Chapter 231 Joy and Sorrow

Chapter 231 Joy and Sorrow

Chapter 231 Joy and Sorrow

Long before the armored cavalry dispersed the 2,000 enemy cavalry, the 1,500 infantrymen of the Yamen Army had already been chasing the enemy and killing them indiscriminately.

After chasing for hundreds of steps, they didn't hear the sound of the gong to call back the troops. Instead, behind them, three whole groups of Silver Spear Army infantrymen chased out.

Not only that, the auxiliary soldiers also lined up in the rear and marched out one after another.

Three gaps were opened in the convoy for them to enter and exit. It was obvious that this was a decisive move to hit the fallen dog.

On the northwest and southwest sides of the main formation, the chariot formations were also opened at the same time. Chen Yougen and Li Chong, who received the order, each sent more than 2,000 soldiers to attack.

More than ten thousand soldiers rushed towards the enemy, shouting and advancing with drums beating.

The enemy's second line of infantry collapsed and fled backwards.

The rear formation fired thousands of arrows again.

But this time, they failed to disperse the bandits who were running around mindlessly.

The defeated soldiers fell down row after row and tried to run to the sides, but there were loud shouts of killing on both sides. They had no choice but to push the people in front of them, using them as human shields, and rush to their own rear formation.

The pursuers did not stop for a moment, they raised their swords and stabbed with their spears. The defeated soldiers rushed into the rear formation and directly led them to collapse.

At this point, the 40,000 bandit infantrymen still remaining on the battlefield collapsed as a whole, and were killed and beaten to a pulp by the more than 10,000 Jin troops who were chasing them from three directions.

Shao Xun stood on the high platform, watching this moment calmly.

The scene of tens of thousands of people collapsing was spectacular and extremely shocking.

Looking down from a high place, three sharp knives stabbed into the enemy's soft abdomen from the left, middle and right directions, instantly causing huge damage.

Chasing the enemy to the north, moving forward courageously.

At this time, Shi Le's general flag had just landed.

He has no chance of turning the tables.

"I don't know how Shi Le came to be so powerful..." Shao Xun shook his head and walked down from the platform.

When Sui Gong Shifan rebelled, he was defeated by Sima Hu, King of Fanyang.

In the Battle of Dongwuyang last year, the 50,000-strong army was completely defeated by Gou Xi.

In history, in the Battle of Feilong Mountain the next year, an army of more than 100,000 was defeated and fled by Wang Jun.

I don't know how many key battles this man lost in the early stages, but he was able to basically unify the north in the end, which is also an anomaly.

Perhaps, perseverance and the ability to correct mistakes are his outstanding qualities.

The entire pursuit lasted until the evening.

The nine hundred cavalry returned first, followed by the infantry.

Roughly speaking, in this battle, more than 20,000 people were beheaded and 10,000 were captured, which completely defeated the main force of the Han army heading south.

Inside and outside the car array, everyone was in high spirits, talking loudly and laughing.

The poor auxiliary soldiers had to clean up the battlefield, take care of the wounded, make fires and cook, and even repair equipment, trim horses' hooves, and sort out supplies...

While the soldiers were eating, Shao Xun led his personal soldiers to inspect the camps. Although he did not say much, the prestige of the commander-in-chief was enhanced from the expressions and actions of the soldiers.

This is the war dividend.

In addition to battlefield spoils, territory, and fame, the increase in prestige within the army is also a huge gain.

No one likes to hang out with a loser.

Those who win battles are always more likely to gain the support of others.

Of the 20,000 troops that went out to fight, only half were from the imperial court, and the remaining half were assigned by the imperial court. They were human beings, not machines, and they had fought such a great victory with Marquis Luyang, so they would naturally have some inclinations in their hearts.

Perhaps, at this stage, this tendency is not enough to make them abandon the court and join Shao Xun. But as the saying goes, quantitative change leads to qualitative change, when the situation changes drastically, the power will be revealed.

After dinner, Shao Xun did not hesitate at all. Taking advantage of the enemy's defeat and the fact that they were still in shock, he led his entire army north and captured Yecheng after nightfall.

Almost at the same time, he ordered Li Chong and Chen Yougen to lead the Yamen and Changjian armies and more than 7,000 auxiliary soldiers, carrying baggage carts and side carriages to pursue the enemy northward. He specifically instructed that the army should be cautious, first make themselves invincible, and then wait for the enemy to be defeated. After all, most of the enemy's cavalry had escaped.

******
After Shi Le was surrounded by his subordinates and fled, he first headed east and then north, until midnight, when he stopped to rest when his horse's power was no longer sufficient.

He asked each general to report the number of his own troops and horses, and after a rough count, he found that he had less than 3,000 cavalrymen.

Wang Mi and Liu Ling were still by his side, feeding the horses outside and staying with their subordinates.

Shi Chao and Wang Sang fell behind.

This battle was a terrible defeat.

After drinking some water, he took a deep breath, then frowned when he saw that everyone was dejected.

After a moment, he forced a smile on his face and said, "Why are you all so dejected?"

Kui An looked up at him, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

Shi Le laughed and said, "When we robbed the road in Chipingyuan, we only had a hundred or so riders. Later, we followed Gong Shifan in the uprising, but were chased by the soldiers of Yuzhou and were forced to flee in all directions, with our people scattered."

"After Gong Shifan was defeated, General Ji went it alone and expanded his army to 50,000 or 60,000 people, but was later defeated by Gou Xi. At the worst time, he only had a thousand cavalrymen."

"After joining the Han emperor, we worked hard and finally had thousands of cavalry and tens of thousands of cavalry. This time, we worked hard for two months and had tens of thousands of cavalry. Although we were defeated by Shao Xun, it was still not a loss." "Now we have 3,000 cavalry. If we gather more, 5,000 cavalry will not be a problem. The remaining brothers may not be dead. They may have run back home. We can meet again then."

"In Zhao County, the men and goods were transported back to Bingzhou ten days ago. Even if we return like this, we will still make a lot of money. Why should we worry?"

Shi Le's words, remembering the bitterness first and then thinking about the sweetness, did have some effect. Moreover, he did not lie, everything was true, not exaggerated at all.

They have been defeated in this way since they started the uprising a few years ago. But failure did not crush them, but made them stronger and stronger.

After everyone thought about it carefully, they realized that this was indeed the case, and their morale was slightly restored.

However, they had suffered a great defeat after all, and it was impossible to recover completely. Especially this time, they had gathered more than 60,000 infantry and cavalry, countless money and food, and were the strongest and most motivated since they started the uprising. In the end, they were hit hard by someone. How could they not feel uncomfortable?
There was silence for a moment.

Everyone was drinking and thinking about their own things. At this time, Zhang Fulidu, Zhang Du, Feng Motu and others walked in.

Shi Le's heart skipped a beat.

"Your Majesty." The three of them saluted in unison.

After you looked at me and I looked at you, Zhang Fulidu finally spoke up: "The tribesmen are clamoring to go home and don't want to fight anymore."

Shi Le pondered.

Even after more than a hundred years, the tribes that migrated inland still maintained their traditional tribal organization form.

Tribes are made up of clans.

The so-called clan can be simply understood as a surname. The leader has a surname, which is the name of the clan. Most people do not have a surname, but can use their clan as their surname after making meritorious contributions, because the members of a clan are basically related by blood.

One or more clans together form a tribe.

The tribal leader needs the support of the clan leader, otherwise he will not be able to keep his position.

If the clan leader is dissatisfied with the tribal leader, he may lead his clan members to leave and join another tribe.

Of course, a tribe composed of multiple clans may also leave a tribal alliance and join another tribal alliance. This is normal. The famous Eight Khitan tribes were actually a tribal alliance. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the Daha clan was the leader, so it was called the "Dhaha Clan Alliance". In the middle of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, it was defeated by the Tang army and reorganized, with the Yaonian clan of the Chute tribe as the Khan, so it was called the "Yaonian Clan Alliance", while the Yelu clan of the Diela tribe was the military leader for generations (Yilijin).

The Jie people, Wuhuan people, and Xiongnu people all had this organizational form.

So, when Zhang Fulidu mentioned that some of his troops were clamoring to leave, he had no choice.

Shi Le frowned deeply.

He didn't realize it before, but after the Battle of Yemagang, he became more and more aware of the harm of tribal soldiers.

He could not directly command even a single soldier, and had to give orders through the tribal leader, who in turn had to carry out military operations through the clan chiefs, because they were deployed in clan and tribe units, rather than in the common military organizational forms of the Jin and Han infantry, such as teams, battalions, and armies.

These tribal soldiers gather together when there is benefit and disperse when there is no benefit. They will not fight to the death for you.

"Why are you in such a hurry to escape?" Shi Le reacted quickly, holding Zhang Fulidu's hand and said with a smile.

Zhang Fulidu sighed.

He accepted the official position in the Han Dynasty and was actually willing to obey Shi Le's orders, but his subordinates did not understand.

The Han Kingdom doesn't provide money or food, so we have to prepare our own horses and equipment when we go to war, and we lose our own money. If we can rob something, it's fine, but if we can't, why should we listen to you?

"Are you really going to leave?" Shi Le asked softly without letting go of his hand.

"I really have to go." Zhang Fulidu finished speaking, and as if to protect An Shile's heart, he added: "After I go back, I will obey the king's order and go to war next year."

Shi Le secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said to Zhang Fulidu and others, "It's not easy for you all. After we return, I will send someone to deliver some money and food."

Zhang Fulidu and the others were overjoyed and said in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward."

Shi Le also smiled, but his expression turned gloomy only after Zhang Fulidu and others left.

Seeing that the room was full of his trusted followers, he did not try to hide anything and said directly: "They can only be used as a tool, not as a helper."

Diao Ying and others nodded silently.

"Your Majesty." Tao Bao stood up and said, "We have robbed a lot of money and food this time. After we return, we might as well use it to lure the northern Hu people and train them into an army. Maybe we can use them as easily as our own arms."

"Your Majesty, we should have done this a long time ago." Kui An chimed in, "We have spent a lot of money on Zhang Fulidu, Feng Motu and others, but in the end, all the soldiers are our own. What's the point?"

Shi Le stretched out his hand to stop everyone from talking.

In fact, he had already made up his mind that to conquer Hebei, he had to rely on his own people. What Tao Bao and others said was not wrong.

Not only can the mixed Hu people in the north of Dai be recruited, even the Xiongnu tribes can be lured over - well, when he heard Tao Bao mention the word "Hu" just now, he was a little unhappy, but this was not the time to dwell on this.

learn from mistakes.

Every time you suffer a loss, you should sum up the experience and lessons and then make improvements.

The cavalry should be mainly composed of their own people.

The infantry also needs to be trained well. The young men who were randomly conscripted into the army are simply no match for Shao Xun's skilled elite soldiers.

Next year - how about trying your luck with Wang Jun?

Hearing that he was in trouble, he had already sent troops to Liaodong to support the Duan tribe of the Xianbei, and might not be able to take care of Changshan, Zhongshan and other counties.

As for Yecheng, Shi Le doesn't want to come here in the short term. It's really unlucky. After his strength has accumulated to a certain level, he may try to go south again.

(End of this chapter)