Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 400 Wei Bo's Defeat (A Long Chapter of 10,000 Words)
"Your Majesty, a great victory! A great victory indeed!"

On the eighth day of the eighth month of the seventh year of Xiantong, when Tian Yun's singing and playing began, Li Cui, who was leaning back in his chair and watching the performers sing with a bored expression, suddenly became more alert.

He suddenly stood up, and the actors all retreated upon seeing this, while Tian Yun walked in carrying the news of victory.

"Where did the good news come from? Is it from Longyou?!"

Li Cui asked anxiously, but as soon as he finished speaking, he remembered that it was autumn rain in the Northwest and the army was withdrawing, so there was no possibility of a victory.

"Your Majesty, this is a report of victory from Henan Province. He Quanhao, the military governor of Weibo, led his army to recover lost territories in Songzhou and Suzhou, and at the canal transport point in Fuli County, he decisively defeated tens of thousands of enemy soldiers, killing over ten thousand."

Li Cui sighed upon hearing Tian Yun's good news and sat back down in his chair.

Seeing Li Cui's state, Tian Yun couldn't help but remind him, "Your Majesty, the current campaign to quell the rebellion in the Central Plains relies entirely on He Quanhao and Kang Chengxun."

"The memorial states that Wei Bo's army also suffered significant casualties. What do you think...?"

After Tian Yun reminded him, Li Cui finally realized what was happening.

Although he was unwilling to provide financial assistance to the regional military governors, Weibo was one of only two forces the court had in the Central Plains to suppress bandits, so he still had to give them some rewards out of courtesy.

Thinking this, Li Cui asked Tian Yun, "Have the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Finance submitted any memorials? How much money and grain can they allocate for rewards?"

Tian Yun bowed and replied, "There are only 127,000 strings of cash and 364,000 bolts of silk in the treasury."

The vast Tang Dynasty not only owed a lot of military pay, but also had very little money and silk available in the national treasury.

For a moment, Li Cui felt melancholy, but he also knew why the national treasury had so little money.

Firstly, a considerable amount was spent on the Longyou campaign and on winning over forces such as the Kyrgyz and Duokang, and then a considerable amount was spent on several rewards.

In addition, due to the war between the imperial court and Longyou, the amount of spice trade decreased sharply, and the commercial tax in Chang'an City dropped by more than 400,000 strings of cash.

It should be noted that previously, when Longyou sold spices and purchased goods in Chang'an, Chang'an was able to obtain commercial taxes as a result.

After the sanctions were imposed on Longyou, Longyou lost 800,000 to 900,000 strings of cash in revenue, Hexi lost over 100,000 strings, and Chang'an lost over 400,000 strings.

This sanction undoubtedly deprived all three parties of a source of revenue. For the Tang Dynasty, the court did not have much cash on hand, and 400,000 strings of cash was a considerable amount of fiscal revenue.

Unfortunately, with the sanctions now in effect, the spice trade that had been so hard-won has gone bankrupt once again. While some have criticized the court for starting a war on its own initiative, many more support the war.

Ultimately, the power of Longyou is too great, and it is growing stronger every day. This time, it even used the pretext of helping the imperial court seize six prefectures in Jiannan. Next time, it might be ten or twenty prefectures in Jiannan...

Longyou deserves to be attacked, but the imperial court is currently unable to defeat it, which has led to a growing shift in opinion towards the peace-seeking faction.

However, all the officials knew that once war broke out, it would not be something that the court could simply negotiate a peace with.

When it comes to negotiations and talks, it depends on the positions of both sides.

The imperial court is now suffering repeated defeats at the front lines, while Longyou is winning one battle after another.

In this situation, even if the imperial court were willing to negotiate peace, Longyou would not.

Only by using war to promote peace can there be an opportunity for negotiation.

Thinking of this, Li Cui waved his hand: "Give 100,000 bolts of silk to the soldiers of Weibo, hoping they will win battle after battle and wipe out the bandits..."

"This servant obeys the decree." Tian Yun respectfully replied and then withdrew from the side hall of Xianning Palace.

After he left, the singing and dancing in the side hall resumed, and the news of He Quanhao's consecutive victories naturally reached the ears of the Southern and Northern Offices.

Qi Yuanshi and others from the Northern Division didn't take it seriously, but Xu Shang and others from the Southern Division couldn't help but pay attention.

"Wei Bo has not fought outside the town for many years, but I never thought he could defeat the bandits so badly."

"It's just fighting some bandits. If we go to Longyou, I'm afraid our fate will be no different from that of Xuanwu and the other towns in Hezhong."

In the main hall of a government office in the Southern Prefecture, Xu Shang praised Wei Bo's fighting prowess without reservation. After all, in his opinion, Wei Bo's martial spirit had long since faded, and he had thought this battle would be quite difficult, but unexpectedly, they had fought quite well.

Compared to Xu Shang, Lu Yan greatly underestimated Wei Bo, since Wei Bo's martial spirit had been low since the fall of the Tian family, and its combat strength had long been at the bottom among the three towns of Hebei.

For Lu Yan, although the war in the Central Plains was very big, it was only because the troops in the Central Plains and the towns in Hedong were tied down in Longyou by Liu Jilong.

If Liu Jilong can be dealt with as soon as possible, then the 120,000 troops can be transferred back to Guandong, and the bandits such as Huang Chao, Wang Xianzhi, and Pang Xun can be pacified in the blink of an eye.

"Wei Bo's willingness to go south to quell the bandits is already quite commendable. If we could mobilize the towns of Chengde and Lulong, we might be able to pacify Longyou."

Seeing the two arguing, Yu Cong immediately stepped in to smooth things over, implying that he wanted to ask Cheng De and Lu Long to help.

However, Xu Shang and Lu Yan knew perfectly well that Yu Cong only wanted to mobilize Lulong Town in Youzhou, as for Chengde...

After the Jianzhong Rebellion, with the cavalry of Chengde Town suffering heavy losses, his reputation as "the bravest among all the generals in Hebei" became undeserved.

However, Youzhou Garrison also took on the arduous task of guarding the borders of the Tang Dynasty and defending against the Khitan and Xi tribes. This was the primary reason why Youzhou Garrison maintained a large army.

In contrast, Lulong Town in Youzhou, which had long been stationed on the frontier to resist the incursions of the Khitan and Xi people, maintained its martial spirit since the An Lushan Rebellion and was powerful.

Lulong Town not only guarded its own border defenses, but also took on the overall coordination of the entire northeastern defense line of the Tang Dynasty, frequently sending troops to Hedong and Daibei to assist in border defense.

Having been tempered in blood and fire for a long time, the Lulong army is naturally stronger than the Chengde and Weibo armies, which are content with comfort, and is now the undisputed number one in Hebei.

However, Zhang Yunshen, the current military governor of Lulong, is old and content with guarding his territory. He has no intention of leading troops out of the country, so the court naturally has no opportunity to mobilize him to go south, let alone to fight in Longyou, which is more than 2,000 miles away.

The military governors of the three towns were not stupid. Going to the Central Plains to fight bandits was like picking on an easy target, but going to Longyou required a real fight.

In just over two months, more than 30,000 soldiers from various towns such as Hedong, Yicheng, and Xuanwu were killed in battle, and the elite Shatuo cavalry in Daibei were almost completely wiped out.

Although the Shatuo people in Daibei lived a backward life, once equipped with the weapons and armor of the government army, their fighting power was incomparable to that of ordinary vassal states, and the same was true for the Dangxiang.

As a result, these armies suffered heavy losses, and it was not difficult to find out that the imperial court had suffered more than 30,000 casualties in two months.

Even if they were willing to participate in a battle of this intensity, the soldiers below would not agree.

"How long will the autumn rain last? What does the Astronomical Observatory say?"

Lu Yan questioned the scholars in the hall, and one of them bowed and replied, "The Astronomical Observatory says that although the solar term has arrived early this year, the autumn rains will be very long and will not stop for at least another month."

"Furthermore, this autumn rain is located in the west, and Henan Province may miss it and suffer from drought. Please..."

Before the scholar could finish speaking, Yu Cong sighed and said, "We've already encountered it."

Yu Cong took out a memorial from a local official and said with a slight headache, "There is light rain in Jiangnan, Guannei, Hedong, and Hebei, but there is not a drop of rain in the northern part of Henan Province. Huaizhou and other places are suffering from drought. The people are angry and have driven out the governor. I have already ordered Heyang to resolve this matter."

Seeing that Yu Cong had handled the matter, Xu Shang and Lu Yan simply nodded slightly and then ignored it.

After a long silence, Lu Yan spoke first: "The most urgent task at present is to expedite peace talks with the Southern Barbarians and invite the Kyrgyz to send troops to Longyou."

"If we can facilitate peace talks in the southwest and advance southward from the northern desert, the situation in Longyou can be eased somewhat."

Wang Shi wanted to switch from offense to defense to wear down Longyou, but Lu Yan and the others felt that simply defending was not enough.

Even if it eventually drags down Longyou, the imperial court will at least lose half its life, which is not worthwhile.

Only by requesting external assistance to attack Longyou can Longyou be brought to a head in time, allowing the imperial court to recover this lost territory.

In any case, as the ruler of the world, the Tang Dynasty had invited foreign vassals to come and quell rebellions more than once or twice, so Lu Yan was not afraid of bearing any infamy.

Besides Yu Cong, Xu Shang also shared the same idea as Lu Yan, so the matter was naturally settled.

However, the Kyrgyz and the Southern Barbarians were far from Chang'an, and although the court sent envoys, it would take two or three months to see any results.

At least this year, the imperial court is unlikely to be able to count on foreign aid.

"At present, the various towns have mobilized 20,000 troops to assist in the defense of Jing, Yuan and Long prefectures, and Qin Prefecture has 60,000 troops under Wang Shaobao. In the north, there are also 8,000 troops from Li Chengxun and the Shatuo tribe in Sishuichuan."

“Wang Duo of Shannan West Circuit sent 10,000 troops to harass Chengwu and two other prefectures. Li Fu and Gao Pian led more than 30,000 troops. The imperial court only had 120,000 troops around Longyou, which was still too few.”

"After the imperial court issued a decree to recruit soldiers in the towns of Fengxiang, the towns of Fengxiang, Jingyuan, and Binning each recruited several thousand soldiers. By the spring of next year, there will be no fewer than 30,000 soldiers available."

"If we retain the money and grain in Xichuan and Dongchuan this year and do not transport them, the two towns may be able to recruit 20,000 to 30,000 more soldiers."

"At that time, the imperial court will have no fewer than 180,000 troops to quell the rebellion. As long as we maintain a stalemate with Longyou, Longyou will soon be dragged down."

Lu Yan spoke eloquently, and although Yu Cong and Xu Shang felt that this was not good for the court, they could only nod in agreement, considering that the court did not have any better solutions.

Seeing the two nod in agreement, Lu Yan leaned back in his chair and stretched out a bit.

While they were relaxing, the war in the Central Plains had already reached a fever pitch.

Kang Chengxun besieged Pang Xun between Mount Tai and Mount Lu. Pang Xun attempted to break out several times but failed and suffered heavy losses.

Wang Xianzhi occupied Guangzhou and Shenzhou, and relied on the Huai River to resist the encirclement and suppression by the Zhongwu Army, Huainan Army, and Yicheng Army.

Huang Chao, the most powerful of the three, fled north and was openly pursued and attacked by the Weibo army led by He Quanhao.

He Quanhao won a series of victories, defeating three armies in Song and Su prefectures, but most of them were refugee troops under Huang Chao's command, and did not harm Huang Chao's core forces.

The series of victories made He Quanhao and the officers and soldiers of Weibo lower their guard. They pursued Huang Chao to the border between Song and Cao prefectures. When they were only about 20 miles away from Jiyin County, the seat of Cao prefecture, they once again defeated Huang Chao's troops.

Huang Chao led several thousand troops in a hasty retreat to Jiyin County, while He Quanhao led his army to clean up the battlefield.

By this time, he had forced Huang Chao's forces back into Caozhou territory, leaving Huang Chao with only the counties of Jiyin and Yuanju.

“These mere bandits dare to act recklessly in the Central Plains.”

"We will rest for one night, and tomorrow I will personally lead a large army to wipe out this bandit in Caozhou!"

On the battlefield after the battle, He Quanhao reined in his horse and stopped, his face splattered with someone's blood.

Behind him followed more than 400 elite cavalrymen, as well as more than 7,000 officers and soldiers from Weibo Town who were capturing and massacring refugees.

They slaughtered the old and weak, captured the young and strong, and branded them with slave marks. Six or seven miles behind their ranks, a merchant caravan of more than two thousand people was following them.

The war soon ended, with tens of thousands of the elderly and infirm being massacred and thousands of young men captured.

As soon as the wooden whistle sounded, the merchant caravan immediately caught up. A merchant with a shrewd appearance stepped forward, bowed to He Quanhao, and said, "General He."

"I'm selling all these horses to you. You set a price, so my men don't suffer a loss!"

He Quanhao spoke openly, and the merchant did not find it strange. Instead, he glanced at the thousands of young men who had been captured not far away.

"What do you think, General, about pricing each person at two strings of cash?"

A young, strong man only cost two strings of cash, yet this price was already considered high in the horse market of Daokou, Henan, demonstrating how cheap human life was in chaotic times.

"it is good!"

He Quanhao agreed without hesitation, while the soldiers from Weibo behind him all revealed greedy eyes.

He Quanhao ordered his troops to set up camp on a clean field not far away, while the merchants and military officials, including those in charge of provisions and military affairs, began to take stock of the population.

About half an hour later, the tent was set up, and the merchants and officials in charge of supplies also came to the tent.

"General, the count is clear. There are 6,957 of them. Merchant Wang bought them all for 14,000 strings of cash."

As soon as the grain official finished speaking, He Quanhao, who was inside the tent, nodded and said, "Go with this price. Leave the money here and take the person with you."

"Thank you, General!" Wang Xingshang smiled and bowed in gratitude, then sent someone to bring a box of gold.

Copper coins are heavy; a single string weighs six or seven pounds, making them inconvenient to carry for trade.

Compared to copper coins, gold, which was worth more than a hundred strings of cash per kilogram, was more suitable for this kind of large-scale trade.

With a chest of gold placed inside the tent, He Quanhao did not linger with Wang Xingshang. Instead, after Wang Xingshang brought the gold, He Quanhao sent men to escort them to Chuqiu in the south.

At the same time, He Quanhao instructed the generals around him: "Each of you take ten jin and share them with the brothers."

As soon as he finished speaking, the men looked at each other and then stepped forward to collect their ten pounds of gold.

After the eight generals had received their share, there were still at least thirty kilograms of gold left in the box, but judging from He Quanhao's demeanor, he clearly wasn't going to give it to them.

The group left with smiles on their faces, clutching the gold, but in their hearts they cursed He Quanhao to the core.

They returned to their tents, but unlike He Quanhao, they didn't dare to keep any gold for themselves. Instead, they summoned the officers and tried to distribute all the gold.

Even so, the soldiers still didn't receive a full string of gold, and there was constant cursing in the camp.

"Damn it, we slaughtered so many captive horses today, but we only got half a string of cash?"

"Even if each person gets a horse, it can sell for 1.8 strings of cash. What about the extra money?"

"That dog-and-rat fellow..."

"With so little, let's see who will obey his orders tomorrow!"

The soldiers stared at the gold, about the size of a little fingernail, in their hands, their faces filled with malice.

Upon hearing this, the officers who came to distribute the supplies, to avoid getting into trouble, quickly distanced themselves from the matter.

"I have delivered all this gold. If you brothers do not believe me, you are welcome to search my tent. If you can find any gold that has just been cut off, I am willing to give you my head."

The colonel's words caused the surrounding captains and others to exchange bewildered glances, but they suppressed their tempers and said:

"That damned killer must have had the money embezzled by He Quanhao!"

"You haven't shown your power for over a decade, do you think we're all made of straw?"

“He has been whipping many brothers these days, and everyone hates him. If we were to kill him, how many people would be willing to plead for him?”

“That’s not how it works. We’re currently far away in Caozhou, and our families are still in Weibo. Why don’t we wait until we get back to Weibo, protect our families, and then take action?”

They openly discussed how to deal with He Quanhao inside the tent. The officers pretended not to hear, but these military leaders decided He Quanhao's fate with their own words.

Before long, they accepted the gold and exchanged it for copper coins to distribute among the soldiers.

The soldiers, like their leaders, were very dissatisfied with the outcome of the battle, but after the leaders explained, they all directed their resentment at He Quanhao.

Perhaps out of resentment, the patrol soldiers who received too little pay only did their patrols perfunctorily, not putting in the same effort as before.

Having just won a battle during the day, they assumed the bandits would be hiding in Jiyin City, barely surviving and licking their wounds, and would not dare to provoke them at this time.

Unfortunately, they were wrong, because Huang Chao not only intended to anger them, but also to completely crush them.

As darkness fell, the Wei Bo camp and the merchants' camp under the night sky resembled two oil lamps, guiding the way in the right direction.

More than ten soldiers from the outlying fields outside the camp spent half an hour spying on the patrols of Weibo's cavalry and soldiers. Only after they figured out the patrol range and frequency did they sneak away under the cover of night.

An hour later, the dozen or so soldiers had traveled twenty miles and headed straight for the northwest of the Weibo camp.

After walking for another half an hour, a lake and reed beds appeared in the distance, but when the group of more than ten people arrived, countless figures immediately stood up from the reed beds.

"follow me!"

A fire lit up the night sky; someone lit a torch, but there was only one.

Led by this group, they soon arrived in front of Huang Chao, Huang Kui, and Huang Ye.

"General, we've figured it out. The officers and soldiers are on patrol for fifteen li, and the patrol changes every quarter hour."

"Fifteen li?"

In the firelight, Zhu Wen's face appeared extremely resolute, while Huang Ye and the others in front of him turned their gazes toward Huang Chao.

Feeling the gazes of the crowd, Huang Chao pondered for a moment before saying, "We have five thousand men here, and Lin Yan and Huang Cun have seventeen thousand men to the north."

"I refuse to believe that more than 20,000 people can't feed 8,000 people."

"Pass on my order: slowly make your way towards the officers' and soldiers' camp. The vanguard will block the camp gate, and the rest of you will use rockets, grease traps, and torches to flank the camp and burn them alive inside!"

"Send another fast horse to Lin Yan and the others, telling them to head south immediately and arrive at the camp before dawn."

"Your subordinate obeys!!"

The generals received their orders and then began to cautiously advance towards the Weibo camp.

Compared to the scattered soldiers he led a few days ago, the five thousand soldiers following Huang Chao now were all armored, each carrying a spear and blunt weapon, and many others carrying crossbows and bows.

As time passed, they traveled for two full hours to cover a distance of over twenty miles. It wasn't until 1 a.m. that they were able to approach within three miles of the Weibo camp, thanks to the scouts led by Zhu Wen and others. They could vaguely see the camp, brightly lit by fire, in the distance.

The distance of three li is not short. At least for the heavily armored rebels, it would take them at least fifteen minutes to surround the four gates of the camp without exhausting their strength.

Huang Chao was weighing his options, but no matter how much he weighed them, he would never have another chance. The longer he delayed, the easier it would be for Weibo's cavalry and soldiers to discover his whereabouts.

Thinking of this, a ruthless glint flashed across Huang Chao's face. He turned around and instructed Huang Kui and the other man, "Pass on my order: when the wooden whistle sounds, immediately approach the four gates of the camp, and once you get close, immediately launch fire arrows!"

"There is no need to pursue the fleeing government troops; we only need to launch rockets to encircle and annihilate the government troops inside the camp."

"As soon as Lin Yan and his men spot the fire, they will immediately lead their troops south. If they hold out for two hours, they can severely damage Weibo here!"

"Your subordinate obeys!!" The crowd responded without hesitation, and Huang Chao quickly picked up the wooden whistle.

As time passed, after a dozen or so moments, Huang Chao resolutely blew the wooden whistle: "Beep beep—" The piercing whistle cut through the night, and the soldiers patrolling around the Weibo camp were also alarmed.

At the same time, a large number of rebels rushed towards the camp. Everyone walked quickly towards the camp, not daring to run, for fear of exhausting their strength and being unable to fight back.

"Enemy attack!!"

"what happened?!"

"Enemy attack——"

In an instant, countless soldiers of Weibo were awakened from their sleep by the sound of wooden whistles and calls for enemy attack, and the entire camp was thrown into chaos.

When He Quanhao and the others were awakened from their sleep, they immediately heard shouts of an enemy attack.

Countless soldiers from Weibo donned their armor, and He Quanhao and others, with the help of their attendants, also put on their armor and rode off to charge out of the camp.

They wasted a lot of time, so when the first batch of soldiers rushed out of the camp, the rebels arrived outside the camp panting.

They drew their bows and arrows, and with the help of their comrades, lit the fire arrows in their hands and shot them into the camp.

"Extinguishing!"

"Forget about the fire, get out of there first!!"

"Formation——"

Flames ignited within the camp, while He Quanhao and his men gathered the fastest-reacting soldiers, donned their armor, and charged toward the south gate.

At this time, a large number of rebel troops had gathered at the south gate, and they formed a battle formation, vowing to defend the south gate to the death.

"Charge! Charge if you don't want to die!"

He Quanhao commanded the hundreds of men beside him to charge from horseback. Although the hundreds of soldiers from Weibo had not experienced war for many years, their training had not diminished.

They formed a six-flower formation and charged directly at the rebel army at the camp gate.

"kill--"

Amidst the shouts of battle, the Wei Bo government troops almost instantly shattered the rebel army's thin defenses, but fortunately, a large number of rebel troops surged in at this time.

The two sides clashed at the south gate of the camp. The rebel army, which had only been trained for a little over a month, was simply no match for the Wei Bo government troops who were desperate to survive.

Their breach was torn open, and upon seeing this, He Quanhao immediately led his elite cavalry in a charge to widen the gap.

At the same time, the Weibo government troops, who were unable to break out of the camp, also discovered the opening and rushed towards the south gate.

The meticulously planned encirclement and annihilation operation ultimately failed due to the disparity in overall strength.

After He Quanhao led his troops to break through the encirclement, he did not retreat in panic. Instead, he ordered his men to blow wooden whistles and horns in an attempt to gather the fleeing soldiers, launch a counterattack against the rebel army, and seize the south gate to create an opportunity for the government troops in the camp to break through the encirclement.

"Uuuuuu——"

The melodious sound of bugles and the piercing sound of wooden whistles rang out continuously. Upon hearing the bugles and whistles, the panicked Weibo soldiers in the camp rushed towards the south gate.

"kill!!"

He Quanhao raised his lance, and the hundreds of armored soldiers who had escaped from the camp immediately formed a battle formation, with over a hundred elite cavalrymen providing support.

The soldiers of Weibo, all in the elite formation of the Six Flower Formation, charged towards the more than one thousand rebels at the south gate in a wedge formation.

For a time, the rebel army at the South Gate was caught in a pincer movement. Both sides fought fiercely, their spears clashing, and the battlefield was filled with shouts of battle and the sound of gun barrels clashing.

The rebels were initially able to hold their ground, but as more and more government troops gathered at the South Gate, they gradually became overwhelmed.

The other three leaders, Huang Chao, Huang Kui, and Huang Ye, sensed something was wrong and immediately sent troops to provide support.

More than a thousand rebels joined the battle again, and more and more fell.

As time went on, the rebels gradually retreated due to exhaustion.

After He Quanhao led his troops to capture the south gate, the Weibo soldiers inside the camp fled the camp, which was now engulfed in flames.

The towering flames could be seen from more than ten miles away.

"Damn it, kill them all!!"

After rescuing a large number of government troops and breaking through the encirclement, He Quanhao immediately ordered a charge against the rebel army.

Without him saying a word, the soldiers of Weibo had already taken the initiative to step forward and fight.

The rebel army retreated step by step, and Huang Chao's face was grim, glancing northward from time to time.

As time went by, more and more rebels fell, and more and more Wei Bo government troops appeared on the battlefield.

As time passed, the rebel army that had come to launch the surprise attack had gathered in one place, and the towering flames in the camp illuminated the battlefield in a blood-red light.

Everyone's expression was incredibly ferocious; in the firelight, each person looked as if possessed by a demon.

This place doesn't resemble the human world; it's more like hell.

The fighting was not between the rebel army and government troops, but between millions of evil spirits from hell.

"Uuuuuu——"

At the critical moment, a melodious bugle call sounded from the north, and the soldiers in Weibo Town couldn't help but get into a commotion upon hearing it.

"Those bastards, don't panic. They have no reinforcements; they're just bluffing!"

He Quanhao calmly directed the operation, having already clearly seen the equipment of the rebel army in the firelight.

The number of several thousand armored soldiers was already considerable; he did not believe that the rebels could muster another armored soldier to provide support.

Although he believed it, he couldn't help but feel a little flustered as the horn sounded closer.

After an incense stick had burned, when dense and muffled footsteps sounded from the north, He Quanhao couldn't help but look north.

"kill--"

About a mile away, a sea of ​​fire made of torches was approaching. Upon seeing this, the guards of Weibo Town immediately urged He Quanhao:
"General, the rebel army has suffered a series of defeats, leaving behind very few armored soldiers. It seems to be a plan to lure the enemy deep into our territory."

"That's right, we should retreat to Chuqiu immediately to avoid falling into the enemy's trap!"

"General..."

For a moment, everyone was trying to persuade He Quanhao, and He Quanhao was also a little flustered by them.

After much deliberation, he decided to withdraw his troops: "Withdraw!!"

At his command, the sound of gongs rang out in the Weibo army, and all the Weibo soldiers retreated towards Chuqiu City while fighting.

"Chase!"

Huang Chao's military order was concise and to the point. He knew that if his side stopped now, the Weibo army would definitely doubt his strength and continue fighting.

Judging from Wei Bojun's performance just now, although he was far inferior to the Longyou Army that he had seen in Chang'an, he was more than capable of dealing with them.

For this reason, he chose to lead his troops in pursuit, and as they pursued, many generals in the Weibo army believed that they had more troops and reinforcements, which accelerated their retreat.

The two sides chased and fled for seven or eight miles. Huang Chao and his men were exhausted and could only watch as the Weibo army retreated to Chuqiu with torches.

"Withdraw! Clean up the battlefield!"

Huang Chao, panting heavily, withdrew his troops, but after issuing the order, he looked at Huang Kui and said, "Send a hundred men to follow the government troops to prevent them from launching a surprise attack."

"Yes!" Huang Kui quickly agreed, and then sent men to follow the government troops.

Tens of thousands of rebels began to retreat, and by the time they returned to their camp, it was already 3:30 AM.

The night was as thick as ink, and the fire at the camp was extinguished by Lin Yan, Huang Cun, and the soldiers who stayed behind.

Huang Chao ordered the battlefield to be cleaned up, and then went directly into a relatively intact tent to rest.

He felt exhausted and lay down, but fell asleep without realizing it. He was eventually woken up by Lin Yan's tentative waking.

When he opened his eyes, it was already slightly bright. With Lin Yan's help, he got up and walked out of the tent.

The sky outside the tent was just beginning to lighten; it had probably been about half an hour since he lay down.

The charred corpses had been cleaned up. When Huang Ye saw Huang Chao come out, he immediately took out the inventory list he had just compiled and handed it to him.

“Aside from the children of families, few soldiers are literate. There may be some mistakes, but the number won’t be too far off.”

"In the night raid just now, our army suffered 3,657 casualties, while the government army suffered 2,235 deaths. We captured more than 2,860 sets of government army armor."

"At this rate, we have enough armor for ten thousand people."

"General, should we retreat to Caozhou now, or march south to attack Songzhou?"

Huang Ye explained the document to Huang Chao as he perused it. After confirming that it was correct, Huang Chao handed the document to Huang Ye, then walked to the campfire and, feeling the warmth provided by the firelight, slowly closed his eyes.

"Temporarily retreat to Caozhou, repair the damaged armor, collect the money and grain within Caozhou, and prepare to bypass Songzhou and head south..."

"Bypassing Songzhou and heading south? Where to?"

Huang Kui, who had rushed over, couldn't help but ask, while Huang Ye, Lin Yan, and Huang Cun looked at each other in bewilderment.

Huang Chao slowly opened his eyes, his gaze lingering on the campfire as he recalled his past.

He honed his horsemanship and archery skills from a young age, but he had only read a few military books and had only a general idea of ​​military strategy, which could not help him rise to prominence.

What could truly help him were the memories he had from chatting with Chen Ying and Yang Xin during his years in Chang'an.

He remembered clearly that when he played Go with Yang Xin, Yang Xin once said, "The high-ranking player occupies the center, the low-ranking player occupies the side, and the middle-ranking player occupies the corner; this is the usual way of Go players," to explain the way of Go.

At the time, he felt that these words had a deeper meaning and couldn't help but ask who said them.

Yang Xin, however, said that if there were no books or ancient texts from the Tang Dynasty, then it was most likely what his own military commander had said, because he had heard it from his own military commander when he was learning Go during a literacy campaign.

Upon learning that it was Liu Jilong who had spoken about it, Huang Chao, who greatly admired Liu Jilong at the time, asked a few more questions.

Huang Chao had forgotten what Yang Xin had said, but he remembered that as they were talking, Yang Xin had uttered a battle strategy that contradicted the Go term.

"In Go, every stone on the board is considered equal when calculating the outcome, whether it's in the center or on the edge or corner, but reality is different."

“The population and resource density in the central part of the region often has a huge advantage over that in the periphery.”

"On the other hand, because there are more resources in the central region, all forces want to compete for them, hence the name 'Chasing the Deer in the Central Plains'."

"That is why if one settles down in the middle, one is easily attacked from all sides."

Whether the middleman can succeed depends on his personal ability, as well as the balance of power between the two sides.

Huang Chao recalled Yang Xin's words and realized that they were not spoken by Yang Xin, but by Liu Jilong.

Since his uprising, he suddenly felt that Liu Jilong's words about helping soldiers learn to read in Longyou made a lot of sense. They contained knowledge about marching and fighting, and were explained in a very simple way that even ordinary peasant children could understand a little bit of it.

For this reason, Huang Chao thought about it carefully these days and finally decided to abandon Caozhou, a place of constant warfare, and find a place where he could settle down and make a living.

Since he was not going to become a bandit, he had to have the unwavering belief to choose and defend the place where he started, and be prepared to be besieged by government troops.

If they can withstand several rounds of encirclement and suppression by the government troops and continue to grow stronger during the encirclement and suppression, then they will be able to overcome the biggest hurdle in raising an army.

He lacked confidence that he could withstand the government troops' encirclement and suppression in Caozhou, and the refugees near Caozhou had been slaughtered by the government troops because of him. If he stayed here, he would only starve to death.

He preferred Huainan Road in the south to Caozhou.

There, not only was Wang Xianzhi there to share the burden of the government troops, but the Yangtze River and the Dabie Mountains could also provide him with a place to recuperate after his defeat.

Therefore, his plan these past few days has been to use this battle to defeat the government troops of Weibo Town, so that the government troops of the various towns would be afraid of him and dare not stop him along the way.

At that time, he could also strengthen his forces by capturing the armor of the officers and soldiers of Weibo Town, and then head south to Qizhou, Shuzhou and Huangzhou in the west of Huainan Road.

The reason for choosing these three states was firstly because they are close to the Dabie Mountains and the Yangtze River, and there were skilled shipbuilders who could build him a boat to cross the Yangtze River.

Even if the government troops gathered to conquer the south, he could calmly retreat to Jiangnan West Circuit and develop his own power in Hunan and Jiangxi.

Thinking of this, he said to Huang Kui and the others, "Withdraw to Caozhou, and in two days select the best craftsmen to go south, along with their families and relatives!"

"Yes……"

Huang Kui and others did not want to leave Caozhou, where they were born and raised, but they dared not refute Huang Chao's decision.

So, within two hours, the army of less than 20,000 men withdrew to Caozhou, while the hastily retreating Weibo army also retreated to Chuqiu County.

At this moment, He Quanhao was in a sorry state, simply because the soldiers of Weibo were all related by blood. Of the eight thousand government troops he led south, five thousand were state soldiers and three thousand were government soldiers.

For soldiers from the prefecture who were not in battle, a few dozen strings of cash would be enough to pay their betrothal gifts according to standard practice, but for soldiers from the prefecture who were not in battle, such a careless approach was not appropriate.

Thousands of soldiers surrounded the county government office, and the crowd elected Han Junxiong to demand an explanation from He Quanhao.

Han Junxiong was recommended by the soldiers. Although he was unwilling to get involved in this mess, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and enter the county government office in front of these guys with their hands on the hilts of their swords.

He was led to the main hall by the county officials, where the magistrate and assistant magistrate of Chuqiu County stood beside He Quanhao, their foreheads covered in sweat.

Upon seeing him, He Quanhao immediately questioned, "Han Dalang, how have my father and I treated you? Why have you led your troops to force us against you?!"

Han Junxiong was also helpless upon hearing this, thinking to himself that He Quanhao did not have the methods and temperament of his father and father at all, but instead had great ambitions.

If he had stayed in Weibo and behaved himself, he wouldn't have gotten into this mess.

"General, you should know that this is not something I wanted to do. You also know what kind of people the soldiers in the army are."

“You had won many battles and made a lot of money with your brothers. Even if you scolded your brothers and killed some generals, no one threatened you.”

"But now you have lost the battle, and the brothers' money has been lost in the camp. This southward expedition not only yielded nothing, but also resulted in the loss of 622 brothers from Weizhou."

“The brothers in Weizhou are all related by blood. If you compensate them with ordinary money and grain, they may not be willing. At that time, you and I may both die here.”

"In my humble opinion, it would be better to ask the court for 200,000 coins and silk, distribute them all to the brothers who went south, and prepare another portion for the families of those who perished in battle. Only in this way can we stabilize the situation."

"Besides, why should we meddle in the affairs of the south? We should take the money and silk and send them north."

Han Junxiong got straight to the point, while He Quanhao listened with his face turning red.

It should be noted that he chose to go south in order to gain the support of the imperial court and enhance his prestige in the army.

Now, not only has he been defeated by bandits like Huang Chao, but his hard-earned prestige has also been completely wiped out. How could he not be anxious?

If the soldiers only want money and silk, and are willing to help him to suppress Huang Chao after receiving the money and silk, then he would be happy to ask the court for money and silk.

Judging from the soldiers' opinions, if he didn't agree to return to his hometown, he probably wouldn't be able to leave the Chuqiu County government office today.

Thinking of this, He Quanhao gritted his teeth and said, "You take your troops north, and I'll stay behind with the state troops, how about that?"

"This... I need to ask the brothers outside for their opinions." Han Junxiong was also in a dilemma.

Seeing his hesitation, He Quanhao nodded after considering it and said, "Go and ask."

"This subordinate obeys!" Han Junxiong bowed and accepted the order, then turned and walked towards the outside of the county government office.

A quarter of an hour later, he returned with a grim expression, bowed, and said, "The brothers of the state soldiers, having learned of this, have also come here; they all want to return to their hometowns."

"Those scoundrels, what do they think they are?!"

He Quanhao couldn't help but growl in a low voice, while Han Junxiong looked troubled.

After a long silence, He Quanhao finally gave in. He bowed his head and said, "I will ask the court for a reward, but before the court distributes the reward, we must do our best to suppress the bandits."

"This..." Han Junxiong was at a loss for words. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "This subordinate will go and ask the brothers for their opinions."

"Go ahead!" He Quanhao felt aggrieved, but he was also a little afraid that those guys would storm into the county government office and take his head off.

Fortunately, things went smoothly this time. Han Junxiong returned shortly afterward, bowed, and said, "The brothers all agreed, but this time you can't forbid the brothers from having fun again."

The so-called "seeking pleasure" is nothing more than robbing money.

He Quanhao's face was grim, but he eventually nodded in submission and agreed to the soldiers' conditions.

As soon as he agreed, the guards who had surrounded the county government office dispersed, and He Quanhao could only write a memorial to the court requesting a reward under the supervision of Han Junxiong.

After receiving the memorial, Han Junxiong glanced at the county magistrate and assistant magistrate of Chuqiu County before leaving.

"Do you know what you should and shouldn't say?"

The county magistrate and the county assistant nodded repeatedly, while Han Junxiong left satisfied with the memorial...

(End of this chapter)