Jiuxi

Chapter 734 732 [Intrigue and Deception]

The next day, the hustle and bustle on the land had not yet died down, and the soldiers of the Qi army were immersed in the joy of a great victory.

They kept talking about yesterday's battle, their excitement was evident in their words, and they were talking about their own military exploits with saliva flying all over the place. Of course, everyone was very concerned about the outcome of this battle.

Only a small part of the mountains of food and fodder that Jing's army had piled up inside Yaoshan Pass was burned, and the military camp in the southwest was almost intact. All of these became spoils of war for the Qi army.

After sleepless nights of statistics by Liu Yuan and other officials of the Governor's Office and a large number of people, it was found that the Qi army annihilated more than 28,000 Jing troops in this battle, while the total strength of Jing army participating in the battle was just over 40,000. The losses were extremely heavy, and even the commander-in-chief Pucha became a prisoner.

In addition, Jing army generals Wuyantuo, Hesujia, Yanzhan, Bilan and others all became victims of the Qi army.

The Qi army suffered more than 7,000 casualties, less than a fraction of the number of Jing's army casualties.

This does not mean that all the soldiers of Qi army are capable of fighting one hundred men at a time and their combat effectiveness is far superior to that of Jing army.

In the early and middle stages of the war, the casualties of the two armies were actually not much different. It was only after the armored cavalry led by He Sujia was defeated by the long sword army that the Jing army fell into a desperate situation. In the subsequent rout, the casualties of the Jing army increased rapidly.

If Pucha had not personally led the troops to cover the retreat, it would be unknown whether the Jing army could have evacuated more than 13,000 people.

Even so, the Jing army suffered a complete defeat in this battle. Not only did they suffer heavy casualties, but they also lost the crucial Yaoshan Pass.

The road ahead of the Qi army is now smooth. One hundred and forty miles to the west is Heluo City, which is guarded by only a small number of Jing troops.

For Lu Chen, this battle is of great significance.

At a time when the Western Route Army suffered a crushing defeat and the Jingzhou defense line was in jeopardy, he was able to successfully defeat the Jing Army and capture Yaoshan Pass, which would play a crucial role in reversing the situation on the entire front. Moreover, this was the first time he had commanded a battle completely independently, unlike before when there was no one to help him find and fill in the gaps.

This battle was enough to prove his ability to lead troops. At least the soldiers of the Dingzhou army revered him as a god.

The reason is very simple. Everyone has their heads on the line and is doing risky work. Apart from the factor of loyalty to the emperor and the country, who doesn't want to win a battle and get military merit and promotion?

There is no doubt that Lu Chen is the one who can lead them to continuous victory. This is not an idea forcibly instilled by others, but a prestige built with the heads of enemies.

Lu Chen could feel the fervent admiration in the eyes of the people around him, but he didn't have much time to experience this feeling. After sleeping for a few hours, he returned to his busy work.

After breakfast, Lu Chen dealt with some important military affairs, and then had Pu Cha brought to the general's tent.

He did not deliberately arrange for his men to form a solemn and murderous formation. Inside the tent were only Qin Zilong and other personal soldiers, several clerks, and Li Bingxue, who had personally broken into the Jing army's formation and captured Pucha alive yesterday.

In just one night, Pucha, who was only forty years old, seemed to have aged ten years.

The snow falls on the green hills at his temples, his eye sockets are sunken and hunched, and his steps are slow and difficult.

This general's tent made him even more sad and angry.

Because this was originally the main camp of the Jing army in the southwest of Yaoshan Pass. Pucha and Chelimu once discussed major strategies in this tent. Now he has become a prisoner in shackles, while the young enemy has the attitude of a master.

He stood in the hall, looking up at Lu Chen in front of him.

The enemy's name was already well-known to Pucha, but he had only seen him from afar on the battlefield before. Now that he saw him face to face, Pucha finally felt intuitively how young he was, and how calm he was, which far exceeded his age.

Lu Chen glanced at him and said calmly: "Unlock the shackles on his hands and ask him to sit down."

"Yes, my lord."

Qin Zilong stepped forward to untie it, then almost forced Pucha to sit on the chair next to him.

Lu Chen added: "Give him a cup of tea."

Pucha looked at the steaming tea in front of him and his brows gradually furrowed.

These methods were not unfamiliar to him. They were nothing more than gestures of goodwill before persuading surrender.

When he thought of this, he said indifferently: "My skills are not as good as yours, there is nothing to say. If you want to kill me, just kill me. Why bother?"

"There's no rush in this matter."

Lu Chen's expression was calm, and he said slowly: "Speaking of which, you and I are old rivals, but we have never had the opportunity to see each other in person."

Pucha said in a deep voice: "If Governor Lu wants to show off in front of me, I don't mind watching a monkey show."

"How dare you, a defeated general, mock the one who defeated you?"

Li Bingxue spoke suddenly. She captured Pucha alive in the melee yesterday. The lethality of this sentence was unimaginable. Pucha's face turned red instantly.

Lu Chen found it interesting and smiled, "General Pucha, you are overthinking. I just want to chat with you." "What do you want to talk about?"

Although Pucha was unwilling to say anything, Lu Chen finally gave him a way out. Otherwise, facing the stern expression of Li Bingxue, he would have wanted to bang his head against a pillar and die.

Lu Chen said: "I believe you are very interested in many details of yesterday's battle. Don't you want to listen to my explanation? I know you are determined to die and are ready to die, but it would be a pity to die with a heart full of doubts. If you want to listen, I can tell you the answer."

Pucha couldn't help but sneer.

There is no such thing as free benefits in this world, let alone the inexplicable kindness of a treacherous person like Lu Chen.

He said slowly: "Are you so kind?"

"It's not a good intention, I just want to make a deal with General Pucha."

Lu Chen adjusted his sitting position and said leisurely: "I will let you die without regrets. How about you tell me all the information about the deployment of the Jing army from Yaoshan Pass to Heluo City, as well as the detailed situation in Heluo City?"

Pucha was silent for a moment, then said sarcastically, "Why not tell you? Our army has deployed heavy troops and set up defenses on the road more than a hundred miles to the west. There are more than 40,000 defenders in Nanjing. Even if you break through Yaoshan Pass, what will happen? Even if you mobilize all your troops, you cannot pose a threat to Nanjing City."

Lu Chen suddenly laughed and shook his head, saying, "General Pucha, this is not very kind. I'm afraid even Wu Yanshu doesn't know that he has so many extra soldiers under his command."

When Pucha heard this, he shut up.

Seeing this, Lu Chen said, "It seems that the general does not want to make this deal with me. I know that you are a man of steel, not afraid of death, and will not take torture seriously. But I don't think I can treat you like that. Although we each serve our own masters on the battlefield, you are also a capable general. I plan to treat you with courtesy, let the world know that you have surrendered to Da Qi, and let your emperor know as soon as possible."

"You are shameless!"

Pucha could no longer remain silent.

How could he not understand the insidiousness and viciousness of Lu Chen's action? If the other party really did this, even if he could not surrender to Southern Qi, his relatives far away in Dadu would be implicated.

He lost this battle so completely that he would have drawn the wrath of the emperor, so he took the initiative to lead the troops to cover the retreat, just to save more soldiers so that he could seek some forgiveness from the emperor and avoid bringing disaster to the relatives of the three clans.

If Pucha had died in battle before, he certainly wouldn't have to pay attention to Lu Chen's threats, but his failure to be captured was a fact witnessed by many people. Under this premise, Lu Chen's method was very likely to succeed.

"Thanks for the compliment."

Lu Chen smiled gently and asked very politely: "General Pucha, do you want to reconsider it?"

After a long silence, Pucha looked dejected and said with difficulty: "Even if you know that information, what's the use? Yaoshan Pass is indeed very important, because it is the strongest barrier to the east of Nanjing City, so I was ordered to guard it. But this does not mean that our army's defense line in the west is empty, not to mention the importance of Nanjing City. You should know that Nanjing City is easy to defend but difficult to attack. This time, it will be difficult for you to succeed with gunpowder. Even if there are only 10,000 defenders in the city, it is enough to defend for a year or two."

"Thank you General for clearing up my confusion, but I still want to know the information."

Lu Chen slowed down his tone and said, "Just think of it as my curiosity. Don't worry, as long as you tell me the truth, I will spare your life and will not put your family in danger. Maybe you can come back alive in the future. After all, when two countries are at war, it is inevitable that there will be prisoner exchanges."

Pucha said in a deep voice: "Why should I believe you?"

Lu Chen smiled and said, "I don't have many good points, but I am a trustworthy person. The most important thing is, do you still have a choice now?"

Pucha stared at the handsome young face, and after a long hesitation, he finally whispered: "I am only Wuyan Liushou's deputy, and I came to Yaoshan Pass a long time ago. I don't know much about the situation in the rear, and Wuyan Liushou doesn't need to inform me of everything. If you want to ask me how many soldiers are stationed in which city, and the detailed deployment of troops, I can't answer you. I can only tell you that Wuyan Liushou took most of the troops to the south, and Yaoshan Pass and the northeast are also heavily guarded, so..."

He paused for a moment and said slowly, "There must be a certain number of troops stationed west of Yaoshan Pass and in Nanjing City, but it is estimated that there will not be too many."

"I see."

Lu Chen nodded slightly and said warmly: "Thank you, General. Someone come--"

"and many more."

Pucha interrupted him and said solemnly, "You just said that you could tell me the details of yesterday's battle."

Lu Chen picked up the teacup and took a sip, then said calmly, "What do you want to know?"

Pucha said without hesitation: "I want to know how you broke through Yaoshan Pass, how your infantry could defeat my armored cavalry, and most importantly, since you have such a trump card, why are you reluctant to take the initiative to attack?"

This time it was Lu Chen's turn to remain silent for a moment, then he smiled meaningfully and said, "General Pucha, you really put in a lot of effort to get involved in this game, and you still refuse to give up at this point, which is enough to make me admire you."

Pucha looked at the other person's clear eyes and was shocked.

The feeling of repression and confusion overwhelmed him again.

But when he checked himself, he didn't find any flaws.

(End of this chapter)