Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 438 Be a human being!!
The bald men nervously took the armor off the horses' backs and put the armor on the knights.

The knights dismounted from their horses, and a bald man came up to them with new horses.

The Han knights had horses, and lots of them.

An ordinary knight would use one horse to carry himself, one horse to carry armor, one horse to carry his chariot, and one horse that carried nothing but was used when charging into battle.

If it is the most elite knight, it can even reach the level of five, six or even twenty horses.

Coincidentally, the Han Kingdom had no shortage of horses, no shortage of elite soldiers who could ride horses and shoot arrows, and no shortage of armor.

In the past, Qi's geographical location was truly excellent. It had horses, people, food, and iron. If the two Huai areas in the south were included, there were actually ships as well, but the people of Qi did not care much about them.

The current Han State inherited these characteristics of Qi State and continued to develop on this basis.

At this moment, Liu Taozi was dressed in heavy armor by the young men, rode on Heifeng, and picked up weapons.

The knights were ready to go, and the horses of those knights who took the lead in breaking the formation were all covered with armor.

The heavily-armored cavalry of the Northern Dynasties were so terrifying.

They stood in a row.

Compared to before, Liu Taozi is now wealthy.

Under the sunlight, these fully armed knights stood in a row, and the horses under their crotch were all covered with armor. The light shone on their armor, reflecting a cold light.

They kept a distance from each other, the knight's head was completely covered, and with the warhorse under his crotch, he looked like a steel monster.

In the distance, the enemy was screaming in fear and hastily forming their battle array.

This is Zhongzhou.

After Wei Xiaokuan led his army away, only about 2,000 soldiers were left here, responsible for watching over the civilians and supplies and preventing thieves.

Liu Taozi just rushed over without hiding his tracks. These people were scared to death. Liu Taozi raised his lance and gave an order, and the Knights launched an attack.

The heavy cavalry charged forward, the sound of heavy horse hooves gathered together, dust rolled, they were like a torrent of iron, rushing towards the enemy.

"Bang!!"

The enemy's formation had not yet been formed when it was hit head-on by the heavy cavalry and was instantly shattered. The speed of the heavy cavalry was not affected at all, they sped up and continued to advance.

Their advance was a real advance, they just kept pushing forward, with Liu Taozi charging in the middle, and Gao and Shi on the left and right wings respectively. Who could stop them? !
It's just a crazy attacking machine and killing machine.

Liu Taozi swung his horse lance and enemies kept falling down. Sometimes Liu Taozi didn't even need to hack and kill. The enemy would be almost dead after just a collision with his horse.

With just one charge, the enemy's formation completely disappeared, and even the enemy itself disappeared.

The Han army shouted that those who surrendered would not be killed, and those soldiers who were fleeing also knelt down and prayed for their lives.

After Liu Taozi blocked a round of attacks, he stopped and asked his left and right men to take over the camp here.

The camp here in Zhongzhou is very long. Along the official road, there are dozens of camps of different sizes. They are connected to each other to form the Zhongzhou camp. Most of the people in these camps are civilians, who store tools, food and fodder for building cities.

Liu Taozi ordered the light cavalry to advance and capture the camps along the way.

Everyone was extremely busy. Gao Yanzong rode his horse to Liu Taozi's side, panting. There were many heads hanging on both sides of his horse. Not only him, but many other knights were in the same situation. After ordering to stop the attack, the first thing he did was to cut off the heads and get military merit.

Trying to seize military merit before the war is over is an old characteristic inherited from the State of Qi.

"Brother, I am really convinced!"

"Did you plan to trick Wei Xiaokuan into going south when you first came to Zhongzhou, and then rob his hometown?"

"This cavalry is really used perfectly by my brother!"

"If I were Wei Xiaokuan, I would be so angry that I would die now."

"On the surface, they are attacking the south, but in reality, they are solving their own crisis."

"I thought brother really wanted to drag the Chen people to fight the Zhou people, but it turns out that the real purpose is to resolve the issue in Luozhou!"

"I'm convinced! I'm really convinced!"

Gao Yanzong's eyes were sparkling when he looked at Liu Taozi. Gao Yanzong always had great ambitions. He wanted to follow Liu Taozi and be as brave and good at fighting as him.

But he has given up now. Forget it. The difference between him and his brother is not just a little bit.

I’m afraid I’ll never be able to catch up with this gap even if I die.

When Gao Yanzong was in Chuzhou and received Liu Taozi's imperial edict asking him to rush to Yuzhou, he was still very confused. When he learned that he would join forces with the Chen people to fight the Zhou people, although Gao Yanzong did not say anything, he did not care in his heart. He felt that his brother simply had nothing to do and could not find anything to do, so he brought the Chen people to the south to cause trouble.

But now he understood that his brother's purpose was always clear, that is, those people in Luozhou might threaten his own family. All the talk about pulling the Chen people to fight the enemy and extending the battle line was a lie!
Shi Wansui was standing on the other side, smiling brightly at this moment.

"I have already said that Your Majesty must have his own judgment."

Gao Yanzong scratched his head and whispered, "I told Your Majesty about this before, but I didn't expect this guy to be right."

Liu Taozi just stared into the distance, "Where are the troops from Luozhou?"

"It's coming soon."

Gao Yanzong also straightened his face, "It is said that Yuan Wenzong came in person. Brother, I think the defense of this city is weak. We should just capture the three surrounding cities and incorporate Zhongzhou into Luozhou. In this way, the enemy's defense line will have to be pushed back again."

"No need."

Liu Taozi looked around and said, "We expanded too quickly before, which is why things like this happened. Taking over Zhongzhou may be possible, but things after that won't be easy."

"Also, there is no need to worry about the enemy's defenses. The Chen people occupy the Mian River. How dare the Zhou people station troops here?"

"Just transport the things away, and have Yuan Wenzong speed up. For the rest of the soldiers, set up more sentinels, and the rest of the people, rest on the spot to guard against the enemy's attack on the city."

"only!!"

Without Wei Xiaokuan, this place was open to Liu Taozi, and he was allowed to come and go as he pleased.

The knights rested there, and Yuan Wenzong arrived soon.

At this time, Liu Taozi and his soldiers were stationed and resting in the southernmost camp.

When Yuan Wenzong walked in, he happened to see the knights under his command gathered in the camp and playing games.

They were playing Wushuo, a war chess game. Gao Yanzong was playing against Shi Wansui and they were having a lot of fun.

They had previously marched for a long time and then immediately went into battle. Now was the time when they needed rest the most, so Liu Taozi did not forbid them from holding entertainment activities.

After Yuan Wenzong had someone report to him, he quickly walked into the inner room.

Inside the room, a man who looked like an official from the Zhou State was sitting cautiously beside him. Liu Taozi was holding a document in his hand and was talking to him about something.

Seeing Yuan Wenzong coming, Liu Taozi motioned to him and asked him to sit down.

Yuan Wenzong didn't even have the time to pay his respects and sat aside in shock.

The official Zhou was terrified and trembling as he said, "Your Majesty, I was only ordered to build the city. I really don't know anything else."

"Okay, I'll just assume you don't know. But, there's one thing I want you to do for me, and I'll let you go!"

"Your Majesty, please give me your orders! I will certainly obey!"

"You must hurry up and go to Daning and tell the officials that I have five days to open the city and surrender. Otherwise, when the city is broken, their entire clan will be killed! If you can convince them to surrender, I will grant you an official title!"

"only"

The official looked unconfident, so Liu Taozi asked him to leave.

Yuan Wenzong watched the man leave, squinting his eyes, and it was unknown what he was thinking.

"Gen-King is finally here."

Liu Taozi spoke, and Yuan Wenzong woke up and looked at him quickly, "Your Majesty!"

"You're a little late."

"I was originally in the countryside, but after receiving the imperial edict, I traveled day and night, which delayed me."

"Okay, it doesn't have to be like this."

Yuan Wenzong was timid, and he started trembling with fear when Liu Taozi asked a few questions. Yuan Wenzong really didn't expect that his lord would act so quickly. He had just told his lord about his concerns not long ago, and it hasn't been long since then, and his lord has already helped him solve the problem, and he hasn't even reacted.

Liu Taozi said softly: "Now that we are here, let's get started and transport the things back. Are these things useful to you?"

"Useful! Very useful! These are the things Luozhou needs most, many of which are tools. However, Your Majesty, these are the things of the people, I think."

"You said."

"Your Majesty, I think we can release those civilians who are willing to return home, and only take away those who are willing to follow us to Luozhou."

"Oh? Why?"

"Luozhou is exhausted and lacks officials. If we forcibly take these civilians who have families in Zhou and are unwilling to leave their hometowns back to Luozhou, they will become unstable factors and may be used by the Zhou people in the future, or rebellion may occur, which is not good for Luozhou."

"But if we let them go, we can not only break the false propaganda against Liu Han in Zhou State, but also further undermine the morale of the enemy." Yuan Wenzong explained a lot, and Liu Taozi listened very seriously.

"Okay, let's do as you say. Go ahead."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!!"

Yuan Wenzong was naturally very happy and started to do it quickly.

But no sooner had he given the order than an official came back to report the important event.

"Mr. Yuan, something bad has happened!"

Yuan Wenzong was counting supplies in the warehouse when the chief secretary who had just taken over his order suddenly came back, which surprised him.

"What's going on? Are the civilians causing unrest?"

"No."

The chief historian looked helpless, "These civilians all want to follow us, none of them want to stay in Zhou!"

"what??"

Yuan Wenzong was even more shocked.

Is my reputation already so good?

The enemies don’t want to go home and just want to stay in our Han Dynasty?
Seeing his master's bewildered expression, the chief secretary smiled bitterly, "Sir Governor!! These civilians are not good people!!"

"What does this mean?"

"I have made inquiries. These people are all convicted criminals in the Zhou Kingdom."

"They were implicated in Yuwen Yong's previous reforms and were sent here as laborers."

Yuan Wenzong suddenly realized, "I thought that Yuwen Yong always cherished the country's strength, but he insisted on sending civilians during the busy farming season. I thought he was too afraid of the Han country, but now it seems that they are all sinners!"

The Chief Secretary lowered his voice and said, "Sir Governor, Zhou State has followed our lead in many of these reforms. If these people were in the Han Dynasty, they would have been suppressed by us. How can we bring such people back to Luozhou?"

The Chief Secretary's meaning was very clear. These people were all garbage. They were either from wealthy families or powerful people. If they were not powerful people, they were fucking nobles. If they were not nobles, they were descendants of Buddhists. Anyway, they were all garbage that was arrested and thrown here because they opposed Emperor Yuwen Yong's reforms. It would not be a good idea to take garbage back now, right?
Yuan Wenzong pondered for a long time, and then laughed.

"actually not."

"These people were able to do evil in the local area because of their own power, but now, they are just a group of civilians, how can they have any power?"

"Take them back and distribute farmland for them to cultivate. Then they will become farmers. Don't worry about these things. Take them back first. I will make arrangements for them after they are back."

"only!!"

Lao Yuan continued to be busy.

At the same time, the Zhou official captured by Liu Taozi was also sent to Daning City. However, he did not persuade the officials to surrender according to Liu Taozi's idea. Instead, he informed the officials here of Liu Taozi's orders one by one and asked them to prepare for defense.

The officials here were quite afraid. Without Wei Xiaokuan, how could they resist Liu Taozi's attack?
All they could do was to ask for help from the surrounding areas, hoping to keep the main cities.

At this time, the five-day deadline had arrived, and Liu Taozi once again gathered his troops and made plans to go to war.

Gao Yanzong was quite excited.

Standing on the parade ground, he wished he could capture Daning right now and then head straight for Chang'an.

But thinking of what his brother had said not long ago, Gao Yanzong was not sure whether his brother really wanted to attack Chang'an.

Looking at the gathered knights, Gao Yanzong pondered for a long time, and then glanced at Liu Taozi.

"Brother, didn't you say before that we would not take Zhongzhou?"

"Correct."

"So where are we going?"

"Let's go fight Nanyang."

"what??"

"Want to go back?"

"If Wei Xiaokuan knew that we were attacked here, and we were still preparing to attack other cities, he might send troops to rescue us."

Gao Yanzong was stunned.

His lips trembled for a long time, and he seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Bro, please behave yourself!!!
Are you coming again?
Are we really going to let Wei Xiaokuan run back and forth and then fight from two directions?
Gao Yanzong paused for a long time, then asked: "But it's been so long, the Zhou people have already responded, right? The other reinforcements must have arrived too."

"Yeah, haven't the Chen people's reinforcements arrived yet?"

"Brother is wise!!!"

“I am willing to be the pioneer!!”

"General!!"

"Zhongzhou!"

"Zhongzhou Camp!!!"

Wei Xiaokuan's head buzzed and he staggered. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

At this moment, Wei Xiaokuan was sitting in the Nanyang government office.

The furnishings in the room were quite luxurious. He sat in the upper seat, and his own generals and local officials sat on his left and right. Everyone was discussing the direction of the next war. The scout came in again, holding a document in his hand, and said the words just now tremblingly.

Almost as soon as he heard the word Zhongzhou, Wei Xiaokuan understood it.

He was fooled.

Liu Taozi's goal has always been his own camp. All the stories about colluding with the Chen people, attacking Nanyang, and then retreating were false. His purpose was to make him leave Zhongzhou and stay in Nanyang obediently without moving around.

Wei Xiaokuan took the letter and looked down at it.

Sure enough, that's what it is.

The room suddenly became silent.

Governor Liu asked anxiously, "Duke? What happened in Zhongzhou?"

"It's Liu Taozi."

"While I was here, he went back and broke into the Zhongzhou camp, robbed the supplies and civilians, and planned to capture several important cities and open the gates of Chang'an."

For a moment, there was an uproar in the room and everyone was talking about it.

"What should I do?"

"If Zhongzhou is lost, won't Chang'an be in danger?"

Wei Xiaokuan sat in the upper seat, just listening to everyone's words and fell into deep thought.

Governor Liu hurriedly said, "Duke! Zhongzhou cannot be lost. We must go to rescue them as soon as possible!"

Wei Xiaokuan suddenly narrowed his eyes, and a hint of ferocity flashed in his eyes.

"Yes, what you said makes sense."

“We have to go rescue.”

"Zhongzhou is the gateway to Chang'an. It cannot be lost. I have to go to rescue it myself."

Listening to Wei Xiaokuan's words, the prefect always felt that something was wrong, but he didn't know what was wrong.

But some generals disagreed with this view. Some said, "General, the southern reinforcements are constantly pouring into the Mian River. If you leave and the southerners launch an attack, won't Anzhou fall completely?"

Wei Xiaokuan waved his hand and said loudly: "The reason why the southerners gathered their troops is not to attack us, but to capture Liang State. Liang State is the mortal enemy that Chen State dreams of getting rid of. Liang State has no defenses in the direction of Mianyang and does not have many infantry. This is the best opportunity for Chen people to attack Liang State. They will not miss this opportunity and deliberately go north."

"Don't worry!"

Wei Xiaokuan pacified everyone and immediately issued an order. He sent an army to garrison Nanyang, while he himself led the infantry and cavalry to leave, claiming that he wanted to save Zhongzhou from emergency.

He led his men north for more than twenty miles, then suddenly stopped and headed east, directly deviating from the route.

The generals who followed him were extremely surprised and asked questions one after another.

"Oh, Liu Taozi has no intention of attacking Zhongzhou. Why is he making such a move? He wants to use the same old trick again to trick us into going to Zhongzhou and then attack Nanyang. How can I let him succeed?"

"This time, we will set up an ambush on the road he must take. This time, we must shoot Liu Taozi to death!! To eliminate future troubles!"

"As long as Liu Taozi can be killed, everything will be over, and the Great Zhou will be able to conquer the world!!"

(End of this chapter)