Chapter 749: Sacrifice to Eliminate Rebellion

Compared with Liu Heita's army, Sun Anzu's army was relatively lucky. At least their soldiers had no casualties and all surrendered, and Sun Anzu himself survived.

Liu Heita's fate was much more miserable. He led an army of 30,000 to Yanshan County, Bohai County, but was besieged by 70,000 Sui troops led by General Pei Xingyan of the Left Guard on the snowy plains of Nanpi County. Nearly 10,000 Hebei soldiers were killed or wounded, and 20,000 surrendered. When Liu Heita tried to break through the siege, he was hit on the head by a whip from General Yuchi Gong.

Historically, after Dou Jiande was captured and beheaded while supporting Luoyang, the generals who stayed in Hebei nominated Liu Heita as their leader, who continued to rule Hebei until the sixth year of Wude, when he was wiped out.

But the one who was finally destroyed was Liang Shidu. He had the Turks as his backer, and the Tang army did not dare to touch him. It was not until the second year of Zhenguan, when civil strife broke out among the Turks, that the Tang army took the opportunity to destroy Liang Shidu.

Dou Jiande waited in vain for the salt to arrive. On December 25th, the entire army was completely cut off from salt supply. Dou Jiande only had 80,000 troops left at this time. Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba each had 30,000 troops, and only 20,000 troops directly under Dou Jiande were left.

These rebel leaders have always believed that strength is king. Although Dou Jiande is still the King of Xia, Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba have more say in the army than Dou Jiande.

Helplessly, Dou Jiande had to appoint Hao Xiaode as King of Wei and Wang Xuba as King of Zhao. Just after the New Year, when the army had been without salt for seven days, the soldiers could no longer bear it and started to make trouble. Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba unanimously demanded that the army march south, take the initiative to attack, and go to the Central Plains to grab salt.

Dou Jiande had no choice but to lead an army of 80,000 southward from Qinghe County.

Wang Xuba found an opportunity, rode his horse side by side with Hao Xiaode, and whispered, "Brother Hao, I see that Dou Jiande can't accomplish anything, why don't we kill him, divide his army, and then we divide Hebei equally, how about that?"

Hao Xiaode narrowed his eyes and said, "I thought so too, but let's get the salt first!"

Wang Xuba nodded. Salt is the most important problem now. If they can't get salt, the army will mutiny.

The army marched southwards and camped in Qinghe County on the evening of the fifth day of the first lunar month. This was the tenth day of the salt shortage.

Even Dou Jiande became anxious. The team had walked for three days and only covered 120 miles, which was only half the usual marching speed. The soldiers were obviously unable to walk and felt weak all over. Many of them even suffered from edema.

This is a typical case of salt deficiency. If this continues, the soldiers may not even be able to lift their spears.

Dou Jiande felt a little overwhelmed. His army couldn't even move. How could he possibly defeat the Sui army?
At this time, Song Zhengben hurried into the big tent and said, "Your Majesty, I have received news that Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba are secretly negotiating to get rid of you. Your Majesty must be vigilant!"

Dou Jiande sighed for a long while, "I regret not listening to the military advisor and letting the scoundrels take over!"

At the beginning, Wang Xuba was defeated by Luo Yi and led thousands of people to surrender in panic. Song Zhengben was firmly opposed to accepting him, but Dou Jiande thought that talents were rare and accepted Wang Xuba. At the beginning, Wang Xuba behaved very loyally and worked hard, which moved Dou Jiande. He not only promoted him to general, but also supplemented his army to 30,000.

The same thing happened to Hao Xiaode. He won first and then lost, and was finally trapped in Anyang County by Dou Jiande's army. He had only more than 5,000 troops left and was facing a food shortage. Hao Xiaode sent his son to surrender again, and Song Zhengben also firmly opposed it, believing that he should take the opportunity to kill Hao Xiaode. However, Dou Jiande remembered their old friendship and was filled with kindness, so he accepted Hao Xiaode's surrender, and also appointed him as a general, and slowly replenished his army.

Only now did Dou Jiande realize that his unprincipled tolerance would eventually kill him.

Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba each commanded 30,000 troops, but he only had 20,000 troops left. How could he compete with the other side?
Song Zhengben couldn't blame his lord anymore at this time. He whispered, "My lord, there is still a chance!"

"What opportunity?" Song Zhengben stroked his beard and smiled, "When the lord asked me to replenish their troops, I made an arrangement. They were not regular Hebei troops, but defeated troops who escaped from Shandong Peninsula. Zuo Xiaoyou, Huo Xiaohan, Jie Xiang, Wang Liang, Zheng Dabiao, Li Wan and other guys were all unruly and unruly. Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba could not control them at all. It can be said that the only people loyal to them were the few thousand people they brought with them."

Dou Jiande pondered, "What the military advisor means is that if we get rid of these two, their men won't cause trouble?"

Song Zhengben nodded. "As long as the lord appeases them in time and gives them rewards, they will definitely not make trouble, especially Zuo Xiaoyou. I know that he has always been dissatisfied with Wang Xuba, and Huo Xiaohan is dissatisfied with Hao Xiaode. As long as we make good use of these two people, we can get rid of Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba."

Dou Jiande pondered for a moment and said, "Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba are very cautious and are unwilling to come to see me alone. They are accompanied by hundreds of personal soldiers. So how can we get rid of them?"

Song Zhengben stroked his beard and smiled, "You can offer sacrifices to the God of War. Offering sacrifices to the God of War requires bathing and changing clothes, and you cannot bring your personal soldiers. As long as you send someone to ambush the altar in advance, the two of them will surely die."

This is a good idea. No other personal soldiers are allowed to follow him on the altar. Only he himself can offer sacrifice. Dou Jiande finally made up his mind. He thought, a man of small mind is not a gentleman, and a man of no evil is not a hero. So he did it!

Dou Jiande immediately announced that he would offer sacrifices to the god of war and ordered people to build three altars, which were a hundred steps apart. His was the middle altar, and the two altars on the left and right belonged to Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba.

At the same time, Song Zhengben secretly contacted Zuo Xiaoyou and Huo Xiaohan, and both of them readily expressed their support for the prince in eradicating the traitor.

When the sacrificial ceremony began, Dou Jiande, Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba walked up to the altar respectively, burned incense and offered wine to the heaven, while their personal guards were guarding them below the stage.

At this moment, there were two loud noises, "Boom!" and Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba disappeared from the altar at the same time. Their soldiers were horrified and rushed to the altar, only to see two big holes on the altar. Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba fell into the holes.

Dou Jiande, wearing armor, appeared a hundred steps away. It turned out that the person on the altar was just a substitute. Dou Jiande sneered, waved his sword and shouted, "Kill!"

Thousands of soldiers quickly surrounded the two altars and attacked. The personal guards fought desperately, but they were outnumbered. In just a moment, thousands of soldiers killed all the personal guards of Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba.

As for Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba, when they fell into the altar, they were killed by the soldiers who were lying in ambush inside.

The reason why these two men had to fall into the altar was because they were both so brave that no one could match them. If they were not plotted against in advance, they would most likely lead their personal soldiers to attack, and then there would be big trouble.

Dou Jiande designed a plan to kill Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba, and immediately appointed Zuo Xiaoyou and Huo Xiaohan as generals, letting them lead Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba's armies.

Everything has its pros and cons. Although Dou Jiande was temporarily out of danger by getting rid of the rebellious general, he was still able to command an army of 80,000.

But the disadvantages are equally obvious. Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba are both very strong in command and can control their subordinates.

Although Zuo Xiaoyou and Huo Xiaohan were dissatisfied with Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba, they did not dare to confront them openly. They could only express their dissatisfaction secretly. They had to wait until Dou Jiande got rid of their respective superiors before they dared to take over the army.

Their command ability is far inferior to that of Hao Xiaode and Wang Xuba, and the generals under them are not convinced by them, which leaves a huge hidden danger.

(End of this chapter)

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