Chapter 6 Sun Wentai, the fierce tiger of the late Han Dynasty
Didao County was changed to Lintao in the Tang Dynasty.
It's the Lintao where "the Big Dipper is high and Geshu carries a knife at night".
Didao is close to the Taoshui River. Outside the city, there are tents stretching for several miles by the river, and groups of horses are brought to the river to drink water.
Everywhere the horses passed by, they left horse manure on the ground, and the pungent smell was enough to frighten any warrior who dared to look at the dripping blood.
At the end of the You hour and the beginning of the Xu hour, night falls, and the clouds and dark sun shine hazily under the dusk. The setting sun shines obliquely, through the thick clouds, and reflects on the vast land covered with green grass and vegetation.
In the Han Dynasty, when the upper reaches of the Yellow River had not been completely destroyed, Liangzhou at this time was not a desert. Instead, it was full of green mountains and green waters, full of vitality.
"Enemy attack!"
At this moment, with the sound of a long and sharp roar, the Nancheng camp that should have fallen into silence seemed to suddenly wake up from the deathly silence.
The sound of ping-ping war drums and horns is endless. In several camps that are horns with each other, groups of soldiers emerge from behind the crenellations of the rammed-earth village walls. On the Didao Castle Tower not far away, figures keep popping up.
Standing all over the city wall.
The bow was strung up and the sword was unsheathed, and everywhere there was the clang of armored leaves, anxious and angry urging, uniform shouts, short and urgent orders, sharp whistles, and the loud noise of galloping horses.
Let the entire camp turn into a mess.
The Han generals who lived in the city stood on the city wall and looked out.
I saw a dense black line appearing on the horizon in the distance. The first thing that caught my eye was a row of horses running wildly. Dust was flying all over the sky. Then the whole earth seemed to be shaking, reflected in the setting sun.
Below, the endless figures seemed to fill the entire horizon.
The raised military flags, the galloping horses, and the soldiers walking forward in groups. This is the scene that Xiliang people are most familiar with, and it is also the scene that Xiliang people are most afraid of. Everything is telling Han Sui's rebels—
—The officers and soldiers are coming.
"Dido County!"
As the vanguard of the team, Dong Zhuo sat high on his horse, squinting his eyes and looking at the city at the end of the rushing Tao River in the distance.
Han Sui's rebels were too numerous to live in the county town, so they all lived outside the city. More than 100,000 troops with tents stretching for miles? Are they densely stationed by the river?
Looking from a distance, the enemy camp is in chaos.
"General? The bandit camp is in chaos? It's a good time to attack."
Xu Rong looks far away.
The camp outside the city was buzzing with excitement. Groups of soldiers turned into small black dots in the setting sun and ran quickly towards the grassland by the river. After getting on their horses, they quickly headed to the south of the city. There were only a few soldiers leaving the camp. They had not lined up yet.
A good phalanx? Obviously, we did not expect that the army would suddenly attack in the evening.
"Um."
Dong Zhuo nodded slowly. He was also an experienced veteran in Liangzhou who had fought with the Qiang and Hu people for half his life. He was well versed in the habits of the Qiang and Hu people. The Hu people lived among water and grass? During the war, would horses be left to graze on the riverside grasslands?
They assemble during wartime.
Now when their own army arrived, the Qiang and Hu people suddenly did not gather their war horses to ride, which shows that they realized that the official army had arrived, and this was a good opportunity for a surprise attack.
"Send the order, the entire army attacks!"
Dong Zhuo waved the ring-shou sword and let out a long roar.
"All troops attack!"
More than a dozen generals and messengers dispersed to issue orders to officers at all levels.
The first to take action were naturally the cavalry.
Dong Zhuo himself had 30,000 troops, and Zhang Wen gave him all Geng Bi's 20,000 cavalry and the newly recruited Qiang and Hu cavalry? So his total force was close to 60,000, including 30,000 cavalry alone.
Most of these cavalry are Qiang and Hu people. They are skilled in bow and horse and can be said to be the best in the world. Under the orders of officers at all levels to "slow down", "be quiet" and "maintain formation"? Rows of cavalry began to gather into formation.
? Surrounding behind the general Dong Zhuo, showing an awl formation.
"First shot!"
The messenger once again issued Dong Zhuo's order.
At this time, the cavalry formation was close to the camp, more than a hundred meters away. Almost at the moment the order was issued, all the Qiang and Hu people instinctively raised their bows. Under their deliberate control, the horse speed, although not very fast, was quite high.
It's a slow trot, but it's amazing enough.
Except for a few high-ranking generals from the border areas among the Han people, such as Liu Bei, Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu, Gongsun Zan and others who could do this and even shoot left and right, none of the top military generals in the Central Plains could do it.
But almost all of the Qianghu people and Huns in Xiliang, the Xianbei people in Youzhou, and the Wuhuan people can draw a bow and shoot an arrow from the back of a running horse!
"Fire the arrow!"
Following the sound of countless strings, clusters of iron-tipped arrows as thick and long as tree trunks, whistling like ghosts and wolves, covered the sky and covered the sun like raindrops, and were thrown towards Han Sui's army, which was still lined up outside the camp.
Dense arrows rained into the enemy camp, and screams and wails were heard. Han Sui's army was in chaos, and many people had begun to flee subconsciously.
"Second round of shooting!"
When the distance reached a hundred meters, the herald roared angrily.
"Boohoo!"
The cavalrymen drew arrows skillfully and drew their bows. The second round was no longer throwing upwards to the sky, but the arrows were pointing downwards, close to a horizontal shooting angle.
The arrows cut through the void and came towards you, enough to scare any brave man to the point of pissing his pants.
At this moment, Han Sui's infantry could no longer hold on. The first row of soldiers dropped their weapons and ran away. However, they were hit by dense rain of arrows and fell to the ground. The front row fell in pieces, and the back row turned around.
Start running towards the camp.
"kill!"
Dong Zhuo hung the curved bow in his hand on the side of his horse, drew out his long sword, and took the lead in shouting angrily: "Charge into the camp!"
Boom!
It's like the thunder of thunder, or the roar of the Yellow River.
The horses that were originally just trotting at a constant speed were pushed with all their strength, and the distance of less than tens of meters was enough for the horses to show their full explosive power.
The strong horses galloped like flying, neighing in the cold wind howling in the evening.
In just a moment, 30,000 cavalrymen had already entered the camp in a cone shape.
Why did the rebels leave the camp to form a formation?
Because of the lack of wood in the border grassland, the army could not cut down trees to make fences when setting up camp.
Therefore, except for a few rammed-earth walls built by dug earth, there was no defense in other places. The cavalry could directly rush into the camp and trample the tent that was as tall as one person.
Thirty thousand galloping horses rolled up a torrent and rushed into the camp, causing a bloody storm.
Not far away, on the city wall of Didao County, Han Sui opened his eyes wide and watched helplessly as the army rushed into his camp.
Although the soldiers were ordered to defend as quickly as possible, the enemy came too fast. The soldiers who were already in a completely relaxed state could not react at all, and were already killed by the enemy.
Han Sui looked gloomy and said to his future son-in-law Yan Xing: "Yan Ming, the army is attacking, why is there no movement at all from Geng Bi's side?"
Yan Xing was also confused and said tentatively: "Maybe these are not Geng Bi's officers and soldiers."
"Whose is that?"
"General, look, the flag of the leader says "Dong", could it be Dong Zhuo?"
"Huangfu Song!"
Han Sui gritted his teeth. He didn't know that Huangfu Song had been imprisoned and Zhang Wen had been secretly transferred here. He thought it was Huangfu Song's fault.
Yan Xing asked: "General, what should we do now?"
Han Sui slapped the city wall hard and said angrily: "Send the order to withdraw the troops."
"Where to retreat?"
"Summer."
"only."
Yan Xing dismounted in a hurry and left. He had always been brave and had a high prestige in the army. Now only he could calm down the defeated soldiers.
After a fierce battle all night, Han Sui suffered heavy casualties and was defeated all the way. He fled overnight to Daxia County northwest of Didao.
After arranging the troops and horses, it was found that there were 10,000 casualties, more than 20,000 people had fled, and only 80,000 of the more than 100,000 troops were left. In this battle, Han Sui was only attacked by Dong Zhuo, the forward army of the official army, and it was a huge defeat.
After returning to Daxia County to rest for two days, Han Sui received the news that it was not Huangfu Song who led the army to attack him this time, but Sikong Zhang Wen, one of the three princes.
Moreover, the internal agents he arranged around Geng Bi, that is, the person who killed Geng Bi in history, including Geng Bi Yangqiu and other people around the Liangzhou governor, were all controlled by Zhang Wen. Geng Bi's
The military power was also taken away, making it impossible for his internal agents to come and report the news.
"hateful!"
Han Sui was extremely angry and said angrily: "Who saw through my plan?"
Wang Guoliang, Li Xiangru, Huang Yan and others looked at each other in shock.
They also knew that Han Sui had already made a plan, but the specific plan was unknown.
"The general had already laid an ambush around Geng Bi. When Geng Bi came with his troops, he led his soldiers to mutiny. We rushed out again. Unexpectedly, the imperial court sent Zhang Wen over and killed all the people around Geng Bi.
Keep it under control, no information can be provided to us from within."
Yan Xing saw their confusion and explained in one fell swoop.
Only then did Li Xiangru understand why Han Sui had so vowed to defeat Geng Bi before, but now the imperial army came to kill him. As the rebellious former Longxi governor, he said in a panic: "Now is not the time to think about this. Now the imperial army is coming to kill.
What should we do?"
"For the present plan, we can only return to Jincheng first and then make plans."
Han Sui thought about it and felt that this was the only way to do it. His original plan was to annex Geng Bi's troops after defeating Geng Bi, and then attack the Sanfu area with an army of 200,000, burning, killing, and looting to replenish military supplies.
Now that there is a big defeat, morale has dropped, and the imperial court is full of momentum. We should retreat first to stabilize the morale and wear down the morale of the imperial officers and soldiers.
Just when Han Sui was about to withdraw his troops from Longxi County and return to Jincheng County.
The officers and soldiers who had recaptured Didao County were stationed outside the city. Zhang Wen began to discuss merits and rewards in the county government office. As one of the three princes and an official on holiday, his status was far higher than that of Huangfu Songlu Zhi.
Zhu Junping was much taller when he was in Yellow Turban.
Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi and Zhu Jun could only promote minor officials. Zhu Jun had to ask the court for instructions if he wanted to appoint Sun Jian as a military commander, while Zhang Wen had the power to directly appoint officials.
"Everyone who defeated the enemy in this battle and achieved a complete victory will be rewarded."
Zhang Wen said with a smile: "The first contribution was made by Dong Zhuo, who conquered Didao, and the second contribution was made by Zhou Shen, who conquered Shouyang. I will commend you two for their achievements."
Previously, Dong Zhuo led the forward army to surround Shouyang. Since the city gate of Shouyang was tightly closed, Dong Zhuo's cavalry could not attack for a long time. After the Chinese army arrived, Zhou Shen continued the siege, while Dong Zhuo led the forward army north to Didao County. Just at dusk, Han Sui's troops were defeated in one fell swoop.
In this way, one of the two defeated Han Sui's main force, and the other captured Shouyang County, which was naturally the first and second success.
It's just that one of Dong Zhuo and Zhou Shen's current official positions is general of polu and general of gangsters. Although they are generals with various titles, they are still generals after all, with a rank of two thousand stones. Zhang Wen will definitely not be able to reward them, so he can only ask Luoyang. Ask for instructions.
"Thank you Ming Gong."
The two of them stood up and bowed to express their thanks.
After the two of them finished saluting, the main event came next. Many low-level officers were eagerly waiting for their rewards.
"In the battle of Didao, I heard that there was a warrior named Ma Teng. Where is Ma Teng?"
Ma Teng, who had been appointed Army Sima by Geng Bi before and became a mid-level officer, was overjoyed. He entered the hall, bowed his hands to Zhang Wen in front of the senior officials on the left and right and said, "Ming Gong, Ma Teng is here."
Zhang Wen looked up and down and saw Ma Teng's extraordinary momentum and majesty. He nodded and said: "Yes, you killed 37 enemies in this battle. You are unparalleled in bravery. You are worthy of the general."
"Thank you Minggong!"
Ma Teng went out excitedly.
General Pi was an official position created during the reign of Wang Mang. It was awarded to the local county magistrate for 600 shi. The Eastern Han Dynasty inherited this official position and belonged to a low-level general inferior to the general, captain, and army commander.
It seems that Ma Teng was previously a Sima of the Thousand-Shi Army, but now he has been demoted as a General of the Six-Hundred Stone Army.
However, except for the standing army, Army Sima is a temporary official position in other armies. The position will be gone after the war, which does not have much meaning. Now becoming General Pi is a fixed position, which is equivalent to a temporary worker becoming a regular employee. Ma Teng is naturally very happy.
"Where is Sun Jian?"
Zhang Wen asked again.
Sun Jian was outside the door and came in: "Ming Gong."
"You attack Shouyang, take the lead, be the first to board the city, kill 26 people, and move to the Northern Army Sima."
"Thank you Ming Gong."
Sun Jian was very happy. He was invited by Zhang Wen to join the army. This position was also a temporary position. But now that he was promoted to Sima of the Northern Army, it was a real job of Qianshi, and he finally got ahead.
certainly.
If Sun Jian knew that Liu Bei, who debuted with him in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, had served as a Sima of the Northern Army three years ago and was now far ahead of him, I don't know what he would think.
But of course he didn't know this, and he was still very grateful to Zhang Wen for his promotion. After all, before being invited by Zhang Wen to join the army, Sun Jian was just Zhu Jun's Sima of another department, and he was still a temporary worker. Now he finally has a real job. Really It's not easy.
After Zhang Wen rewarded other mid-level officers with meritorious services, he finally set the tone and said with a smile: "The soldiers fought with their lives and worked hard. Please pass on my order and reward the three armies."
"Oh oh oh oh oh!"
When the news spread, the camp outside the city cheered. When the rear army's baggage troops arrived, piles of coins were transported to the military camp to reward the soldiers.
In order to completely pacify Xiliang, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty made great efforts. Not only did he use the money collected in the past two years, he also gave him the elite of the Northern Army. Naturally, Zhang Wen did not want to follow Huangfu Song's old path, but he still had to boost morale.
OK.
After the battle was won and rewards were given, Gai Xun stood up and said: "Ming Gong, at this time we should take advantage of the victory to pursue and surround Daxia County to prevent Han Sui from escaping."
Zhang Wen said: "Yes, that's right. Send the order and the army will set off tomorrow and march into Daxia."
Gai Xun smiled and said: "Ming Gong, based on my understanding of Han Sui, after this man is defeated, he will definitely return to Jincheng County as soon as possible. I'm afraid that when tomorrow comes, only an empty city in Daxia will be left."
"Does Yuan Gu mean to set off today? It's just that we have just discussed the rewards for merit. I'm afraid the soldiers are not that high-end for the war."
Zhang Wen hesitated.
Gai Xun said: "No, the soldiers should have a good rest during the day today and recuperate their energy. In the evening, the army will set off and quietly approach Daxia. Tonight, we will give Han Sui a surprise and keep him awake all night."
"good!"
Zhang Wen thought it was good, nodded and said: "Then let's do it like this."
In the evening of the same day, the officers and soldiers set off towards Daxia County in a mighty manner. The two places were not far apart, which was the distance from Guanghe to Lintao in later generations, which was less than 60 kilometers in total.
The hilly landform of the northwest plateau has become a Gobi desert in later generations, but now there is still vegetation, like a grassland.
After all, soil erosion on the Loess Plateau was not that serious two thousand years ago. At that time, the Xiliang Qianghu and Huns lived by herding like Xianbei. If there was a Gobi, they would have starved to death.
Therefore, the current barren land is only the Hexi Corridor. And Longxi is close to the middle of Sichuan, so the environment is naturally not too bad. The green mountains and green waters along the way cannot be said to be more beautiful than the Central Plains area, but it also adds a unique Jiangnan water town.
Some are magnificent.
It took two or three hours to reach the 60-kilometer distance. It was already dark by this time, and the army was stationed outside the city, corresponding to the Daxia County in the distance and the bandits stationed around the county.
The movement of more than 100,000 troops was too great, and they were soon discovered, and the rebel camp was once again in chaos.
However, seeing that the officers and soldiers did not seem to be moving at all, they slowly calmed down under the comfort of the tribal leaders and middle-level officers. However, the enemy was right around them, and no one could sleep peacefully. The next day, the rebel soldiers were exhausted and miserable.
"Report, General!"
Just as Han Sui was discussing matters with everyone in Daxia County and discussing the next step, soldiers came from outside to report.
Han Sui asked, "What's the matter?"
"Dozens of soldiers and horses came outside the city. The two leading men claimed to be old acquaintances of the general. One was named Gai Xun and the other was Fu Xie. They invited the general to have a talk outside the city."
"Gai Xun and Fu Xie?"
Han Sui's pupils shrank, it turned out to be them, no wonder his plan was seen through.
"It's Governor Fu and Governor Gai."
"If it's the two of them, they really need to meet."
"Chief Han, let's go out and take a look."
Several Qiang and Hu leaders and Xiongnu leaders who were discussing together were in awe when they heard that it was Fu Xie and Gai Xun.
Gai Xun was the former governor of Hanyang. He treated the Qiang and Hu people equally and was very friendly to the Huns.
Later, the Qiang people rebelled. Gai Xun sent troops to fight and was defeated, but the Qiang people did not dare to kill him. The leader of the Qiang people, Dianwu, said that he was a wise man and killing him would be punished by heaven, so he sent people to send him back to Hanyang County.
Don't dare to do harm.
Fu Xie is the current prefect of Hanyang. Like Gai Xun, he implements the policy of ethnic integration. He not only allows the Qiang and Hu people to farm the land, but also has conflicts between Han and Qiang. He has always punished whoever makes mistakes, praises whoever makes sense, and never shows favoritism. Therefore,
It has a high prestige among the Qiang, Hu and Huns.
In history, Fu Xie would be besieged and died by the rebels led by the kingdom. At that time, there were thousands of Huns outside the city. When they heard that the people in the city were Fu Xie, they all ran outside the city and kowtowed to pray for Fu Xie to surrender and stop resisting. Fu Xie
Strictly refuse, generous sacrifice.
Not only the Qiang and Huns admired them, but Han Sui also respected Gai Xun. When he rebelled against Bian Zhang, Gai Xun scolded him. Han Sui cried and said that if you had come earlier, we might be able to change our ways.
There was no turning back now, so he hid his face and led his troops to leave without attacking Gaixun.
So when he heard it was the two of them, Han Sui could only stand up and said helplessly: "Then go out and meet them."
Han Sui led hundreds of soldiers out of the city, and saw a large army camp four miles away at the foot of the rolling hills in the distance. There were dozens of horses within a stone's throw of the city. The leader was none other than his old acquaintance Gai Xun.
Forty-seven-year-old Gai Xun was wearing a long robe, with his beard and sleeves fluttering in the wind.
When many Qiang, Hu and Huns leaders saw him, they quickly got off their horses and bent down to salute the wise man in their eyes.
"Wen Yue, are you willing to come see me?"
Gai Xun sat on the horse and looked at Han Sui sternly: "I told you last time not to make trouble again. After two years of silence, why are you so disobedient and causing trouble again?"
Han Sui said helplessly: "If the imperial court hadn't pressed harder and Geng Bi threatened to kill us, how could I have rebelled?"
"Okay, no need to quibble. You have repeatedly caused chaos and harmed the people, causing loss of life and suffering for all people. You have already committed a lot of sins. Now the imperial army and horses have arrived, and the emperor is sitting in the hall. He wants to rejuvenate the world and spread his influence all over the world. Now only Liangzhou is in rebellion.
, if you still do not surrender and continue to resist stubbornly, disaster is imminent. Why not surrender to the imperial army and follow me back to Luoyang to meet with the Holy One and confess your faults face to face, so as not to make any mistakes again."
Gai Xun bowed his hands to the east to express his respect for Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, and talked eloquently to Han Sui, persuading him to surrender. His words were both harsh and upright.
Although Han Sui felt ashamed, he still gritted his teeth and said: "If you surrender, you will die. Duke Yuan Gu, I respect you as a human being, but I must not surrender. Don't leave today, stay in our army as a hostage
, when my army retreats to Jincheng, I will definitely not harm you."
Fu Xie was furious, drew his sword and shouted: "How dare you, thief!"
"Get 'em!"
Han Sui gave the order.
Yan Xing and the soldiers behind him swarmed forward.
Sun Jian, the guard next to him, glared angrily and shouted: "Sun Jian from Wu County is here, who dares to come up and die!"
Ma Teng whispered to Gai Xun: "Mr. Yuan Gu, leave quickly. I'll wait for you later."
After that, he urged the soldiers to escort Gai Xun and Fu Xie to leave.
Yan Xing took the lead and charged towards Sun Jian. His spear flew across the sky like a meteor and pierced Sun Jian's face.
Sun Jian roared angrily, and the ancient ingot sword flew like a butterfly in his hand. He blocked the spear and then swept and slashed sideways. The two of them fought together, and the fight was dark.
Ma Teng and the other guards stood up and fought with Yan Xingde's men. There were four to five hundred enemies, and they only had thirty or forty people, so they suffered a big loss. But Ma Teng was very brave, and he actually fought hard
Fight to open a road and escort Gai Xun and Fu Xie to escape from the encirclement.
"Sun Wentai hasn't left yet!"
Fu Xie turned around and saw that Sun Jian was still fighting to the death, so he quickly reined in his horse and wanted to go back.
Ma Teng said anxiously: "Young Master, let's go first, and I will rescue him later."
When the two men approached the army camp, Ma Teng led hundreds of cavalry back to rescue Sun Jian.
From a distance, he saw that Sun Jian had been surrounded by enemies, with four people guarding him. Everyone was covered in wounds and struggling to hold on.
Before they could fight in, they saw Sun Jian becoming ferocious, fighting a bloody path, killing dozens of people, and unexpectedly rushed out with four generals.
"Let's go!"
Ma Teng came to rescue him. The two sides had just met. Sun Jian was covered in blood and fell from his horse.
Ma Teng's horse was still galloping, but the man had already bent down to dismount. Before Sun Jian had even landed, he reached out and fished it out. With another lift, he pulled Sun Jian onto his own horse, reined in the horse, turned around and ran back.
This move shocked many Qiang and Hu people. Even the tribe's most powerful equestrian warriors could not do this. For a moment, they even forgot to catch up.
When everyone returned to camp, Zhang Wen was already greeting them at the door.
Seeing that Sun Jian was seriously injured, Zhang Wen was shocked and said: "How about Wentai?"
"I don't mind."
Although Sun Jian was weak, he gritted his teeth and persisted.
"Go to the hospital quickly."
Zhang Wen immediately asked military doctors to rescue him.
When everyone saw that Sun Jian and four guards actually fought their way out from the siege of hundreds of people and killed dozens of people, they were all surprised by his bravery.
Even someone as arrogant as Dong Zhuo could not help but say: "Sun Wentai is really a fierce tiger!"