Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 261 A Thousand Words in One Sentence
The soldiers had doubts in their hearts, so Xiao Yan rode his horse directly to ask Pei Yuan.

"What's going on? Isn't this the direction we just fled from?"

Without waiting for Pei Yuan to reply, Xiao Yan pressed on, "Are you planning to take advantage of the bandits' laxity to launch a surprise attack on that little Wu Song's camp?"

Pei Yuan did not answer directly, but asked in return, "What do you think?"

Xiao Yan looked back at the Xuzhou guards whose morale was still high, hesitated for a moment, and gave an answer that was not an answer.

“That’s one way.”

The fighting power of "Little Wu Song"'s bandit group was not very strong, although they had the advantage of numbers and terrain.

However, as long as Pei Yuan can replicate the effect of the last surprise attack on the enemy camp, there may be hope of defeating the enemy camp in one fell swoop.

Thinking about Pei Yuan's act of showing weakness to the enemy during the day, Xiao Yan felt more confident.

He took the initiative to analyze, "You confused their scouts before. Now Xiao Wusong's bandits must think that we are busy with our own affairs and will definitely be careless. If we launch an attack at this time, we will have a great chance of success."

Coach Xiao also gave an objective statement of his own situation.

"The reason why these Xuzhou soldiers showed weak fighting ability before is largely because they lack sufficient fighting spirit. When they fought, they had no rules and were unable to effectively contain the enemy. Often, they could only exert 100% of their strength but not 100% of their effect."

"Now that all our baggage has been abandoned, we are about to face a food crisis. It can be said that we have reached a point of doom and gloom. In order to survive, these soldiers will inevitably burst out with a stronger will to fight."

"The commanders leading the two teams are your trusted generals. They work well with you and obey your orders. With their cooperation, you can at least bring out 60% of the Xuzhou soldiers' combat effectiveness. In this way, under the same circumstances, you can double the combat effectiveness."

"Now that our morale and combat power have been greatly improved, we are facing a group of slack and underestimating bandits. I dare not say that we can completely wipe out the bandit army, but we can definitely inflict heavy damage on them!"

Pei Yuan nodded and said perfunctorily, "Well said."

Xiao Yan, "..."

Although Pei Yuan gave a positive evaluation, Xiao Yan always felt that he was not respected.

This army was marching very quickly, and from time to time, the Xuzhou cavalry under Ding Hong's command were running back and forth on the road, passing on messages, which allowed the government troops to clearly understand how far they were from the enemy.

Getting closer.

Now, even Coach Xiao, who wanted to continue the in-depth analysis and gain Captain Pei's respect, felt the urgency of the battle.

They have been on this route before and have a general idea of ​​the progress.

Xiao Yan looked at the changes in the forest by the roadside and reminded Pei Yuan, "This is where the bandits ambushed before!"

Xiao Yan also emphasized, "You are still here, asking them to come out and fight you."

Without waiting for Pei Yuan to answer, he asked nervously, "Are we going to raid here directly?"

Pei Yuan said briefly, "No."

Xiao Yan updated Pei Yuan on the battle situation again, "It seems they have discovered..."

"Many bandits have come out of the woods."

Pei Yuan continued riding his horse and said, "Ignore them."

Xiao Yan didn't say anything. He watched from his horse. Seeing more and more people coming out of the forest, he couldn't help but remind Pei Yuan, "Should we send a team to stop them?!"

Before Pei Yuan could answer, the road turned and the view in front of him suddenly opened up.

Xiao Yan looked forward and couldn't help but be stunned.

I saw thousands of people busying around. The ditches and roads that had been dug out had now been filled up.

The bandits were struggling to transport the baggage carts over here along the newly paved road.

Perhaps because the newly filled road was still a little soft, more than a dozen people were busy pushing or pulling each supply cart.

Xiao Yan swallowed subconsciously and said in disbelief, "What, what is this? Filled up?!"

Pei Yuan said casually, "Well, it's filled up."

Xiao Yan remembered Pei Yuan's decisive attitude in the morning when he abandoned his baggage and ran away, and immediately reacted, "Did you expect this?"

Pei Yuan smiled faintly, "It's just the King of Qin's Golden Bull Plan to attack Shu."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan thought about the stories he had heard and immediately understood.

At that time, the Qin State wanted to swallow up the Shu State, but the terrain of Shu State was difficult to travel. The Qin people were not familiar with the topography, so they could not open up a road even if they wanted to.

So Sima Cuo came up with a clever idea and presented a golden bull to the King of Shu.

The team transporting the gifts trudged along the Shu Road, but because the road was too difficult, they were unable to deliver the heavy golden bull to Shu.

When the greedy King of Shu heard the news, in order to get the golden bull, he ordered people to dig through the mountain and build a road that could transport the golden bull to Sichuan.

As a result, the Qin army was able to travel unimpeded along this road and conquer the Kingdom of Shu.

What Pei Yuan did was similar to the Golden Bull Plan.

It was not difficult for Pei Yuan and his men to escape from the siege of the bandits.

But it was extremely difficult to take away the baggage.

People could walk on the wild grass beside the road, but if the heavy baggage carts went there, they would inevitably get stuck in the bumpy ground and be unable to move.

However, it is not an easy task to fill the road and then push the baggage carts out.

Not to mention the difficulty of accomplishing this task under the enemy's harassment, the time it would take alone was too much for everyone to afford.

Not to mention the 20,000 or 30,000 troops that were about to arrive, what if little Wu Song saw that the situation was not good and asked people to delay while he led others to continue digging trenches in the back?
As long as they took the baggage with them, this government army would be completely trapped here and could only wait for death.

If we don't take our baggage with us, we will be driven into the wilderness by the bandits from Bazhou and die a slow death.

This is almost an unsolvable situation.

However, even in such a dilemma, Pei Yuan made a decisive judgment and defeated the enemy with the Golden Bull Strategy.

In front of the bandits, Pei Yuan poured out large amounts of silver, gold, and gems, using this huge amount of wealth to attract the greed of the bandits.

He then led his troops to evacuate, abandoning the large amount of property here.

The army then set up camp in a panic outside the pine forest and hastily searched for food, which intensified the bandits' contempt.

Since these government troops fell into Xiao Wusong's trap and were driven into the wilderness to die, what would the bandits do with their hands freed?
Of course I have to keep my money!

The jingling sound of silver flowing in streams had already attracted the souls of leaders like "Little Wu Song".

So the bandits rushed to fill up the ditches and tamp the roads, hoping to get the money as soon as possible. Besides, even if they ignored the money, the baggage carts behind them still contained a large amount of weapons, armor, food, tools, as well as wood, felt, tents and other things for building camps.

These fine items used by the government troops are all rare items to the bandits.

What should I do if I get wet in the rain?
The bandit leaders, who had never fought any rich battles, began to command their men to fill the soil and build roads with great enthusiasm, eagerly waiting to get those good things over.

If they don't get it and hide it quickly, when the army of "Big Tiger" and "Starry Sky" arrives, how will they get a share?
As a result, after finally waiting for the project to be completed, the bandits happily pushed over the rows of baggage carts, only to run head-on into the government troops who had escaped earlier.

Thousands of words are reduced to one sentence.

——Fuck!
By the time someone finally realized the situation and wanted to run away, Pei Yuan had already shouted, "Quick! Surround them!"

"Where are the archers? Draw your bows, and shoot anyone who dares to move!"

Then Pei Yuan shouted to the bandits, "Everyone, squat down! Squat down and you will be spared!"

As soon as Pei Yuan gave the order, Cheng Leixiang immediately led the armored sword and shield soldiers to attack from both wings. Chen Toutie also led the archers, drawing their bows and approaching quickly, shouting in unison, "Kneel down! If you squat, I won't kill you!"

In order to meet deadlines and speed up progress, the bandits only brought tools that were convenient for digging and landfilling. Not to mention armor, they didn't even bring many weapons.

A large group of government troops surrounded them, and many people turned around and wanted to run.

As a result, I saw that at the other end of the road, dozens of riders were forming a long battle line and heading towards this side.

I could hear loud shouts one after another, "Get down, everyone get down!"

Pei Yuan’s previous guess was correct. In order to bluff, the young Wu Song, a native of Yanggu, did recruit many young and strong men from the surrounding areas and filled the bandit group with them.

The main force coming here to fill the land, build roads and transport supplies are mainly these people.

Many young and strong men were ordinary people the day before, but they were called by the village elders to help because of the favor of "Little Wu Song".

Seeing that they could not escape and that the government troops that came to encircle and suppress them were so aggressive, many people were frightened and quickly knelt down.

There was someone who took the lead, and immediately, as if it was an infection, a large group of people followed suit and knelt down.

Even the few real bandits in the team were afraid of being killed and knelt in the crowd.

Seeing that these people were captured without bloodshed, Xiao Yan was overjoyed. He quickly suggested to Pei Yuan, "The main force of the bandits will be here soon. Keeping these people will only cause trouble. It is better to kill them all while they have no power to resist."

Pei Yuan looked at Xiao Yan and asked, "How about you transport these supplies back?"

"Uh." Xiao Yan was stunned for a moment, and immediately became speechless.

Unexpectedly, I was in a dilemma in the morning, but in just half a day, the situation changed drastically.

These bandits not only had to help fill potholes and build roads, but also had to help transport supplies to the camp.

Xiao Yan didn't know how to describe the feeling of escaping death.

He hurriedly rode up and urged the soldiers of Xuzhou Guard, "Hurry! Check if there is anything left behind!"

He then shouted to the captives kneeling on the ground, "Captain Pei is merciful and willing to spare your lives. Now I will give you a chance to redeem yourself and make meritorious contributions. Everyone, listen to my orders, push the baggage carts beside you, and follow us!"

"Anyone who dares to resist or flee will be killed without mercy!"

Pei Yuan looked at Xiao Yan running around as if he was determined to seize the victory, and thought to himself, this guy is surprisingly proactive.

The bandits who were kneeling on the ground and begging could not help but breathe a sigh of relief when they saw that the government troops still had some use for them.

They did not dare to be perfunctory and quickly pushed the baggage carts to catch up with the government troops.

Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Pei Yuan ordered the troops to turn around and return to the camp.

Ding Hong rode over and saluted Pei Yuan excitedly, "I am honored to have fulfilled your mission!"

"Well!" Pei Yuan gave him an appreciative look. "You did a great job. If you hadn't kept track of the enemy's movements at all times, I wouldn't have been able to arrive at the critical moment. This achievement of capturing a thousand enemies and taking back their baggage should be attributed to you."

Ding Hong laughed when he heard this.

Although Captain Pei has already promised him the position of commander, a stronger resume would only benefit a military officer like him.

Pei Yuan looked at Xiao Yan and asked him, "This person saved your more than 7,000 taels of silver. Does that count as a merit?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan showed a very resolute attitude, "Your merits are outstanding. I will definitely recommend you to the court when I return."

Pei Yuan said calmly, "Someone has recommended him, so he will at least be a commander when he returns. But, good words are always welcome, Captain Xiao can also give him a few words to help."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan immediately agreed.

Pei Yuan thought about it and felt that this person could be treated with false courtesy.

Then he hinted, "What's the point of this little achievement? When I pacify those 20,000 rebels, how about putting the head of Mantianxing on Xiao Tong's head?"

When Xiao Yan heard this, he shuddered.

He asked in disbelief, "What?"

Pei Yuan looked at Xiao Yan and repeated, "I say, how about putting the head of Mantianxing on Xiao Tong's head?"

"Mantianxing" and "Da Lao Hu" were originally only small leaders in the Bazhou army, but after the Bazhou rear army was defeated by Bai Yu, this wave of bandits fled into Shandong and started a fire in the rear of the government army.

Just from what we know now, an army of 20,000 has been assembled.

You should know that when the Bazhou rebels were at their strongest, they only had about 100,000 people.

The momentum of these two bandits is almost comparable to that of the famous bandit leaders among the Bazhou rebels.

It is certainly a good thing, and a huge good thing, that the head of "Starry Sky" can be credited to Xiao Tong.

But is it possible?
The government army currently has only 500 combat soldiers, 500 auxiliary soldiers, and some scattered personal guards.

Compared with the unknown number of Bazhou bandits, the ratio is at least one to twenty.

Although the fighting effectiveness of those Bazhou bandits is not strong, the Xuzhou soldiers are also satisfactory.

Given the current situation, what can we use to get the head of "Starry Sky"?
Moreover, when Xiao Yan subconsciously asked the "what" just now, he was not trying to ask about giving the head of "Mantianxing" to his son. What he wanted to ask was Pei Yuanqian's previous sentence.

What does it mean to “single-handedly pacify those 20,000 rebels”?
This guy is riding a horse!

Xiao Yan can say responsibly that he knows all these characters, but why do they not sound smooth when read together?
No, how can you, Captain Pei, pacify those 20,000 rebels?

Want to paint a rosy picture for me?

I have heard of the storybooks!

(End of this chapter)