Chapter 496: Kneel down!

"Ask the Fengwu Army bastards behind us if they are catching up?"

After riding for an unknown distance, Zhao Yong wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked the guard beside him:

Hearing Zhao Yong's question, the guard immediately went to ask around, then rode back on horseback and reported to Zhao Yong:

"Sir, the cavalry of the Fengwu Army will probably stop following us before an incense stick of time..."

Hearing the guard's answer, Zhao Yong couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, and his tense expression finally eased.

Even though he had become a bandit since he was a teenager and had gone through countless hardships and dangers over the past few decades, last night was still the most dangerous moment in his life!
He originally thought that if he led the main force to break out of the encirclement at night, he would definitely catch the Fengwu Army off guard and easily break out of the encirclement. For this reason, he deliberately selected the relatively weaker mixed division that Ye Mingsheng brought from Liaoyang, hoping to pick a soft persimmon to squeeze.

Zhao Yong guessed correctly that the Fengwu Army did not expect him to be so decisive and choose to break out so quickly. They were indeed caught off guard when they were counterattacked by the Yan Army and suffered heavy losses. Unfortunately, Zhao Yong only guessed part of it correctly, not completely. He only guessed that the Fengwu Army did not expect him to break out, but he did not expect that the Fengwu Army was much tougher than he imagined!

Because according to Ye Mingsheng's order, the Fengwu Army was divided into two batches, which took turns to attack the Yan Army's camp. While one batch of soldiers attacked, the other batch of soldiers rested, slept and ate. Perhaps it was God who didn't want Zhao Yong to break out of the Fengwu Army's encirclement so easily...
So before Zhao Yong led his troops to break out, the First Division under Yuan Song completed its rotation and took over the position of the Mixed Division to continue attacking the Yan Army camp. Just like that, by such a coincidence, Zhao Yong's carefully selected soft persimmon was replaced by the First Division with the strongest comprehensive combat effectiveness in the Fengwu Army!
Because they had not expected to suffer a fierce attack from the enemy just after the change of guard, the First Division was indeed a little dazed from top to bottom at the beginning of the battle. However, as the number one ace division in the Fengwu Army, the First Division was naturally not a false reputation. Under the leadership of General Yuan Song, they quickly entered combat status.

On the one hand, they wanted to ask for help from the friendly forces around them, and on the other hand, they fought for every inch of land and refused to give up an inch, holding on to the Yan army tightly and refusing to let it break out from their encirclement.

The battle lasted for about half an hour. No matter how Zhao Yong led his men to charge, they were stubbornly blocked by the First Division. After suffering thousands of casualties, they were still unable to open a gap in the First Division's position and break out of the encirclement. Therefore, his plan to lead the main force to break out completely failed!
Seeing that he was unable to overcome the obstacle of the First Division, and other Fengwu Army troops had already attacked the camp at this time, it was too late for him to return to the camp to hold it. If he dragged it on, he might be surrounded and wiped out. Feeling the threat of death, Zhao Yong became anxious and divided his soldiers among his two trusted generals, Lu Neng and Xu Kun, and asked them to break out separately and then meet again in Zhuo County...
After issuing this order, Zhao Yong led the remaining 3,000 elite cavalry in the army, and under the cover of Lu Neng and Xue Kun, found a weak point of the Fengwu Army and broke out. Before Zhao Yong could be happy after breaking out of the encirclement, he found that he was being targeted by the Fengwu Army's cavalry!
The cavalry of the Fengwu Army rushed forward and tried to entangle them, but the Youyan Iron Cavalry was still the Youyan Iron Cavalry after all, and they quickly got rid of the Fengwu Army's cavalry. However, these Fengwu Army soldiers who received orders from Ye Mingsheng were like a piece of taffy, following Zhao Yong's ass and chasing him all the way, constantly putting pressure on Zhao Yong!

The two sides fought on and off for nearly a day, and finally because of the issue of horse breeds, the Fengwu Army cavalry was forced to give up the pursuit!

During this nearly one day, Zhao Yong was deeply impressed by the cavalry of the Fengwu Army. Although as a newly formed cavalry, they had a lot of room for improvement in terms of tactical quality and riding and archery ability, but their fighting will and resilience were undoubtedly the best Zhao Yong had ever seen in his decades of military service!

Although he escaped from the pursuit of the Fengwu Army cavalry, Zhao Yong still did not dare to relax or be careless, for fear that these damn Liaoyang people would come out from some corner to kill him again. So Zhao Yong and his men rode their horses for more than ten miles, until he and his men were exhausted and had to stop to rest...
Zhao Yong, who had just escaped from the pursuit of the Fengwu Army, didn't have time to be happy for too long before he received two pieces of bad news and a piece of news that he didn't know whether it was good or bad!
"Sir, I heard from the soldiers that General Lu Neng did not lead his troops to break out of the encirclement of the Fengwu Army. The situation on General Xue Kun's side is still unknown." Master Xu Zhe found Zhao Yong and reported in a low voice:

Zhao Yong, who was about to pick up the water bag to drink water, heard the news. After a long while, he picked up the water bag again and took a sip. Then he nodded at Xu Zhe with a gloomy look and said:

"I see!"

However, as a veteran who had served in the army for decades, Zhao Yong reasoned that given the combat effectiveness of the Fengwu Army and the situation last night, it was normal that neither Lu Neng nor Xue Kun could lead their troops to break out. If one of them could make it out, it would be considered good luck!
Although he had prepared for the worst, Zhao Yong still hoped that Xue Kun and Lu Neng, his two trusted subordinates who had followed him for many years, could lead their troops to break out of the encirclement of the Fengwu Army. For a general, soldiers and horses were the most important capital in today’s chaotic times, and facing the disastrous defeat of the Fengwu Army this time was undoubtedly devastating for Zhao Yong...
Thinking of this, Zhao Yong couldn't help but feel a little regretful. Why did he fight so hard for that bastard Zhao Jianan, causing the lives of tens of thousands of his soldiers to be unknown?

Just when Zhao Yong was feeling extremely regretful and conflicted, his master Xu Zhe continued:

"My Lord, you were in a hurry to disperse and break out, so the food you have can only last for two days at most, and the grass for the horses is only enough for one day!"

Hearing this, Zhao Yong frowned slightly and immediately asked:
"Is there any place nearby that can provide supplies?"

Xu Zhe replied:
"Sir, I have looked at the map. We are currently located on the outskirts of Yanshan Mountain. There are no large towns within a hundred miles. At most, there are a few dozen families. It is simply not possible to support the logistics of more than 3,000 people like us. The only place that can provide supplies for so many of us is Sunjiagou, 130 miles to the south! There are thousands of families there. We should be able to find enough food and fodder there!"

After hearing Xu Zhe's answer, Zhao Yong didn't think much about it, nodded and ordered:

"Order the entire army to rest for a while and then head to Sunjiagou!"

"Yes!"

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Guangzong County, in the Fengwu Army camp.

Yuan Song bowed to Ye Mingsheng and reported:

"Sir, in this battle, our army annihilated more than 22,000 Yan troops, including 8,000 enemies, and captured more than 13,000 enemy soldiers. The enemy's Lu Neng was killed in the battle, and our army suffered 5,721 casualties, including 2,835 killed and 2,896 wounded!"

Although he annihilated more than 20,000 enemy troops and defeated Zhao Yong's troops in one battle, thus destroying Zhao Fuqu's strategy of merging the two Yan armies into one, Ye Mingsheng still couldn't be happy. Although he had expected that the casualties of the Fengwu Army would be large under his orders to fight at night, the casualties of 6,000 people were the largest since his Fengwu Army entered the Pass...

Seeing that Ye Mingsheng didn't speak, Yuan Song secretly observed Ye Mingsheng's expression, and then carefully asked:

"Sir, what do you think we should do with these 13,000 prisoners?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng realized the thorny nature of this problem. It was really difficult to deal with these more than 13,000 Yan army prisoners of war!
According to his usual approach, he should have conducted a unified trial. Those who violated laws and disciplines, oppressed the people and other serious cases should be sentenced to death, forced labor and other punishments depending on the severity of the problem. Those who did not have any problems should be given some travel expenses to go home and let them go back to engage in productive labor and create value for themselves and the society. But the problem now is that Youyan is not Liaoyang. Although the situation is good now, he has not taken down Youyan yet. If he releases these prisoners of war now, there is no guarantee that they will not be re-convened to fight against the Fengwu Army!

Moreover, if a trial is to be held, there is also the issue of time. Trial takes time, and during this time, where will the daily food and fodder for these more than 13,000 prisoners of war come from?
Although Ye Mingsheng had been planning this entry into the Pass since he captured Liaoyang, and had been preparing for more than half a year, almost emptying the family assets of the Liaoyang gentry, but because Liaoyang itself was poor, even so, it could only be barely maintained...

In order to ensure success in the battle, Ye Mingsheng dispatched the main force of the Fengwu Army in this battle to enter the pass. All the troops that could be mobilized were mobilized. The daily consumption of more than 80,000 horses and men is an astronomical figure. The later support of Liaoyang has been able to maintain until now, and it is almost reaching its limit. Now if more than 13,000 mouths are added, the day of logistics collapse will not be far away!

As if seeing Ye Mingsheng's dilemma, Yuan Song hesitated for a moment and suggested:

"My Lord, please let me see, how about..."

Although Yuan Song did not say the rest of the words, he made a gesture of swinging a knife downwards. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng's heart moved, and he couldn't help but think that this was indeed a good way to solve the current problem. However, Ye Mingsheng soon realized that it was inappropriate, shook his head and gave up this idea.

In name, he was fighting this battle under the banner of upholding justice for the people and overthrowing Zhao Fuqu's tyrannical order. But now that he had killed these prisoners, it was a small matter to slap himself in the face. The important thing was that if the news got out, it would easily anger the people of Youyan and make them stand together with the Yan army to share the same hatred of the enemy. It would also strengthen the fighting will of the remaining Yan army and increase the difficulty of the subsequent war!

After Yuan Song finished speaking, he seemed to feel that he had come up with a bad idea and stopped making this suggestion.

After thinking for about a cup of tea, Ye Mingsheng still couldn't come up with any good ideas, so he ordered:

“First, arrest those prisoners of war who oppress the people and commit crimes, and let them report on each other. As for the next arrangements, let me think about it first…”

"Yes!"

Yuan Song nodded and left.

After Yuan Song left, Ye Mingsheng thought for another half an hour, a gleam of light gradually appeared in his eyes, and he shouted outside the tent:

"Somebody come!"

Following Ye Mingsheng's order, Qi Dechao immediately walked into the tent and asked:

"My lord, what are your orders?"

Ye Mingsheng asked directly:
"Is Gu Shouting here?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Qi Dechao thought for a moment and replied:
"He came last night. Do you want to see him, sir?"

"Well! Let him in!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded and said:

"Understood, I'll bring him over right away!"

About an incense stick later, Qi Dechao brought Gu Shouting into the tent. Although he had never met Ye Mingsheng before, when Gu Shouting saw the young man who held a high position in the tent and had an imposing manner without even getting angry, he realized at a glance that this man was Ye Mingsheng, the Liaoyang governor who was rumored to have the eyes of an eagle and the back of a wolf!

Looking at Ye Mingsheng's young appearance, Gu Shouting couldn't help but feel a little emotional. He and Ye Mingsheng were of similar age, and he was from a famous family. He was young and ambitious. His starting point was many times higher than Ye Mingsheng who came from a poor family. However, Ye Mingsheng was now a local lord commanding thousands of troops, while he was wasting his time and achieving nothing...

Although he had many feelings in his heart, Gu Shouting showed no dissatisfaction at all. Without waiting for Qi Dechao to introduce him, he took the initiative to kneel down and clasped his fists and said:

"I, Gu Shouting, greet the commander-in-chief!"

Looking at the humble young talent in front of him, Ye Mingsheng looked at him deeply, then a smile appeared on his face. He stood up from his seat, helped Gu Shouting up and said:

"Although I live in the bitter cold of Liaoyang, I have heard of Mr. Gu's great name for a long time. I see today that he is truly extraordinary!"

Looking at the smile on Ye Mingsheng's face and listening to his words, Gu Shouting felt relieved temporarily.

Before meeting Ye Mingsheng, Gu Shouting was very confident about the two cards in his hand, thinking that Ye Mingsheng would definitely use him. However, after meeting Ye Mingsheng in person, for some reason his confidence was gradually declining. Now, the goodwill shown by Ye Mingsheng undoubtedly gave him confidence again...
(End of this chapter)