I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 248 Let Everyone Live a Few Years Longer

Cao Shao successfully retreated, but the more than 10,000 soldiers he brought with him failed to escape.

The Han army's infantry and cavalry attacked from the front and back, compressed the enemy together, hacked and chopped with all their might, and created an unparalleled victory. They killed so many people and horses that even escape became a luxury for the rebels. They could only kneel down and beg for mercy and pray to live in despair.

The entire process of this extremely smooth victory took no more than an hour, and the formal battle between the Han army and the rebels actually took less than two incense sticks of time.

The fact that the rebels suffered a crushing defeat was secondary; the main issue was that so many of them surrendered.

Killing with cold weapons is not very efficient. It looks like a lot of people have been killed, with corpses piling up like mountains and blood flowing like a sea, but in reality not many people have really died.

Most of the rebels lost hope when they were attacked from both sides. They dropped their weapons, knelt down and begged for mercy. They did not dare to escape, so they all survived and became prisoners of the Han army.

As for the very few who resisted, they were of course killed without a trace.

Yuan Shu did not go to the front line in person, but he commanded the operations and witnessed the first field victory of his military career with his own eyes.

To be honest, he should have been happy, but he just couldn't be happy. He just felt ridiculous and helpless.

How can this be a battle between two armies?

This is clearly a real video of early Young and Dangerous guys being beaten up by regular troops!
Although we did win, and won beautifully...

After the battlefield was initially cleaned up and counted, Yuan Shu learned that he had captured over 10,000 rebels. There were still more than 2,000 bodies on the battlefield, and it was estimated that very few had escaped.

According to the captured rebel officers, Cao Shao brought a total of 25,000 people this time.

In addition to the previous vanguard troops, he sent another 5,000 to guard Zaocheng, and he took 15,000 with him to Yan County. He dispatched 13,000 main forces to rescue Yan County, leaving only about 2,000 to guard Yan County, and the rest were on the battlefield.

Yuan Shu covered his face with his hands, sighed for a while, and shook his head repeatedly.

Seeing this, Fan Li asked Yuan Shu curiously.

"We've won such a great victory, why are you not happy?"

Yuan Shu glanced at Fan Li and said in a tone that made Fan Li puzzled: "Of course I am happy to win the battle, but I would be happier if our opponents could be more like an army. Captain Fan, don't you think our enemies are very much like an army?"

After Yuan Shu said this, Fan Li immediately knew why Yuan Shu was unhappy.

Indeed, Fan Li also felt that this group of enemies were not strong, but it would be a bit of an exaggeration to say that they did not look like an army.

He thought about it, and then imparted his life experience to Yuan Shu in an earnest tone, as if a senior was urging a junior.

"Captain Yuan, most of the armies in the world are the same as what you see before your eyes. You can't think that all the armies in the world are the same as your family's troops. That's impossible."

Seeing Fan Li's earnest and sincere expression, Yuan Shu knew that he might be a little too Versailles.

I may always have a strange elite filter for the army. I always feel that if it is not elite, it cannot be considered an army. If it cannot face death with courage and obey orders, it cannot be considered an army.

But he had to admit that from ancient times to the present, of all the groups that could be called armies that had ever existed on the entire earth, the mob was the vast majority, and the elite were only a very, very small part of them.

But this made Yuan Shu even more dissatisfied.

"Captain Fan, I have always believed that sending people who cannot fight to the battlefield is a very wrong act. Whether it is a long period of peace or a war, the army should always be elite and good at fighting!

How can ordinary people understand what a battlefield is? They went to the battlefield without knowing what was going on, and lost their lives without knowing what was going on. A good labor force is gone just like that. Don’t you think it’s a pity?”

Fan Li didn't expect that Yuan Shu would actually think about these things. He not only cared about his own people, but also worried about the livelihoods of the common people. It was a bit sad to think about it.

"You have a kind heart, which is good, but things in the world are often like this. There are too few elite soldiers and too few things that can be accomplished. If we don't drag them to the battlefield, who else can we drag to the battlefield? Could it be the children of the rich and powerful?"

Fan Li’s words left Yuan Shu silent for a while.

After a while, Yuan Shu raised his head and patted Fan Li on the shoulder. "I was indeed powerless in the past, but in the future, I want to try to make some changes. I can't say how much better the world will be, but at least, I want to make everyone live a few more years!"

After saying that, Yuan Shu left straight away, leaving Fan Li looking at Yuan Shu's back with a little surprise.

At least let everyone live a few more years?
Fan Li savored the meaning of these words, then smiled self-deprecatingly.

This Mr. Yuan might really be out of touch with the world, as he always speaks of such grand ambitions.

If he could really do it, I'm afraid every household in the world would build a shrine for him!
If he could really allow people to live a few more years, it would be the best example of benevolent rule among the three ancient dynasties!

After making such a grand wish, Yuan Shu did not stop. The captured rebel officers told Yuan Shu everything they knew about the rebels and Cao Shao, letting Yuan Shu know the strength of the rebels and Cao Shao.

After Cao Shao's army was completely annihilated, the rebels had no other troops left in this area. Apart from the army defending Zaocheng, which had most likely been sentenced to death by Duan Xing, there were probably only two thousand defenders left defending Yan County.

Originally, Yuan Shu thought that as long as he carefully followed Duan Xing's orders, he would be done. But now, he felt that judging by the rebels' fighting power, if he could not advance and capture Yan County, his military career might be over.

It's so funny that people are still fussy about words and being so rigid even at this point.

Didn’t General Yue say that?

When it comes to things like military strategy, the key to its application lies in one's heart. It does not depend on how the author writes it, but on how the reader uses it.

With such inexplicable emotions, Yuan Shu ordered the entire army to take a short rest and then march forward to attack Yan County.

A day later, on the third day of the twelfth month of the first year of Zhengshi, Yuan Shu led his army to Yan County and began to attack the county.

The offensive method is very unpretentious.

The archers shot arrows at the top of the city walls to suppress the fire and cover the infantry who moved forward to remove the barricades and fill the pits. Then the army approached the city, and the archers at the back continued to suppress the fire. The melee troops in the front began to charge with ladders, climbed up the city walls like ants, and engaged in a one-sided battle with the rebel defenders on the city walls that was not fierce.

The army under Yuan Shu was not equipped with any heavy siege weapons except ladders, but he captured Yan County in just half an hour.

The defenders in the city had basically no will to fight. They hid behind the city wall and shot a few arrows. When the Han army began to climb up the city wall like ants, they threw down a few stones and pieces of wood.

Then they were chased by the Han army all the way and lost the city tower and the city gate. The Han army entered in a stream and successfully captured Yan County.

A small number of the rebels died in the battle, most surrendered, and some escaped in the chaos. Yuan Shu captured the county with only more than 100 casualties and completely wiped out the main force of the vanguard army led by Cao Shao.

Then, he sent people to continue advancing eastward to find out the latest movements of the rebels, and at the same time sent people to advance towards Zaocheng to tell Duan Xing the news of his victory, so that Duan Xing could attack the city with peace of mind without any other worries.

Duan Xing's actions were actually going very smoothly.

The rebels only launched a relatively large-scale counterattack at the beginning. They prepared a lot of arrows and rolling logs and stones. The rebel generals responsible for defending Zaocheng seemed to have some ability and barely held on. Facing the attack of the Han army, they gave a good answer.

But this excellent performance only lasted about a day, and soon the rebels' counterattack became weak and powerless.

Starting from the second day, the Han army repeatedly climbed up to the top of the city wall and threatened the rebels' defenses several times.

The rebel commander led his personal guards to fight personally, but could only barely hold out until the morning of the third day. After the Han army once again attacked the city, the rebel commander was killed, his personal guards were wiped out, and the remaining rebels were no longer able to drive the Han army off the city.

Then the city wall fell, the city gate was opened, and the Han army rushed in. The rebels in the city were either killed or surrendered, and Zaocheng was thus breached.

After winning, Duan Xing had no time to celebrate. He immediately sent people to inquire about the news from Yuan Shu, fearing that Yuan Shu had no experience on the battlefield and might accidentally fail, which he would not be able to explain to Yuan Feng.

He even thought of the worst case scenario. If Yuan Shu lost the battle, he would let Fan Li take the blame for him. At worst, he would let Yuan take good care of the orphans and widows of the Fan family.

However, the worst situation did not happen. The people Duan Xing sent out returned not long after, and brought back a messenger from Yuan Shu, who reported good news to Duan Xing -

Yuan Shu won the battle!
(End of this chapter)