Sweep Yuan

Chapter 97 Encountering an Unknown Enemy and Establishing a Stronghold

"We agreed to collect the food and go back after the city falls, so why hasn't anything happened yet?"

"I told you these people are capable of killing officials and rebelling, what sense of integrity do they have!"

"You have the nerve to say that? If you hadn't egged me on, would I have come to Wuhe?"

"I... I was just listening—"

Shh! Someone's coming.

As soon as Shi Shan stepped into the laborers' camp, a strong smell of sweat hit him.

Thousands of laborers squatted or sat, crowding on the rammed earth, craning their necks to look at the stone mountain surrounded by armored soldiers. They wanted to ask the rebels why they wouldn't be released, but dared not stand up, just like a flock of frightened quails.

Shishan walked to the very center of the laborers' camp, stepped onto the edge of the cart, and climbed onto it. The armor plates clanged, silencing the whispers of the crowd.

"Gentlemen! Wuhe has fallen, and you should have been given food and allowed to return today. The reason for the delay is that Hong County has just been besieged by government troops, and you cannot return."

As soon as Shi Shan finished speaking, the crowd stirred.

"Ah! Everything was fine when we came, why can't we get back?"

"What should we do?!"

"My wife is about to give birth, I have to go back!"

Screams, cries, prayers, and curses filled the air, but under the watchful eyes of the armored soldiers, the unarmed laborers ultimately dared not act too recklessly.

Shi Shan pressed down lightly with both hands to suppress the sound.

“You trusted Shishan, which is why you came to Wuhe with me. I won’t lie to you. I won’t give up Wuhe, and we must take back Hongxian. Right now, we’re short-handed.”

You have three choices: First, stay in Wuhe to repair the city walls, where you will be provided with food and lodging, and if necessary, assist the soldiers in defending the city; second, take your rations now and flee for your lives; third, come with me to fight our way back, drive away the government troops, and recapture Hong County.”

From the crowd, a strong and muscular man stepped forward.

"We haven't been short of food along the way. I believe that if we follow Commander Shi back, we won't be killed in vain. Commander, tell us what you want us to do!"

Shishan recognized the man as Sun Wuben, who was originally a cart driver. The Red Heart Camp requisitioned his cart, and he went south with the army. Because of his eloquence and good communication skills, he gradually gained considerable prestige among the laborers.

Sure enough, as soon as Sun Wuben finished speaking, the laborers all expressed their opinions.

"Our whole family is in Hong County. If we don't fight back, how can we face people in the future?"

"I need to go back; my wife is waiting for me to name the baby."

"it is good!"

With the support of the people, Shishan will not be pretentious.

"This time we're going back to fight. You need to reorganize your troops, learn battle formations, and obey orders. We soldiers will handle the fighting against the government troops. You don't need to fight against strong enemies or attack fortified villages. Just don't lose your composure."

Organizing the laborers was simple; it only required people from different villages and neighborhoods to voluntarily form teams and then each elect a leader.

Including Sun Wuben, many laborers have already distinguished themselves on the way south to attack Wuhe County. The process of forming teams and making recommendations has not taken much time.

Considering that the laborers lacked courage and needed to band together to maintain morale, Shishan did not adopt the battle battalion organization of six teams per battalion. Instead, he divided nearly a thousand laborers into two local militia battalions.

After the formation is completed, soldiers and armor will also need to be issued.

Despite the fact that there were still gaps in the headquarters, in order to boost the morale of the local militia, Shishan still distributed fifty iron knives and one hundred spears found in the Wuhe Armory to the two battalions, and supplemented them with bamboo and wooden spears, javelins and large shields.

The remaining task was to leave some of the instructors and guards to guide the local militia in simple formation training.

After leaving the labor camp, Shishan quickly headed to the prisoner camp.

With the assistance of Wu Liujin and Han Cheng, Fei Ju and Geng Zaicheng have gathered all the prisoners and denounced the scum in the army.

Similar to the incident at Chulan, by exposing old grudges and inciting conflict, the prisoners were able to unleash their pent-up anger, and only blood could extinguish their hatred.

The difference this time was that Shishan was just an observer, supporting and encouraging Geng Zaicheng, and discovering promising talents to cultivate. There was no more bloody scene of cannibalism and bloodshed. All the scoundrels who were exposed were simply dealt with by a knife to the head.

The situation in Chulan was similar in nature to today's, but the methods of handling it were different. Therefore, Chen Cheng did not offer any more words of wisdom, but instead praised Governor Shi for selecting prisoners to join the Imperial Guard, saying that he had the style of an ancient famous general.

After the meeting, the commanders of each battalion, as requested by Shishan, explained to their soldiers that the government troops' surprise attack on Hong County might cut off their retreat, in order to dispel the various speculations and rumors arising from the urgent messenger report entering the city.

Since its formation, the "Red Heart Battalion" has won one battle after another. The morale of the lower-ranking soldiers is high. Although a small number of new recruits from Hong County are worried about their families, they are not afraid to fight against the government troops.

However, considering that the local militia and prisoners of war needed time to reorganize, Shishan did not advance overnight.

Although Hongxian is in dire straits, the government troops intend to besiege the city and attack any reinforcements. Wuhe is closer to Hongxian and can return to its base more quickly, and it has fewer troops. It is very likely to be the government troops' priority target, so we cannot be rash.

Shi Shan ordered the supply battalion to slaughter pigs and sheep to reward the soldiers; he also ordered Chen Cheng to take out some of the spoils and reward the entire army handsomely.

One battle at a time. Since there is still time, let's eat and reward ourselves. Sun Xun has taken full control of the city's defenses. After a hearty meal, the soldiers who are about to set off will rest and go to bed early.

Having rested and recuperated, the army set off early the next morning.

……

Liangshuibu Village, on the east bank of the Tang River. "Sir! It's already midnight."

Shulun Timur was awakened by his attendants and sat up abruptly. A cool breeze blew into the quilt, waking the petite girl whose face was covered in tears.

"I'll dress you, sir."

The girl, battered and bruised, struggled to her feet and trembled as she dressed Shulun Timur—her second uncle's head still hung at the village entrance, and she dared not let her tears fall onto the Tartar's armor.

Shulun Timur raised his arms, enjoying the girl's service.

"what!"

His attendant stepped forward carrying the armor, and while putting the armor on the adult, he secretly pinched the girl, startling her into screaming.

"Hahaha!"

Shulun Timur didn't take it to heart and laughed heartily:

"Tonight won't do. Once we kill these rebels in Hong County, you'll have plenty of fun to play with."

Outside the courtyard, six hundred elite cavalrymen, all holding torches high, were ready to set off.

Shulun Timur stepped out of the house, raised his hand to feel the wind direction. The wind was light tonight, which was not conducive to setting fires, but the clouds were thick and dark, making it particularly suitable for a night raid.

"set off!"

His army was commanded by Lord Shenbao, a member of the Yuan imperial family who was skilled in military strategy. Before the expedition, he formulated a strategy of "first clipping the wings and then besieging Xuzhou" based on the strength of the rebel army and the low morale of the government troops.

When the army crossed the Yellow River at Pizhou, the rebel Han Si's forces were launching a full-scale attack on Suqian.

Shenbao rushed straight to Suining to cut off the enemy's retreat, and ordered Shulun Timur to lead cavalry to charge the retreating rebel army.

When Han Si learned that the government troops had cut off his rear, he hastily withdrew his troops. On the way, they were ambushed by cavalry, and more than 10,000 soldiers were routed on the spot, with corpses strewn all over the field. Han Si was also captured alive by Shulun Timur.

After interrogating Han Si, Shen Bao learned that the bandit Shi Shan in Hong County had the weakest forces, so he led his troops south again.

Shulun Timur led his cavalry straight to the city of Hongxian, only to learn that the rebel army had launched a full-scale attack four days earlier, dividing its forces to attack the cities of Wuhe and Sizhou.

May the Eternal Heaven protect you!
The enemy in Hong County was just as foolish as Han Si. Shulun Timur deliberately let the bandit messenger escape, reported back to Shenbao, and then led his army south to raid the bandits in Wuhe.

Based on their marching speed, the rebel army should have only reached the walls of Wuhe City at that time. It would have taken them three to five days to even get close to the city walls. Once they learned that their retreat was cut off, they would have had to hastily turn back. All that was left was to repeat the story of Suining.

The plan was simple and effective, but the enemy army was slower than expected and did not return that day.

Separated by the Hui River, the cavalry could not head straight for Wuhe City.

With an extra half day and night to prepare, the bandit army had almost stabilized its morale. If their marching formations were more tightly packed, it would be even more difficult to launch a surprise attack. Helpless, Shulun Timur had no choice but to conceal his whereabouts and change to a night attack.

This afternoon, the scouts spotted the bandits, but to avoid scaring them away, they did not venture too far. Instead, based on their route, they roughly determined where the bandits might set up camp that night.

Logically, when raiding a camp at night, one must first ascertain the strength and weaknesses of the enemy camp.

However, the bandits set up camp hastily and would not spend their energy on a camp that they would dismantle in just one night.

Shulun Timur was not worried that the bandits would follow their scouts and discover their hiding place. Liangshuibu was nearly 25 li away from the official road. No matter how vigilant the bandits' scouts were, they could not possibly find that far.

When they were about ten miles from the enemy, Shulun Timur ordered the entire team to extinguish the torches and proceed in the dark.

Don't worry about not being able to find the location of the bandit camp. Because they are afraid of being raided at night, the bandit camp keeps bonfires burning all night long, making it easy to spot in the open fields.

Four miles from the enemy, men gagged and horses hoofed.

Three miles from the enemy, the vague outline of the enemy camp could already be seen.

Just when it seemed certain that the night raid would succeed, three whistling arrows suddenly rang out from the darkness—the bandits had actually set up sentries outside their camp.

"rush!"

Although the distance was far, the camps set up by the rebels were generally very simple. Once they rushed into the camp, all that was left was to slaughter them indiscriminately.

"what!"

When they were still more than half a mile from the enemy camp, the cavalrymen at the forefront suddenly fell to the ground one after another. The broken leg bones of the horses pierced through their flesh, and the smell of blood choked their noses.

not good!

Shulun Timur, being experienced, quickly realized that the rebel army had dug horse traps.

On the relatively soft Huaibei Plain, digging such a small pit, only one foot deep and less than half a foot wide, is not very strenuous. However, it is truly rare for the rebel army to spend so much effort digging horse traps when setting up camp, and to dig them so far!
Upon discovering the horse trap, Shulun Timur knew that a surprise attack was impossible, but he was still unwilling to give up. He ordered his men to beat the war drums to scare the enemy, while Shulun Timur himself dismounted, shield in hand, and quietly approached the enemy camp.

The rebel army reacted quickly; campfires had already been lit outside the camp, and in the flickering firelight, one could vaguely see a large number of deer antlers and barricades outside the camp walls.

Near the camp wall, there appeared to be trenches dug.

The camp wall was built to a height of one and a half people, blocking Tulu Timur's view. He could only tell from the quietness inside the camp that the enemy army was prepared and not panicked.

Before long, a portion of the rebel army had assembled and fired dozens of rockets out of the camp to probe the strength of the government troops.

Shulun Timur quickly retreated, knowing that tonight's operation had completely failed. He cursed his bad luck inwardly, thinking, "How could this scoundrel general spend so much effort setting up a camp? He's a real bastard!"
(End of this chapter)