When Yang Fan decided to take action, he realized how difficult it was for a person to do something in the chaos of war. This was not as simple as he and Zhang Jianzhi had thought it would be: wait for the conflict to intensify and the Brute Tribe to rebel, then find their leader, understand the pros and cons, and persuade them to stop fighting. Then, use this opportunity to write a letter to impeach the Imperial Envoy Office. Using the backlash from the local people, they could force the Empress to use the Imperial Envoy Office as a scapegoat and quell the anger of the world.
Now that the Brute Tribe had really rebelled, the first thing Yang Fan had to do was find their leader. Just this was not an easy task. Everywhere was chaos. The soldiers that Wen Hao and Yun Xuan did not have time to take with them split up and fought guerrilla warfare with the soldiers of the White Brute Tribe and the Black Brute Tribe.
The armies of both sides were usually farmers, woodcutters, fishermen, and shepherds. There was no discipline to speak of. In addition, they had to rely on themselves for all their supplies. If the armies were too concentrated, they would not be able to find enough food to fill their stomachs. So, other than the stage of attacking Yao Zhou City, the armies of both sides were split up and fought scattered.
This kind of fighting style was very suitable for the tribes here. The scale of this kind of battle was not small for the Brute Tribe, but in the eyes of Yang Fan, who had already seen large armies fight, it was not worth mentioning.
But this kind of battle was actually more suitable for the mountainous and river-filled terrain. Small groups of troops could move nimbly, and it was convenient to resupply. It was far from what an entire army could compare to. The Imperial Court's troops actually had this concern when they used their troops here. Their military superiority could not be displayed here, and they would be dragged to death by the guerrilla warfare that was everywhere.
This kind of scattered fighting that occurred everywhere created great difficulties for travelers, especially for a foreigner like Yang Fan who had been born in this place. It was even more difficult for him to move. He had underestimated Huang Jingrong's ability to cause trouble. When he hurried to Yao Zhou, before he could even catch his breath, Huang Jingrong had forced Xun Qi to rebel.
Yang Fan had just returned from the Southeast Sea. He did not understand the lingering sense of superiority that people like Huang Jingrong had. The arrogance and contempt of the imperial envoy towards the barbarians were not limited to Huang Jingrong. In the various borderlands, there were many people who could drive the barbarian chiefs like dogs. Even in the Tang Dynasty, which was the most tolerant of other races, and Li Shimin had made it a national policy to 'Barbarians are one family', this was not uncommon.
Yang Fan spent two days to not find the Xun Qi chieftain of the White Brute Tribe and was instead suspected to be a spy by a few Brute Tribe soldiers who did not understand the language. If he was not skilled, he would have been killed.
Just when Yang Fan was at his wit's end, the situation on the battlefield suddenly changed. The soldiers of Feng Zhou, Rongzhou, and Lingnan rushed to Yao Zhou to quell the rebellion. When the White Brute Tribe and the Black Brute Tribe heard the news, they immediately pulled back their troops and retreated to their original territory.
Huang Jingrong turned around and swaggered back.
In fact, the soldiers of Feng Zhou, Rongzhou, and Lingnan did not come so quickly. Otherwise, Xun Qi and Meng Zhe Zhu's troops would have reached the border of Feng Zhou and would not have been able to retreat so easily.
After all, the army of the imperial court was well-trained, and the generals were well-versed in the art of war. These tribal soldiers, who had only experienced small-scale conflicts, could not be compared to them. As long as the army of the imperial court pursued and blocked them in an orderly manner, they would definitely suffer heavy casualties.
Feng Zhou, Rongzhou, and Lingnan had indeed sent troops, but not many.
When Huang Jingrong decided to plunder the White Brute Tribe and the Black Brute Tribe's stronghold and provoke them, she had already quickly asked for help from the generals stationed in Feng Zhou, Rongzhou, and Lingnan. She said that they had discovered that the people suspected of rebelling were being protected by the Brute Tribe. The Brute Tribe had ulterior motives and might attack the imperial envoy of the imperial court. She asked the generals of the three regions to send troops to help suppress the situation.
After the generals of the three regions received the imperial envoy's letter, they each sent a guard to Yao Zhou as reinforcements. Because it was just a precaution and they were not sure that the Brute Tribe would rebel, the purpose of sending troops was only to strengthen the imperial envoy's reputation and intimidate the other regions not to act rashly, so they did not send a lot of troops.
But when they were halfway there, Yao Zhou was already a pile of rubble.
Huang Jingrong fled to Wen Hao's stronghold and sent out a messenger to contact the reinforcements. When she heard that the reinforcements had arrived, she immediately got in touch with them and raised a banner, claiming that Feng Zhou, Rongzhou, and Lingnan had each sent thirty thousand troops, a total of ninety thousand soldiers to Yao Zhou. The White Brute Tribe and the Black Brute Tribe did not know the details and could only retreat in a hurry.
These three reinforcements were weak in strength and were only bluffing. They did not dare to split up their troops to avoid being taken advantage of by the Brute Tribe. So the White Brute Tribe and the Black Brute Tribe calmly retreated to their territory, and the imperial court's soldiers also recaptured the city of Yao Zhou without shedding any blood.
This unexpected incident created an opportunity for Yang Fan. Since the White Brute Tribe and the Black Brute Tribe had retreated and their troops were concentrated in one place, it would be much easier for him to find the enemy's chieftain. And now that the imperial court's army had the upper hand, it created the best opportunity for him to negotiate. Thinking of this, Yang Fan immediately rushed to the White Brute Tribe's stronghold.
The place Yang Fan chose was the White River Tribe. This was the White Brute Tribe's stronghold closest to Yao Zhou. The last time Yang Fan came from Yao Zhou, he had asked the people of this tribe for directions and even asked for a drink of water from one of their girls. Yang Fan had a very good impression of them and felt that the people of this tribe were very friendly. Perhaps it would be very easy for him to contact their chieftain, Kaori, through their chief.
Yang Fan led his horse and stood on the hillside, silently looking at the paddy fields in front of him.
Standing on the hillside and looking down, the irregular paddy fields looked even more like the surface of a broken mirror. The white clouds of Lantian were still reflected in the water, but they had already lost the poetic atmosphere. This was because the originally neat bunches of rice in the paddy fields were now crooked. Some were completely collapsed in the water, while others struggled to raise their heads. It was a scene of desolation.
In the distance, there were no fishermen casting nets on the jade-like river, and there were no boatmen rowing boats. There were no girls carrying water on the winding mountain road, and even less of that sweet and moving song.
Yang Fan walked slowly. Suddenly, he stopped and squatted down to take a look. There was a puddle of black and purple congealed substance on the ground. It was dried blood.
Yang Fan let out a light sigh and looked around. He then walked along the path that he had taken the other day.
"Whoosh!"
As soon as the sound entered his ears, Yang Fan quickly dodged and at the same time, held his saber horizontally in front of his chest. An arrow suddenly stabbed into the ground three feet in front of him. A loud shout came from the forest. It was spoken in the local language, and Yang Fan did not understand what the other party was shouting.
Yang Fan was secretly shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, the other party's arrow was of a warning nature. Otherwise, with the speed of the arrow and the cover of the branches and leaves of the forest, it would have been difficult for him to dodge.
Seven or eight mountain people suddenly emerged from the forest with spears in their hands. They were dressed in white, but it was unknown how they hid themselves. Even with Yang Fan's sharp senses, he did not notice any clues.
The mountain people here were indeed natural forest combat experts. Their concealment technique could perfectly conceal their body and breath. Even the most sensitive beasts could not easily detect them, let alone humans.
"Don't attack! I have an important matter to discuss with your chief! "
As soon as Yang Fan saw someone appear, he immediately put away his saber and raised his hands to show that he was not hostile. At the same time, he shouted at the top of his lungs. Unexpectedly, when the other party heard his voice, they became angry.
"It's a Han!"
"He must be Huang Jingrong's man!"
"Kill him!"
The main body of the White Barbarians were originally Han people. It was just that they had lived in the area for a long time and had become barbarian. However, they had not forgotten their mother tongue. As soon as they heard Yang Fan speak in Chinese, the people immediately switched to Chinese. Some shouted in surprise, some turned to report to the distant forest, and some could not hold back and pounced on Yang Fan with red eyes.
"Don't attack! I'm not Huang Jingrong's man! "
Yang Fan did not want to fight back, so he could only dodge to the side and very nimbly avoided the three spears. The other mountain people saw that Yang Fan was skilled and actually rushed over together. Seven or eight spears fiercely stabbed at him. Yang Fan could only retreat to the side of the forest and continued to shout, "I have an important matter to discuss with your chief, don't attack!"
"Whoosh!"
As Yang Fan retreated, he suddenly tripped, as if he had tripped on a rope. Yang Fan was shocked. He had been in Southeast Asia for a long time and had personally made and even set up traps and hidden weapons to capture beasts, so he was not unfamiliar with these things.
Sure enough, a bamboo racket full of sharp bamboo stakes pounced towards him. If he was hit by it, his body would immediately have more than a dozen see-through holes. At this time, behind him, seven or eight sharp spears were also thrusting towards him. On the other side, there was a big tree on one side, and on the other side was an open field.
In a split second, Yang Fan immediately thought that if it was him, he would definitely dig a big hole in the open field and stick sharp bamboo in it. These mountain people were skilled hunters and would not have thought of this, so he immediately rushed towards the big tree. He was so fast that it seemed like he was going to crash into the thick tree.
The bamboo racket hit empty air and the spears also missed their target. Yang Fan rushed towards the bottom of the tree. Just as he was about to crash into the tree, he exerted force with both feet on the ground and wanted to use the momentum to jump up to the top of the tree. In the end, with a tap of his foot, a large net suddenly sprang up from the dead leaves and branches, trapping him within. The rope quickly tightened and his whole body was suspended in the air.
Yang Fan still had a knife in his hand. He immediately pulled it out and looked down. Then he obediently sheathed the knife and gave up resisting.
Another seven or eight mountain people rushed out from below, holding simple bamboo bows in their hands. They were pointing at him who was trapped in the net. It was impossible for him to avoid these arrows while he was trapped in the net.
The bamboo bows and arrows used by these mountain people were much more powerful than the bows and arrows used by the Tang and northern nomads. Even if they hit the human body, they would not penetrate too deeply. But Yang Fan knew that the power of the southern people's arrows did not lie in the arrow itself, but in the various strange poisons on the arrowheads. Even if it was just a scratch, it was enough to take his life. This was far more terrifying than a real hard crossbow.
The only thing Yang Fan could do was to shout, "Don't do it! I have something to discuss with your chief! I … I know your little princess Xun Er! I also know Miss Xun Er's sister-in-law! "
…
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