strictlysupreme Chapter 193 The Red-Clad Army Surrenders
Chapter 193 The Red-Clad Army Surrenders
Chapter 193 The Red-Clad Army Surrenders
"inappropriate!"
Chang Wei didn't even bother to refute it.
His brow furrowed: "The Red-Clad Army were originally rebels. The court's offer of amnesty to them was already a lenient measure. If we let them into the military camp, it would be like inviting a tiger down the mountain."
Zheng Hao raised his eyes, his dark eyes looking at Chang Wei: "Before the founding of the Great Qian Dynasty, the founding emperor took in countless enemy generals on the battlefield. Half of the meritorious officials in the Great Qian Dynasty are former enemy generals. With the glorious deeds of the founding emperor as our example, why don't you write a memorial to His Majesty to suggest that he follow suit?"
Chang Wei: "If this is really done, after the Red-Clad Army accepts the imperial pardon, the court will not only provide them with good food and drink, but also allow them to touch military power. Where will the court's authority be? In the future, when people in the world encounter things that are not to their liking, won't they all dare to imitate the Red-Clad Army and rebel?"
"I understand the general's concerns."
Zheng Hao said, "But the general has overlooked one point."
Chang Wei looked over in confusion.
Zheng Hao said, "Not everyone is a member of the Red-Clad Army, and the Red-Clad Army is not united in its opposition to the imperial court."
These words were like a wake-up call. General Chang looked intently at the young military supervisor, but the light in his eyes quickly faded.
“Yu Feng has already used the divide-and-conquer tactic against the Red-Clad Army, but the pro-war faction within the Red-Clad Army outnumbers the surrender faction, so the divide-and-conquer tactic is useless,” General Chang said.
Zheng Hao shook his head slightly: "This plan is not useless, but we need to find the right opportunity."
"Previously, the imperial court suffered repeated defeats, and the morale of the Red-Clad Army was greatly boosted. Naturally, they would not easily accept the imperial court's offer of amnesty. Now, after the battle of Jibei Prefecture, the former commander of the Red-Clad Army was seriously injured, and the morale of the Red-Clad Army has declined even further. This is a good opportunity for the Zhenhong Army to take advantage of the situation and pursue them. As long as we break the morale of the Red-Clad Army and severely damage their strength, the pro-war faction and the surrender faction within the Red-Clad Army will definitely be evenly matched."
Zheng Hao said to Chang Wei, "It is a good thing that the pro-war faction does not surrender. After you have recruited the Red-Clad Army, you can write a letter to deal with the pro-war generals to deter the world. Then write a letter for the surrender generals and bring them under your command. If you are worried that they may have ulterior motives and be unruly, you can arrange for them to serve as deputy generals under other generals for observation. If they pass the observation and are loyal to the court, it is not too late for you to promote them."
The curtain in front of the tent was blown open by the wind. Zheng Hao turned his eyes and looked around slightly: "Now the enemy's strength is weak and our army is strong. We should follow the strategy of 'taking advantage of their laxity and attacking them when they are not prepared' in the Taibai Yin Jing."
In the dead of night in the suburbs, the wind rustled, and withered branches twisted in the wind, sounding like the mournful wail of bone whistles. In the camp, the campfire flickered on and off. The soldiers on night watch fought off their drowsiness, trying to keep their eyes wide open, and adding firewood whenever the campfire was about to go out.
In the military camp, there are special teams of soldiers patrolling back and forth, and soldiers on duty standing guard at night.
The former walks back and forth, which can refresh the mind and stimulate the blood circulation, while the latter stand still for a long time and are prone to drowsiness. In order to stay awake, they usually chat with the soldiers on night watch.
The taller soldier asked the shorter soldier beside him in a low voice, "When do you think our commander will recover from his injuries?"
Soldiers are not allowed to discuss their superiors in the military, but rules are rules and people are flexible. As long as they do it in private and no one finds out, no one can find fault with them.
The short soldier knew he was referring to the former commander, but he didn't know the details and replied, "I don't know."
The tall soldier continued to mutter: "A few days ago, a new commander was sent from the rear. I heard from the other generals that the new commander is very harsh on people. I wonder if he will pay the soldiers on time like the previous commander."
Upon hearing this, the short soldier couldn't help but recall the good qualities of his former commander, but he still wasn't used to discussing his superiors in private.
The wind rustled, and after a long while, the tall soldier did not speak. The short soldier turned his head suspiciously, but suddenly felt a pain in the back of his neck and fell backward.
Reaching out to catch the body, Niu Qiang turned to the others and ordered, "Drag their bodies away and hide them, then change them into their clothes."
The others were supposed to drag the unconscious soldiers deep into the grass, then quickly take off their clothes and put them on, then untie their belts to tie their hands and feet, and gag them to prevent them from calling for help.
Having completed everything, a soldier spoke up and asked Niu Qiang in a low voice, "Sir, what's our next step?"
Niu Qiang stared ahead, making sure not to be spotted by the patrolling soldiers: "Lord Zheng ordered his men to observe the celestial phenomena tonight. The wind is blowing against the Red-Clad Army tonight. What we need to do is find their grain supplies and set them on fire."
He turned to the group and said, “You and these soldiers are similar in build and will stay behind to cover our tracks. We’ll set fire to the grain, and once we see the signal, we’ll escape while everyone is in disarray.”
"Yes!"
Taking advantage of the absence of patrolling soldiers, the group quickly left the bushes and took their positions. Niu Qiang led the rest of the group to the Red Army's granary.
"Sir, we have found the Red Army's granary."
A soldier pointed in the direction of the granary and told Niu Qiang.
Niu Qiang turned his head and stared intently at the granary not far away. The granary was an important military camp, guarded by many soldiers. There were dozens of soldiers standing guard in front of the granary alone.
Once they get close, the soldiers guarding the granary will definitely notice something is wrong, and then they will shout to attract the attention of the patrolling soldiers.
Niu Qiang turned his head and whispered a few words to the soldiers beside him. After receiving the signal, the soldiers immediately jogged away.
A moment later, a commotion came from afar, and someone shouted, "Fire!"
The patrolling soldiers' expressions changed, and the soldiers guarding the granary also looked grim. Judging from the direction the sound came from, the fire was not far from the granary. If the fire spread, the granary would be difficult to save.
So the leader of the soldiers guarding the granary gave a few instructions to the other soldiers, and then led a dozen soldiers and patrolmen to run in the direction of the sound.
Seeing that only a dozen or so men were left to guard the granary, Niu Qiang signaled to his men to finish the job quickly.
The patrolman ran in the direction from which the shouts of "Fire!" came from. When he arrived, he saw several soldiers pouring water to put out the fire. The leading soldier asked, "What happened? Who started the fire?"
A soldier who was putting out the fire stopped what he was doing, turned around and replied, "We don't know either. We were asleep when we heard someone say there was a fire. When we got up and went outside, we saw flames in the grass, but we couldn't find the arsonist."
Upon hearing this, the leading soldier frowned. Suddenly, his expression changed as he saw thick smoke rising in the distance.
"No! We fell into a trap!"
The leading soldier immediately instructed the men behind him: "The Zhenhong Army launched a night raid on the camp and burned the granary. I will report to the commander-in-chief. You few should go and report to the other generals immediately."
In order to make the fire burn quickly and difficult to extinguish, Niu Qiang ordered his men to pour all the cooking oil from the granary onto the grain and straw. After seeing thick smoke billowing up, Niu Qiang decisively ordered: "Retreat!"
A group of about twenty people took advantage of the chaos in the Red Army camp to escape. They then mounted tall horses that were hidden not far from the camp and ran back without stopping before the Red Army could react.
The Red Army had finally quelled the unrest, but the granaries were completely burned down, and not a single grain of food could be saved.
The newly appointed commander stood up, listened to the soldiers' report, and said with a furious expression, "What happened? The enemy infiltrated the camp, and not only did no one notice, they even burned down the granary."
Faced with their enraged commander, the soldiers dared not utter a word.
A general stepped forward and said, "General, the grain supplies have been burned, so there's no point in thinking about it anymore. Now we need to figure out how to deal with the Red Army if they attack."
The commander closed his eyes. The burning of the Zhenhong Army meant the loss of food supplies for hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Even if new supplies were sent from the rear, it would take several days.
Moreover, with the new commander clenching his fists, the rear area had already been arguing countless times about whether or not to accept the imperial court's offer of amnesty. This time, the Zhenhong Army was coming with great force, like a tiger launching a counterattack. With all the commotion in the rear area, it was unclear how much of their food supplies would be available.
Moreover, given the momentum of the Zhenhong Army, they are unlikely to have a chance to catch their breath in the next few days.
As early as tomorrow, there will be movement on the other side.
The newly appointed commander was deep in thought when suddenly a soldier ran in, shouting in panic, "General, something terrible has happened! The Zhenhong Army is attacking!"
The commander-in-chief opened his eyes wide, having no time to think, and said to the generals below, "Follow me into battle!"
First, the granary was burned, causing turmoil within the Red Army. Zheng Hao suggested taking advantage of the situation to pursue them. Before Niu Qiang and his men entered the city gate, General Chang sent a general to attack the Red Army camp with Niu Qiang. The purpose was not to kill many enemy soldiers, but to destabilize their morale.
Riding his steed, Niu Qiang led his soldiers forward, hacking and slashing at the enemy. When the Red Army general arrived and saw this, he rode forward and roared, "Boy, take this!"
The iron hammer came crashing down, accompanied by a heavy, cold wind. Niu Qiang raised his broadsword and faced the attack head-on!
The Red Army camp in Zhen.
As dawn broke, Zheng Hao, General Chang, and many other military officers remained together, waiting for news from outside the city.
"—Report!"
A soldier ran in, and all the generals present, including General Chang, looked over. The soldier was panting heavily, and while everyone held their breath, he couldn't hide his joy: "General, good news has come from outside the city. General Chen and Commander Niu have defeated the Red-Clad Army. Commander Niu, in particular, single-handedly killed six enemy generals, frightening the enemy so much that they dared not advance and let our army come and go as they pleased without daring to stop us."
General Chang immediately stood up and said, "Good! Good! Good!"
The soldiers withdrew, and a general stepped forward and suggested, "General, since the Red-Clad Army's supplies have been destroyed and their strength has been greatly reduced, why don't we take this opportunity to send envoys to offer them amnesty? They will surely agree."
One of the generals chimed in, “General Wang is right. General, now that we are strong and our enemy is weak, this is the perfect time to offer amnesty.”
General Chang's joy faded, and he did not immediately respond.
He turned to the young military supervisor who had remained silent and asked, "What does Lord Zheng think?"
Compared to before, when Yu Feng was in charge of the Red Army, the generals present felt that the young military supervisor was incompetent and only good at theoretical discussions. They had witnessed his ruthless methods in dealing with Yu Feng as the prefect and the bandits of Black Wind Village, and when they learned that the plan to raid the Red Army at night and burn down the granary was also proposed by him, none of the generals present dared to make sarcastic remarks.
Consider the traitors led by Yu Feng; none of them survived. They were all found to have colluded with Yu Feng by the military supervisor Zheng, and one by one, their hands and feet were chained, and they were escorted back to the capital by the imperial envoy for punishment.
If they dare to be so reckless as to offend Lord Zheng, they are undoubtedly provoking trouble and asking for trouble.
Looking up at the crowd before him, Zheng Hao remained neither humble nor arrogant, neither yielding nor backing down. His tone was calm but left no room for negotiation: "My intention is to strike while the iron is hot, for the second strike will be weaker and the third strike will be exhausted. Since we are going to fight, we should defeat the Red-Clad Army so that they dare not even think of resisting again."
General Wang disagreed: "We could have negotiated peace and offered amnesty to the enemy, so why fight them instead? Wouldn't that just increase our casualties?"
Upon hearing this, Zheng Hao remained indifferent, while Chang Wei's eyes were filled with disappointment.
The generals of the Great Qian Dynasty had been enjoying comfort and pleasure for too long. The court was used to offering tributes to the northern barbarians in exchange for temporary peace and happiness. Therefore, when faced with domestic rebels, the generals of the Great Qian Dynasty instinctively used gold, silver and jewels, and promotions to win the surrender of the enemy. None of them were willing to expend their own energy to go to the battlefield, and they were even more afraid of endangering their own lives.
Zheng Hao: "There are differences in peace negotiations. One is that the Zhenhong Army sends envoys to persuade the Red-Clad Army to accept amnesty, and the other is that the Red-Clad Army sends envoys to request the court to grant them amnesty. What do you generals think are the differences between the former and the latter?"
What the generals heard was that they were being asked which method of surrender was better.
Is there even a question? It's obvious that the latter is better.
They fought the Red-Clad Army for nearly two years, and were scolded as useless by Emperor Jian'an, by civil and military officials, and by the common people. If they could get the Red-Clad Army to surrender and seek peace, they would not only look good on the surface but also be happy in their hearts.
Zheng Hao glanced at General Chang, who then dismissed everyone else, leaving only himself and Zheng Hao behind.
Zheng Hao said to General Chang, "In the next few days, General, you should not rest. You should send out good generals and fierce warriors to deal with the Red-Clad Army, exhausting and suppressing them."
General Chang said, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I won't give the enemy a chance to catch their breath on the battlefield."
He knew that the Red Army's advantage in this battle was due to Zheng Hao's brilliant strategy. If he missed this opportunity to inflict a major defeat on the Red Army, he didn't know how long it would take to end the war with them.
After discussing with Zheng Hao, General Chang promoted Niu Qiang to the position of Youyi Daoji Shi, which, although without official rank, was equivalent to that of a fifth-rank official, and he was to lead a thousand troops to fight against the Red-Clad Army.
With Niu Qiang, a general who charged into battle, leading the charge, the soldiers of the Zhenhong Army gradually gained courage and followed their general to the front lines. In the eyes of the Zhenhong Army, Niu Qiang was like a god of war descended to earth. No matter whether they were enemy soldiers or generals, they could not survive more than three moves in his hands. He could kill people as easily as chopping vegetables. But in the eyes of the Red Army, Niu Qiang was like a god of death. As the heads of the Red Army generals rolled on the ground one by one, they were all terrified.
Pulling the large sword, deeply embedded in the corpse and stained with blood, Niu Qiang addressed the Red-Clad Army: "Those who abandon their weapons and lay down their armor will be spared!"
The Red Army soldiers paused for a moment, then put down their weapons, covered their heads, and squatted down.
Immediately, the Red Army soldiers in the town shouted, "General, you are mighty!"
After the battle, the commander and generals of the Zhenhong Army waited for news from the Red Army.
Sure enough, less than three days later, following the Red-Clad Army's crushing defeat, a huge conflict erupted in the Red-Clad Army's rear, with arguments over whether to accept the imperial court's offer of amnesty. Because the pro-war generals had almost all died on the battlefield, the surrender faction seized the power of discourse and suppressed the remaining pro-war faction. In the end, the Red-Clad Army raised a white flag at their camp and sent envoys to the gates of Jibei Prefecture to accept the offer of amnesty.