Fu Shanhe

Chapter 338: Capturing the Bandit Leader
In the chaos, the morale of the rebel soldiers collapsed and they wished their parents had given them two more legs.

Everyone rushed to escape, and no one paid any attention to the generals' shouts.

If I meet someone with an old grudge, I'll just kill him with a knife.

Realizing that the outcome was already decided, the top rebel leaders who had defected to the imperial court stopped pretending and took the lead in surrendering to the government troops.

The demonstration effect was very obvious. A large number of rebel soldiers followed suit, laid down their weapons, and joined the ranks of prisoners of war.

The organized surrender of the troops destroyed the last hope of the rebels.

"My Lord, give the order to retreat immediately!"

In the Wu army camp, the guard commander began to persuade.

"withdraw?

Where can we retreat to?
There was chaos in the camp and orders could not be conveyed.

I lost the army and escaped back alone. How can I face His Majesty?

That bastard Wei Jiarui really screwed me over this time!"

Yin Mufeng said indignantly.

It makes me feel aggrieved just thinking about it. It was clearly Wei Jiarui's fault for not doing his job, but he ended up suffering from the same misfortune.

We are allies, and we are all working together to improve the food.

He did not produce the human rations, but now that the matter was exposed, he could only bear the consequences.

In order to reduce the impact, he has been working hard to appease the military in recent days.

Before we could see any results, the enemy came to kill us.

With the cooperation of the traitor, the enemy army successfully broke into the camp with a charge.

There was no time to organize a counterattack, and the troops began to surrender on a large scale, causing the situation to collapse in an instant.

"My Lord, as long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood.

If soldiers are gone, we can recruit more. There is no shortage of people who serve as soldiers and eat food in the world.

If I can’t go back to Nanjing, I’ll just hide outside first.

If we are lucky, maybe we can gather some defeated soldiers on the way of evacuation.

When the establishment is full, I will go back and apologize to Your Majesty.

This defeat was not our responsibility.

Explain the matter clearly, and His Majesty will understand. "

The commander of the personal guards tried hard to persuade him.

Other soldiers can run away, but the personal guards cannot.

They were too closely connected with the coach, and even if they managed to escape, they would still be killed.

"That's it!"

"The blame lies entirely with me, there's no need to let others die with me.

The order was passed down, and each unit broke out on their own.

If you escape, you can meet up in Jiujiang Prefecture."

Yin Mufeng said in a low voice.

Punishment is a matter for the future.

What we need to do now is to escape. Only if we survive will we be eligible to be “punished later”.

"As ordered!"

……

At midnight, all the lights on the top of Wuchang city were extinguished, and the city was completely illuminated by moonlight.

A group of people quietly appeared on the city gate tower, waiting for the outcome of the battle outside the city.

"It seems that we have won this battle."

Li Mu said with a smile.

“Not only did we win, but we won beautifully.

From the outbreak of the war to now, progress has been smooth, and the rebels should not have been able to organize an effective resistance.

The victory on the battlefield here was a great victory, and the other rebel camps were not able to cause any major waves.

Pass the order down and have the people below hurry up and prepare for the celebration banquet."

Li Yuan added.

The conversation between the two made the civil servants very confused.

We all came together to watch the battle, but apart from the huge fire in the enemy camp, we couldn't see anything else.

"Governor, how do you know that our army has won a great victory?"

The Huguang governor standing by couldn't help but ask.

The battle tonight is of great importance. All the high-ranking officials in the city stayed up all night and rushed here to watch the battle.

Since the outbreak of the war, no battle reports have been received from the front line.

The two noble leaders immediately concluded a great victory, making them look like fools.

"It's very simple, the fire is spreading and the shouting is getting farther and farther away from us.

None of this would have been possible if we had not successfully breached the enemy camp."

Li Yuan explained calmly.

These are basic common sense for a general.

For civil servants, this is a blind spot in knowledge.

The military books circulating outside recorded various battle examples and strategies, but omitted the common sense in the details.

Many people are familiar with military books and are proficient in military tactics, but they kneel down on the battlefield. To a large extent, this is because they lack basic common sense.

In fact, what Li Yuan said were all superficial things that were widely known.

After spending a few years in the army and seeing a few battles, you will be able to sum up the experience.

There are also many other details that can be used to judge the battle situation.

"Uncle, the overall situation on the front line has been settled, and there will be no unexpected changes.

There's no point in continuing to waste time here.

I think you all are tired, let's stop here tonight!"

Ignoring the expressions of the civil servants, Li Mu directly expressed his thoughts.

Commanding a large army in battle requires too much attention and is very time-consuming.

No wonder most of the famous generals in ancient times did not live long.

If you are not in good health, you will not be able to withstand such high-intensity and full-hearted commitment.

After all the trouble, Li Mu was exhausted both physically and mentally and just wanted to go back and have a good sleep.

"Ok.

Let’s all go away!

Let’s wait until the war is over and then attend the celebration banquet together.”

Li Yuan immediately gave the order.

Most of the civil servants present were his subordinates, and he was the one who had to give the order.

……

"How dare you treat me like this!"

"let me go!"

"Let me go!"

"I would rather die on the battlefield than be a stray dog!"

"asshole!"

"I..."

Wei Jiarui, who was forcibly evacuated by the guards, kept cursing.

During the day, he is a local lord, but at night he becomes a stray dog ​​fleeing in panic. No normal person can bear this kind of gap.

The foundation of the Chu State was completely lost in this war.

Even if you manage to escape, you can only linger on.

Even if some provincial capitals in Jiangxi and Zhejiang are still in his hands, they cannot become the capital for his comeback.

Unlike any previous failure.

Tonight's defeat was a political and military failure.

It won’t be long before his name “Ogre King” will spread throughout the world.

If the human military rations had not been leaked, even if the imperial court took action, there would not have been so many traitors.

In an era where reputation is more important than life, there will surely be a few people who will live and die with the State of Chu.

It's a pity that his reputation has been ruined. If we continue to follow him, the reputations of those below us will also be ruined.

In the future, people all over the world will regard Wei Jiarui as a great disaster, and the people of Huguang, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang will even wish to take his life.

With a little guidance from the imperial court, those families who lost people in the war would put the blame on him.

There is no point in explaining, no one will believe the words of an ogre.

"My Lord, I finally found you!"

“What are you guys doing?
How dare they be disrespectful to the prince? Are you planning a rebellion? Soldiers, follow me and capture these traitors!"

With an order, Fang Kecheng's troops immediately charged forward.

Without waiting for the guards to explain, the two sides started fighting.

"Misunderstandings are all misunderstandings!

Stop it, we are all family..."

After seeing this scene, Wei Jiarui hurriedly spoke up to dissuade them.

Being angry is one thing, but it doesn't mean he is willing to let his own people fight. At this time, every loyal soldier is a valuable asset to the State of Chu.

Unfortunately, his orders as the King of Chu were not effective. Except for his own soldiers who obeyed the orders and chose to stop, the soldiers on the opposing side killed even more fiercely.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of personal soldiers fell in a pool of blood.

"Fang Kecheng, what do you want to do?
The king ordered to stop, are you deaf?"

Wei Jiarui scolded nervously.

He thought the Minister of War who came to protect the emperor should be his loyal minister, but he didn't expect that he was a hungry wolf.

In the name of protecting the emperor, he massacred the soldiers around him.

"My Lord, no, I should call you Wei Ni now!
Death is approaching, don't you understand it?

By the way, please remember that my name is not Fang Kecheng.

My surname is Yang and my name is Zhiyu!
I have been lurking beside you for two years just for today, to rid the country of thieves!"

Yang Zhiyu said sarcastically.

Since you have chosen to switch sides, you naturally have to dress yourself up.

In order to erase his dark history of joining the rebels, he decisively created an image for himself as a loyal Dayu man who was willing to go deep into the tiger's den and lurk beside the rebels in order to quell the rebellion.

By catching Wei Jiarui and solidifying his character, all the bad things he did in the past can be written off.

"rat!"

"I trusted you so much!"

"No wonder our Great Chu was defeated, it turns out there was a traitor lurking around us.

The previous series of strategic plans were all formulated with the participation of a thief like you. How could they possibly succeed?
I was ignorant of people and I trusted a despicable person like you. It is not unfair that I lost today!"

Wei Jiarui roared in despair.

Nothing is more devastating than being betrayed by the person you trust the most.

Looking at the collapsed Wei Jiarui, Yang Zhiyu was also embarrassed.

Wei Jiarui's words indirectly proved that he was lurking in contact with Yu.

But the problem is that he did not communicate with Yu, and he had done his best in all the strategic plans he had formulated for the State of Chu.

He boasted of his talent but had never been able to find a way to realize it his whole life. Finally, he got a chance to put his talent into practice, but ended up failing miserably the moment he took to the stage.

The blow to Yang Zhiyu was undoubtedly huge.

The idea of ​​using Wei Jiarui's head to pave a path to success for himself was suddenly dispelled.

"It's too late to regret now, those who do evil will eventually perish.

Take this traitor with you and go with me to see the Governor!"

Yang Zhiyu said coldly.

Although he felt a little reluctant deep down in his heart, reality forced him to make the right choice.

If you choose to return to the imperial court, you must cut ties with the rebels.

Rebellion has always been the most unforgivable crime.

Any act of sympathy for traitors is a very serious political mistake.

……

"What, captured Wei Ni alive?"

In the Governor's Mansion, Li Yuan, who had just finished lunch, was stunned by the news.

One of the rebel leaders who roamed the southern provinces was captured just like that. It seemed unreal no matter how you looked at it.

Although the White Lotus Saint Emperor was killed earlier, he was neither alive nor dead, and was unilaterally declared dead by the court.

“Yes, Your Excellency the Governor.

The man was captured by the Yang family. This man served as the Minister of War in the rebel army and was deeply trusted by Wei Ni.

We have verified the identity of the traitor, and several prisoners of war have confirmed that this person is the rebel king Wei Jiarui. "

The middle-aged master explained.

It is war time now, and the Governor of Huguang has a lot of official duties to do every day.

As a legal advisor, you must filter out useless information in advance.

He didn't dare report it directly without verifying his identity.

"it is good!"

"Now that we have captured the leader of the bandits, it will be easy to recover Zhejiang and Jiangxi!"

Li Yuan made the decision immediately.

Although he was very curious about Wei Jiarui, he had a lot of things to do at this time and had no time to see him.

“Uncle, Wei Jiarui has too many enemies, so it is not suitable for him to stay in Huguang for a long time.

In order to reduce trouble, it is better to escort this person to Beijing as soon as possible!"

Li Mu reminded.

The living Wei Jiarui is more valuable than the dead Wei Jiarui.

The imperial court has suffered from rebels for a long time!
Once Wei Ni is captured, he must be escorted to the capital so that everyone can vent their anger.

The political value is greater than annihilating 100,000 rebels.

"You are right, Wei Ni cannot stay in Huguang.

Master, tell the people below to keep an eye on Wei Ni for me and not allow any accidents to happen.

Once the matter is completed, immediately send troops to escort this person to the capital."

Li Yuan agreed immediately.

Keeping Wei Ni around would be more conducive to surrendering the rebels, but practical conditions do not allow this.

Neither the southeastern gentry, nor the civil and military officials nor the emperor would allow him to live.

It is impossible for them to offend so many people for a traitor.

Sending him away now can also bring political benefits.

After some time, the emperor issued an edict to demand the person, and he had to be handed over.

……

Nanjing City.

"Your Majesty, something is wrong!"

"Bad news came from the Wuchang front. The King of Chu committed an atrocious crime by using human flesh as military rations. The soldiers discovered this and the morale of the troops on the front was broken.

Three nights ago, the enemy launched a surprise attack, and the coalition forces suffered a major defeat and suffered heavy losses.

The main force of the Chu army was almost wiped out in the battle.

Thanks to the efforts of Marquis Weiyuan, part of our troops broke out and are currently retreating to Jiujiang Prefecture.

The situation in the southeast is dangerous!"

Minister of War Fan Xiuwen said tremblingly.

If this battle report was not sent by Weiyuan Hou Yin Mufeng, he would have suspected that it was a joke.

The King of Chu is no simple person as he was able to stand out from the chaotic times.

It is really unbelievable that they made a fatal mistake at the critical moment.

In fact, even if the production of human rations affected the morale of the army, they should not have been defeated so quickly.

The rebel army has several times more troops than the government army, and their morale is low. The worst that can happen is that they can just hold on to the camp.

The camp was breached by the enemy overnight, which was really magical.

"impossible!"

"I know Wei Jiarui's ability in commanding troops.

From the very beginning of the Battle of Wuchang, he built high camps to prevent the enemy from launching sneak attacks at night.

No matter how powerful that villain Li Mu is, he can't win so quickly."

Fu Haoxuan immediately shook his head and said.

He had thought in advance that the Battle of Wuchang would fail, but that was after the government troops had paid a heavy price.

Even if they were defeated, most of the rebels were able to withdraw safely.

The reality was very disappointing. The Wu army at least withdrew part of its troops, but the main force of the Chu army was almost wiped out.

Even if there were hundreds of thousands of pigs, it would be impossible for the government troops to kill them all in one night, let alone hundreds of thousands of troops.

If I can’t win in battle, can I still run away?
There are many anti-justice soldiers, and even if the government troops want to chase them, they don't have enough manpower.

"Your Majesty, this battle report was written by Marquis Weiyuan himself, so it shouldn't be false."

Fan Xiuwen reminded gently.

If you lose, you lose.

Whether you want to accept it or not, this is reality.

The Battle of Wuchang destroyed most of the main forces of the Chu State, and the Chu State could not be relied upon in subsequent major wars.

The anti-Yu wave that was originally in full swing suffered a heavy blow, and the situation in the southeast took a sharp turn for the worse.

In the future, the Southern Volunteer Army will have to rely on them alone.

The top priority was to prepare for the aftermath as soon as possible, otherwise if the government troops took over Jiangxi and Zhejiang, they would be completely passive strategically.

"waste!"

"They're all trash!"

"I am ashamed to be on par with that idiot Wei Jiarui!"

"That's it!"

“Now that it has happened, let’s prepare for the aftermath.

My dear ministers, do you have any good advice for me?"

After venting for a while, Fu Haoxuan asked while suppressing his dissatisfaction.

(End of this chapter)