Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 417 Han Sui: What kind of Han army is this?
"This……"

Yu Jin was a little hesitant. Although Ma Teng was the General of Anxi, he had been rooted in Liangzhou for decades and had already formed cliques and gathered people to form a powerful force.

Your Majesty also had this concern. Nominally, he let Ma Teng supervise military discipline, but in reality he transferred him to the court to take up a position not long after, and moved all the Ma clan members to the vicinity of Luoyang.

How could Yu Wenze be qualified to decide whether the other party should stay or go? This request really put him in a difficult position.

Seeing Yu Jin's awkward expression, Ma Teng also reacted immediately and immediately bowed his hands and said, "General, don't worry too much. Teng will write a document tonight and send a fast horse to the emperor. If your majesty allows, I will go to Longxi with General Zhendong to fight for the Han family and punish the evildoers and rebels!"

Ma Teng was not stupid. He had long expected that the emperor would transfer him to the court. Han officials could not be re-elected continuously. Now that he had been in Liangzhou for a long time, how confident would the officials in the court have to be to allow him to concurrently serve as a prefect?

"It's great that Shoucheng is like this." Yu Jin said happily when he saw that Ma Teng immediately realized his dilemma.

After the military order was issued, the Han army moved immediately. The combat soldiers and auxiliary soldiers of each camp quickly packed up all kinds of equipment of different sizes. The crossbowmen checked the armor, bowstrings, crossbow bodies, large arrows, and ring-handled swords to see if there were any damages and whether the quantities were consistent.

The sword and shield soldiers checked their armor, shields, knives, longbows, and arrows...

The campsite should be dismantled if necessary, and the chevaux de frise and horse-traps set up when setting up camp should either be dismantled and used as firewood, or filled with soil to prevent civilians passing by from being injured or killed.

"You have to move quickly. You can't be careless during marches and battles. If you are one step ahead of the enemy, your chances of winning will increase by 10%. Your chances of winning and returning home safely will also increase by a few points."

"Your Majesty has already set a rule in the army. Auxiliary soldiers can also receive generous rewards. In addition to meritorious service on the battlefield, as long as you can surpass the entire army, the three troops with the fastest reorganization speed, the strongest military discipline, and the strongest perseverance."

"The top three in these three fields will receive three times the military salary and rewards of your ordinary villages, the second place will receive twice as much, and the third place will receive one time as much."

"Don't you soldiers from Jingzhou and Yuzhou want double the reward?"

"To compete for these positions, you don't even have to fight on the battlefield. As long as you can outperform the opponent and maintain your position for more than half a year, you can be granted a military station by the Ministry of War, and you can also get an extra ten acres of land when you return home."

"Who else but the Emperor of Han could give such a reward without risking one's life?"

The beating of drums and shouting from each camp came one after another. Because a large number of auxiliary soldiers in the army were new recruits, they were much slower in dismantling the camps, which caused some sergeants and squad leaders to urge them on while helping, with a tone of regret.

The Han army divided its troops in Yi County and rushed towards the south, west and northwest of Liangzhou. The people of Longyou were shocked by the news.

On October 21st, Gao Lan captured two cities in succession and marched straight to Xiabian County. Yu Jin and Zhang He were blocked in Xiangwu County, Longxi for ten days. Zhang He personally supervised the battle under the city walls despite being shot at by arrows. At night, they finally captured Xiangwu and defeated Han Sui's troops.

Han Sui was panicked. He did not expect the Han army to be so fierce, especially in the last few days, when they set up more than 400 catapults on both sides of the mountain and attacked them day and night, making it impossible for them to raise their heads.

It was originally thought that with the solid Xiangwu City, the enemy could be contained and the Han army could not be allowed to enter Longxi. In addition, with the mountains blocking Lintao County in the south and Jincheng and Yunwu in the north, they could serve as a pincer attack. Even if an army of 100,000 were sent, the enemy could be blocked.

No one expected that the Han army was so ferocious. Not only were their armor strong and weapons sharp, but they also fought recklessly and had an endless supply of siege equipment.

It took them ten days to capture Xiangwu, and in one battle most of his elite troops were killed. He had no choice but to flee to Angu with several hundred cavalrymen.

He quickly dispatched messengers to the allied Qiang and Hu tribes to inform them of the critical situation: the gap in Longxi had been forcibly torn open by the Han army.

It was like a sharp long knife pressed against the soft belly of the prey. As long as the Han army commander gave a slight push, the prey's belly would be cut open and its heart and intestines would be taken out.

Don't harass Wuwei County and the west of Hanyang County anymore, and quickly mobilize the tribal people to help him defend the city.

If the remaining Shouyang, Angu and Didao are not defended, the Han army will be able to directly penetrate his lair.

"Go and ask for reinforcements quickly. Without them, we will die!" Han Sui fled back to Angu in a panic. He didn't care about his dirty hands and face. He knocked over the basin brought by the maid, and immediately found dozens of messengers with belongings and hurried to the Qiang and Hu tribes.

"What should I do now?!"

Han Sui, covered in dust and dirt, paced back and forth in the hall, muttering to himself with trembling lips.

Although the Qiang and Hu tribes such as Shaodang Qiang, Shaohe Qiang, Hankai Qiang, Qianren Qiang and others were numerous, they were just a mob.

Attacking the Han army's food supply route might be effective, but if they tried to defend the city head-on, they would probably be frightened by the rocks flying everywhere.

The soldiers who were hit by the catapults died in a very miserable way. Not only did their flesh and blood splatter everywhere and stick to the armor and faces of their comrades nearby, but just looking at that half-bloody body was enough to make people frightened and want to turn around and run.

Moreover, Longxi is full of mountains and hills, with no shortage of boulders and rolling logs. These heavy objects falling from the sky cannot be blocked by a large shield.

Whether on the top of the city or inside the city, one has to worry about something huge falling from the sky at all times.

It was indeed impossible for the rocks outside the city to hit everyone's head, but if they did, they would crush their heads and bodies, leaving no intact corpse. Some Qiang soldiers wanted to bury them according to custom, but they couldn't even get the remains of their bodies back.

In the end, they had to deal with the matter hastily and bury all the tribesmen who died in the battle together.

Han Sui thought about it alone for a long time, but could not think of a good way to resist the Han army's catapults, because the enemy not only used catapults, but also kerosene and rockets.

When he rebelled against the Han Dynasty, he had never seen the imperial army so adept at using equipment.

This experience really opened his eyes, but he would rather not have this kind of experience of failure.

"Where is Yanming? Call Yanming over immediately. I have something important to tell you."

Han Sui suddenly thought of something, so he looked up and shouted outside the yard.

After a while, hurried footsteps were heard outside the courtyard. Yan Xing, who was in charge of resisting the Han army in Angu County, came here on orders.

"Greetings, Lord. What important matters do you have for me?"

Yan Xing, who had a thick beard, bowed and asked in confusion.

Wasn’t he asked to lead his troops to support Shouyang County?

At this moment, after checking the troops and preparing to set off, he was stopped again. If he went too late, the guards of Shouyang County might not be able to withstand the fierce offensive of the Han army.

Han Sui just waved his hand and explained, "Yan Ming doesn't need to go anymore. I just realized that with the swiftness of the Han army's advance, even if only part of the troops reach Shouyang along the river, they can kill the defenders so that they dare not leave the city easily, and then calmly set up an ambush halfway."

"Now we should hold on to Angu first. I expect that Zhang Meng, the governor of Wuwei, will also lead his troops south along the water from Guzang to take Lingju and Yunjie, intending to attack from the north and south with Yu Jin and others, so that I cannot transfer troops and food to Longxi."

"So I will entrust Didao, Angu, Lintao and half of Longxi to you, and let Yanming lead the military affairs of the eight cities. I will return to Jincheng first, recruit civilians, gather soldiers, food, fodder and weapons, and return to fight the Han army!"

"I wonder what Yan Ming thinks. Are you willing to share my worries?"

Han Sui put away his previous panic, raised his hand heroically to include all the counties in Longxi on the map, forced a smile and spoke loudly.

(End of this chapter)