Chapter 511: Defeat in Details
Chapter 511: Defeated by Details
Thousands of civilians fled in panic as if their nest of eggs had exploded. The fleeing of the civilians also led the soldiers to flee. The soldiers had no preparation and no will to fight. They were not in a combat state at all. So when they were attacked, the only thing they thought about was escaping. This is the principle of a sneak attack, just like when a mountain torrent suddenly breaks out, everyone only thinks about escaping, and no one will consider gathering together to resist the torrent.
The cavalry rushed to the dock, cut off the escape route of the civilians and soldiers, blocked them on the dock, and at the same time controlled the crew and cables on the dock, preventing the ships from leaving.
At this time, three thousand soldiers were escorting hundreds of carts loaded with wealth on their way to the dock, only one mile away from the dock. Seeing the cavalry coming, they were scared and turned back to the city, but it was too late. Wang Bodang led five thousand infantry to attack, intercepted hundreds of carts, and killed thousands of soldiers, forcing them to flee in all directions.
"Dang! Ding! Ding! Ding!" A rapid alarm bell rang on the top of the city wall, the city gate was quickly closed, and the drawbridge was raised.
There was a huge quarrel in the hall of the Ming Mansion. The Ming family members were very excited and demanded to go to war. The reason why the Ming family members lost control of their emotions was very simple. The wealth accumulated by the Ming family for a hundred years fell into the hands of the Sui army, including supplies in the seaside warehouses, hundreds of large ships, and the wealth carried on hundreds of carts.
All the land had been sold, and there were less than ten shops left. The Ming family had nothing left except a few empty houses and some personal belongings. Even if they wanted to buy some meat and vegetables, they could only use their gold bracelets as collateral. The entire mansion could not even come up with ten strings of cash, and they were extremely frustrated.
Fortunately, they still have 15,000 troops, plus the Lan family's 5,000 troops, a total of 20,000 troops.
The problem now is that everyone in the Ming family is eager to send troops, including the head of the family, Ming Zhongtian. They are determined to get the money back and are afraid that the Sui army will take the money away, but Lan Zhaotian refuses to send troops.
Lan Zhaotian said slowly: "Brother Ming is determined to send troops. I have no objection. Brother Ming can lead the army out of the city. I will lead 5,000 troops to defend the city. If the Ming army can't resist, we can retreat back to the city."
Ming Zhongtian's face darkened and he said, "We all advance and retreat together, but you and Brother Lan only care about yourselves?"
Lan Zhaotian shook his head. "I am just against going out of the city to fight. My 150,000 troops are no match for the 30,000 Sui troops. Do you think 20,000 troops can defeat 10,000 Sui troops? Don't dream. We should defend the city well. The Sui troops don't have siege weapons anyway. They can't capture Yongjia County and can only withdraw. As for money, it's just something outside of our body. Don't take it too seriously."
Lan Zhaotian felt a little uneasy when he saw all the Ming family members glaring at him. He stood up and said with a dry laugh, "I'll take my leave first!"
How could Ming Zhongtian let him leave? He winked at his eldest son Ming Ruian, who immediately drew his sword to block Lan Zhaotian's way. "Uncle Lan, if you don't want to cooperate with the Ming family, you can leave on your own. We won't stop you, but the army must stay."
Lan Zhaotian was furious. He turned around and glared at Ming Zhongtian and said, "It was my Lan family who provided money and food to build the 5,000-man army. What does it have to do with your Ming family?"
Ming Zhongtian said coldly: "Your army has been completely destroyed in Kuaiji County. The people of Yongjia County will only obey the arrangements of the Ming family. I will give you one last chance. You can leave, but the army must stay!"
Five thousand troops are Lan Zhaotian’s only capital, how could he give up?
Lan Zhaotian gritted his teeth and said, "If I leave, I will take 5,000 troops with me!"
A murderous intent flashed in Ming Zhongtian's eyes, and he winked at his eldest son. Ming Ruian raised his sword and pierced Lan Zhaotian's chest. Ming Ruian said grimly, "Uncle, I'm sorry!"
Lan Zhaotian looked down at the sword in front of his chest, screamed in despair, and fell on his back and died. He never imagined that after desperately escaping from the battlefield, he would eventually die at the hands of the Ming family.
Ming Zhongtian said coldly: "Ruian, Ruifeng, go and collect 5,000 troops, and all the children of the Lan family will be executed!"
Three hundred of Lan Zhaotian's personal soldiers were resting outside the mansion when suddenly a large group of soldiers rushed in, slashing with swords, killing nearly a hundred people in a row. The remaining personal soldiers were so scared that they fled in all directions, not even caring about their horses.
The Ming brothers led another 500 soldiers to the camp. The three nephews of the Lan family in the camp were caught off guard and were hacked to death by the brothers Ming Ruian and Ming Ruifeng.
At this time, Ming Zhongtian personally led 15,000 people to surround the Lan family military camp. In desperation, the five generals had to surrender to Ming Zhongtian.
Ming Zhongtian immediately appointed his second son Ming Ruifeng to lead 5,000 troops, and then ordered the city to be opened, and 20,000 troops rushed out of the city. Ming Zhongtian was worried that the Ming family's wealth would be taken away by the Sui army, so he was extremely anxious. He took down the 5,000 troops of the Lan family and went out of the city to fight the Sui army. He handled it too roughly and too hastily, and missed an important detail, that is, Lan Zhaotian's escaped personal soldiers.
Lan Zhaotian was killed, and nearly a hundred of his personal soldiers were also killed. The remaining two hundred personal soldiers fled in all directions. If they were searched carefully, none of these personal soldiers would have escaped. However, Ming Zhongtian had no time to search for them. He directly led 20,000 troops out of the city to fight.
The two hundred soldiers were not locals. They had nowhere to go, so they all gathered at the Lan Mansion in the west of the city. The leading captain gritted his teeth and said, "Ming Zhongtian killed the lord and led his army out of the city. It's time for us to take revenge!"
The two hundred personal soldiers were excited and followed the captain to rush towards the Ming Mansion. There were only dozens of samurai guards left in the Ming Mansion. How could they stop the two hundred personal soldiers who were as fierce as wolves and tigers, and they were killed one after another.
Two hundred personal soldiers rushed into the Ming Mansion and killed all of Ming Mansion's family members, including maids and servants, leaving no one alive.
The two hundred personal soldiers of Lan Zhaotian were filled with murderous intent and bestiality. They began to set fires, kill people, loot property, and rape women at will. Thick smoke billowed everywhere in Yongjia City. The people cried for their parents and fled with their wives and children. The city was in chaos.
At this time, drums sounded outside the city. Luo Shixin's 10,000 infantry and cavalry were fighting with 20,000 rebels. Although the 20,000 rebels were well trained, they were still no match for the Sui army. They were torn to pieces by the cavalry, their formation was in chaos, and they were hit like an iron fist by the 5,000 infantry formation.
After fighting for more than half an hour, the rebels were already losing and could only hold on by relying on their large numbers. However, defeat was already inevitable. At this moment, the rebels noticed thick smoke billowing in the city and began to waver.
Ming Zhongtian also noticed the thick smoke in the city, and he thought to himself that something was wrong. Could it be that the Sui army had launched a surprise attack on the county town?
At this time, a surviving servant came running and cried to Ming Zhongtian: "Master, Lan Zhaotian's personal soldiers have come back to kill us. The warriors couldn't stop them and all died in the battle. They slaughtered the mansion and killed the young master and the young master!"
Ming Zhongtian had seven sons and thirteen grandsons. Except for the eldest son and the second son who followed him to fight, the others were all in the mansion. When he heard that all his sons and grandsons were killed by Lan Zhaotian's personal soldiers, he was so heartbroken that he screamed, spit out blood, and fell off his horse. His two sons hurriedly rescued him.
At this time, countless civilians fled from the city. The rebels thought that the Sui army had entered the city and were immediately in chaos. The morale of the entire army collapsed in an instant, and the remaining 10,000-plus troops fled like an avalanche. Luo Shixin led the cavalry in pursuit and killing them, leaving corpses everywhere and blood flowing like a river. Ming Zhongtian and his two sons also died in the chaos.
Seeing that the enemy had been completely defeated and unable to fight back, Luo Shixin ordered: "Allow surrender!"
The Sui cavalry shouted: "Those who surrender will be spared! Those who surrender will be spared!"
The rebels finally saw a way to survive and knelt down to surrender. Wang Bodang led the infantry to collect prisoners of war.
At this time, Luo Shixin also received news of the incident in the city. He immediately divided his troops into two groups. He ordered General Zhang Yue to lead two thousand cavalry to encircle the south gate, while he led three thousand cavalry to rush towards the north gate.
The two hundred rebels looted a large amount of wealth. They didn't even care about copper coins. They only wanted gold, silver and jewelry. Everyone was carrying large and small bags. Suddenly, they found that cavalry had rushed into the north city. The two hundred rebels were frightened and rushed to the south gate with the looted wealth on their backs.
Luo Shixin had learned the situation from the people and was immediately furious. He led his troops to chase towards the south gate. The 200 rebels had just escaped from the city when they were blocked by 2,000 cavalry led by General Zhang Yue. The Sui cavalry surrounded them in a semi-moon shape, blocking all the ways out, leaving the rebels with no way to escape. The 200 rebels turned around and tried to escape into the city, but Luo Shixin's cavalry had already rushed out of the city.
The two hundred people were so frightened that they knelt down and surrendered, willing to exchange the looted gold, silver and jewelry for their lives.
Luo Shi was as confident as a rock, and gave a cold order: "Kill them all, leave no one alive!"
(End of this chapter)