weaving

Chapter 1428 is not a question you should be asking.
Wei Zhice was in a good mood. He raised his riding whip and pointed it at the bandits retreating north of the official road, saying to Deshui, "Look over there..."

"The bandits' formation remained intact, and their ranks were not scattered. They had a thousand riders against my five hundred, yet they retreated without a fight. This shows that the bandits are no longer as fierce as they used to be, and they have developed a fear of us. The tide has turned against them." Wei Zhice's tone was clearly contemptuous.

"From this day forward, the Central Plains will be at the mercy of my valiant army, and there will be no place for bandits to stand!"

Yu Deshui seemed to understand something: "What the general means is... the bandits are scared."

At this time, the thousand bandits to the north had retreated to the side of the official road, and behind these bandits were more than five hundred soldiers from the rear left division of the Tengshe Camp cavalry, led by Qianzong Ji Donglai.

Their unit ambushed the enemy in the tall grass about a mile north of the official road. Originally, they were positioned there as a feint, so that if the battle on this side became intense, they would gallop through the grass to create the illusion of a large number of cavalry and deter the enemy.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zongmin sent a thousand bandits to search northwards off the official road, forcing them to reveal themselves.

But what was even more unexpected was that the bandit cavalry retreated without a fight. Ji Donglai was completely dumbfounded. What he had anticipated as a fierce battle had turned into this, and he was very puzzled.

Ji Donglai instructed Liu Dacheng, the Left Commander, to keep a close watch on the troops, and then, with four personal guards, he rode his horse onto the official road.

…………

"General, the bandits retreated without a fight. Is there something fishy going on?" Ji Donglai muttered on his horse.

"What could possibly be going on?" Wei Zhice's tone was full of disdain for the bandits: "They're just cowards!"

"Cowardly?" Ji Donglai smiled wryly and said, "How can you be cowardly? Then are we still going to fight this battle?"

Whether or not a war breaks out is not important.

With a confident expression, Wei Zhice said to Yu Deshui, the commander beside him, "Deshui, send a signal to Qiu Yingquan and Hu Dengwei, and tell them to show themselves."

"Yes, sir!" Yu Deshui responded loudly and immediately went to arrange the flag-raising order.

Ji Donglai was still somewhat puzzled: "General, aren't our cavalry going to ambush us?"

"The bandits are already cowardly and afraid to fight. What's the point of setting up an ambush? Let's all show ourselves and see if we can scare away Liu the blacksmith on the other side!"

"Ah...scared away the bandits? Is that...possible?" Ji Donglai's face was full of disbelief.

"Hehe." Wei Zhice smiled mysteriously: "How do you know it's impossible if you don't try?"

Just as Wei Zhice and Ji Donglai were chatting and laughing, a cavalry force suddenly appeared more than a mile southeast of the official road. They slowly approached the official road through the grass. Although the exact number of people could not be seen, judging from the movement of the grass, there seemed to be three or four thousand men.

Then, about two miles northwest of the official road, they saw shouts and neighing of horses. Clearly, another group of people and horses was approaching from there. They saw patches of grass lying down and then standing up again, then lying down and standing up again, rising and falling like waves.

…………

As large numbers of government troops appeared in both the north and south directions of the official road, Liu Zongmin, just as Wei Zhice had predicted, led more than four thousand bandit cavalry to retreat along the official road.

"Ran away?" Ji Donglai's face was full of questions, and his tone also showed a hint of disdain: "This...you just ran away?"

"Hahaha……"

Wei Zhice laughed heartily: "Ji Donglai, aren't you going to see off Master Liu the Blacksmith?"

"And... send him off?" Ji Donglai was taken aback at first, but then he understood what Wei Zhice meant. He excitedly replied loudly, "Yes. I'll go and give Liu the blacksmith a proper send-off."

"Remember, you should only follow him from a distance. Do not get entangled with him. Be vigilant at all times and watch out for ambushes!"

"Here."

After Ji Donglai led his troops away, the cavalry on both sides gradually arrived at the side of the official road. Wei Zhice smiled and looked at the cavalry on both sides of the official road, and said with a smile, "Let the men untie the wood and branches, dismount, let the warhorses catch their breath, and then we will return to camp."

It turned out that there were more than 500 cavalrymen lying in ambush on both sides. In order to create the illusion of a large army, some of them had two warhorses tied to a large log, which would trample down a patch of grass when the warhorses moved slowly... Others had a tree branch tied to the back of their warhorses, and some even had wooden buckets tied to them. They used every means possible to truly achieve the effect of a feint.

Of course, the most important factor was the active cooperation of the bandit general Zhang Hong. It was Zhang Hong who provided false intelligence, which further confirmed the strength of Wei Zhice's troops, making Liu Zongmin believe the feint was real!
…………

As soon as Wei Zhice returned to his post in Yangquan Village, his deputy, Jin Yong, came to tell him some news.

"Hmm, Xie Yinglong? Was he Luo Dai's subordinate before?"

Jin Yong replied, "Yes. He only joined the rebels after the rebel leader Li Zicheng captured Luoyang."

"Oh. So, Xie Yinglong has only been a thief for a little over a year?"

"Exactly."

"Would he be willing to defect and submit to our army?"

"This guy is really stubborn, but he's definitely a tough guy."

"Hehe..." Wei Zhice laughed, "So you mean you want to subdue him?"

"Hehe..." Jin Yong scratched his head, a little embarrassed: "I just thought he looked like a real man, and it would be a pity to kill him like this."

Wei Zhice lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then said, "Bring him to my tent. I want to meet this tough guy myself!"

…………

"Xie Yinglong, do you want to live or die?" Wei Zhice's voice wasn't loud, but it was extremely authoritative.

Kneeling in the middle of the command tent was the bandit general Xie Yinglong. He had been knocked unconscious at the beginning of the battle and then became a prisoner of the government troops. He had no injuries, but was now bound hand and foot and held in the tent, being interrogated by Wei Zhice.

"Hmph. Now that I'm in your hands, what else can I say? Just give us a quick death!"

"Damn it, you're talking to my general? You better behave yourself." Qiu Yingquan couldn't stand it anymore and kicked him.

Xie Yinglong seemed very dissatisfied and roared, "I was careless for a moment and that's why you guys captured me. If you have the guts, let's have a real fight again. Who will win or lose is still uncertain."

"stop."

Qiu Yingquan was about to kick him again, but Wei Zhice stopped him: "Yu Deshui, untie him."

"General, this fellow has some fighting skills, it would be better to tie him up," Qiu Yingquan advised.

"So what if he has some fighting skills? With you guys here, what are you afraid he'll do?"

Upon hearing Wei Zhice's words, Qiu Yingquan remained silent, but he still took two steps forward, blocking Xie Yinglong and Wei Zhice's command desk.

Xie Yinglong didn't care about any of that. He had long since disregarded life and death. Since being captured, he hadn't thought about surviving. He just wanted to have a good time before he died.

He first rubbed his shoulders and wrists before saying, "Are you the boss here?"

Wei Zhice was not angry. He just smiled and said, "Xie Yinglong, you are a military officer of the court. You have followed Deputy Commander Luo Dai to suppress bandits for many years and have made many military achievements. How come you have forgotten your past after only a year of serving the bandits?"

Xie Yinglong was taken aback: "How do you know so much about my affairs?"

"That's not a question you should be asking."

Wei Zhice's tone turned stern: "Xie Yinglong, I will give you another chance. If you still have loyalty and are willing to serve my commander, I can take the initiative to pacify you today and restore your status and position as a military officer in the imperial court."

Are you willing?