Han officials

Chapter 38 An Accident Happened [4K]

August 15th, the second year of Zhongping.

As the sky brightened, the Wei residence was bustling with activity.

As the servants came in and out, plates of steamed Hu pancakes were brought out.

The soldiers in military uniforms in the courtyard were not restrained and just picked up the food and started eating.

At the same time, Guan Yan and Wei Zhe looked at each other in silence in the lobby.

After all, the two have only been married for more than a month and are still very much in love.

Now that they suddenly can't see each other, Guan Yan is naturally reluctant and worried.

After eating a few Hu pancakes with mutton soup, Wei Zhe got up immediately when he saw that it was almost time.

Seeing this, Guan Yan, who had hardly eaten a bite of her meal, stood up subconsciously.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe immediately stepped forward and gently stroked Guan Yan's little face.

In just one month, the childishness on Guan Yan's face had not yet disappeared, but she already had some feminine charm.

Wei Zhe was naturally satisfied with his wife.

However, the land of comfort is only a place for occasional rest; the battlefield is where men should fight.

So even though he quite enjoyed Guan Yan's obsession and dependence, he still said softly, "Don't think too much. I'll be back soon. You take good care of yourself at home."

Upon hearing this, Guan Yan couldn't help but have red eyes.

But after sobbing a few times, she managed not to act spoiled or willful.

"Don't worry, my dear husband. I will take care of everything at home!"

Although Guan Yan is still just a girl, her upbringing since childhood has made her understand how to be a mistress.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe felt a little distressed and couldn't help but go forward and hug her in his arms.

After a gentle moment, Wei Zhe gently patted Guan Yan on the back and then turned and left.

Not to mention how reluctant Guan Yan was to let Wei Zhe go after he left.

After Wei Zhe got on his horse, he quickly arrived at the camp surrounded by a group of his personal riders.

Xi Zhicai, Taishi Ci, Zhong Hu and others had been waiting here for a long time.

Wei Zhe had already said everything he needed to say, so there was no need to waste time talking before leaving.

After looking around, Wei Zhe thought for a moment and then turned to the Chief of Construction, Wang Cen, and said, "It's rare that Lelang has so many oak trees. Let's cut down a few of these giant trees and keep them in reserve. They'll be useful in the future!"

After being in Daifang for so long, Wei Zhe has finally discovered that he still needs a boat in Liaodong.

"Yes~" Wang Cen responded solemnly upon hearing this.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe stopped talking nonsense and immediately waved his hand and led his men out of the camp.

As the four thousand cavalrymen filed out, the mighty army immediately raised a cloud of dust, and the area around the camp shook like a muffled thunder.

Seeing this, Huang Xiong, Wang Cen and other county officials who came to see him off were suddenly filled with emotion.

Kushoufu Ji Hong suddenly said, "Hasn't the Han army left Lelang for nearly twenty years?"

Wang Cen, a local, shook his head. "Such a large army marching out of the border... we haven't seen it in thirty years!"

Hearing this, even Huang Xiong couldn't help but sigh: "It's a blessing for Daifang to have such a county magistrate!"

……

Cavalry and infantry are different, and there are different rules for marching and camping.

But there is one thing that is unified, that is the golden drums and flags.

For example, Wei Zhe had one general recognition flag, two gate flags, five five-sided flags, four corner flags, five high-ranking flags, two golden drum flags, and ten patrol flags, each carried by his personal soldiers.

As for the largest flag, it was carried by the black guy Jiaoshan.

He is Wei Zhe's flag bearer and always follows Wei Zhe.

As for Taishi Ci, he was the vanguard of the front army, responsible for clearing the way and commanding the scouts.

Zhong Hu was responsible for commanding the rear army and protecting the back of the army.

Therefore, the 4,000 cavalrymen looked mighty, but they were well-organized under Wei Zhe's command.

Of course, Wei Zhe was able to achieve this after more than a year of experience.

It was Huangfu Song, Xu Rong, the five commanders of the Northern Army, and the Sanhe Knights who had taught Wei Zhe that when marching, officers were not allowed to leave the camp and march ahead, nor were they allowed to march behind the camp, and the soldiers and horses were not allowed to scatter in formation. Anyone who marched out of step with the front and back was the fault of the military commander.

If he had been given command of 4,000 cavalrymen when he first crossed over, the march alone would probably have been a mess.

The so-called "losing one's own composure" actually refers to some incompetent generals who are uneducated and incompetent.

So after a long journey of five days, the four thousand Han cavalry finally crossed the long hilly area and arrived at the northern coast of the Korean Peninsula.

……

The sky is vast, the wilderness is boundless;
The wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep.

The next day, morning.

After walking out of the long hilly area, Wei Zhe finally saw a grassland.

"County Lord, the place ahead is Qianmo City, the headquarters of the Qianmo tribe."

The guide beside Wei Zhe was none other than Yuan Jun's trusted confidant who had been stirring up trouble among the seven tribes of Xianbei.

So even though it was Wei Zhe's first time here, he was not completely in the dark.

"Qianmo City?" Upon hearing the name, Wei Zhe laughed and said, "Perhaps the Xianbei people have another name for it?"

"Indeed." The man laughed upon hearing this and said, "The former Mo tribe here all called it White City."

Of course, it is called a city, but in fact it is just a wooden city, not even as strong as the cities of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

At least many of the mountain cities of the Three Han States were built according to the terrain, and were still somewhat steep.

However, just as Wei Zhe was preparing to rest for a day and raid the Qianmo tribe again tomorrow, Taishi Ci, the vanguard, suddenly sent someone to report.

"What? Crashed?"

When Wei Zhe heard the messenger say that Taishi Ci and a large group of cavalry from the Qianmo tribe had unexpectedly met on the grassland, he almost thought he had heard it wrong.

In an instant, many possibilities flashed through Wei Zhe's mind, such as Yuan Jun betraying his ancestors and joining forces with the Xianbei people to set a trap for him, or someone tipped off the Xianbei people, etc.

But Wei Zhe quickly shook off all distracting thoughts.

It's too late to say anything now, and it's futile to hide or avoid it.

Now that things have come to this, the only thing left is to fight!

In a split second, Wei Zhe made a decisive move: "Send a message to all the soldiers, the Xianbei people have learned we are coming and are trying to escape. If you are a man, follow me and chase them north. Kill them without a single piece of armor left!"

As soon as this order was given, the Han cavalry from Wei Zhe on down were immediately encouraged.

Even though they were somewhat tired from traveling all the way, they still raised their arms and shouted with high morale:

"Pursue the enemy to the north, leaving no one alive!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the army immediately entered combat mode and attacked along the route of the front army.

At the same time, Taishi Ci was also engaged in a tough battle on the battlefield ahead.

Five hundred cavalrymen were hastily facing three thousand evil cavalrymen, and he could only rely on mobile fighting to delay time.

Of course, the one who was even more confused than him was the former Mo tribe leader Qifu Xiang.

Seeing that he was wearing a fur coat and a felt hat, he asked in surprise: "Where did these Han people come from?" God knows that he was not going to invade the border of Han territory this time.

Besides, even if he wanted to invade, the Han people shouldn't have discovered it so quickly, right?

Hearing him say this, the thin, tall, middle-aged man beside him immediately made a wise analysis with his eyes rolling, "Sir, these must be Han reinforcements invited by the Bunai tribe! Perhaps the Bunai tribe cursed us this time at the instigation of the Han people."

Although there is no evidence to support this statement, Qi Fuxiang, the former leader of the Mo tribe, thinks it makes sense.

He asked why the witches and priests of the Bunai tribe had suddenly become so powerful, and it turned out that they were colluding with the Han people.

By the way, Qifu Xiang actually sent troops this time to settle accounts with the Bunai tribe.

To some extent, the meeting between the two parties was purely a coincidence.

But that's how the battlefield is, no one knows what accidents may happen.

I can only say that Xi Zhicai’s idea was great and Yuan Jun’s execution was perfect.

Not to mention the four northern tribes, even the former Mo tribe had heard of this rumor and believed it without a doubt.

Thinking of this, Qifu Xiang was immediately furious and pointed at Taishi Ci and the others in front of him and said, "Capture these Han people! Don't let them escape. They must know how to break the curse!"

After saying this, he personally led the remaining Xianbei cavalry to encircle Taishi Ci's troops.

Seeing this situation, Taishi Ci was not worried but happy.

After all... we're surrounded by enemies, so we should be able to hold them back, right?
Taishi Ci had no doubt that Wei Zhe would retreat without a fight.

……

That's exactly what happened.

When Taishi Ci was surrounded and fighting against the Xianbei cavalry, Wei Zhe finally arrived at the battlefield.

After gaining a clear view of the battlefield situation, Wei Zhe reined in his horse and laughed, "My men! Today is the day to pursue the enemy!"

Upon hearing this, the Han army was also filled with murderous intent.

"Kill! Kill him till there's not a single piece of armor left!"

Then Wei Zhe led the cavalry and charged into the encirclement of the Xianbei cavalry like an arrow from a bow.

As the arrows flew through the air, more than ten people were shot down on the spot.

On the other side, when Qifu Xiang saw that the Han army actually had reinforcements, he was suddenly at a loss.

After all, as far as he could remember, he had never seen the Han army go out of the border, let alone thousands of Han cavalry going deep into the territory of the Xianbei. What was happening before him was beyond his comprehension.

So when facing Wei Zhe's attack, he subconsciously ordered the rear formation to push forward.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe immediately squeezed his legs against the horse's belly and rushed forward.

The Xianbei cavalry on the opposite side were quite burly. When they saw Wei Zhe attacking, they held horn bows and shot continuously while riding.

It has to be said that these barbarians live with cattle and horses all day long, so their accuracy in horseback archery is quite good.

However, Wei Zhe, who was wearing black armor, didn't even have the intention to hide. He just raised his hand slightly to cover his eyes, and then he heard a crisp sound, and then it disappeared.

I don’t know if it’s because of the square iron coins, but these evil barbarians actually use bone arrows.

As a result, although Wei Zhe's armor was hit by several arrows, his skin was not even broken. However, Wei Zhe would not give this man another chance.

He just pulled the long halberd lightly, and the man vomited blood, fell off his horse, and was trampled to death.

Wei Zhe then used his long halberd to knock a barbarian rider away. When he passed by the other rider, he pulled out his ring-handled sword and held it horizontally, and took advantage of the horse's speed to behead the barbarian rider.

In just a few breaths, Wei Zhe got a triple kill.

A barbarian general seemed extremely furious upon seeing this and immediately rushed forward on his horse.

However, before he could get close, a large flag came from the side and hit the man in the chest and abdomen.

It turned out that Jiao Shan had finally caught up. The black fellow didn't even bother to pull out his iron rod, but directly stabbed the filthy barbarian general to death with his flag spear.

The most outrageous thing is that while holding such a heavy banner, he could actually lift the person up high, and then throw the person out with a slight shake.

Then Jiao Shan swung the heavy flagpole with great force, sweeping it left and right, smashing the chests of the group of filthy barbarians, causing them to spit blood and die. In just a moment, he actually cleared the area around Wei Zhe.

Such a horrifying scene frightened the surrounding evil cavalry so much that they couldn't help but take a few steps back.

Qi Fuxiang, who was far away, saw this and immediately asked in horror: "Who is the barbarian here?"

But Wei Zhe didn't have time to answer him.

Although the flagpoles on Jiaoshan are useful, they cannot distinguish between friend and foe and are prone to accidental injuries.

So after clearing the area around him, this guy pulled out his own iron rod and started hitting people on the head.

Wei Zhe burst into laughter upon seeing this, and after observing for a while, he decisively ordered his cavalry to attack from point to surface, surrounding the Xianbei people like a crescent moon.

Seeing this, Taishi Ci, who was trapped in the encirclement, immediately realized that the opportunity for battle had arrived. He immediately laughed heroically and said, "Hahaha~ My dear brothers, it's time to make achievements!"

After saying this, he fired five arrows in quick succession, and the five enemy riders fell instantly. Then, taking advantage of the enemy's panic, Taishi Ci immediately led the charge, spear in hand, and charged into the enemy ranks, striking left and right until he had forced his way through.

Seeing this, the rest of the Han cavalry immediately followed closely. Although they were surrounded, they managed to defeat the enemy in front of them.

As the war progressed, Wei Zhe discovered that his "square iron coins" were really useful.

Whether it is a new or old weapon, as long as they mix square iron coins into it during smelting, the quality of the weapon will inevitably be affected.

After all, the real and fake iron coins were mixed together and they couldn't tell the difference.

However, if too many square iron coins were mixed in, they would probably break during hammering and would not be used on the battlefield at all.

On the contrary, the seemingly intact swords and guns in the hands of the Xianbei people are actually inferior products.

The only difference is that some will break into pieces with one hit, while others will suddenly break after fighting with the Han cavalry for more than ten times.

No matter what the situation was, these inferior swords and guns had really screwed them over.

The reason why the Han Dynasty was able to defeat the Five Barbarians was simply because of its powerful weapons and armor!
To a certain extent, Wei Zhe directly brought the weapons level of the Xianbei people to the level of the late Qin Dynasty.

So, under the pincer attack from Wei Zhe and Taishi Ci, the three thousand Xianbei cavalry were completely wiped out in just half an hour, and even the former leader of the Mo tribe, Qifu Xiang, could not escape.

A moment later, a group of evil cavalrymen were seen kneeling on the bloody grassland, trembling with fear on their faces.

As for the former leader of the Mo tribe, Qi Fuxiang, he was now crawling in a panic under Wei Zhe's horse, his face full of fear.

"You have two choices." Wei Zhe, who was riding on his horse, didn't even look at him, and said calmly: "One, you go and persuade them to surrender. Once the city gates are opened, you can live."

Upon hearing this, Qi Fuxiang trembled all over.

But Baicheng was the base of the Qianmo tribe after all, so he still asked in broken Chinese despite his fear: "What about the second option?"

"The second option? Haha~ That's easy. I can also use your head to persuade you to surrender."

Wei Zhe yawned nonchalantly and said, "It doesn't matter if the door isn't opened. I don't mind massacring the city!"

When these words came out, Qifu Xiang's face turned pale with fear, and he immediately shouted: "I want to persuade you to surrender, don't kill me, don't massacre the city, the former Mo army is willing to surrender, willing to surrender!"

Qi Fuxiang didn't expect Wei Zhe to be so angry. It was just surrender, what was the big deal?

There's really no need to massacre the city. Their former Mo tribe is not that steadfast and unyielding.

Besides, it’s not the first time I’ve been a dog for a big man, so there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.

With this mentality, Qi Fuxiang quickly convinced himself...
-
References:
Qi Jiguang's New Book on Effectiveness

Tan Lun's "Distribution of Troops and Horses for Autumn Defense"

"Distribution of Troops and Horses for Autumn Defense" - If the situation is slow, cavalry must march 120 li day and night, and chariots and infantry 80 li. If the situation is urgent, cavalry must march 150 li day and night, and chariots and infantry 100 li. All of this must begin with the arrival of the troop dispatch notice. Those who fail to meet the deadline will be punished as tardy.

(End of this chapter)