Han officials

Chapter 24: Sharing Weal and Woe [4.5K]

As Tianshiwu fell, the fort quickly fell into chaos.

A large number of migrants and concubines ran around in panic, and even they themselves didn't know where to go.

If ordinary refugees encountered this situation, most of them would just focus on looting and might not bother to care about this group of people.

But it was Tianshiwu's bad luck that they met this group of people.

Although the Yellow Turbans under Taishi Ci look like beggars, they have rich experience in killing and arson.

Taishi Ci didn't even bother to intervene, and the group automatically split into several teams to block all the exits.

Although Tianshiwu looks like a small town, it is not a real city after all.

Before long, the entire fort was completely taken over by Taishi Ci.

A moment later, a middle-aged man with a pockmarked face and short beard came in, holding a bloody ring-handled sword. He bowed and said, "Sir, the inhabitants of this village have been apprehended. I wonder what to do with them?"

Taishi Ci couldn't help but frown when he heard this.

Although the vast majority of the people in Tian's Wu were immigrants from other families, the Tian clan itself numbered several hundred people. If their families were included, the number would be even greater.

Taishi Ci paused for a moment before decisively saying, "Interrogate them. All those holding positions within the fort will be executed. The Tian clan members will be held separately, pending the county lord's decision."

"As for the women here... the county lord has already issued orders to reward them according to their merits after this battle."

As soon as these words were spoken, the pockmarked man suddenly became energetic, and there was a bit more gratitude in his eyes.

Taishi Ci didn't think there was anything wrong.

The principle of "no sins should befall parents, no disasters should befall wife and children" does not make sense nowadays.

After all, the premise for misfortune to not reach family members is that blessings must not reach them either. Otherwise, how can one enjoy blessings without taking responsibilities?

At least those in charge and the main branch of the Tian family will share the same fate this time.

When Taishi Ci singled out the person in charge of Tianshiwu and executed him, the captives immediately became much more obedient.

Even some young and strong migrants felt so happy that they wanted to applaud and cheer.

Don't think that the fort is some kind of paradise. The filth here is often even worse than the outside world.

There are too many cases of bullying men and women and insulting other people's wives and daughters in Tianshiwu.

After imprisoning all the captives, Taishi Ci left behind two hundred people and the wounded and hurried away.

……

At the same time, the battle at the west gate of Daifang City reached a fever pitch.

Since the Tian family and other powerful people had no shortage of craftsmen, the Xianbei people were well prepared for the siege, with all the necessary equipment such as ladders and battering rams.

However, the Xianbei tribe was, after all, the Dongyi people, and even with weapons they were not good at attacking cities. Even though they were numerous and had archers to protect them, they still suffered heavy casualties after the siege.

Seeing this situation, the Xianbei leader Soluhu under the big flag finally couldn't sit still anymore.

After all, the extent of his power comes entirely from the strength of his tribe.

If he loses too many men under his command, then no matter how many ring-handled swords he has, it will be useless.

He stared fiercely at Tian Wen standing beside him and said in a sinister voice, "Tian's son, are you kidding me? Where's your accomplice?"

Tian Wenben wanted him to take his time, as he felt the time was not right yet. Only when the situation on the city walls became critical and Wei Zhe committed all his manpower to the effort could the internal support be most effective.

But when he saw Solukhu staring at him with vicious eyes, as if he wanted to eat him, his hair stood on end.

So after secretly cursing the ignorant barbarians, Tian Wen could only wave his hand helplessly and ask someone to send a signal.

Then, a cluster of wolf smoke rose outside the South City and the North City, which was particularly conspicuous under the broad daylight.

Wei Zhe, who was standing on the top of the city wall, saw this and said decisively, "Bo Yan, I leave this place to you."

After saying this, he led two hundred Liaodong volunteers along the city wall military road and headed straight for the east city.

As expected, when he arrived, a group of traitors were rushing towards the city gate. They numbered nearly five hundred. Although there were probably fewer than two hundred armored soldiers, the rest being young and strong servants armed with swords and knives, Wei Zhe still frowned. It was obvious that more than one powerful family was involved.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhe couldn't help but laugh out of anger.

"Okay, okay~ Since you want to die so badly, I'll give you a ride!"

After saying that, without waiting for the other side to attack, Wei Zhe took the lead and rushed forward with a spear in hand.

"Kill~"

Although Wei Zhe always led cavalry charges during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he was also quite capable in infantry combat.

In fact, anyone who practices with long weapons must also understand how to use short weapons, otherwise he will be in danger of death.

For example, the Tian family soldier in front of Wei Zhe looked burly and ferocious. He managed to block Wei Zhe's spear, but his moves were old. Wei Zhe rushed in front of him as the spear came forward, and then held the spear in his right hand and cut his throat with a backhand. The big man was bleeding profusely and fell to the ground with a look of despair.

This is the downside of not fully practicing martial arts on the battlefield. Without knowing how to use long-range weapons to short-range attacks, you are no different from being bare-handed in front of a fierce general like Wei Zhe.

But this cannot be blamed on him. After all, a war of this magnitude as the Yellow Turban Rebellion was something that not only the private armies of the powerful but even many regular soldiers of the Han army had never seen before.

In addition, Wei Zhe treated the Yellow Turban Rebellion as a military training class for the past eight months, so the effect of the training was naturally extraordinary.

Wei Zhe was seen maneuvering forward and backward amidst the chaotic enemy, his men of varying lengths defending each other, unleashing a bloody hail. Seeing this, the many Liaodong volunteers behind him immediately gained morale, and they all charged forward like tigers and wolves.

This is how the battlefield is. A powerful general may not kill many people, but his impact on morale is huge.

Especially in small-scale street fighting like the current one, the influence of the fierce general is even greater.

Simply put, it can boost one's own morale and undermine the enemy's morale. As one side rises and falls, the gap in combat power naturally widens.

The leader of the Tian family soldiers among the rebels became extremely anxious when he saw that they were unable to break into the city gate.

"How can this guy be so good at fighting?"

If they cannot lead the Xianbei cavalry into the city, then all of them will probably die without a burial place.

Thinking of this, the man gritted his teeth and rushed towards Wei Zhe.

He approached Wei Zhe with the cover of several soldiers, then decisively thrust his spear forward, and then rushed closer, as if he wanted to imitate Wei Zhe's previous move and slit his throat to death.

But Wei Zhe unexpectedly combined his hands and feet, and after knocking away the man's spear, he took a step back and quickly used his hands to retract the spear tip to a foot in front of him. This is the secret of using long weapons with short weapons.
So this man ended up in tragedy. After abandoning his spear and using his knife, Wei Zhe used a trick to find the snake in the grass and stabbed him directly in the throat. Then he fell down with an unwilling look in his eyes, and couldn't even utter a word to beg for mercy.

This man was the one who was in charge of this response. His death naturally made the soldiers lose their spirits.

Military morale is fighting power.

One side was discouraged, while the other side was in high spirits, so the result was naturally no surprise.

Even though Wei Zhe's side was outnumbered, they were able to defeat the enemy's larger force and defeat the enemy troops.

In just half a minute, the internal support that Tian Wen had high hopes for was destroyed.

When the last soldier fell, the open space in front of the west gate was covered with blood and corpses.

At the same time, Tian Wenzhe had already been waiting outside the east city with a group of Xianbei cavalry.

Confident in his victory, he even pointed at the East Gate and said to Zhang An with a smile, "That fellow claims to know military tactics, but he doesn't even know how to block the city gate with rocks. If he blocks the gate early, even if we have internal support, it will be useless."

Zhang An nodded and laughed when he heard this, "That's right, it turns out that warriors are warriors, reckless and unwise!"

Just as the two were looking at the east gate with anticipation, the evil cavalry behind them suddenly became agitated.

A cloud of dust suddenly rose in the distance, indicating that a large group of people was approaching. Solukhu was immediately alarmed and suspicious, thinking that Tian Wen had deliberately set a trap for him to come and die.

Seeing the murderous intent in this person's eyes, Tian Wen, who was standing by, didn't know who the person was, but for the sake of his own life, he hurriedly explained: "This must be a trick to confuse the enemy. Chief Suolu, please don't be fooled!"

However, before he could finish his words, he saw a large flag appear in the dust. From a distance, the words "Lelang Taishou Zhang" could be vaguely seen.

Although Soluohu did not know Chinese characters, he was in Lelang County and recognized some simple symbols. For example, he knew that this big flag was the flag of the Lelang prefect. He was immediately furious and drew his sword to chop at Tian Wen.

Tian Wen panicked and quickly grabbed Zhang An beside him and protected him in front of him.

So Zhang An was disemboweled and fell down screaming, with disbelief in his eyes until his death.

However, Tian Wen didn't even glance at him at this moment, but instead avoided him from a distance under the protection of his family soldiers. Seeing this, Soluohu could only roar in hatred: "Tian's son, my Soluo tribe swears to kill you!"

After uttering these harsh words, the leader of the evil tribe turned around and left without hesitation.

After hearing the retreat horn, the Xianbei soldiers and the servants of the Tian and Zhang families who were attacking the city suddenly became confused and had no idea what was happening.

The Xianbei people naturally obeyed the order to retreat, but the servants and soldiers of the Tian and Zhang families were at a loss. It was not until Tian Wen hurriedly arrived on horseback that the group of people fled in panic.

However, it is easier coming than going.

Wei Zhe, standing on the top of the city wall, burst into laughter when he saw Taishi Ci's troops. "The governor's army has arrived! Soldiers, follow me and kill the enemy! Don't let these achievements go unnoticed!"

As soon as these words were spoken, bursts of excited cheers rang out from the top of the city.

Not to mention the five hundred volunteer cavalrymen who had been following Wei Zhe for a long time, even the more than two thousand young and strong men in the city who were temporarily recruited had a strong desire to fight in their eyes.

Just as Wei Zhe said, we can’t let the military merits we have gained for free get away!

So the west gate, which had been attacked by the rebels for a long time, was opened in a blink of an eye. Wei Zhe led 500 cavalrymen in front and 2,000 volunteers in the city behind, and rushed straight to the rebels outside the city, throwing the enemy troops to the ground.

"Kill~"

Riding a BMW and holding a long halberd, Wei Zhe's combat power suddenly soared a lot.

Although Zhong Hu was not as brave as Taishi Ci, he knew Wei Zhe well enough. So with the tacit cooperation of the two, he immediately led 500 cavalrymen to tear open a gap in the Xianbei rebel army from behind.

Upon seeing this, the two thousand volunteers in the city immediately followed closely with high morale, making the gap bigger and bigger.

At the same time, Taishi Ci finally joined the battlefield with over 1,500 Yellow Turban soldiers. Under attack from both sides, the 5,000-strong Wu Mo rebel army was finally thrown into chaos.

It was not until this time that Tian Wen, who was in the chaotic army, saw the soldiers around Taishi Ci who were in a mess and looked like beggars, and realized that he had been deceived.

These are not county soldiers at all, they are clearly refugees that Wei Zhe found from somewhere.

Thinking of this, Tian Wen gnashed his teeth and immediately shouted to the nearby Xianbei leader, "Chief Suolu, he's a liar, a liar, the governor didn't come!"

But before he could finish his words, Taishi Ci laughed heartily and said, "You bastard who has betrayed your ancestors, look who this is?"

After saying this, Taishi Ci's personal soldiers lifted a head high on a spear.

"Your father is here, why don't you dismount and pay your respects?"

Tian Wen looked in the direction of the sound and his eyes suddenly burst into tears, because that was the head of his father Tian Shao.

"Ah~~~ Taishi Ci, I will fight you to the death!"

Tian Wen looked like a madman, about to kill Taishi Ci, but was stopped by the guards.

Seeing this, Solhu, who was not far away, no longer hesitated.

Even if the person who came was not the Lelang prefect, the fact that he was able to break through Tianshiwu shows that his opponent is quite powerful.

"Don't worry about him, retreat~ retreat quickly~"

For a moment, the leader of the evil tribe was so frightened that he didn't even care about the army behind him. He took his guards and fled first.

After Soluhu's escape, the remaining troops naturally lost their will to fight and soon either died or surrendered.

……

Half an hour later, in the wilderness of the western suburbs.

Reining his horse and looking around, Wei Zhe saw that there was no enemy soldier standing on the battlefield. He couldn't help but laugh heartily, feeling so relaxed.

However, Zhong Hu, whose face was covered in blood, kept spitting in disgust.

"Pah! It smells fishy and stinky. It's so fucking disgusting!"

Hearing him say this, Wei Zhe almost laughed to death.

Not long after, Taishi Ci, who was chasing the defeated soldiers, finally arrived back.

He threw Solukhu's head from a distance, and there was a look of fear on his face.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe laughed and praised, "Ziyi, well done!"

You know, Wei Zhe's plan was just to attack from both sides.

As for the large banner bearing the title "Lelang Taishou Zhang," it was actually Taishi Ci's own initiative, and the results proved quite effective.

What is a talented general? Sometimes it can be seen from the details.

But Taishi Ci did not seem complacent at all, because the whole situation was set up by Wei Zhe, and he was just following orders.

Taishi Ci said with some regret, "What a pity that scoundrel Tian Wen escaped!"

Hearing this, Zhong Hu shook his head with some regret.

Wei Zhe didn't care too much about it. After all, the situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly and it was impossible to be as expected.

So after chatting for a while, Wei Zhe ordered the soldiers to clean up the battlefield.

I have to say that Daifang County really reaped a lot of benefits from this battle.

Including the casualties during the siege, Wei Zhe's army killed more than 2,000 Huibei people in the front and back battles, and captured more than 1,500 people. The rest either fell into the water and drowned in the panic, or were terrified and scattered in the wilderness.

As for the Han troops in the rebellion, almost all of them were killed.

Now that we have Soluhu's head, it is no problem to report that "the invading Hu cavalry were completely wiped out."

However, Wei Zhe left these trivial matters to Xi Zhicai.

As for himself, he led the army to clean up Daifang County.

For example, there is no need to keep a character like Zhang from Zhaoming Township who is ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth.

However, Wei Zhe did not expect that there would be an unexpected surprise.

After Tian Wen narrowly escaped the battlefield, he sought refuge in Mahan. Fueled by resentment towards Wei Zhe, he even vowed to become the next Zhonghang Shuo and exterminate the entire Daifang County population.

However, he did not expect that when he followed the old route out of the border, he was discovered by the border guards.

The ambitious Tian Wen was sent back to Daifang City by the garrison soldiers of Xinchuan Pass.

……

That night, in the main hall of the county temple.

Looking at Tian Wen who was tied up and had horse manure stuffed in his mouth, Wei Zhe was too lazy to say anything to him.

"Cut it off!"

Wei Zhe just waved his hand casually and turned away without paying any attention to Tian Wen's frantic struggle.

So Tian Wen was beheaded in front of the market with a feeling of unwillingness. He couldn't even utter a curse before his death, and his eyes were full of frustration until his death.

The next day, the battle report was sent to the Lelang County Prefectural Governor's Mansion.

"Just killing two families? Haha~ That's still a bit sensible."

After reading the report, Zhang Qi, the prefect of Lelang, smiled lightly and nonchalantly.

Seeing this, the chief clerk Wang Xu understood that the envoy still had some good feelings towards the Daifang County Magistrate.

So he simply went with the flow and said, "I have carefully reviewed the evidence sent to me, and it is absolutely true. The powerful families Tian and Zhang in the Dai area have indeed colluded with the Dongyi and privately sold weapons."

"Indeed, he has some brains, and is no ordinary warrior." Zhang Qi nodded slightly upon hearing this and said, "Then let's report it. It will be better for this government to save face if we get it over with sooner rather than later."

After all, the Dongyi invaded every year, so finally getting a victory report could be considered his political achievement!
As for the deaths of several powerful families, Zhang Qi didn't bother to care.

As long as the evidence is convincing and as long as Wei Zhe did not massacre all the powerful people in Daifang County, these would not be a problem.

The key point is how many heads of the evil and barbaric people there are; that's what he should take a closer look at...

(End of this chapter)