Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 409: Don’t judge by appearance
Yanzhou.

The continuous Zhou military camp stood here horizontally, stretching for nearly a hundred miles on both sides.

There were white banners hanging everywhere in the camp, and the soldiers standing there all had sad looks on their faces.

A group of people arrived here along the official road.

The leader was Yang Su.

Yang Su, wearing armor and leading more than a thousand knights behind him, finally arrived at the front line.

The people behind Yang Su were the soldiers left to him by his father. The military system implemented by the Zhou State was prone to breeding military leaders, and the power and soldiers of the military leaders could even be inherited.

In the Zhou State, it was common for sons to take over military power after their fathers died.

This is actually a very dangerous thing.

Yang Su was beaten in Chang'an and then ordered to go to Yuwen Xian to fight against the Han army.

But he looked no different now. Yang Su was strong and the stick couldn't hurt him easily.

The knights followed him with their heads down, and no one dared to look him in the face.

When they learned about the situation and were going to go on the expedition with Yang Su, these old soldiers still felt somewhat contemptuous.

Even though he was the son of their old general, he was just a young boy. They couldn't say they didn't respect him, but at least they wouldn't be completely convinced.

But along the way, Yang Su successfully made them bow their heads.

During the march, Yang Su issued many inexplicable military orders, such as changing their garrison positions, ordering changes to the personnel on night watch, etc.

When someone expressed doubts, Yang Su immediately killed the person on the grounds of violating military orders, without showing any mercy.

Even though the other party cried and told about his past friendship with Yang Su's father, Yang Su remained unmoved.

Everyone was terrified and wanted to escape.

However, Yang Su began to reward the soldiers who had completed his orders.

He distributed the large amount of money he brought with him to these people and told them clearly: those who have made contributions will be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes will be punished.

When they arrived at the front line, everyone was completely submissive to Yang Su, and no one dared to look down on him anymore.

In Yang Su's eyes, the people were not living beings, but rows of numbers, tools, and cattle and horses.

The same is true for the soldiers.

However, he will not treat these numbers harshly, but will treat them fairly, and will lead them to gain greater value and victory, so the numbers will be willing to follow him.

Yang Su stared at the mourning flags in the distance with a cold look in his eyes, and shook his head secretly.

When he arrived at the gate of the military camp, two soldiers stood in front of him.

Yang Su took out the pass and asked the soldiers to check it, then asked coldly: "Where is the Duke of Qi?"

The soldiers took Yang Su into the military camp. His subordinates were not allowed to come in and could only wait outside.

Yang Su followed the two soldiers into the tent and saw two people talking in low voices.

Yuwen Xian sat in the upper seat, and He Ruobi stood beside him.

At this time, the two stopped talking and stared at Yang Su.

Yang Su had an arrogant character to begin with. After his clansmen were killed, he had nothing to fear. Facing the gazes of the two men, he was not afraid. Instead, he stared at them fiercely.

He Ruobi just glanced at it for a few seconds and then looked away. There was nothing to worry about.

The more Yuwen Xian looked at it, the more surprised he was. He had met Yang Su before. At that time, he had thought of recruiting all the talents in the world under his command. Yang Su was also within his scope of investigation. Unfortunately, it was too late for him to take action because the emperor ordered that Yang Su should not be recruited under his command anymore.

Yuwen Xian had heard of Yang Su's reputation and knew how powerful this man was.

Not long ago, his brother sent a letter in which Yuwen Yong also mentioned this person. Yuwen Yong said that this was a rough diamond, but he was a little too arrogant, had too big ideas, and seriously lacked experience.

He hoped that Yuwen Xian could give him more training, assign him some tiring tasks, and allow him to grow up as quickly as possible.

From the letters, Yuwen Xian discovered how much his brother valued this person, and became even more curious about him.

"Yang Su, when I was in Chang'an, I heard people say that you were so brave that you could ride a horse and shoot a strong bow. How come you ended up working as a clerk?"

Yang Su first bowed to Yuwen Xian, and then he said: "Riding a horse and shooting an arrow can only defeat ten or a hundred people, but reading can defeat ten thousand or a hundred thousand people."

Yuwen Xian smiled and said, "It's not unreasonable, but do you have the ability to be the enemy of ten thousand people?"

Facing Yuwen Xian's questioning, Yang Su simply replied calmly: "I am willing to be the vanguard."

Yuwen Xian motioned for him to sit down, and then asked He Ruobi to sit down as well.

Looking at the two young men on his left and right, sadness appeared on Yuwen Xian's face again.

"The news came back from the front that Duke Zheng had died in the battle. Hulugu caught up with him. Duke Zheng led his troops in a desperate fight and killed more than ten people before being captured due to exhaustion. Hulugu asked him to surrender, but he cursed and broke Hulugu's nose, and was then killed by Hulugu."

"We, the younger generation, are the only ones left on the front line today."

When no one noticed, the Zhou Kingdom was quietly undergoing a generational change.

The older generation of generals are getting old or dying, and there are fewer and fewer active ones today.

And young generals, led by Yuwen Xian, are slowly rising.

Only then did Yang Su understand why the white flag was hung in front of the battle line.

He said somewhat coldly: "Duke Zheng died a worthy death."

"Duke Zheng has a lot to do with the war getting to this point. The enemy crossed the river right under his nose, disrupting all our plans."

"If he returns safely, I'm afraid his reputation will be ruined. Even if Your Majesty doesn't kill him, he will be punished."

"Now that he has died on the front lines, his reputation has been preserved, and your Majesty cannot bear to blame him."

Yuwen Xian murmured: "How can you say that?"

Yang Su then said, "Duke, now is not the time to think about these things."

"Now we should think about how to defeat Gao Changgong and take back Xiazhou."

Hearing Yang Su's words, He Ruobi, who was not far away, chuckled.

Yang Su glanced at him slowly, "Why are you laughing?"

He Ruobi was even more daring, and was no less arrogant than Yang Su. When he heard Yang Su's question, He Ruobi answered without hesitation: "We have tens of thousands of troops and dozens of brave generals, but we are still worried about taking Yanzhou. You have already started thinking about defeating Gao Changgong and taking Xiazhou. How can I not laugh?"

Yang Su shook his head. "Strategy is strategy. If we don't even dare to have an idea, then why are we fighting? How about we withdraw our troops and go back to Chang'an to have a drink?"

"All right."

Yuwen Xian suppressed the two people, his face solemn, "When discussing the enemy, don't talk about irrelevant things. Yang Jun, you are a newcomer and know nothing about the enemy. You should get to know the enemy first."

"Gao Changgong led more than 17,000 soldiers and stationed them in three cities. These three cities..."

Yang Su immediately began to talk about the situation of the enemy.

After talking like this for a long time, he slowly said: "Before coming here, I asked His Majesty for the situation on the front line, and I have been observing it all the way."

“It’s not that I know nothing.”

"Duke, war is not just about killing the enemy. There must be a purpose, and all actions are to achieve this goal."

"But in my opinion, you were just fighting with Gao Changgong in Yanzhou without any thoughts, killing each other, without any strategy at all."

Of course Yuwen Xian would not be angry. He said slowly: "It's not that I don't know these things, but I don't have any strategy to deal with Gao Changgong."

"Gao Changgong is a brave man, and his soldiers are elite. I don't have any ideas."

"Is there anything Yang-jun wants to teach me?"

Afterwards, Yang Su brazenly stated his strategic ideas in front of Yuwen Xian.

His strategic concept was mainly to destroy the enemy's food transportation. He believed that Gao Changgong's only current shortcoming was that the food route was too long, and there was no place to defend around Yanzhou, making the food route difficult to defend.

As long as the enemy's food supply route is destroyed, Gao Changgong will have no choice but to retreat in the absence of food.

Yuwen Xian probably listened to his idea and then let him go back to rest.

Yuwen Xian and He Ruobi were the only ones left in the room. "Fu Bo, what do you think of this person?"

He Ruobi said without hesitation: "You have no shame."

"He is a man who has never fought a battle, yet he dares to talk about strategy in front of you. It shows that he is arrogant and conceited, and is definitely not a great general."

"He can see Gao Changgong's shortcomings, but he thinks Gao Changgong himself can't see them?"

"Gao Changgong is eager for us to lead the troops to cut off his food supply. If I were Gao Changgong, I would set up an ambush in the rear and make sure that we can't come back once we go."

"This guy will never amount to anything."

He Ruobi's best evaluation of Yang Su was that he did not have a high opinion of him and said that he was definitely not a great general.

Yuwen Xian shook his head, "He is not afraid of me, and can express his ideas clearly and logically, and they are feasible. This is his first time on the battlefield, which is rare. If he can hone his skills for a few more years, maybe he can do it."

"However, this grain route theory is impossible to achieve."

Yuwen Xian was very clear-headed. He said helplessly, "If Duke Zheng could escape successfully, there would still be hope, but he has died in battle."

"I really can't think of a way to defeat Gao Changgong."

He Ruobi suddenly said, "Actually, I think we can temporarily suspend the offensive and wait for Gao Changgong to evacuate on his own."

"what?"

"What is this nonsense?"

Yuwen Xian was a little confused. He Ruobi smiled and said, "Before, I didn't dare to talk about any strategy in front of you because I respected you. However, if even Yang Su dares to do so, then I have nothing to worry about."

"I think the enemy never thought of occupying Yanzhou."

"Yanzhou can pose a fatal threat to Chang'an, but the problem is that it is too far away from Tongwan City. There are no supplies along the way, and the post houses and the like have been completely destroyed."

"For the Han State, it is easy to capture Yanzhou, but it is extremely difficult to maintain Yanzhou. Not only does it require a large number of troops to garrison, but it also requires a steady supply of food. The time spent on the journey alone is a huge number."

"And the Han Kingdom has just taken over Henan. I heard that it is also a blank area with many ruins and needs to be rebuilt."

"I think the Han Kingdom will never dare to continue to spend too much effort in Yanzhou. Their original goal was to resolve the defense line of Xiazhou. They have achieved their goal. Yanzhou is not that important to them."

"This can be seen from the fact that they looted many Yanzhou residents earlier. The smoke from cooking fires in the city is becoming less and less."

"The reason why Gao Changgong didn't dare to retreat was because we pressed him too hard."

"I think if we can retreat a little and reduce collisions, perhaps Gao Changgong will gradually abandon the surrounding cities and retreat."

As Yuwen Xian listened to He Ruobi's words, his brows became more and more furrowed.

What He Ruobi said makes a lot of sense, but there is only one point.

Isn't this advocating abandoning Xiazhou?

What Yuwen Xian wanted was not Yanzhou, but Xiazhou.

If Xiazhou falls into the hands of the enemy, what use will Yanzhou be? There are flat plains on both sides and no strategic locations. The enemy can come and go as they please.

In the future, the Han people could easily send cavalry to the vicinity of Yanzhou, or even bypass Yanzhou and head for Wuxiang and other gates of Chang'an. If they were to fight there, the shouts and screams could be heard in areas outside Chang'an. How could this be tolerated? ?
Looking at Yuwen Xian who was extremely hesitant, He Ruobi probably understood what he was thinking.

"Duke, Yang Su is talking nonsense. Xiazhou can no longer be taken back. It is impossible."

Yuwen Xian didn't say anything, just sighed and signaled He Ruobi to leave.

Yang Su followed the soldiers to a tent. He looked around and found the tent to be quite good.

It occupies a large area and is in a safe location, so it does not need to undertake too many defensive tasks.

"Was this arranged by Duke Qi?"

Yang Su grabbed the soldier and began to question him.

The sergeant lowered his head and said seriously: "This is arranged by Duke Sui. He is responsible for all the internal affairs of the army."

Yang Su was stunned for a moment before he said, "Thank Duke Suiguo for me."

"only."

Yang Su started living in the camp, but he did not go to meet Yang Jian in person. Of course, Yang Jian did not come to see him either.

Yang Su was looking forward to showing his skills on the front line, so he trained his troops outside all day long and often demonstrated his riding and archery skills.

Yang Su looked like a scholar, but his martial arts were not bad at all and he was extremely brave. Charging into battle, riding and shooting were not difficult for him.

Many generals also saw his bravery and made friends with him.

However, the development of things was somewhat different from what Yang Su had expected. Yuwen Xian did not launch an attack. After Yang Su arrived, Yuwen Xian actually began to withdraw his troops and gradually became the defensive side from the active offensive.

This was not enough, he even took the initiative to withdraw many front-line troops, forcing them to retreat dozens of miles.

Just like that, we distance ourselves from the enemy in the fight.

Yang Su really couldn't understand it, and tried to meet Yuwen Xian several times, but failed.

And it wasn't just Yang Su who didn't understand.

At some point, a rumor suddenly spread among the army.

Some say that someone was afraid of fighting the enemy and therefore refused to move forward.

Some people say that someone has other thoughts, so he stopped moving forward and is thinking about big things.

Neither of these two rumors mentioned the identity of that person, but the target person was clear from the words, and it was Yuwen Xian!!
This rumor appeared suddenly and then quickly swept the army. Many generals were very angry and stepped forward to stop it. They killed several people who talked nonsense, but they could not find out who spread the rumor.

Yang Su gritted his teeth and waited at the door of the commander's tent for a long time before finally getting the chance to meet Yuwen Xian again.

Yuwen Xian was alone at the moment, sitting in the upper seat, flipping through something in his hands.

Yang Su hurriedly bowed to greet him.

"The Duke."

"You are so anxious to find me. Do you have any new ideas?"

"That's not how the army works."

"Duke, it's that rumor!"

Yang Su said angrily, "Many people said that the rumor started after I joined the army, and they all suspected that I was the one who did it. Duke, I am definitely not that kind of villain."

"With such a powerful enemy at hand, I cannot possibly attempt to murder my own commander."

"I'm not afraid of being hated or punished by the Duke, I just don't want to bear such a bad name!"

"I hope the Duke will understand!"

Looking at the impatient Yang Su in front of him, Yuwen Xian smiled and said, "I know it's not you. Sit down."

Yang Su then sat aside. He was very angry. "It seems that there is a spy of Liu Taozi in our army!"

"This rumor is clearly meant to force you to send troops to fight Gao Changgong. It seems that we have many enemies among us."

Yuwen Xian shook his head. "Why would the enemy spread such rumors to force me to fight? Wouldn't it be more advantageous for the enemy if I stayed behind?"

Yang Su added: "Perhaps he wants to use Your Majesty to deal with the Duke."

"Although your majesty is wise and brave, he became extremely suspicious in his early years because of Yuwen Hu, and he doesn't dare to trust others easily."

"He sent so many dukes this time because he didn't trust them. He was afraid that one of them would become too powerful, so he sent more people to restrain each other. He didn't expect such a disastrous defeat."

"If the enemy knew this, they might take advantage of it."

Yang Su said it so plainly. He was not shy at all and did not care what Yuwen Xian would think.

However, what Yang Su said cannot be said to be wrong. Past experiences have made Yuwen Yong suspicious. In history, when the Zhou Kingdom went on foreign expeditions, Yuwen Yong would either add many generals to the expedition or lead the army himself. Except for Yuwen Xian, no one else had the opportunity to lead the army alone. If he went on an expedition, he would always be accompanied by someone.

Yuwen Xian shook his head.

"Maybe so."

"But it's useless to find out. We can't avoid fighting like this any longer."

(End of this chapter)