Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 94 Successful Suppression of the Rebellion
The year-end between 32 and 33. The cart tracks and hoofprints along the north and south banks of the Yong River are no longer being updated.

Wu Fei left two thousand elite soldiers and a steady officer in Lu City, ordering him to strengthen the city's defenses. He then led the remaining four thousand main force back to the Zhen River region.

According to intelligence, Wu Fei learned that the puppet regime had withdrawn its main force.

Because it wasn't just Wu Fei who needed to gather provisions; Wei Guan was also struggling to secure supplies for his army. In fact, it could be said that Ji Fei faced even greater difficulties in requisitioning provisions from the aristocratic families than Wu Fei did.

Back in October, Ji Fei rallied, harboring ambitions to retake the area south of Yongshui, and prepared sixty days' worth of provisions for his army. Wu Fei had discovered this.

According to Wu Fei's own standard procedure, after gathering troops and collecting provisions, he should immediately cross the Yong River to reach the south bank, and then leave a month to besiege the city. The Yao army is under great pressure.

However, what followed was that after Tang Du'ao's defeat as the vanguard of Guan's army, the various armies that the pseudo-Guan had gathered in Yongzhou became increasingly cautious due to a lack of unity. The generals wasted more than ten days in their so-called "observation of the situation," squandering supplies in vain.

This is comparable to the Eighteen Lords' campaign against Dong Zhuo. Unlike the Eighteen Lords' campaign against Dong Zhuo, Wu Fei would not send Hua Xiong to challenge the other side to rebuild their morale, but would directly use a despicable attack across the Yong River.

The governor of Yongzhou, Ji Fei, now has the same level of control over his army as Wu Fei did over the various squad leaders when he guarded the grain depot during his first battle.

At that time, Wu Fei was nominally the commander of the various agricultural teams, but he could not control them when they won a great victory, nor could he control them when they suffered a minor defeat.

The various armies under Ji Fei's command are all locally assembled, so the leaders of each unit are all related to local powerful families. Some are even collateral relatives. After Tang Du'ao's defeat, these private generals were uncertain about the situation on the south bank of the Yong River and wanted others to go up first to test it out while they observed the situation themselves. This mutual "deference" turned into a joint effort to persuade Ji Fei to wait.

So, while these aristocratic families who had pledged allegiance to the false regime were "wise" and observing, they were faced with Wu Fei's utterly shameless tactics.

Wu Fei released Tang Du'ao, and then, after a series of rumors forced him to commit suicide, he skillfully shifted the blame to various forces in Yongzhou.

As a result, the army in Yongzhou was thrown into a state of panic because of some rumors. The morale of the troops was completely broken.

As the year drew to a close, the puppet regime dared not send its large army south of the Yong River. If it besieged a city for more than twenty days without success, it would be in a difficult situation.

Just then, the Wu family army (Wu Hengyu) in Zhenzhou to the south was incredibly powerful.

Wu Fei: As long as Wu Hengyu launches an attack, everything will be alright. When the siege turns into a rout, and Wu Hengyu pursues relentlessly, they will be routed! No, they won't be routed; the entire Yongshui River will block their path, and they will all fall into the river one after another.

If this scenario actually unfolds, the hearts and minds of those who have gained false trust are inherently unstable, and a sharp blow could easily quell their discontent.

The people in Yongzhou have been consulting the almanac recently and know that going to war is inauspicious, so they have called off the campaign.

…The wild geese began to form V-formations and fly south…

With the troops withdrawing from Yongzhou, Wu Fei decided to stop playing along with them.

On the way back with his troops, Wu Fei reviewed and summarized the operation: the entire campaign can be roughly divided into three stages: "entry", "expansion", and "acquisition".

The "entry" phase involves dispatching a small, elite force to closely monitor the enemy. Simultaneously, a large army of ten thousand men bypasses the enemy's heavily fortified areas and enters their less guarded zone. This renders the enemy's initial defensive posture ineffective, forcing them to shift the main battlefield.

The "expansion" phase involves the deployment of defensive and offensive forces. Just as the knife and fork on a plate are placed in the most convenient position, after the large-scale mobile forces have completed their penetration, they seize important transportation routes and strategic locations, set up defensive camps, and hand them over to the follow-up second-line troops to serve as the plate. Then, the field troops move to positions suitable for another mobile offensive, serving as the knife.

Taking this instance as an example, after Wu Fei completed his camp north of the Zhen River, the marshes and mountains quickly became a solid shield. King Lelang led his mobile troops to charge headlong into the area but failed. Wu Hengyu's "sword" struck from behind, and the outcome of the battle was decided in a single engagement.

The "taking" stage involves first defeating the enemy's main force. Once there are gaps in the enemy's troop deployment, our side takes the initiative, seizes the enemy's key points, and further eliminates the enemy's forces through methods such as besieging the enemy's strongholds and attacking reinforcements.

For example, after the siege of Laocheng, Wu Hengyu's attack on the reinforcements completely cut off the last possibility of Lelang King's mobile warfare, to the point that he did not come out. Seeing this, other cities also surrendered one after another.

Wu Fei wrote his "military treatise" on the silk scroll, roughly summarizing the progress of the entire battle and outlining his future tactics for using troops!
Wu Fei: The core strategy is to leverage the professional advantages of the sergeant group in marching drills to conduct large-scale troop infiltration and seize the initiative in the campaign.

This refers to Principal Chang Shenkai's "ideal" progress in the campaign to "finally quell the rebellion," assuming everything went smoothly. The principal dared to have such an "ideal" because he drew upon his own successful experience of personally leading hundreds of thousands of soldiers to a great victory against the Beiyang warlords Sun Fang and Zhang Chang!

And here, personally leading ten to twenty thousand elite soldiers to infiltrate the rear and deal with these even more backward insects, would naturally lead to a great victory. Wu Fei: I can now feel this vibrant, flourishing state of life.

…Transition line…

However, just as Wu Fei was figuring out how to build a modern army, he also saw a desolate scene outside the carriage and felt that the tactics he was developing were out of step with the times.

After all, the soldiers were still borrowing food and water from the surrounding area, struggling to eat dry rations.

Wu Fei: Large-scale infiltration requires modern logistics support. If the enemy adopts a scorched-earth policy, it will lead to a situation similar to Napoleon's invasion of Russia.

Wu Fei said heavily, "In the current feudal era, similar scorched-earth policies were common. In some areas, after a few repeated military campaigns, the army would quickly consume all the remaining resources. Then came looting and fleeing. This is the effect of scorched-earth policies."

Although the Beiyang Army began to develop towards a modern military in the late Qing Dynasty, the conditions of the era could not support it. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the downfall of Yuan Shikai, the military strongman, these Beiyang warlords, who had studied modern regulations, quickly regressed to a feudal warlord state after fighting each other on the vast land.

The Beiyang Army needed funding and had to send its own troops to scavenge for food in the countryside.

The same was true for the Japanese army in its later stages. The troops were completely troubled by the "maintenance problem" in the local areas, and due to the drastic cultural differences, various behaviors went too far and caused more intense resistance, further depleting their organizational capacity and losing their ability to fight decisive battles as a regular army.

Wu Fei summarized: "To maintain a modernized force, it is necessary to have coastal and river shipping, as well as railways and locomotives to transport surplus supplies from other regions to the military zone in a timely manner; otherwise, a modernized force can only make one large-scale incursion in the region! And the second time, it will be hampered by the shortage of supplies everywhere."

When Wu Fei led his troops back, he saw a scene of desolation. For hundreds of miles along the way, there wasn't a single village or person in sight. The only person they occasionally saw was an elderly man left behind in his village, intending to stay and be buried there, showing no fear of death whatsoever. After dismounting and personally inquiring about the old man's situation, Wu Fei learned that everyone in his village had fled, some into the mountains, and would not return until things stabilized.

This scene left Wu Fei speechless, not only lamenting the destruction caused by the military, but also feeling distressed that he had missed calculating the constraints after completing most of his problem.

It's true that the military is moving towards modernization, but the world hasn't modernized. The military system we've developed ourselves is like a strong man hunching over and fighting rats in a cramped box.

…Withered vines, old trees, and crows at dusk; broken halberds, desolate city, and iron horses…

It took Wu Fei's 4,000 troops 40 days to get back, just in time for the final battle.

Wu Fei and Wu Hengyu were recalled at the same time. Wu Hanluan detained Wu Fei and Wu Hengyu in the main tent, which was tantamount to taking away their command at the same time.

Within three days, he reunited the two separate forces of the Northern Route Wu Family Army, and adjusted and mixed the garrisons of each battalion to allow them to work together.

A month ago, when the Battle of Laocheng had just ended, the sergeants that Wu Fei brought out and the sergeants under Wu Hengyu were all bragging about how awesome they were in the battle.

So when Wu Fei's troops joined forces with Wu Hengyu's troops, the two groups began to clash. Several brawls broke out over arguments about who had contributed more in battle.

One of the most serious cases occurred in a brothel in Laocheng, where two groups of people encountered each other. Initially, it was over a woman, but they each called for reinforcements, resulting in a large-scale brawl. Wu Hanluan dispatched troops wearing ghost masks to quell the chaos. After interrogation, three people were immediately executed, and then punishments were imposed.

Similar conflicts are likely to occur in the future.

Neither Wu Fei nor Wu Hengyu intervened, because any statement they made would be seen as biased towards one side!
The current struggle can only be resolved when the old commander Wu Hanluan gives the order, leaving all sides speechless!

Two days after this incident, in the camp, Wu Hanluan asked Wu Fei to compile statistics on the merits and rewards of this battle. Wu Fei spent two days completing the statistics on all the battle merits.

Wu Hanluan, seated at the head of the table, nodded and asked Wu Hengyu, seated below, "What are your thoughts?"

Wu Hengyu couldn't find any fault with the description of the merits, so he turned to Wu Fei, who was sitting next to him and had written the "merit report," and asked, "Why didn't you let me meet with anyone else these past two days?" (He was going crazy from being cooped up in the tent for two days.)
Wu Fei looked at him bluntly: "Brother, you are brave and invincible on the battlefield, but your weakness is that you are easily swayed. It is impossible to avoid discussing rewards and punishments with you, but if I explain things to you first, you will reveal it to your subordinates in advance, and then be affected by their complaints. Wouldn't that put me in a difficult position?"

If they weren't on the same side and he couldn't beat him, Wu Fei would have been very blunt in criticizing Wu Hengyu: "A dog can wag its tail, but a tail can't wag a dog."

Wu Hengyu: "You're good with words, I won't argue with you!"

Wu Hanluan watched the two bickering, smiling without saying a word. He tapped the table and nodded, "Stop arguing. If Hengyu has no objections, you can carry out the reward and punishment."

Wu Hengyu: "Lelang City hasn't even fallen yet, and our army is already bestowing rewards ahead of time?"

Wu Fei couldn't hold back any longer: "Brother, what are you hesitating for? The people below are waiting. If we don't seal off this wave soon, how will they be able to focus on the next decisive battle?"

Wu Hengyu looked at Wu Fei, and Wu Fei looked back at Wu Hengyu intently. He then added, "No matter what kind of reward or punishment, there will inevitably be complaints in the army. If the next commander of the Northern Route Army is not the one who first captures the city, he will not be able to suppress these complaints."

Upon hearing this, Wu Hengyu asked quite seriously, "Do you want me to decide everything?"

Wu Fei immediately replied, "I do want to go back to the south to farm, but I'm afraid that after I leave, the group of people I brought with me will be half-hearted and cause you trouble."

After the three men finished speaking, they ordered the other officers outside the tent to come in and receive the commander-in-chief's final decision.

After an incense stick had burned, Wu Hengyu took charge of the reward ceremony on the training ground, while the crowd whispered among themselves because they couldn't see Wu Fei.

This caused some unease among the soldiers who had followed Wu Fei north, but the rewards were quickly distributed. Their contributions were greater than expected, so after the rewards were given, they knelt on one knee and shouted, "We are willing to die for the general!"

As for Wu Hengyu's faction of soldiers, although they were somewhat awkward, they all obeyed orders and accepted this distribution of credit, thus ending a rift. The army began to move out.

As the army set off, the imperial envoy, who was urging the army to march for the fourth time, happened to run into Wu Hengyu, who was breaking camp. He immediately requested to advance with the army.

The imperial envoy, holding the imperial tally, stood at the forefront beneath the Wu family army's large banner, announcing to all sides of Zhenzhou that the imperial troops were about to recapture Lelang City.

…two days later…

The army marched to the city walls, where strings of skulls hung from the city walls, making it resemble a ghost city. One after another, monstrous, crimson-red soldiers stood on the walls, wielding their nicked broadswords, the blades glowing intensely red as if engulfed in flames.

However, as the horns sounded and the catapults rained down wave after wave, the corpses on the city wall quickly mingled with the collapsed bricks and tiles.

Subsequently, during the siege, after an inside agent fired a signal flare, Wu Hanluan ordered Wu Hengyu to climb the city walls.

After receiving the order, Wu Hengyu quickly shouldered a shield as tall as a man and mingled among the attacking soldiers, rapidly approaching the city wall. There weren't many archers on the wall. This was because King Lelang was too cruel and extravagant; the resources needed for powerful bows were simply insufficient.

And so, Wu Hengyu himself was the first to run up the city wall. He stepped on the footholds where the armor-piercing crossbow bolts had entered the city wall, and held up a shield as tall as a person, like an umbrella, to block all the "juice" and "stones" falling from above as he climbed the wall.

After Wu Hengyu rushed up the city wall, the Xinghan Spear in his hand suddenly lengthened, and he swept it out fiercely. The six berserker soldiers who surrounded him were sent flying like rapeseed flowers under a stick. The armored soldiers who followed Wu Hengyu up the city wall also relied on their armor to fight against these berserker soldiers whose muscles were dyed red and could be called "demons".

After Wu Hengyu swept back and forth along the city wall for more than a hundred steps, a large number of the berserkers fell off the city wall like chess pieces falling from a coffee table, and the city wall was completely cleared.

By the time the third wave of Da Yao soldiers reached the city walls, there was no resistance, and the city was in chaos.

…urban scenes…

King Lelang, who was searching for Wu Hengyu's final battle, was passing through Caishikou with his troops when he suddenly sensed something unusual. As he passed through some alleys, he discovered a group of strange people wearing straw hats.

These attackers, dressed in straw hats, suddenly erupted and charged into the ranks of King Lelang's army, stabbing wildly with small daggers.

The madman immediately swung his sword back, but before being stabbed to death, the men in black robes spat at him and gave him a mocking smile.

After killing the monsters, King Lelang's berserker army discovered numerous stitches on their bodies, resembling a composite of corpses; upon closer inspection, these stitches turned out to be thread-like worms. As they were killed, a short while later, the berserkers who had been spat on felt itchy all over; upon closer inspection, they saw thread-like worms moving in and out of their bodies.

Thus, a scene unfolded in the streets and alleys: the mad soldiers would walk along, then suddenly squat in a corner, using knives to scrape their own flesh as if performing surgery, picking out the worms. These scenes of constantly cutting their own flesh were bloody and eerie. The citizens of the city, whose minds were not yet so deeply entrenched in the "bloodthirsty frenzy," found their red pupils fading, and they cowered in their houses in fear, listening to the sounds of flesh being scraped and bones being cut.

Strangely enough, once the Wu family army had completely entered, these troublesome tapeworms disappeared from the Kuang Jun's body; to be precise, they burrowed back into his body and merged into his body tissues.

Wu Hengyu finally caught King Lelang and pinned him to the ground within three moves. Just as he was about to finish him off, Wu Fei rode over on his dragon horse and shouted, "Spare his life!"

Then, the imperial envoy was brought over, and the Grand Imperial Envoy, after a glance, confirmed it was indeed him. Following this, the Grand Imperial Envoy read out an imperial edict rebuking him, and then King Lelang roared as he recounted the hypocrisy of the Emperor and his childhood bias against him. He struggled and writhed under Wu Hengyu's spear, breaking a rib in his attempt to break free.

Wu Hengyu finished him off in one move; his massive head fell off, and he died with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

Wu Fei politely apologized to the imperial envoy, saying, "My lord, this is our fault." — Wu Hengyu, standing to the side, was not about to yield, his murderous aura palpable.

Wu Fei also wanted to stand up for himself, but considering that he was being targeted by the Emperor of Xu and might be sent to Yaodu in the future, he decided to put on a show for now.

Wu Fei: What if the Emperor is petty?

As for whether "King Lelang cursed at people", did Wu Fei fail to consider the matter?

Wu Fei: "He's already dead. After all, the imperial envoy's demand to capture him alive wasn't out of consideration for past relationships, but rather to confirm whether he had been executed on the spot."

The imperial envoy's face turned deathly pale. He regained his senses and said, "The rebellious king is courting death. I will inform His Majesty. You need not worry."

(End of this chapter)