"You're a subordinate of Great General Blacktooth Changzhi?"
Hearing this, the burly man's interest was piqued. He turned around and squatted down next to Yang Fan.
Blacktooth Changzhi was a native of Baekje, but he had become a Great General of the Tang Empire. He had spent his entire life in the military and rarely suffered a defeat.
Yang Fan had spent more than half a year in the Western Regions and had frequent contact with Gaoshe Chickens and other Western Regions soldiers. He knew that in the border army, especially the minority soldiers, Blacktooth Changzhi was worshipped like a god. Many people viewed him as a role model.
The burly man surnamed Fei asked in high spirits, "Are you really a soldier of Great General Blacktooth Changzhi? Great General Blacktooth Changzhi even fought in our region. It's a pity that I was still young at the time, or else I would have joined Great General Blacktooth Changzhi as a soldier. "
Yang Fan said, "I am indeed a soldier under Great General Blacktooth Changzhi. Because I am a clever man, I have always been a scout under the Great General's command and have made many contributions. Later on, Great General Blacktooth Changzhi was framed by a scoundrel. He didn't die on the battlefield, but lost his life in prison. We all hate him to the core! "
The burly man surnamed Fei worshipped Blacktooth Changzhi to the extreme. When mentioning Blacktooth Changzhi's hatred, he couldn't help but curse. The burly man surnamed Fei cursed the Imperial Court with spittle flying everywhere. He then glanced at Yang Fan and asked him about the situation in the Western Regions and how he had been promoted. Yang Fan knew that the burly man was still somewhat wary of him, so he carefully answered.
He said that after Blacktooth Chang Zhi's death, Lou Shide had taken him under his command and made him one of Great General Lou's personal guards. In a battle with the Turks, he had coincidentally saved Great General Lou's life, allowing him to be promoted step by step. This time, the Imperial Court had mobilized soldiers from all over the country for the northern expedition, so he had led his troops back from Helong.
Yang Fan was very familiar with the Helong area. He knew the geography, scenery, environment, and even the customs there like the back of his hand. He even attributed many of the deeds of the Koshek chickens when they were scouts to himself.
When this burly man was a soldier, he had been transferred to the Helong region to participate in a battle, so he had a good understanding of the local customs. He also had a good understanding of the life habits of scouts and some of the deeds of spying on the enemy. After listening to Yang Fan's explanation and verifying it with his own knowledge, this seemingly reckless but actually meticulous man truly believed Yang Fan's words.
Although the two of them were still enemies, one of them had already been captured, so there was no need to fight. Thus, after this conversation, the relationship between the two of them had unknowingly become much more harmonious.
The burly man surnamed Fei and Yang Fan had exchanged names. This burly man surnamed Fei was called Fei Mo. Patting on Yang Fan's shoulder, Fei Mo said with regret, "If you're just a small soldier, I can let you go. Unfortunately, you're a general of the imperial court. I can't make the decision on my own. "
Yang Fan replied, "I understand. You and I each serve different masters, so this is how it should be. To receive such treatment from you, this Yang is grateful. However … "
Yang Fan turned his head to look at the other people tied up under the trees and asked, "Why have you captured so many generals? Are you planning to sue for peace with the imperial court?"
Although Fei Mo's appearance was crude, his heart wasn't. He didn't directly answer, only chuckling and saying, "We Khitans have no ambition to rule over others. We just want a way out, but the imperial court won't give us one. Otherwise, why would we be happily herding cattle on the prairie? Why would we be fighting here?"
"Alright!"
Fei Mo patted his butt and stood up. "It's impossible for me to let you go. Since you're a former subordinate of General Blacktooth, I can take care of you and ensure that you won't be mistreated. You'll eat a bit more than the other captives. However, you'll have to be a bit more obedient. If you have any crooked ideas, I'll be the first to kill you! "
Yang Fan said, "Right now, this Yang is your prisoner. I'm grateful for this kind of care. I just don't understand … we have no less than one hundred and sixty thousand soldiers, all elites and generals, how … how could we suffer a crushing defeat? "
Yang Fan's question scratched Fei Mo's itch. Fei Mo squatted down again and said with a self-satisfied smile, "In the eyes of you Tang people, we Khitans are weak herdsmen who only know how to herd horses and sheep. You people have never put us in your eyes. Your defeat is due to your arrogance!
Do you think we Khitans are so easy to bully? Even if it's the Turkic cavalry that you fear the most, who repeatedly invaded the Tang dynasty from Liangzhou and Lingwu, why didn't they invade from our prairie and then go south? Do you think they are relying on the protection of the imperial court? Bah! "
Fei Mo spat heavily and said, "That's because we Khitans are not easy to deal with. We are good at fighting and are the heroes of the prairie. For a long time, we have been oppressed by the imperial court and your border generals. We have swallowed our anger and refused to resist because compared to the Tang dynasty, our people are too weak. But we have endured step by step. What did we get in exchange? In exchange, you people want a foot after giving us an inch! "
When Fei Mo spoke of the resentment, his eyes were about to spit fire.
Yang Fan hurriedly said, "I'm just a small officer. I can't ask about these things. I'm just curious. You have sixty to seventy thousand men at most, right? How could you eat up our army of one hundred and sixty thousand? And in one gulp? "
Fei Mo sneered, "That's because you are too arrogant!"
He told her how he had set up a bait at the entrance of the Yellow Deer Valley to lure the main force of the Zhou army to rush in. Then he used the terrain of the valley to cut off the connection between the main force of the cavalry and the infantry. He used the geographical advantage and a large number of fireworks to cause the main force of the Zhou army to collapse without fighting. The frightened horses trampled each other, causing countless deaths and injuries. As a result, they had wiped out the cavalry with a very small price.
Complacently he continued, "The cavalry has been completely annihilated, your infantry is out of luck. Other than a small number of soldiers who escaped up the mountain, the rest are still living in the jungle as savages. From the Yellow Deer Valley all the way to the place where we set up the ambush yesterday, it is a flat plain, most suitable for cavalry to gallop. How could those fleeing infantry outrun our horses? They have been completely annihilated by us.
We had originally planned to set up an ambush in the Yellow Deer Valley. However, along the way, there were corpses everywhere. There was no time to deal with them. If you continue forward, you will definitely find something suspicious. So our Grand Marshal came up with another plan. He used the military seal he seized to write a military order. He pretended that the front line had won a great victory. He wanted you to abandon your supplies and march at full speed to participate in the encirclement and annihilation!
Hey! Sure enough, you came obediently. After traveling day and night, you ran until your men and horses were exhausted. There was no way you could fight. Moreover, the cavalry and infantry were dragging their feet and completely separated from each other. It was difficult for them to coordinate with each other. From the way you marched, it is obvious that you did not take us seriously at all. If you did not lose, who would? "
Yang Fan thought of the Grand Steward Yan who was dressed like a golden-armoured deity. He could not help but laugh bitterly. After a moment of silence, he asked, "You have the military seal and can forge the military order. However … the Grand General's signature on it, is it also forged?"
Fei Mo smiled and said, "This signature is genuine. It was personally written by your Right Jin Wu Wei General, Zhang Xuanyu."
Yang Fan secretly clenched his teeth.
Fei Mo became even more complacent when she saw that he was angry. She said, "Your troops were trapped in the valley like a herd of cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Tens of thousands of troops were stuck in the valley, and before we could even make a move, they trampled over each other in panic. The number of casualties was innumerable. We easily annihilated the most difficult part of your main force and captured your commander alive.
That Left Jin Wu Wei General, Cao Renshi, refused to sign his name on the forged military order. Our Khan chopped off his dog head. As a result, your Right Jin Wu Wei General, Zhang Xuanyu, was so scared that his face turned ashen. He hurriedly signed his name. Hehe, from the beginning to the end, he did not even dare to let out a fart! "
The corner of Yang Fan's eyes twitched. He said with hatred, "Underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly caused the deaths of 100,000 soldiers in the front line. It is already a sin that cannot be redeemed even with a hundred deaths. Furthermore, you are afraid of death and sent 60,000 soldiers in the rear into the tiger's mouth! Zhang Xuanyu! Hehe! What a Zhang Xuanyu! "
Fei Mo smiled and said, "You don't have to blame him so much. After your army of a hundred thousand was annihilated, the remaining sixty thousand soldiers were destined to die. Without that forged military order, you all would have died all the same. That military order isn't of much use to you, it's only useful to us. With this military order, we were able to easily destroy your rear line. Including the dead and injured, there were less than 10,000 soldiers, and this includes the casualties from attacking your supply. "
Yang Fan was shocked and involuntarily cried out, "You also attacked our supply camp?"
Fei Mo said, "Since we killed the snake, we naturally had to follow up with another attack. The infantry behind you were even worse off. When we attacked overnight, most of them were sleeping like dead pigs. It was not easy to wake some of them up, but their legs were weak and they had no strength to raise their hands. They couldn't even kill a chicken.
We dealt with them as if we were chopping melons and vegetables. After that, we rushed straight to your supply camp. We thought that the supply camp would be the easiest to deal with, but we did not know who was the one escorting the rations. He dug pits for horses, set up spears for horses, and even brought many thorns to block the way. He even built a wooden wall outside the camp and the sentries were ten li away.
Damn it, in Tang territory, we only stayed for one night and had to leave early in the morning. Was there a need to go through so much trouble? In the end … the ambush did not succeed. It was only when the sky was bright that we cleared the perimeter and approached the camp. Seeing that they could not hold on any longer, the general took the initiative to give up the rations and gathered the remaining soldiers to escape to Horse City.
Damn it, as the vanguard, I originally wanted to annihilate them all. But the general who was transporting the rations set the camp on fire before he left. If we had chased after him, the rations would have been burnt to a crisp. Left with no choice, I could only turn back to save the rations. "
Yang Fan blurted out, "The rations were burnt to a crisp?"
Fei Mo laughed, "In your dreams. Although half of the rations were burnt, the amount we saved is enough for us to eat for a month!"
Yang Fan was greatly disappointed. After a moment of silence, he said, "The general in charge of transporting the rations is called Li Duozuo. If he had been the commander-in-chief, I'm afraid … we might not have been completely wiped out. Sigh! Since General Li returned to Horse City, what about the general in charge? Even Chief Steward Yan was captured alive by you? "
Fei Mo said, "We did not see that Chief Steward Yan, but your Deputy Chief Steward Zong Huaichang was trapped by us. We wanted to capture him alive, but he ended up killing himself."
Hearing this, Yang Fan could not help but fall silent.
At this time, someone shouted from the hillside, "Fei Mo, prepare to reorganize the army, we are moving into the mountains!"
Fei Mo hastily agreed, and hurriedly said to Yang Fan, "If you know your place, you won't have to suffer much. Otherwise, I won't be able to protect you!" She then hurriedly ran up the hill.
Yang Fan tried to break free from the ropes but gave up in the end, thinking, "We are already in the mountains, and we still have to move into the mountains? That's right, no wonder I haven't seen any women or children. Their base shouldn't be here. If we reach their base, the security will be lax. With Fei Mo's friendship, we might have a chance to escape! "
… …
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