Chapter 748 Surrender without a fight
Chapter 748 Surrender without a fight
In late December, Sun Anzu led an army of 30,000 with thousands of vehicles loaded with supplies to the snow-covered seashore of Hejian County. It was deserted for hundreds of miles and about 300 miles away from the nearest county, Lucheng County. It was slightly closer to Haikou Town in the north, but still more than 100 miles away.
Sun Anzu ordered his soldiers to set up a large camp and ordered 5,000 soldiers to go to a large swamp 20 miles to the south to cut reeds. The reeds had dried up in winter and could be used as fuel.
The rest of the soldiers went to the beach to break ice and get water. They lit the wood they carried, and smoke rose to the sky. After burning for a long time, they finally melted a large piece of ice. Seeing the long-lost sea water, tens of thousands of soldiers cheered.
Tens of thousands of soldiers worked like relays to transport large amounts of seawater to the brine pool built on the shore. On the first day, they obtained hundreds of thousands of kilograms of seawater.
At this time, the soldiers who were cutting reeds also returned, bringing back large amounts of dry reeds on carts, which were piled up like a mountain in the camp.
Sun Anzu ordered the slaughter of hundreds of cattle and brought out thousands of jars of wine to reward the soldiers.
On the beach, 30,000 soldiers gathered around a campfire, eating meat and drinking, and it was extremely lively.
At this time, an army quietly appeared a few miles to the north. It was the 10,000 Sui army led by Xie Yingdeng. They were stationed in Haikou Town. The scouts they sent out discovered the thick smoke and then discovered the enemy army. They immediately rushed back to report to Xie Yingdeng.
Xie Yingdeng immediately led 10,000 soldiers to the scene. Although his soldiers were all on horseback, they were actually infantry, and scouts soon reported the enemy situation to him.
After Xiao Xia ascended the throne, Xie Yingdeng was conferred the title of Duke of Yong'an, General Yunhui of the third rank, and General Zuowei. His military rank was promoted to General Hu Ben of the second class. Duke of Yong'an here is a title, General Yunhui is an official rank, Xiao Xia replaced the previous dynasty's honorary officials with casual officials, and General Zuowei was an official position. When there was no war, Xie Yingdeng was General Zuowei, but once he led troops into battle, he would have a military position, which was General Hu Ben of the second class.
Xiaoxia implemented the military system of military governors, with each military governor having 2,000 men, usually led by a Lieutenant General and two Lang Generals. Generals and above usually did not command troops, but during wars, generals would take up military posts and go to the battlefield.
Xie Yingdeng led five military headquarters with a total of 10,000 troops to defend the northern coast of Hejian County, but he did not expect that the enemy would actually arrive.
Xie Yingdeng summoned several generals to deploy for battle, and he drew a map on the snow with a branch.
"This is the enemy's livestock pen, located in the northwest of the main camp. There are several thousand cows in it, all used to pull carts, but they can also be used as food. General Xie Wenlan, after the main camp catches fire, you will lead two thousand troops to take the cows away, but the hay shed does not need to be burned. Leave it to feed the cows later."
Xie Wenlan was Xie Yingdeng's brother. He clasped his fists and said, "I obey your orders!"
Xie Yingdeng smiled and said to the other four lieutenant generals: "I will order the scouts to burn down the enemy camp. Once the fire starts, we will beat the war drums to drive the enemy away. We don't need to fight them for the time being. When their food runs out, they will naturally come and surrender to us."
A Zhonglang general worriedly asked, "What if the grain can't be burned cleanly?"
Xie Yingdeng smiled slightly, "Don't worry! They have piled up a lot of reeds in the warehouse camp, it would be strange if they can't burn them all!"
The place where the Hebei army obtained salt was more than a thousand miles away from the Yellow River, and there was no one living within hundreds of miles. Sun Anzu had never thought that there would be Sui troops here, so he did not arrange patrols outside, but only arranged hundreds of sentries in the camp. The other 30,000 soldiers gathered on the seashore east of the camp, lit a bonfire, drank wine, ate meat, and rewarded the army.
At this time, a scout team of 300 people wearing white cloaks quickly approached the military camp. Their cloaks blended into the snow, making it difficult for the sentries in the camp to spot them.
At this time, the sentries also gathered together to eat meat and drink, but there was no bonfire. Fireworks were strictly prohibited in the camp. Sun Anzu had strict military regulations on this. The sea breeze was very strong, and once the camp caught fire, it would be doomed.
A hundred scouts quickly approached the enemy camp. There was no fence in the enemy camp, only a ten-foot-wide trench. However, the scouts did not need to go in. A hundred soldiers raised their crossbows, lit gunpowder arrows and shot them at the pile of reeds a hundred steps away. The remaining two hundred soldiers lit torches and threw them at the tent more than twenty steps away.
The big tent was set on fire first, and the reeds also quickly burned. At this time, the soldiers who gathered together to eat meat and drink discovered that the barn was on fire. They jumped up in shock and shouted.
At the same time, two thousand soldiers came from the cowshed in the northwest. Of course, there was no fence in the cowshed, and there were no trees within hundreds of miles, so they could only dig trenches to prevent the cattle from running out.
The soldiers filled the northern trench with sandbags. Two thousand soldiers drove thousands of cattle out of the cowshed and headed north. More than twenty soldiers who were raising cattle were also taken away. Dozens of large tents were filled with wheat straw that was not burned. This was feed for the cattle and had to be left behind.
The soldiers who were drinking and eating meat on the beach suddenly found that the camp was on fire. They stood up in shock. Sun Anzu was so angry that he stamped his feet and cursed, "These bastards, we must kill them!"
He believed that the sentry had lit a bonfire in the camp to keep warm and accidentally set the camp on fire.
At this moment, there was a sudden sound of drums from the north, and shouts of killing shook the sky. Countless troops were coming to attack. The soldiers were so scared that they ran south.
Sun Anzu was also carried by a dozen of his personal soldiers and fled southward. He ran for more than ten miles in one breath and did not find any pursuers. The 30,000 soldiers then slowly stopped. Sun Anzu was so frightened that his face turned pale. He never dreamed that there would be Sui troops here and they came to kill him on the first night.
The fire in the camp grew bigger and bigger. The sea breeze was so fierce that the fire was fueled by the wind. The mountains of reeds became the biggest fuel for combustion. Ten thousand shi of grain were burned to ashes. Not only the warehouse camp, but the entire camp was completely burned to the ground by dawn.
Each soldier only carried a sword, and all the long weapons left in the camp were burned.
At daybreak, 30,000 soldiers returned to the camp. Everyone stared at the camp in a daze. Although the campfire was out, it was because there was nothing to burn. The camp was burned to the ground. Many soldiers entered the camp and searched for their personal belongings in the ashes, mainly money. However, the copper coins were also melted and turned into metal lumps.
Sun Anzu sat on the ground helplessly. All the food had been burned and the cattle had been taken away. What should they do now? Without food, they could not get out of the snowy plains.
At this time, a general suggested: "General, Haikou Town is about 120 miles away from us. There are 500 soldiers stationed there, and there should be some food. Let's go and give it a try."
Sun Anzu thought about it and decided that this was the only way. The nearest county, Lucheng, was 300 miles away, which was even more unrealistic.
He knew that he should lead the march to the north. The 30,000-strong army was hungry and marched northward in the cold wind. From morning to night, they had only traveled more than 40 miles.
The 30,000 soldiers were hungry for a day and a night. By the next morning, after walking for a whole morning, the army had only walked ten miles and was still seventy miles away from Haikou Town. The soldiers could not walk any further and could only sit in the snow and wait to die.
Just then, a trumpet sounded in the distance, and an army of ten thousand people appeared. Thirty thousand soldiers were so excited that tears came to their eyes. They stumbled over, raised their hands and shouted, "We surrender! We surrender!"
We can survive for ten days or half a month without salt, but we can't even survive for a day without food.
Xie Yingdeng ordered 5,000 soldiers to escort 30,000 soldiers to the Central Plains. The Sui army was very methodical. They detained all generals above the rank of colonel and only allowed the soldiers to go south. Without the generals, the 30,000 soldiers naturally became 30,000 docile sheep.
(End of this chapter)