Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Within three days, Guanqiu Jian launched three attacks, throwing Sun Deng's scattered allied forces into chaos and leaving them disoriented.

Pu Zhong's troops launched an attack out of the city, which completely terrified Chen Shi's forces. They either surrendered or fled to Sun Deng's forces in the rear, showing no will to fight whatsoever.

"General Pu sent someone to inquire whether you should accept the surrender of several thousand Jiaozhou soldiers." Sima Shi clasped his hands and reported, "The sun is about to set, and the mutinous soldiers have no one to rely on. I fear they may cause trouble. I think it would be better to follow the advice given the other day regarding the Ding'an battle and drive out all the mutinous soldiers. We can discuss it again tomorrow."

Guanqiu Jian glanced at Sima Shi and slowly shook his head: "No, since the mutinous soldiers have come to surrender, we should accept their surrender. Quickly order General Pu to disarm the mutinous soldiers and have him guard them against the city walls. If we can get through this night, things will be easier tomorrow!"

"Yes, sir." Sima Shi clasped his hands in response, but was still somewhat puzzled: "General, I have some questions. Wouldn't letting these defeated soldiers go back make the rebels even weaker and more fearful?"

Guanqiu Jian slowly said, "You still don't understand. When we first defeated the enemy in Ding'an, the soldiers were all from Jiuzhen and Rinan counties. Moreover, these people were weak in combat, did not know how to fight, and could not be commanded by me. If we confined them to the south of Xiliushui, they would naturally scatter southward and would not stay in Jiaozhi County."

“Today is different. Chen Shi is dead, and his troops are leaderless and can only rely on me. Besides, how can we possibly leave Sun Deng even half a soldier?”

"Understood, Your subordinate." Sima Shi bowed his head in greeting.

Nothing happened all night.

With fortified cities and warships moored along the river, Guanqiu Jian had no need to worry about a night attack. Moreover, a night attack was far too sophisticated for the rebels on the other side. Guanqiu Jian also sent men downstream to inform Shi Bao's forces of the situation, ordering them to advance together at dawn the next day to launch a pincer attack.

On the morning of the second day, after tidying up the surrendered soldiers' living quarters, Guanqiu Jian traveled south along the river from Zhuyuan City. He had only traveled less than ten miles when he encountered a well-organized army that had come to surrender.

"Don't panic, speak slowly." Sima Shi shouted to the kneeling soldiers nearby in a half-sounding Jiaozhou accent, "Who is in charge?"

"I am!" a middle-aged man in his forties who looked like an officer shouted, crawling on his knees to Sima Shi and saying urgently, "Sir, I am Sima Weifang under the command of Prefect Huang of Hepu."

Sima Shi lowered his head and asked in a deep voice, "What happened? Why are you all coming here?"

Wei Fang replied, "Sir, yesterday the army was divided into two camps, one for His Majesty's main force and the other for Prefect Huang's force. Prefect Huang's force also sheltered the defeated troops from Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, and Rinan prefectures from yesterday. The two camps were about a mile apart. But when we were preparing to cook breakfast this morning, we found that Prefect Huang was nowhere to be found!"

"Gone?" Guanqiu Jian walked over at this moment and asked with a frown.

“Yes,” Wei Fang answered more cautiously, “When we sent people to search, we discovered that His Majesty’s troops had also disappeared at the same time. We were at a loss, and when we heard that the imperial army was in the north, we came to join him…”

Guanqiu Jian, disregarding Wei Fang's wording, asked directly, "How could Sun Deng's several thousand men possibly conceal him? Which direction did he go?"

"Northeast!" Wei Fang said without hesitation.

Guanqiu Jian nodded slightly, and then remained silent.

Sima Shi, who was standing nearby, said, "General, Longbian City is in the northeast. Sun Deng must have lost his courage and abandoned his army to flee!"

"What's your plan?" Guanqiu Jian asked.

Sima Shi spoke without hesitation: "General, judging from the map, Sun Deng is nearly two hundred li away from Longbian. We can also travel two hundred li by water from here, and we will definitely be able to get ahead of Sun Deng and reach Longbian!"

Just as Sima Shi was about to cup his hands in greeting, a slightly deep voice came from behind him: "We won't make it."

Sima Shi turned his head and saw that it was Wei Fang. He frowned and asked, "What did you say?"

Wei Fang was somewhat flustered by the look, and quickly explained, "If you go further up to the north, there's a ford near the north bank. Small boats can pass, but large ships like the imperial ships can't. If you don't believe me, I'll send someone to check it out!"

Guanqiu Jian sneered, "So this is Sun Deng, trying to slip away from me! Sima, take a ship and quickly go upstream to investigate, then leave immediately. I'll gather the remaining troops here and report back as soon as I have any news!"

"Yes, sir!" Sima Shi accepted the order and left.

Guanqiu Jian also led his troops to gather the surrendered soldiers here, pacifying each unit, establishing camps, ordering the collection of logistics, and unifying the administration...

Yesterday, he learned all the intelligence about Sun Deng's troops from Huang Gai, the captured governor of Rinan. His main force numbered only 7,500 men, and even if he controlled all the Jiaozhi soldiers in Longbian City, his strength would only be 12,000 to 13,000.

The number of rebel remnants here exceeded 10,000, including more than 4,000 from Huang Fu's forces in Hepu, more than 3,000 from Shi Song and Huang Gai's forces, and more than 5,000 from Chen Shi's forces.

If we include the 5,000 troops of Chen Shiyu who surrendered yesterday, the number of rebels who surrendered here alone has reached nearly 20,000.

Even if Sun Deng went to seize it, he could only capture Longbian City; his military strength and self-preservation mentality were insufficient to support him in carrying out more creative military actions. Guanqiu Jian, as the governor of Jiaozhou, should have taken care of the defeated troops and demonstrated greater responsibility.

If these local troops are not brought together today, and they disperse throughout the county, they will likely become a long-term problem. This illustrates the different moral requirements of rulers and rebels.

Guanqiu Jian gathered his defeated soldiers, supplies, ships, and carts outside Zhuyuan City and slowly marched towards Longbian City, proceeding at a leisurely pace, not in a hurry. Sure enough, about forty li from Longbian City, he met Chen Fang, the magistrate of Longbian County, who surrendered, claiming that Sun Deng had led his troops away from Longbian and fled to the south of Shu in the northwest.

By the time Guanqiu Jian entered Longbian City, it was already January 18th.

In the prefectural government office of Longbian City, Guanqiu Jian sat calmly in the center. Kneeling in the hall were three people: Chen Fang, the magistrate of Longbian County; Huang Gai, the prefect of Rinan; and Li Tai, the military commander of Jiaozhi.

All three were bound and forced to kneel on the ground by armored soldiers, unable to move, and could only await their fate and judgment.

But the officials seemed not to care about them, nor were they afraid that they would hear them, and they discussed military matters in the hall.

Zhu Yi, the chief clerk of the general in charge of the army, cupped his hands towards Guanqiu Jian and said, "General, Sun Deng's troops have already scattered. Shouldn't we send troops to pursue them?"

Lieutenant General Pu Zhong then said, "I am willing to lead the troops to pursue them. The bandits have already lost their courage. The journey to the south is long, and we will surely win easily!"

Shi Bao and Zhu Yi also gave the same account.

Guanqiu Jian pondered for a long time, then slowly shook his head and looked at everyone, saying, "Sun Deng is cowardly and afraid of battle. This pursuit may succeed, but if we are too hasty and fall into an ambush, it will not be good."

"For Jiaozhou, the immediate priority is not to pursue Sun Deng, but to quickly pacify the four prefectures of Jiaozhi, Hepu, Jiuzhen, and Rinan, rebuild the court's jurisdiction, and appease the various armies to prevent future troubles. Moreover, with the court's campaign against Shu imminent, the safety of Jiaozhou would also relieve the court of a worry."

“Therefore, we should send someone to Luoyang to inform them of this matter as soon as possible.” Guanqiu Jian took a deep breath and pointed to his chief secretary Zhu Yi: “Jiwen, you will go to Luoyang this time. If His Majesty has already led his army away from Luoyang, then you must rush to the temporary capital to pay your respects in person, so as not to cause any loss.”

Zhu Yi immediately clasped his hands in a salute: "Your subordinate will obey the general's orders. If I go to Luoyang, what should I say, and what shouldn't I say?"

Guanqiu Jian slowly replied, "There's nothing I shouldn't say. Just answer whatever His Majesty and the court ask you. As for the things I need to say, there are three."

"Firstly, I report to the court that since Youzhou was divided into Youzhou and Yingzhou in the fourth year of Taihe, I request that Jiaozhou be divided into two prefectures. The five prefectures of Nanhai, Cangwu, Yulin, Hepu, and Zhuyai should be one prefecture, and the three prefectures of Jiaozhi, Rinan, and Jiuzhen should be one prefecture, each with a governor and a general in charge of the prefecture."

"Your subordinate understands." Zhu Yi suppressed his surprise and bowed in response. Guanqiu Gong had never told him about such an important matter before.

The officials and generals in the hall also seemed to be deep in thought.

"Secondly, I will recommend those who have rendered meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion." Guanqiu Jian looked at Shi Bao, Pu Zhong, and Chen Ben, who had contributed to the campaign, and slowly said, "Prefect Shi has repeatedly served as the vanguard and rendered meritorious service in fighting the enemy. I will recommend you as a Marquis of a Pavilion. Colonel Chen is already a Marquis of a Township, and I will petition His Majesty to increase your fief. General Pu received the title of Marquis of a Pavilion when he attacked Wu last time, but his merits this time should not be enough to be promoted to Marquis of a Township. I will petition the court to promote you to a General of Miscellaneous Titles. I will recommend twenty more Marquises within the Pass from the army and the state to show the court's favor. Ji Wen and Zi Yuan, you two are among them. Colonel Chen, I have also reserved five places for your unit; you can choose for yourself."

"It's not that I'm stingy, but given the military situation, there's no hardship involved. One marquisate and twenty marquises within the pass are enough. Besides, in a mere suppression of a rebellion, if too many marquises are granted, is that something to be proud of for the court?"

"Your subordinate thanks the general for his kindness." Everyone responded in unison, and no one dared to object.

Guanqiu Jian nodded slightly, and then said, "Jiwen, the third matter is that I want to send troops from Jiaozhou to attack the southern part of Shu! It is January now, and even if it takes three months to travel back and forth, it will be just right to send troops in April. Shu's military strength is not abundant, and it would be good if we could draw a few thousand or ten thousand troops to the north. If Sun Deng can come, I can go."

"The purpose of this military expedition is to weaken the rebels in the four prefectures and to select generals and meritorious individuals from the battle to rebuild the official system in the prefectures."

"Yes," Zhu Yi replied solemnly, cupping his hands in greeting as he asked, "Now that the general has finished speaking about the three matters, what about Chen Fang, Huang Gai, and Li Tai?"

Guanqiu Jian glanced at the group and slowly said, "Huang Gai and Li Tai are to be escorted to Luoyang and handed over to the Ministry of Justice for punishment. Chen Shi should be executed along with his entire clan, but Long Bian has rendered meritorious service by ordering Chen Fang to surrender the city and reporting military intelligence, so he is exempt from this punishment. I hereby petition the court to exile him to Xiangping."

"Just do it!"

"Yes, I understand." Zhu Yi nodded without asking any further questions.

After Zhu Yi responded, he waved to the armored soldiers in the hall, and Huang Gai, Li Tai, and Chen Fang were immediately dragged away. Huang Gai and Li Tai were filled with despair, while Chen Fang seemed somewhat relieved.

The Chen family should be executed along with their entire clan, and as the magistrate of Longbian County, he was unlikely to escape punishment anyway. What if he surrendered the city and was instead exiled? It's still better than death.

Didn't Guanqiu Gong also go to Liaodong?

Chen Ben looked around, then cupped his hands and said, “General, now that the battle here is over, my troops should return. Please provide supplies for my ships and allow my troops to resupply again in Panyu.”

"No problem." Guanqiu Jian pointed at Sima Shi and said, "Sima, go and do it!"

Sima Shi bowed and accepted the order. (End of Chapter)