Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 412 Great Victory (Part Two)

Mao Hongling acted cautiously and did not act rashly. She selected two teams of three hundred men each to pursue the enemy along two different routes.

"No need to capture them alive, it's best to kill them on the spot!" Mao Hongling coldly ordered, "Go and bring back that Qin traitor's head!"

The two pursuing teams responded with a roar.

"General, where do we go now?" Of the more than one hundred people who had fled in haste, only about twenty horses remained. General Qin, terrified, rode his horse around, looking around blankly, completely at a loss.

The bolder of the guards pointed in a direction: "We'll go this way, then circle around to the main road and head towards Runan County."

General Qin was completely bewildered: "Yes, let's go like this, let's go back to Runan County!"

Now, General Qin is filled with deep regret. If only he had known this would happen, he would never have done it! Why was he so blinded by greed to send troops to attack Pei Family Village? Wouldn't it have been better to just be his local tyrant in Runan Commandery? Wouldn't it have been better to live a life of plenty with beautiful women by his side? What was this talk of dividing the world into three kingdoms, or carving up the north? He was simply blinded by greed.

General Peng has already given up his life, and the Fang army is finished. At least he is still alive. Once he returns to the Runan army, he can regroup and stay in the camp, never again launching reckless attacks.

General Qin gritted his teeth and made a solemn oath in his heart, then hurriedly set off with more than a hundred personal guards.

General Qin, who was fleeing in haste, knew that civilians were spying on their movements. But he had no time to stop and kill; he could only flee with all his might.

The group ran for dozens of miles, out of Yan County, until they reached an unknown section of the official road. Exhausted, they had no choice but to stop and rest.

The group fled the camp in the middle of the night, taking nothing with them. Everyone was hungry and thirsty. Several guards volunteered to find food and water.

General Qin nodded in agreement, and then added, "Try not to disturb the people, and don't kill anyone. Otherwise, the commotion will attract pursuers."

Several guards obeyed the order and left.

General Qin waited and waited, but no one returned. He was both annoyed and secretly anxious.

"General, things are bad." The quick-witted bodyguard said gravely, "Those men who went out must have run into trouble. Let's not wait for them, let's go!"

General Qin nodded with difficulty and, with the help of his personal guards, mounted his warhorse. Before the horse could even gallop forward, a large number of soldiers in gray uniforms suddenly surged towards him.

It's the Pei family army!

How did they manage to catch up with us?
General Qin's mind went blank, then he suddenly caught sight of several familiar, dejected faces, and it dawned on him. These personal guards who had gone to find water had encountered the Pei family army and then surrendered to lead the way...

General Qin didn't even have time to curse; he quickly spurred his horse and fled. Then, an arrow that seemed to come from nowhere struck him in the back, and he screamed as he fell from his horse, his neck breaking instantly.

A girl of about twelve or thirteen years old rushed over and beheaded General Qin with a single stroke.

Another, even younger girl, shouted excitedly, "Sister Wan, you've cut off the Qin traitor's head! You've done a great service!"

Pei Wan grinned, her eyes sparkling with a dashing spirit, reminiscent of Pei Qinghe in her youth: "Beating a drowning dog is nothing. Let's go, we'll take the Qin traitor's head back!"

A day later, Mao Hongling returned to Peijia Village with the heads of General Qin and General Peng, and more than 3,000 prisoners.

The villagers of Peijia Village grinned, but also expressed some regret: "I took a knife, thinking I would contribute to the army and kill a few traitors. I never imagined I would have no chance to fight to the death."

"That's right, I was also thinking of killing a couple and getting into the Pei family army through merit. I didn't expect General Mao to win the battle so quickly." The surrendered soldiers, their hands bound by strong ropes, entered Pei family village with their heads down. Laughter from the roadside reached their ears, and the surrendered soldiers subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound.

One was a short, stocky farmer, while the other, a tall, strong woman, was the target. In Peijia Village, both men and women could serve in the army. Such conversations were commonplace and not unusual at all.

No wonder they were defeated. Even the ordinary people in Pei Family Village were overjoyed at the prospect of battle, let alone the elite troops of the Pei Family Army.

These so-called old, weak, and disabled soldiers taught them a profound lesson!

They have already surrendered, so does that mean they've become part of Pei's army?
What nice things you are thinking about!
"The surrendered soldiers should go and repair the city walls and do farm work first." Mao Hongling ordered: "Those who are lazy, shirk their duties, or commit crimes should all be killed."

"Those who are honest and law-abiding will first do a year of hard labor. After a year, those who perform well can enter Pei Family Village."

The Pei family army has never lacked soldiers. There are plenty of good people and young men who want to join the Pei family army. How could these cowardly soldiers with lax discipline and who run away in battle possibly get a chance?

……

This decisive victory made Mao Hongling a household name.

After days and nights of anxious anticipation, Prime Minister Pang couldn't help but exclaim upon hearing the latest news on the battle: "Women are just as capable as men! The female generals of the Pei family are all exceptionally skilled!"

Minister Qin also relaxed his brows and smiled: "I only knew General Pei and Pei Yan before, but now I know that Mao Hongling is also a heroine."

"It's not just Mao Hongling, take a look at this battle report." Prime Minister Pang's wrinkled old face relaxed as he smiled and handed the report to Vice Minister Qin: "Four days ago, General Pei Yun won a great victory. The Chang Le army was utterly defeated, and General Xie was killed on the spot. His head is currently hanging on the city wall of Bohai County!"

Minister Qin was both surprised and delighted, and took the battle report to examine it closely.

Five days ago, General Xie sent troops to attack Bohai County. Pei Yun feigned defeat and allowed the Chang Le army to enter Bohai City.

General Xie was overjoyed and led his troops into Bohai City. However, once inside the city, they were like fish on a chopping board or sheep in a cage, and were slaughtered indiscriminately.

Pei Yun shot and killed General Xie with an arrow, then calmly cut off General Xie's head with a knife.

With their commander gone, the morale of the Chang Le army collapsed, and they were utterly routed.

In this battle, 30% of the 10,000 elite soldiers of the Chang Le Army were killed, 20% escaped, and more than 4,000 others threw down their weapons and surrendered to the Pei family army.

Pei Yun, being in Bohai Commandery, lacked the high-quality manpower available from Mao Hongling's region, and was therefore much more lenient towards the surrendered soldiers. He selected about a thousand from the more than four thousand surrendered soldiers to bolster his forces. The remaining three thousand-plus were sent to do hard labor, building the city walls.

General Xie's head and corpse were hung on the city walls of Bohai County to intimidate the people.

"I heard that General Mao also hung the heads of two bandits outside Pei Family Village." Prime Minister Pang couldn't help but laugh and sigh, "This is indeed the Pei Family Army's consistent style of doing things."

Isn't it?

Since Pei Qinghe destroyed Black Bear Village eight years ago, the tradition of hanging heads has been established.

Now, the Pei family army is well-trained and powerful, with a formidable reputation; no garrison in the north dares to challenge them. The three garrison forces that dared to challenge them were decimated, and their commanders were all beheaded!
(End of this chapter)