The moonless and windy night was a little chilly. Although the fire was raging inside the city, the heat wave was far from affecting the outside. Standing in the open space outside the city, a gust of cold wind blew over, and the weather was still quite chilly.
However, at this moment, no one could feel the cold temperature, because this huge victory made everyone extremely excited. Everyone was filled with fervent excitement.
"Lao Guo, you're a little late. You can only drink some soup."
Ang Lee said.
Lao Guo said helplessly, "It's too far away. More than a dozen horses have died, and fifty or sixty soldiers have been left behind. I didn't expect that I would still be late."
Judging from Lao Guo's expression, he seemed to feel sorry for missing a good opportunity to make a contribution. It would be strange if he was in a good mood.
"Oh, it's so serious. This time you brought one or two thousand soldiers and horses, right? Why did I only see so many? "
Ang Lee asked.
Lao Guo was stunned for a moment, and then said, "One or two thousand? Not so many. Only eight hundred soldiers, but each soldier is equipped with two horses, so that they can run faster. The rest of the three hundred soldiers and horses are divided into two groups to go to the other two city gates, so that they can block all the Horse Gangs. "
It turned out that Lao Guo knew the battle was about to start when he saw the fire in the city. Therefore, he made a strategy while marching, and divided the soldiers into three groups to block the Horse Gangs. When they were about to arrive at Old White Town, he left a dozen soldiers to take care of the extra horses, and the rest rushed directly according to the plan.
"Oh, it turns out to be a pair of horses. No wonder I heard there were one or two thousand men. Oh, Lao Guo, more than half of the five hundred Horse Gang trapped in the city should have been killed, and the rest should break out soon. You've come at the right time, so I'll give you the soup. In addition, there are fifty or sixty Horse Gang more than ten miles away in the northwest, who have been hiding.
Ang Lee said.
"No matter whether they have escaped or not, we should go and have a look. You take a hundred men to the northwest and have a look."
Lao Guo ordered his subordinates to take a hundred cavalrymen to the northwest, and stayed to command the encirclement and suppression of the remaining Horse Gangs.
"These five or six hundred men should be the main force of the Horse Gangs. After such a heavy blow today, I'm afraid they can't be so arrogant anymore. However, it's still difficult to eliminate all the Horse Gangs in the Summer Province. The fewer people there are, the easier it is to hide. But if we don't eliminate them completely, they may come back in the future, and the people of the Summer Province will suffer....."
Ang Lee looked at the ruined city gate and said.
"That's right! It's a bit difficult to eliminate the Horse gangs! The fewer people there are, the easier it is for us to hide. However, Mount Qiwu is so big that even tens of thousands of people wouldn't be able to do a comprehensive search. Moreover, if the mounted gangsters smell something wrong, they might run to other provinces and come back after the storm dies down. It is indeed difficult to do. However, it is a good thing that the mounted gangsters are weak. In the future, it will be more convenient for our soldiers to patrol. Previously, we had to send out five hundred men, but in the future, we will only need to send out two hundred men. Also, we will not relax our encirclement and suppression of the mounted gangsters.
.....
. "" That's right! As long as we continue to attack, we will eventually be able to wipe out the Horse Gangs. However, the best way to wipe out the Horse Gangs is not to encircle and suppress them with force, but to allow all the people to obtain wealth through legitimate means. When everyone no longer has to worry about food and clothing, naturally they will not be willing to be Horse Gangs. Not many people are willing to live a life of bloodshed. "
Ang Lee said.
There were only two ways to obtain wealth. One was legal, and the other was illegal. The best way to obtain wealth was to be a merchant. Selling goods was very profitable, while the illegal way was naturally to rob. Horse bandits were doing illegal activities. It was a way to get rich quickly.
However, this kind of illegal way of making money was built on the basis of other people's heavy losses. It must be severely cracked down. Otherwise, if everyone became a horse thief, the social order would be completely messed up. It would be very disadvantageous to the healthy development of the society, and it would even lead to social regression.
A big war would lead to the decline of an empire from prosperity, and the rampant Horse Gangs and other bandits would also cause a heavy loss to an empire. These bandits, which could be seen everywhere, would seriously interfere with the normal economic development of an empire. They were the forces that must be eliminated.
"Assistant Minister Li is right. Let everyone have food to eat and money to spend. This is naturally the best. However, this doesn't seem too realistic! Wealth is always controlled by a few people. Most of the people can only have enough to eat and wear, but some people are not satisfied with that and always think about wealth. So, naturally, they will take risks out of desperation. Horse Gangs are such people. This kind of atmosphere must be severely punished. If everyone thinks that robbery can lead to wealth, what will become of the Tang dynasty? "
Said Lao Guo.
While the two of them were chatting, the tall scar-faced man and a dozen other mounted gangsters who were hiding not far from the west gate had already quietly ran out. When they saw that there were only two soldiers on the platform of the city gate tower, they were overjoyed. To them, the hope of rushing out was much greater.
"This is a good chance. Let's rush out of the gate in one spurt of energy."
The tall scar-faced man shouted, and led a dozen elite Horse Gangs to rush to the gate hole of the west gate, ready to escape from the ruins of Old White City in one spurt of energy.
Because it was too dark, the gate hole was not big, and there were cries and shouts everywhere in the city, so they naturally did not notice Lao Guo's army outside the city. Although 100 people were sent to the northwest, and another 100 scattered around the city wall, there were still 100 cavalrymen left at the gate, who were left by Lao Guo to protect Ang Lee. Nothing was more important than safety.
A group of Horse Gangs suddenly rushed in, which caught the two officers and soldiers unprepared. They had no time to draw their bows and arrows, so they hurriedly lit a fire and threw the torches down the moment the Horse Gangs entered the gate hole.
The fire immediately burned up, but it seemed that the Horse Gangs did not get burned. Because they lit the fire a little late, the Horse Gangs had already entered the gate hole when the fire was burning, and soon broke through the gate hole to get out of the city.
However, it was not safe to assume that the Horse Gangs would be safe after breaking through the gate hole. As soon as they broke through the barrier and got out of the city, they saw Ang Lee and Lao Guo's 100 cavalrymen staring at them in a fan-shaped formation. The tall scar-faced man gasped, and the Horse Gangs behind him were even more frightened. With such a huge gap in strength, it was almost impossible for them to rush out of the city.
"Lao Guo, I'll leave these Horse Gangs to you. The officers and soldiers have come all the way here, and we should let them go back with a meritorious service."
Ang Lee said very considerately.
"Haha, then I won't stand on ceremony. These bastards rarely get such a chance to annihilate the enemy!"
Lao Guo laughed happily.
Over 100 officers and soldiers all drew their bows and arrows, aiming at the Horse Gangs. As long as Lao Guo gave the order, these Horse Gangs would immediately become hedgehogs. But the Horse Gangs had no time to draw their bows and arrows, and they were all stunned with fear.
"I'll give you one last chance. Anyone who surrenders will be spared from death."
Lao Guo asked kindly.
He did not like to kill. Moreover, he had heard that although these Horse Gangs were fierce, they had not killed many people. As long as they surrendered, they could be spared from death, but they would inevitably be imprisoned. But as long as they were not important figures, the punishment would not be too severe, and they would be fine after a period of reform.
"Don't believe him. The imperial court will not let us go. He is deceiving us. Pull out your cavalry swords and fight with them."
The tall scar-faced man shouted at the Horse Gangs behind him to prevent any of them from surrendering.
The Horse Gangs behind him were all trembling with fear. They all saw clearly that the number of officers and soldiers was much greater than theirs. If a fight really broke out, they would have no chance to survive, and would definitely die here.
However, with the tall scar-faced man here, they really did not dare to surrender casually. If they irritated him, he would kill them directly, and even the officers and soldiers would not be able to save them.
"Our second leader is right. We can't trust the officers and soldiers. Let's fight with them."
A Horse Gang pulled out his cavalry sword, but instead of fighting with the officers and soldiers, he suddenly stabbed the sword into the tall scar-faced man's neck, killing him instantly.
This scene surprised everyone. The officers and soldiers did not dare to move without orders, and the Horse Gangs were all scared out of their wits. The tall scar-faced man did not even have a chance to turn around, and fell straight down from the horse. Even Lao Guo and Ang Lee were surprised.
"Brothers, let's surrender! Being a Horse Gang is doomed to have no future. "
The Horse Gang who killed the scar-faced man threw away his weapon, dismounted, and surrendered. The rest of the Horse Gangs also dismounted and surrendered. In this way, the number of Horse Gangs who surrendered at the West Gate had risen to 30, and there should be more at the other two gates. In addition, there should be a lot of wounded Horse Gangs who could not move because of their injuries. The total number should be no less than 100, or even 200. As long as these wounded were not too serious, the imperial court would treat them. It was the safest way to get them back on the right path. It would also be convenient for the rest of the Horse Gangs to surrender, which would be helpful for the eradication of the Horse Gangs in the Summer Province, and help the common people and merchants to get rid of the harassment of Horse Gangs.
"Very good. As long as you can turn over a new leaf, the imperial court will definitely give you a light sentence and won't let you suffer too much. However, a small punishment is also necessary, or we can't explain it to the common people in the Summer Province."
Lao Guo said, and ordered his soldiers to take these surrendered soldiers away.
"Lao Guo, let them be responsible for recruiting the Horse Gangs who are still stubbornly resisting and hiding in the city. Maybe we can get more of them to surrender."
Ang Lee suggested.
"Good idea! Are you willing to recruit your companions? "
Lao Guo asked the Horse Gangs.
"Yes, we are willing."
The Horse Gangs answered in one voice.
However, Ang Lee could also see that these Horse Gangs were not all good people, which could be seen from their eyes.
Some of them were slightly fierce, some were quite tactful, and some were unpredictable. Of course, there were also some who looked kind. This also determined that not all Horse Gangs would truly repent. In the future, some Horse Gangs would become common people, while others would go back to their old jobs, or become ruffians in the marketplace. In short, different Horse Gangs would have different fates in the future, which depended on their own choices.
"Assistant Minister Li, it's getting late. Leave it to me. You and Madam can go and have a rest. It'll be fine. Tomorrow morning, 2,000 people will come to clean up the mess. "
Lao Guo said.
"All right! I'm really sleepy. Madam, let's go. "
Ang Lee left the west gate with Li Hanlu, and went to the camp not far away, where the carriages were hidden. After being tired for most of the night, it was time to have a good rest. Staying up all the time was definitely not good for health, especially if they stayed up all night.
"Madam, you've seen it! This Lao Guo is quite meticulous. 800 soldiers are enough, but he mobilized 2,000 more. Is he afraid that we can't defeat them? Of course not, haha! "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Why is that?"
"No reason. It's getting late. Let's go and have a rest. If we come back tomorrow morning, I don't know what will happen to White City. "
Ang Lee said.
At this moment, Lao Guo and his soldiers had arrived. In this case, Ang Lee didn't need to stay outside the city to command the overall situation. Besides, Lao Guo had come all the way here, so he should at least give him a chance to perform. Otherwise, it would be hard for him to speak well of him in the battle report.
In addition, Li An did not intend to tell the truth. If he told the imperial court about his risky behavior, many people would object. Regardless of whether they supported Li An or opposed Li An, they would all object. In this way, it would not be so easy for Li An to come out to play so wantonly in the future.
The operation of persuading the Horse Gang to surrender went very smoothly. Although many Horse Gang still had a trace of fluke in their hearts, they tried to sneak away through the gaps in the city wall under the cover of darkness. However, after many attempts, they found that all their efforts were in vain. The number of soldiers was much greater than they had imagined, and they couldn't find the gaps at all. In this case, most of the Horse Gang could only choose to launch sneak attacks to save their lives.
Of course, some Horse Gang sneaked back into the city, found some broken walls at random, and hid in the corners. They probably thought that the soldiers wouldn't be able to find them and would leave.
However, these Horse Gang's wishful thinking was wrong. The soldiers didn't mean to leave at all. Most of them surrounded the ruins of White City outside the city wall, and a small number of soldiers entered the city and began to search bit by bit. They also carried the injured Horse Gang to the open space outside the city and settled them down. Those who were seriously injured were directly killed, so that they wouldn't suffer too much pain.
The soldiers didn't hesitate to tie up the Horse Gang members who were injured but still refused to surrender. How could they be soft-hearted when dealing with these Horse Gang members?
In addition, the burned corpses of the Horse Gang members had to be disposed of as soon as possible. Otherwise, it might cause a serious plague. Therefore, some soldiers began to dig a big pit that could hold many people, so that they could conveniently bury all the dead Horse Gang members.
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