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

Chapter 507 Dare to Take a Gamble?

The wind and snow stopped at some point.

The leaden-gray clouds cracked open, and sunlight, like golden arrows, pierced through the haze, shining on the city walls of Raoyang.

The king's flag has changed on the city wall.

Three thousand Yan soldiers were in the city. Zhuge Dewei led a thousand chariot and cavalry battalion to suddenly defect, killing Xie Ling, the Left Guard General of Yan, and Cui Yuanxun, the Governor of Shenzhou. The old village chief Zhang Shanhu, still vigorous in his old age, seized the city gate and led the ten thousand-strong Su Dingfang's iron cavalry into the city.

"Ding Fang!"

Zhuge Dewei's loud voice rang out from outside the yamen, and a strong smell of blood followed him into the hall. Su Dingfang looked up at the flag-bearing general beside his godfather, whose bright armor was covered in bloodstains.

"Brother, are you injured?" Su Dingfang asked.

"Hahaha, just a few superficial wounds, nothing serious." Zhuge Dewei stepped forward and threw two severed heads in front of him. "One is Xie Leng's, and the other is Cui Yuanxun's." After saying that, he shouted outside, "Boss, Second Boss, bring them here."

Zhuge Dewei's two sons were both extraordinary little giants, and each of them brought in two prisoners.

"Those two are the leaders of the eight hundred Turks in the city, sons of some tribe called Sijin. The other two are the sons of the leader of the Xi tribe in the northern Yanshan Mountains, commanding three hundred Xi warriors. They are Xie Leng's most trusted personal guards."

The battle was very successful. Not only did they capture Raoyang City, but it also served as a transit point for the Yan army to store and plunder supplies. Large quantities of looted grain, cloth, and money were still stored there, as were many military equipment brought by the Yan army.

"Thanks to Brother Zhuge, we have beheaded 800 rebels, captured 1,300, and also captured 800 Turkic soldiers and 300 Xi soldiers."

Including the thousand men who defected from Zhuge Dewei's side.

Su Dingfang was overjoyed by the fruitful results.

"This is also thanks to your excellent plan, Dingfang, and the efforts of Elder Zhang, who acted as a liaison and even personally led the charge to capture the city gate," Zhuge Dewei said modestly.

“Kill all those Turkic wolves and Xi soldiers,” Zhuge Dewei suggested, even proposing to kill the 1,300 captured Yan soldiers as well.

Su Dingfang simply smiled and said, "I have already sent someone to Dingzhou to report the victory to the Minister of Works. How to handle it is entirely up to the Minister of Works."

"Brother Zhuge, rest assured, I have truthfully reported your and Zhang Bo's great contributions."

The distance from Raoyang to Dingzhou is less than two hundred li. Su Dingfang's report of victory arrived that same day. At this time, Li Yi had just recaptured Xinle County.

As expected, Gao Kaidao did not defend the city. Before they arrived, he had already looted Xinle City and then left.

"Su Dingfang has won another battle, hahaha."

Li Yi picked up the victory report and examined it closely. The more he read, the brighter his eyes became. It was like a pillow appearing just when he was sleepy. The battle of Raoyang was a brilliant victory. Not only were Xie Leng, a general under Gao Kaidao, killed, but Cui Yuanxun, who had once been Dou Jiande's governor of Shenzhou, was also beheaded.

What excited him was not just this.

Su Dingfang actually seized another 18,000 shi of grain in Raoyang City, as well as a lot of money, grain, cloth, livestock, etc., and also seized a batch of arrows and other weapons from the rebels.

They captured 6,000 warhorses alone, and more than 3,000 pack donkeys and other animals.

Yun Dingxing couldn't believe these figures.

"Is this a typo?"

In Raoyang City, the rebel army totaled less than four thousand, yet they had more than six thousand warhorses and more than three thousand packhorses.
Li Yi also had some doubts, but he believed that Su Dingfang was not the kind of person who would lie about his military achievements.

Upon closer inspection, the following sections indeed contained detailed accounts of the battle, as well as specific figures on the number of prisoners captured, killed, and captured.

Su Dingfang said that although the enemy forces in Raoyang City totaled less than four thousand, there were eight hundred Turkic cavalry and three hundred Xi cavalry. Although Xie Leng was defeated by us in Shenze, he took more than a thousand cavalry with him at that time.

As the governor of Shenzhou, Cui Yuanxun also had a cavalry force of two hundred men under his command.

In total, this brought the cavalry to over two thousand. Raoyang was also a transit point for the rebels, and the battle of Raoyang was a decisive victory, with minimal losses of warhorses.

Each Turkic cavalryman was equipped with three horses, and they had also plundered some during this period. Xie Leng and Cui Yuanxun each had their own personal cavalry, in addition to the three hundred Xi cavalrymen.

Raoyang City had a rare supply of over six thousand warhorses, all of which were captured by Su Dingfang and Zhuge Dewei. In open field battles, it would be very difficult to take down these two thousand cavalry.

Even if you win, the enemy can escape, and most of the captured warhorses will have suffered heavy casualties.

There won't be many warhorses that can be captured.

But now, it's really unexpected.

Of course, Li Yi was even happier about the 18,000 shi of grain that had been seized.

If an ordinary army of 10,000 men and horses consumes about 500 shi of grain per day, or 15,000 shi per month, the consumption and losses of auxiliary troops transporting the grain are very high.

Eighteen thousand shi (a unit of dry measure) can feed ten thousand men for a month.

Li Yi's 30,000 men could eat for ten days.

The grain delivered from the front lines saved enormous costs in terms of transportation and losses; this 18,000 shi of grain was even comparable to the 50,000 shi transported from the rear.

What he lacks most now is food.

Compared to the 18,000 shi of grain, beheading 800 is nothing. Of course, capturing 6,000 warhorses is also a great achievement.

The Tang Dynasty was at a disadvantage in its battles against the Turks, not only because it had not yet unified the country, but also because of the lack of warhorses and the insufficient quantity and quality of its cavalry.

The Tang Dynasty now possesses two horse-breeding areas, Longyou and Hexi, and the number of warhorses is gradually increasing, but cavalry is not easy to raise.

Moreover, each battle results in the loss of a significant number of warhorses.

Six thousand warhorses.

Overjoyed, Li Yi immediately picked up his pen and wrote, "By the privilege of acting expediently as granted by the Sage, Su Dingfang is appointed as the Inspector of Shenzhou and the Commander-in-Chief of the Raoyang Road Army; Zhang Shanhu is appointed as the Acting Magistrate of Raoyang County; and Zhuge Dewei is appointed as the Inspector of Shenzhou and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Raoyang Road Army."

Eight hundred Turkic soldiers and three hundred Xi soldiers were temporarily imprisoned.

The 1,300 Yan soldiers could be temporarily incorporated into Su Dingfang's camp.

Li Yi gave Su Dingfang new orders, instructing him to consolidate his troops and then sail down the Hutuo River to the north to attack the rebel army that had penetrated deep into the Mo, Ying, and Cang prefectures.

Although Shenzhou was under the jurisdiction of the Jizhou General Administration, Li Yi was not only the Grand General of Dingzhou, but also the General Commander of the Dingzhou Road Army, and had also been granted the privilege of acting expediently by the emperor to suppress the rebels.

Shenzhou was captured by the rebels, but now that Su Dingfang has recovered it, it is only natural that he appoints Su Dingfang as the acting prefect.

"Ladies and gentlemen,"
The frequent reports of victories from the surrounding armies indicate what?
This shows that Gao Kaidao was nothing but a bunch of weaklings, easily defeated, and the Turks were just a bunch of bandits.

Send the order.

"Make breakfast at four in the morning, then set off at dawn, heading straight for Dingzhou City!" The next morning,

With high morale, the entire army embarked on their journey again, only forty li away from Dingzhou City.

It can be reached in one day.

"Report!"

On the way, more good news arrived.

"Good news! Commander Liu Heita has defeated the Turks on the banks of the Tang River in Yifeng County, beheading 800, capturing over 1,000, and seizing over 2,000 warhorses."

After receiving the report of victory, Li Yi quickly read it and dispatched his personal guards to ride around the army to spread the news and boost morale.

Liu Heita, as expected, gold shines wherever it is.

The last time we annihilated a hundred Turkic cavalry in Yifeng County, it wasn't a great achievement. I didn't expect that this kid didn't leave, but instead deliberately let a few riders escape to report the news.

He was met with three thousand Turkic cavalry in pursuit.

Liu Heita's three hundred cavalrymen feigned defeat and fled, luring the enemy cavalry to the ambush site, where the seven hundred cavalrymen lying in wait attacked.

Originally, the Turks had 3,000 cavalry, while Liu Heita only had 1,000 cavalry. It was impossible for them to win, let alone inflict heavy casualties on the enemy.

However, Liu Heita chose an excellent ambush location: a muddy area that was beginning to thaw and soften. When the Turkic pursuers were lured there, it was already dark, and they were caught off guard. Many of their cavalrymen became trapped in the area, losing all their speed.

Before they could struggle to leave the area, Liu Heita's thousand cavalry surrounded them. They were already familiar with the terrain and were good at archery on the hard ground outside.

With a mere thousand cavalry, they decisively defeated three thousand Turkic cavalry, achieving a record of eight hundred beheadings, over a thousand captures, and the seizure of more than two thousand warhorses, as well as numerous suits of armor and weapons.

Only a thousand Turkic cavalrymen escaped the battlefield.

News of the great victory spread throughout the army.

The morale of the entire army soared even higher, and they sang battle songs in the cold wind as they marched toward Dingzhou.

Anxi, the capital of Dingzhou,

Gao Kaidao's arrow wound on his cheek had not fully healed and was still wrapped in gauze.

The wind howls.
Alone, leaning on the railing.

"Report: Li Yijun is only thirty li away from Dingzhou City."

Gao Kaidao remained silent, only gazing southward at the vast land.

Zhang Jinshu, the guard standing behind him, couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty?"

“Jinshu, you have fought alongside me for many years. We were just lowly salt farmers, boiling salt for generations. Although salt is not cheap, our hard work did not earn us much money.”

Every step we've taken has been risked with our lives. Now, can we back down?

“I don’t believe Li Yi really has three heads and six arms. We also have fifty or sixty thousand troops in Hebei. Let’s withdraw our troops to Dingzhou and fight Li Yi here.”

Dingzhou is a fortified city, and we rely on it for defense. Li Yi is unable to capture it in his haste.

I already knew that Li Yijun was short of food and would definitely want a quick battle. We should defend our fortified cities, wear him down, and when his food supplies run out, we can launch a counterattack and defeat him. At that time, we will not only be able to hold onto Yi and Ding prefectures, but we can also take Heng, Zhao, Xing, and Ming prefectures in one fell swoop, and even the whole of Hebei.

"Jinshu, dare to take another gamble!"

"I retreated step by step to lure Li Yi deeper into our territory. The gain or loss of a city or a hamlet is nothing to me. When we fought against the Sui army, did we ever care about the gain or loss of cities?"
As long as our brothers are here, we have nothing to fear.

He pointed into the air and said, “We will use the Tang River as our defensive line. I will personally guard Dingzhou City on the front, and then guard Yifeng and Tang County on the left and right. We will also guard Wangdu from behind, and consolidate our forces to defend only these four cities.”

With the grain and supplies we've plundered and the able-bodied men we've recruited, we could hold out for a year without any problem.

But how long can Li Yi endure this early spring chill?
I dare say he wouldn't last two months. His food supply is insufficient. Where is there any grain left in Dingzhou? We've looted it all."

Gao Kaidao couldn't help but laugh smugly.

Li Yi really thought he was afraid of his reputation and kept abandoning the city and fleeing?

No, that was intentional; he lured the enemy in deep.

This allowed him to gradually penetrate deeper into the city of Dingzhou.

"In a while, the glacier will thaw, and the flat roads on the plains will be blocked by rivers. It will be even more difficult for Li Yi to resupply. Once he runs out of food, these rivers behind him will become his death knell if he wants to retreat!"

"Hahaha!"

"Report!"

A soldier rushed up to the city wall of Dingzhou and reported, "Your Majesty, General Zhuge Dewei of Raoyang has betrayed the Tang Dynasty and led Su Dingfang into the city. Raoyang has fallen, and General Xie Leng and Chief Administrator Cui Yuanxun have been killed."

"besides,"

"What else?"

"Furthermore, Liu Heita ambushed three thousand Turks on the outskirts of Yifeng County, beheading eight hundred and capturing over a thousand. After Liu Heita's victory, the powerful families of Yifeng County opened the gates to welcome him into the city, and Yifeng fell..."

Gao Kaidao's smile vanished completely. "What else is there? Tell me all at once."

"Yes, after Tang general Li Cunxiao captured Hengyang, he also defeated the Turks at Zuoren City, beheading 500. Zuoren City and Tang County both surrendered."

Gao Kaidao was lost in thought.
We just said we would defend four cities, repel Li Yi, and then, two months later, when he ran out of food, launch a counterattack and seize Hebei.

But now, he has lost two of his four cities, one on the left and one on the right.

"Report!"

Another guard arrived.

"Say!"

"Your Majesty, the Turkic special forces in the city suddenly led five thousand troops to storm the north gate and head north."

Gao Kaidao felt dizzy and everything went black.

(End of this chapter)