A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 503 Hutuo River Ambush
There was heavy wind and snow.

On the city wall of Shiyi, Li Yi's banner fluttered in the wind.

Outside the city, many refugees from Youyi, Dingheng, Moshen and other prefectures finally felt relieved upon seeing this banner and stopped to rest for a while.

Everywhere there were shacks built by refugees. It was freezing cold, and the number of refugees was still increasing. They could only make do with whatever materials they had on hand and build shelters haphazardly.

Many of them came from places whose hometowns had been plundered by rebels and Turks, some even losing their families and begging their way here. Some fled on their own initiative, bringing at least some valuables, food, and even bedding and clothing, and some even brought livestock.

"Let's distribute porridge,"

On the city wall, Li Yi sighed helplessly. When a war breaks out, it is always the common people who suffer the most.

Looking at the densely packed shacks outside the city, Yun Dingxing shook his head repeatedly.

"Gao Kaidao has committed a terrible sin."

"This traitor must be punished. Not only does he defy the times, surrendering and then rebelling again, but now he has even brought in foreign tribes to slaughter and plunder our Han people."

In this war, countless people were left homeless, many were captured by the Turks, and many died under the sword, or from freezing and starvation in the snow.

He, Gao Kaidao, must repay every single one of these blood debts.

Yun Dingxing had to remind Li Yi, "With so many refugees, we don't have much food to spare. Hengzhou didn't have much grain stored to begin with, and it's been plundered by the Turks and rebels."
Our own military rations still have to be transported from the south.

"We can't just stand by and watch someone die. Even a bowl of hot porridge in this snowstorm would be a lifesaver."

Li Yi was also troubled by the logistics of food supplies. It wasn't just a transportation problem; the most crucial issue was that Mingfu in the rear had almost no grain reserves. They had managed to borrow money through debt issuance, and the little grain they bought from various places was still being supplied at a loss to ensure the people's livelihood.

"We must ask the imperial court to find a way to transport the grain over immediately."

Yun Dingxing smiled bitterly. Dou Jiande in Hebei had only been pacified in early autumn of last year, and Wang Shichong in Luoyang had only been defeated at the end of the year before. These battles had been fought one after another, and the pacification of Henan and Hebei had not been long ago; the treasury was still empty.

Now there's nowhere to transport grain; we can only scrape together a little bit from the smallest of our resources.

"This battle must be won quickly; it cannot be delayed."

"But there are 15,000 Turkic light cavalry in Hebei now. Even if they are not all elites, the rivers in Hebei are frozen, and the Turks have the greatest advantage on this plain. Our Mingfu doesn't have many troops, even if we send the whole city now..."

But we must be careful.

"If we are ambushed by the Turks, not only will we be unable to save Yiding, but the entire Hebei region will be devastated."

Li Yi laughed and said, "Back then, when Emperor Yang was besieged at Yanmen by 200,000 cavalry of Shibi Khan, Lord Yun was the first to respond. He led the Prince of Qin and his troops to come to the aid of the emperor. At that time, he did not have many troops under his command, but he still managed to charge forward."

"Back then, I was just bluffing and using a feint."

The 30,000 men on the high road are not a threat, but the 15,000 Turkic soldiers are a different story. Encountering them on the plains or in the open fields, or even being ambushed, would be dangerous.

Li Yi didn't have many soldiers at his disposal. Qin Wutong, Li Xuantong, and Wang Xingmin each led three thousand central troops. Li Yi had fourteen military prefectures under his command, plus his royal residence, the inner palace, and the imperial guards sent by the emperor, totaling only twenty-four thousand men.

With the addition of some local militia temporarily mobilized as auxiliary troops, he brought 30,000 men to Hengzhou this time.

“I think the Turks are just here to plunder. They may not be willing to fight us head-on. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have withdrawn from Hengzhou as soon as we sent troops.”

I believe that as long as we advance on Dingzhou, the Turks will most likely continue to retreat. Even if Gao Kaidao wanted to defend Dingzhou, without the help of the Turks, he might not dare to do so.

Yun Dingxing said, "That is true, but Gao Kaidao is cunning and fickle, and the Turks are greedy by nature. If they ambush us, we still have to be on guard."

The immense logistical pressure, especially the shortage of food supplies, forced Li Yi to fight a swift and decisive battle, rather than truly using the Hutuo River as a defensive line and holding out there.

Otherwise, let alone the overwhelming influx of refugees,
Even the 30,000 troops he himself led would go hungry.

With the number of refugees increasing, Li Yi also transferred officials from local government offices to organize their resettlement and implemented semi-military management of the refugee camp, providing porridge twice a day and requiring people to queue up to get the porridge.

The camp was also temporarily organized according to the Baojia system, with five households forming a Bao, five Bao forming a Da Bao, and four Da Bao forming a Jia. Bao leaders and Jia leaders were elected, and able-bodied men from each household were required to serve as Bao men, taking turns to assist officials in maintaining order in the camp, assisting in distributing porridge, taking turns on night duty, and guarding against thieves, robbers, and spies.

He glanced around the refugee camp in disguise.
After this system of baojia (a system of mutual responsibility and management), the camp was not so chaotic, but the conditions were still rudimentary. Many people were still shivering in the wind and snow. The only thing we could do was to encourage them to help each other. Five households formed a bao, and they tried to get some firewood and grass to build a hut together and light a fire to keep warm.

A black market emerged in the refugee camps, where people exchanged money and silk for food, gold and silver for clothing and bedding, and even sold their wives and daughters, or even put up signs to sell themselves.

Shiyi City is not large.
As a temporary base camp, refugees were not allowed to enter the city. With so many soldiers and supplies pouring into the city, there was no room left to accommodate the refugees.

"We need to arrange for people to relocate the refugees here to other towns in the surrounding area. It's much better than leaving them in the wilderness."

Yun Dingxing sighed, "They are at least lucky. At least now they can eat two meals of porridge a day and no longer have to worry about being slaughtered and plundered by the Turks."

Returning from the refugee camp

Li Yi felt an increasing urgency to resolve the matter quickly.

If the rebels are defeated as soon as possible, many people can return to their homes. Even the most dilapidated homes will at least have roofs and walls to shelter them from the wind and rain.

"I have assembled 20,000 soldiers and ammunition to march toward Dingzhou and attack Gaokaidao directly."

The remaining troops launched multiple attacks to recapture the remaining counties of Dingzhou.

"In the end, we will meet at the gates of Dingzhou."

Dingzhou was very cold in the first month of the lunar calendar, not a good time for fighting, but the situation was beyond our control.

Large numbers of refugees poured south.
Li Yi led his troops northward against the flow of traffic.

halfway,

An imperial envoy from Chang'an arrived and delivered the emperor's edict.

The two general administrations of Ming and Ding were merged into the Dingzhou Grand General Administration, and Yizhou was also designated as a prefecture. Li Yi was the Grand General Administration and Prefect of Dingzhou, and was also granted the title of Military Commander of Dingzhou Road.

The emperor granted him the authority to command and mobilize all troops within the territory of the Dingzhou Grand General's Office to suppress the rebels.

He naturally also had permission to cross borders to apprehend thieves outside his jurisdiction.

Although Li Yi had acted first and reported later, receiving the official edict to send troops was probably a relief for him. It saved him a lot of trouble, gave him a more legitimate reason to fight, and made his actions less hindrance. He could now march all the way to Tanzhou, Beiyanzhou, or even Weizhou, as long as he had the ability.

The officers and men of the camp stepped forward to offer their congratulations.

Zhang Xuansu, the outspoken registrar of the Prince's Palace, even bluntly said: "If you ask me, the four general administrations of Ming, You, and Ding should be merged. What's the use of keeping this Youzhou Grand General Administration?"

Li Yi accepted the imperial edict, interrupting the crowd's discussion.

"Gentlemen, the Emperor's decree to send troops has arrived. We must not fail the Emperor's expectations. Let us all use our best skills to quell the rebellion as soon as possible."

···
Southeast of Dingzhou, on the north bank of the Hutuo River, in the suburbs of Shenze County.

It was already late January, but there was still no sign of spring returning to the earth; the cold wind whipped snowflakes against the withered reeds.

Su Dingfang, the military commander of the Wu'an Prince's tent, sat among the withered reeds, chewing on pork jerky. The brownish-red pork jerky was very chewy and was made from pigs raised by the Wu'an Prince's own family. After being marinated, roasted, and pressed, it became a thin slice that was easy to carry, durable, and delicious.

When marching or fighting, chewing on a piece of it can immediately replenish strength and restore energy.

Behind him,

It was a thousand light cavalry Tang soldiers from Mingzhou.

Su Dingfang chewed on pork jerky while gazing at the road not far away.

"Xie Ling came from Shenzhou to plunder Shenze County, and he will surely return to Shenzhou via the frozen Hutuo River. We can just wait here and wait for him to come. We might even be able to seize a batch of grain then."

Strong winds and heavy snow.
Twilight fell.

Fires broke out in all directions in Shenze County, Dingzhou, with thick smoke billowing out. Xie Leng's Yan army was laughing as they loaded the last bag of millet from the warehouse onto their horses.

There were still traces of blood in front of the county government's gate.

"Report!"

The Tang army sent by Wuji City is still twenty miles away from us.

"Who led the troops here?" Xie Leng asked.

"The flag with the two characters on it."

"Looks like it's that scoundrel Shuang Shiluo," Xie Leng smashed his wine cup on the ground. If it were anyone else, he would have been prepared to fight, but since it was Shuang Shiluo, he decided to retreat immediately.

This Shuang Shilu is skilled in martial arts and archery, and even the Prince of Yan was wounded by his arrow. Xie Leng does not want to be entangled with this person.

"Burn down Shenze County, then retreat!"

After looting, Xie Leng's troops retreated, taking with them the stolen grain, money, and many young women. One of his personal guards packed several large boxes of gold and silver jewelry into several bags and carried them on his back.

Those gold hairpins, rings, armlets and other jewelry, some of them still stained with blood, were mostly forcibly taken from the families of wealthy households in the city.

Hutuo River bend ferry crossing,

Xie Ling and his group returned laden with their loot, carried by carts, horses, and a group of strong men from Shenze City who carried it on their shoulders and backs.

The Yan army sang triumphantly in the twilight.

The team walked on the ice.

When the long queue was halfway across,

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves thundered in the distance, and they arrived swiftly.

Su Dingfang led a thousand cavalry in a surprise attack, and with a spear, he knocked a Yan army captain to the ground. Behind him, fifty elite personal cavalrymen followed closely, forming a wedge formation and quickly breaking through the Yan army ranks.

Thunderous force,

A thousand horsemen swept across the plain.
Xie Leng was caught completely off guard.

His men had looted too much and thought that the Tang army was still dozens of miles away and posed no threat at all, but they did not expect that an elite cavalry force was lying in ambush there.

The group was intercepted and cut into seven or eight pieces by the Tang cavalry.

In the midst of the chaos,
Su Dingfang, spear in hand, charged straight at Xie Leng, who was standing under the general's banner.
Xie Leng's three hundred light cavalry intercepted them.

Yet no one could stop Su Dingfang.

"Su Lie!"

Xie Leng recognized him.

His hand unconsciously went to his chest, where there was a large scar. Years ago, he had followed Gao Kaidao in guerrilla warfare across Hebei.

He encountered Su Dingfang of Wuyi, a young man skilled in combat. To cover the King, he was shot through the armor by Su Dingfang's armor-piercing spike, fell from his horse, and was then overtaken and impaled by a spear.
If it weren't for King Gao returning to fight back and rescue him...
He died from Su Dingfang's spear that time.

Seeing Su Dingfang charging straight towards him with his spear, Xie Leng felt a tremor in his heart. The unforgettable scenes from the past reappeared, the nightmares he had been living through all these years.

He gripped the lance tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.
But in the end, he gritted his teeth and did not go forward to fight.

"withdraw!"

Xie Leng lost his nerve and still didn't have the courage to fight Su Dingfang again, so he turned his horse around and retreated.

His three thousand soldiers suffered a crushing defeat, abandoning almost all the money, grain, and supplies they had just plundered from Shenze County.

"General, the Yan bandits have fled down the Hutuo River towards Anping City in Shenzhou."

"Chase!"

Su Dingfang uttered a single word.

(End of this chapter)