My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 570 Shooting and Killing Yong Kai
Compared to Qielan, the battle at Wei County was undoubtedly much fiercer and lasted longer. Especially since Wei County lacked the support of trebuchets. However, the Han army at Wei County was also more elite and better equipped, far superior to the troops from the various commanderies under Bu Zhi's command.

It just so happens that Gu Yong's troops are much more powerful than Zhu Bao's, so the battle between the two sides is much more intense than that between Qielan.

Lu Xun's deployment in Wei County was three sides surrounded but one side was missing, but the missing side was the eastern direction, which really disgusted Gu Yong.

You should know that the east side of Wei County is a dead end, first blocked by Wenshui, and then by Tangao County.

At this time, Lu Dai, who was in charge of the draft, had already contacted Lu Xun and learned about the situation in Wei County. After settling things in Tangao County and Yelang County, he personally led a thousand of his own troops and more than eight hundred Han auxiliary troops to Wei County, which made Lu Xun have more trump cards in his hands.

Lu Xun stationed Sun Ce at the north gate, while he himself was stationed at the south gate. Huang Zhong was in charge of the west gate, and Lü Dai was stationed at the west gate as a surprise force.

Because Sun Ce's northern side was relatively exposed, Lu Xun assigned him another thousand Han auxiliary troops to protect his flank.

Although Lu Xun nominally gave Huang Zhong the title of main attacker, in reality, he was not the main attacker at all, or rather, he was the main attacker.

Lu Xun's strategy was to apply maximum pressure; once he could break the morale of the people in Wei County, the battle would be over.

Four days after the fall of Qielan County, the Battle of Wei County also began.

The Han army launched a general offensive from the south, north, and west. The battle was extremely fierce from the very beginning. Yong Kai's troops knew that it was time to fight to the death and put up a very stubborn resistance.

The Han army's continuous fierce attacks were suppressed, but the Yong family's troops bravely withstood the powerful bows and crossbows below the city, throwing stones and pouring boiling oil on the city, and even daring to exchange fire with the Han army.

The fierce battle continued into the afternoon. The Han army suffered more than 400 casualties, while the Yong family's troops suffered even more casualties, losing almost one-eighth of their fighting strength.

The next morning, the Han army once again arrayed its forces and launched a fierce attack. The Han auxiliary troops, who had been observing from the sidelines, also began to join the attack, taking turns to launch fierce assaults and giving the defenders no chance to catch their breath.

Among them, the Baiyue tribe under Xizhen's command had considerable fighting strength and a very strong fighting will. On one occasion, Xizhen even personally led his elite troops in a surprise attack. If it hadn't been for Yonglu's timely reinforcements, Xizhen would have almost actually climbed the city wall.

In this battle, Xi Zhen was also seriously injured. Although he was wearing iron armor, he did not wear a helmet for the sake of convenience in commanding, and an arrow grazed his face, leaving a bloody mark. In addition, he was also hit in the waist by a crossbow bolt; although the wound was not deep, he lost a lot of blood.

By evening, the Han army had suffered over 600 casualties, half of whom were from the main Han force and the other half from the Han auxiliary troops. Meanwhile, the Yong family's retainers suffered even greater casualties than the Han army, numbering as many as 800.

In just two days, Yong Kai's army had suffered more than 1,400 casualties, which directly destroyed the morale of the Xie family.

Before the battle, Xie was furious when she learned that the draft had been seized. She even wanted to go out of the city to fight the Han army in the field and take back the draft.

Now the Xie family no longer discusses field battles, and has completely forgotten about their prepared remarks. This isn't because the Xie family has a bad memory, but because if the fighting continues like this, the Xie family might be doomed.

Yong Kai knew the situation was dire, but he still tried to reassure his subordinates and allies, saying, "The Han army has come from afar, and their supplies must be insufficient. Now, their new elite troops are at the forefront, and their offensive is fierce. As long as we can hold out for this period, the Han army's morale will collapse, and they will be unable to advance any further."

After careful consideration, Yonglu, Xie, and the others felt that while Yongkai's words were comforting, they also made a lot of sense. Most importantly, they were all trapped in Weixian County, so even if they didn't make sense, they had no choice but to listen.

On the third day, when the Han army actually set up its battle formation as usual, the morale of the city's defenders was noticeably low, and they were quite frustrated.

This is not because the defending troops were easily discouraged, but because the Han army was simply too tenacious.

The defending troops thought that after two days of fierce attacks and heavy casualties, the Han army would surely have taken a break on the third day, which was the standard procedure for most armies in that era.

After suffering seven or eight hundred casualties, the Han army remained unfazed and launched another fierce attack. It was no surprise that the defenders were demoralized.

After the drums sounded, the Han army continued their fierce attack. Not long after the battle began, the Han army made their first assault on the city walls. Although they were quickly driven back by the elite defenders, this was the first time the Han army had successfully scaled the city walls since the start of the battle for Wei County.

This successful assault on the city walls greatly boosted the morale of the Han army and its allied forces, while the morale of the defending troops plummeted once again.

Fortunately, the intensity of the Han army's offensive was gradually decreasing. As night fell, the defenders finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that their difficult day was finally coming to an end.

But at that moment, a fierce attack suddenly began from the north and south, and the intensity of the attack increased dramatically, even surpassing that of the morning.

Caught off guard, the defending troops were able to scale the city walls from both the south and north sides.

While cursing, Yong Kai sent out his last remaining elite troops to counterattack. If he could not drive the Han army off the city walls, Wei County might not even survive the night.

Just then, the long-hidden trump card of the western part of the city was finally revealed.

Eight hundred armored soldiers emerged, representing the elite forces of Lu Xun, Sun Ce, Huang Zhong, and Lü Dai, all clad in iron armor. Lu Xun had deployed them all to the west of the city, awaiting a swift and decisive strike at dusk.

The garrison troops in the west of the city had been fighting all day and were already starving and exhausted.

At this moment, a group of armored soldiers who had been resting and recuperating all day rushed out and stormed the city walls. These southern barbarian soldiers were no match for them.

The reason why it was difficult to pacify Nanzhong was that the fierce and fearless soldiers of Nanzhong were indeed a big problem, but the real root cause was the endless barren mountains and rivers of Nanzhong, as well as the millions of Baiyue people who were proficient in mountain warfare and local climate, hydrology and geography (at this time, Yizhou included most of Burma and Vietnam, a small part of Thailand, and a small part of Cambodia).

The armored soldiers stormed the city walls in just one attack, reaching the top of several sections of the city.

The officer in charge of the western city hurriedly led his troops to try to drive the Han army off the city wall again, but as soon as the two sides clashed, they were routed by the armored soldiers, and even the officers were killed in battle.

With the officer dead, the city walls could no longer hold, and the defenders collapsed and fled into the city.

The armored soldiers did not pursue the fleeing troops, but instead formed a battle formation and descended the city. Some of them stood in a protective position to cover the subsequent ascent of the city, while others rushed ahead to the west gate.

After a short while, the west gate slowly opened, and the Han army shouted "Wow, victory!" three times before rushing into the city.

With the west gate breached, the north and south gates, which had been fighting desperately, also collapsed. Before long, both the north and south gates were opened, and the slogan of "Great Han's victory" echoed throughout the entire Wei County.

After being separated from the Han Dynasty for more than a decade, Wei County was declared to have returned to the rule of the Han Dynasty.

After the Han army entered the city, they first occupied the armory, granary, treasury, archives, and market, blocked the roads, divided the remaining enemy troops, and surrounded the Wei County government.

The brothers Yong Kai and Yong Lü, along with the Xie clan chief, wanted to set fire to the armory and granary, but were stopped by the Han soldiers entering the city. In the end, they could only retreat to the Wei County government building.

"General Yong, now that things have come to this, why not surrender?"

Looking at the hundreds of surviving soldiers around him, the Xie clan chief was overcome with grief. The thought of the county government being completely surrounded by the Han army filled him with even greater fear for his life. "Surrender!?"

Yong Kai's expression changed, and he glared fiercely at the Xie clan chief. At this moment, Yong Kai was covered in dirt and blood, with blood seeping from his hair bun, looking like a demon or monster who had mistakenly wandered into the human world.

Before the Xie clan chief could explain, Yong Kai kicked him to the ground, then with a swift stroke, beheaded the Xie clan chief, shocking everyone around.

"How dare this old servant disrupt the morale of my army?"

Yong Kai spat at the corpse of the Xie clan chief, then lifted his head from the pool of blood: "Anyone who dares to surrender is a traitor!"

Although Yong Kai resisted stubbornly and refused to surrender, it did not mean he was a fool, much less that he did not want to live.

After killing the Xie clan chief, Yong Kai immediately ordered his younger brother Yong Lü to set fire to the city. Then, he led his remaining troops out of the back gate of the county government and headed straight for the east gate.

Yong Kai was somewhat cunning; he knew that the south, north, and west gates would be heavily guarded, but the east gate might have been overlooked by the Han army.

After all, the Han army had already controlled the three gates after entering the city, so there was no need to worry about being cut off from internal and external communication. As for the East Gate, which no one paid attention to, it was likely to be temporarily ignored.

But this time will not be long. Once the Han army commanders enter the city, they will surely realize this oversight, and by then it will be too late to leave.

Yong Kai and his men burst out from the back gate of the county government, catching the Han army completely off guard.

In the rush, they couldn't stop Yong Kai's remaining troops at all, and could only watch helplessly as they broke through the encirclement. They could only send a message to the front gate while organizing forces to give chase.

However, it was already dark, and the Han army was unfamiliar with the terrain of Weixian County. Before long, they were outmaneuvered by the remnants of Yong Kai's army.

When Yong Kai's remaining troops reached the East Gate, they found it completely dark and silent, with even the original guards gone.

But the Yong brothers were not angry; on the contrary, they were delighted and quickened their pace, wanting to leave the city through the east gate.

Just as Yong Kai's remaining troops entered the inner corner of the city gate, a sudden burst of flames appeared on the city wall, and a group of archers appeared on the wall. The leader of them was a general who was eight feet tall, with a face like jade and a refined and handsome demeanor. He was none other than Lu Xun, Lu Boyan, the commander-in-chief of the Han army.

"You old scoundrel Yong Kai, why are you so late?"

After Lu Xun entered the city, he led his troops to seize the east gate, sealing off the last exit from the city. It should be noted that a local strongman like Yong Kai was not afraid of fighting him head-on, but rather of him escaping into the mountains. If he were to escape, it would be no less than letting a tiger return to the mountains.

How could Lu Xun make such a basic mistake?

The brothers Yong Kai and Yong Lü were ashen-faced, and some of the remaining soldiers behind them had already thrown down their weapons, wanting to kneel down and beg for surrender.

Lu Xun wanted to force Yong Kai to surrender, not because he admired Yong Kai as a person, but because he had ulterior motives.

Firstly, in the military merit system of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the merit of capturing an enemy general alive was definitely higher than that of killing him, even if the enemy general was of the same rank. This was not only because capturing a general alive was more difficult, but also because capturing a general alive had greater military value and political significance than killing him.

Secondly, unlike the Qin system of "first merit" which was based on beheading generals and capturing flags, and awarding titles based on the number of heads taken, the Han system of military merit was more inclined to "complete merit," that is, the complete conquest of the enemy.

This is not because the Han Dynasty did not value beheadings, but rather because the merit of capturing prisoners alive was equal to, or even slightly greater than, that of beheading. Especially for high-ranking enemy generals and nobles, the merit of capturing them alive was far greater than that of beheading them.

Thirdly, no matter how incompetent the Yong brothers were, they were still powerful figures in the south with great influence and deep ties to the Baiyue tribes, thus possessing certain value.

Therefore, Lu Xun wanted to force Yong Kai to surrender.

Unfortunately, Yong Kai himself had no intention of surrendering. Even though he was at his wit's end, he still hoped to fight his way out of Wei County.

Seeing that Yong Kai was still inciting the remaining soldiers to rush into the city, Lu Xun shook his head regretfully, and then made a gesture with his right hand.

In an instant, arrows were fired, turning Yong Kai and his dozen or so trusted followers who were charging forward into pincushions.

Ironically, Yong Kai's younger brother, Yong Lü, did not continue to follow Yong Kai, but instead knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and begged for surrender.

Yong Kai, a powerful warlord in the south, was shot and killed by Lu Xun at the east gate of Wei County. Although the south was not completely pacified, Yizhou Prefecture was returned to the Han Dynasty.

After Yong Kai was shot and killed, his head was cut off, and he and Yong Lü were sent to various places to persuade others to surrender.

Upon seeing Yong Kai's head and Yong Lü, the few remaining Yong family retainers who had stubbornly resisted all surrendered.

After the fire at the county government building was extinguished, Wei County fell into an eerie calm.

A moment later, the Han army, together with the Han auxiliary troops, shouted "Ten thousand victories!" The sound was deafening and resounded through the sky, filled with joy and pride.

Six days after the Battle of Wei County ended, Liao Hua arrived late with his troops.

Liao Hua and his subordinates were very disappointed to have missed out on the merit they had just earned. However, this also meant that the Han Chinese areas of Yizhou Prefecture were now completely connected.

From Lü Gaoqi in Yizhou Commandery to Qielan and Pingyi in Zangke Commandery, these fertile lands in the south returned to the hands of the Han dynasty.

Although these places don't produce much, as long as the officials are honest and there is little corruption, they can support an army of 10,000 to 20,000 even without the benefits of snow salt, frost sugar, and sesame oil.

After all, decades later, when Liu Bei died in Baidi City, the Southern Regions were already crippled, yet a rebellion of 10,000 to 20,000 people still broke out. This shows that the local powerful chieftains of the Southern Regions still had some strength.

Moreover, the southern region has another treasure: tea.

Although the main commodity and production area is in Sichuan, tea is also produced in the southern region, with the largest output and the best quality naturally coming from Zangke County and Yizhou County.

Tea is produced in Pingyi County (now Bijie), Yelang County, Tangao County, Dianchi County, Wei County, Lügao County and other places.

Once these products can be transported out of the mountains, their value will immediately increase several times or even ten times. If they are sold to Liaodong, they can even be used to exchange for valuable warhorses for Liu Feng.

Next, Lu Xun's primary task was to stabilize the entire Yizhou Commandery and restore the livelihood of its people. Then, he would seize the opportunity to coordinate with reinforcements from the Zangke Commandery and advance together on Zhuti.

(End of this chapter)