzhu Rong even though Yuwen Tai's brother Yuwen Luosheng was killed by Erzhu Rong.

Su Ze said:

"If Yuwen Tai can really convince these Erzhu cavalrymen to surrender, then he has done a great job and will be rewarded accordingly. I will not give him any preferential treatment just because he is an old friend of the Six Garrisons."

After hearing this, no one tried to persuade him anymore. Su Ze had always been fair in his dealings, and had always been clear about rewards and punishments. Yuwen Tai was rewarded for his meritorious service, so there was nothing to find fault with him.
-
Liangzhou.

The soldiers of Jingzhou were indeed brave. Although Wang Sengbian had no support, he attacked the wall of Nanzhong City several times. In the end, Song Zixian took the lead in hand-to-hand combat on the city wall and finally repelled wave after wave of attacks.

Song Zixian felt that the defenders in Nanzhong City had reached their limit.

But two days ago, Wang Sengbian's army suddenly stopped, and yesterday they did not attack the city for the whole day.

Song Zixian was still worried that Wang Sengbian was delaying the attack in order to relax the defense of Nanzhong City, so he personally inspected the city defenses and reminded the soldiers not to relax.

But on the third day, Song Zixian received a report from the scouts he sent out outside the city, saying that Wang Sengbian's army outside the city had already retreated.

Song Zixian was worried that Wang Sengbian was feigning retreat, so he sent out several waves of scouts to investigate, but in the end he concluded that Wang Sengbian had really retreated.

Really withdraw troops?

Song Zixian found it a little unbelievable. If he were in the other's shoes, under such circumstances, he would definitely not retreat.

Could it be that something unexpected happened in the rear?
Could it be that General Hou succeeded?
Song Zixian became excited. If Hou Jing really succeeded, he would definitely have to leave Shu as soon as possible to meet Hou Jing!

Song Zixian once again sent elite scouts deep into the Shu Road to investigate the situation on the other side of the Shu Road.

Not long after, the scouts ambushed in Jiange sent back accurate information—

Hou Jing attacked Chengdu, and the 10,000 Yizhou soldiers who had originally stayed in Jiange returned to Chengdu to support it, and took away all the food and grass in Jiange.

Wang Sengbian, who was at the front line, was short of food and had to retreat with his Jingzhou troops.

Song Zixian also received information that Wang Sengbian, ignoring the request of Xiao Ji, the governor of Yizhou who stayed in Jiange, took his troops directly back to Jingzhou.

After repeatedly confirming the intelligence, Song Zixian issued an order to cross the Shu Road and attack Jiange!
-
"Governor, you are the governor of Yizhou, how can you follow me to Jingzhou?"

Wang Sengbian looked at Xiao Ji helplessly. This emperor's eighth son, the governor of Yizhou appointed by Xiao Yan himself, was actually going to return to Jingzhou with him?

Wang Sengbian refused, of course. Xiao Ji was the son of the emperor, and he was just a military officer. Wang Sengbian could not bear the responsibility of the local governor fleeing the station without authorization during the war. Moreover, Wang Sengbian's superior was Xiao Yi, the governor of Jingzhou. How could he take the governor of Yizhou to Jingzhou?
Xiao Ji took out the gold cake and said:

"The enemy army is fierce, I am afraid Yizhou will not last long! Please save my life, General!"

Seeing the golden cake, Wang Sengbian softened his tone. Finally, he said:
"After arriving in Jingzhou, the governor said that he had followed our army back."

"understand!"
-
The Jingzhou army was already preparing to flee, but 10,000 Yizhou troops were still on the way.

Ever since Fan Sheng took command of the army, officers have been constantly asking him when the gold cake rewards promised by the governor would be paid and what kind of merits they had to make to get the gold cakes.

Gold cake? What gold cake?
Before Fan Sheng set out, he asked Xiao Ji for gold cakes, but Xiao Ji pretended to be stupid and refused to give them, saying that he would only reward him after he captured Chengdu.

These ten thousand people are all eyeing the gold cakes. If I can't produce the gold cakes, won't the soldiers suspect that I have embezzled the money?
The more Fan Sheng thought about it, the angrier he became. How could he lead his troops to fight with such a stingy boss?
The only option now is to drag on and make empty promises.

Fan Sheng announced to his generals that as long as they could recapture the city of Chengdu, the governor would not be stingy with the reward of gold cakes, and these gold cakes would be rewarded to the brave warriors who reached the city first!
Moreover, after entering the city, the governor will also open the treasury and use the treasures accumulated in the Chengdu treasury to reward the soldiers!
The soldiers thought of the golden cake and wanted to hang it around their necks, so they marched even harder. Surprisingly, they made smooth progress along the way and were about to get close to Chengdu city.

Fan Sheng's heart was in suspense again. What should he do if he really captured Chengdu City but couldn't give out rewards?
But is Chengdu so easy to attack? Although I heard that the enemy has few troops, it would take at least ten days or half a month to capture such a city, right? If it is not possible, after capturing Chengdu, we can use the gold and silver in the city to reward the soldiers.

Fan Sheng marched for another three days and finally arrived at the city of Chengdu.

What's wrong with this city of Chengdu?
When Fan Sheng arrived at the city, he found that the defense was very lax, and even the city gates were hastily closed after seeing the army.

But the army was already at the gates of the city, so he had to march. Fan Sheng could only beat drums, form a battle line, and begin to attack Chengdu.

The following battle went so smoothly that it exceeded Fan Sheng's expectations. The defense of Chengdu City could be said to be very lax. Several teams of elite soldiers rushed up the city wall, and in less than an hour, the gates of Chengdu were opened.

Fan Sheng also suspected that there were ambushes in the city, but at this time he could not control the army, and the soldiers rushed into the city to ask for rewards!

After all the hardships along the way, isn't it just for this little reward?
What if all the treasures in the treasury are snatched away by others?
When the soldiers rushed to the treasury in Chengdu, they were stunned when they saw the empty treasury.

Where are the gold, silver and jewelry in the treasury?
Where is the reward you promised?

At this time, the clerk in charge of the treasury said tremblingly:

"My lords, Hou Jing ordered me to open the treasury and give all the treasures to the people in Chengdu."

Hearing this, the soldiers were furious!

I don't know who started the commotion and said, "I risked my life to rob him!"

This group of troops, who were originally there to protect Yizhou, quickly turned into jackals and began to harm the surviving people in Yizhou city.

When Fan Sheng heard the news, his hands and feet turned cold. It was all over!
At nightfall, when Hou Jing, who was camping on the hill outside the city, saw the flames rising from the city of Chengdu and the screams drifting outside the city, he said to his generals with satisfaction:

"Let the soldiers rest well tonight, and they can enter the city tomorrow."

The next day, at dawn, the Yizhou soldiers, who had been looting for a day and a night, were finally tired. Just as they were preparing to rest with the stolen treasures and women, an urgent alarm was heard outside the city.

No one knew who opened the gate of Chengdu. It could be spies ambushed by Hou Jing in the city, or it could be the civilians who were plundered and killed. When Hou Jing's army entered the city, the Yizhou soldiers had already collapsed.

Regular armies throughout history have always emphasized military discipline. Even if they were plundering a city, they would do so in designated areas and at designated times.

Discipline is the guarantee of the army's combat effectiveness.

An army without discipline is nothing but a beast without reason.

The people in the city, after experiencing a day and night of looting by the Yizhou soldiers, had already hated this army to the core, even though it was clear that the Yizhou soldiers were their fellow countrymen.

After Hou Jing entered Chengdu, he did not rob the people. Instead, he opened the treasury to the people, burned the indentures in the mansions of the wealthy families, and restored freedom to the slaves.

But when the Yizhou soldiers returned to Chengdu, they began to rob the people, and it was clear who were their own people.

At Hou Jing's call, the people in Yizhou city also joined the crusade against the Yizhou army, especially those who had been killed by the Yizhou army. With red eyes and holding kitchen knives and farm tools, they followed Hou Jing's army and launched an attack on the Yizhou army.

In less than half a day, the Yizhou army that had entered the city just yesterday was driven out of Chengdu.

Not only were they driven out of Yizhou City, Hou Jing led his troops to pursue them for dozens of miles. The 10,000-strong Yizhou army was completely defeated and finally surrendered one after another.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Fan Sheng gave up the idea of ​​resistance and surrendered to Hou Jing.

The Jingzhou troops retreated and the Yizhou army was destroyed.

Hou Jing reproduced Deng Ai's feat of destroying Shu with a thousand cavalrymen!
(End of this chapter)