novel
| ← Ch.207 | Ch.209 → |
Chapter 208
Chapter 209 - One Thousand Deserters
October 27th.
7 AM.
The Imperial Army left Nie County and continued their journey to Jinyang today. Liu Ping managed to extort tributes from the locals and the Prefect of the city. He also conscripted more troops for his crusade. From the 130, 000 men, it increased by another 30, 000 men from the nobles' private soldiers, townsmen, mercenaries, and slaves.
The provision life of Liu Ping Army increased by a month, which was more than enough last until the end of December.
From Liu Ping's point of view, he could extort more from Jinyang and any county along the way to Julu. Therefore, food was not his concern anymore.
'Jinyang City has Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, and Gao Shun. I want to recruit these guys to my side, ' Liu Ping thought.
'Lu Bu fought with Tong, but I don't know why. I have to investigate this when I get in Jinyang. If the cause of the fight is favorable, I can bribe Lu Bu to kill Ding Yuan and join me as Dong Zhuo did in history. Then, I'll let him kill Tong for me. '
'I won't be stupid like Dong Zhuo. Once Lu Bu completes his job, I'll kill him. '
'HAHAHAHA! I'm a genius!'
...
October 28th. Noon.
Zhang Yang and his 30, 000 soldiers managed to reach Nie County, but they did not have all 30, 000 horses like when they retreated from the battlefield.
In the past couple of days, they did not have enough food. As a result, they had to kill three hundred of their warhorses each day as they were the last source of food this winter.
Though they lost only six hundred warhorses, which was insignificant compared to the entire army of 30, 000 men, it still hurt the soldiers' pride and their morale. The horses were like their children that had been with them since they entered the army. The two hundred soldiers who lost their warhorses even cried when they found out that their horses were chosen as food.
Two hundred soldiers, who lost their horses, requested Zhang Yang that they wished to retire once they reached Nie County as they did not have the heart to continue being a soldier anymore.
Zhang Yang despised these weak-willed soldiers, yet he had a soft heart when it came to treating his subordinates. He decided to reduce the size of his army to keep his provision afloat. Keeping discouraged soldiers in the army would only waste their supplies.
"If there is anyone who doesn't want to fight anymore, you can leave. However, you can only leave this place naked! Leave your armor, your weapons, your uniform, and your horses here."
Zhang Yang made a public declaration, which shocked his soldiers.
"M-My Lord, it is winter. Letting them leave naked is a bit..." A thousand-man commander protested.
"I'm being lenient, soldier! If it were other generals, they would have executed all deserters and those crying babies a long time ago."
Zhang Yang continued organizing his men, "We'll continue eating our warhorses in the next few days until we reunite with the Emperor's Army. For now, rest our horses here. We will continue moving at noon!"
"General, why don't we get the food from the local instead of killing our horses?"
"And how do you think we can get our food, soldier?"
"Trade it with our armors, weapons, or horses? Instead of killing horses for food, trading them will return us with more food."
"Fool! Give weapons and horses to the civilians? Are you out of your mind!? The enemy will definitely pursue us and get our weapons and horses that we leave behind! How could you have become a commander with your brain!?"
The thousand-man commander sighed. He noticed Zhang Yang flaws in his leadership. A good commander would have tried to solve the problem by trading with the locals for food, or he might even have surrendered to the enemy with the condition that they could continue living.
If this continued, their food supply would run out eventually, and all their warhorses would end up in their stomach instead of using them in a battle.
The outcome of this war was obvious to the horsemen. They had lost their supply line from the Capital, and their retreating path was blockaded by Xiangnu Army and the rebel force. The only place they could go was Jinyang.
After the army reorganization at Jinyang, they had two choices, either by reclaiming Shangdang from the rebel or proceeding to Julu.
Either way was a risky gamble! They did not know about the strength of their enemies at all!
Zhang Yang overestimated himself and persisted in continuing fighting instead of trying to find an alternative way to survive. He also did not explain his reason or plans to his subordinates, which lowered the morale of the sergeants.
The thousand-man commander bit his lower lips. He had enough.
"Then, general. Since you've called me unworthy of being a commander, I will leave the army as well. I'll leave my clothes and weapons here."
Han Hao, the thousand-man commander who was still in his 20s, decided to abandon his position after judging that Zhang Yang had no future.
On the other hand, Zhang Yang stared at Han Hao with mocking eyes, "I see. You're the same as them. I don't need a pussy as one of my commanders. You can leave!"
Han Hao used to be Wang Kuang's subordinates. The only reason he was with Zhang Yang was that his unit was summoned along with other troops. He did not want to serve this homeless governor from the very beginning.
The ex-commander walked out of the group toward the inner city with only his underwear. Seeing their commander was leaving, the soldiers in Han Hao's unit also made their decision.
"I'm sorry, general. I won't continue."
"I'll leave too."
"I'm following my commander."
"I may be a pussy to you, but I'm man enough to decide for myself."
One thousand men, who were Han Hao's subordinates, left Zhang Yang without hesitation. This young commander might not be a genius or an elite, but he had enough charisma and ability to make his men respect him wholeheartedly.
Not only Han Hao's subordinates were quitting, but four thousands horsemen of Wang Kuang also left Zhang Yang Army. They did not follow after Han Hao though.
Instead of getting angry, Zhang Yang rejoiced, seeing that so many people were quitting. He had extra warhorses to be used as food now.
'Foolish soldiers! Thanks to your horses, my troops can survive! You can rot and die in this rural county while I and the others will get all the glory and wealth from plundering Julu. '
...
Han Hao walked inside of Nie City with only his underwear while his thousand men continued to follow him. The townsmen who had been plundered by Liu Ping Army looked at them with sympathy. They thought that these naked men were prisoners who had just been released to die in this city.
Once Han Hao reached a deserted area, he stopped and looked at his former subordinates.
"You're still following me?" Asked Han Hao.
"We can't follow that man, and we don't know where we should go next."
"I still want to follow you, sir!"
"Take me with you, sir!"
Han Hao sighed and grinned, "Okay, but all of you will have to listen to my command like before."
The ex-soldiers laughed. There was a mutual understanding between the men. Even if they lost their official status, this unit would still continue to operate like before.
Disregarding his pride, he shoved his hand into his underwear and pulled out three gold bullions.
"Although I'm stupid for joining this pointless crusade, I'm not stupid enough to quit with an empty hand."
The soldiers gazed at their boss in astonishment. A dozen of them also laughed and did the same, pulling out items from their underwear, such as gold, coins, treasures, and even horse meats.
"I'm also not stupid, sir!"
"Me too! I even have the horse meat!"
"I hope you have washed your butt, bro."
"NOPE! I didn't hide it in the back, I hid it in the front!"
"Eww, bro! Watdafuq!?"
"Know this, I'm a cultured man, so I don't bath! If you don't want to share it with me, I'll eat it alone!"
"FOOK you, who will eat your meat!? I'll trade the locals for clothes and food!"
The one thousand men laughed and joked with the others in a merry mood. The sign of despair and dissatisfaction disappeared like it was a dream.
'I have raised a bunch of crazy bastards, ' Thought Han Hao.
"Gather your belongings, boys. We will have to use it as our fund to get our clothes and our food unless you want to freeze to death in this weather."
"My horse meat too?" The no-bath soldier asked.
"Screw you! You eat it alone!"
The one men laughed again.
...
October 28th.
3 PM.
The heavy cavalry units of Lu Bu and his Jinyang Army reached Nie County. However, the army did not enter the city.
Gao Shun had gone inside the city with a hundred scouts to gather the information. Everyone was expecting the results in a few minutes.
On the other hand, Li Feihong closed his eyes and utilized his long-range monitor, searching for the trail of Zhang Yang Army.
Twelve Kilometers away to the north, Li Feihong found them.
"I've found them. They are only one hour away to the northwest, " Li Feihong reported what he found.
"Good! Fengxian, Feihong, tell everyone that we'll rest here for the night, " Zhang Liao suggested.
Lu Bu frowned, "We're not chasing them?"
"No. We'll occupy this county and replace the Prefect first. These men are fleeing without food so they will consume their warhorses each day. Fengxian, You should know what will happen if someone suddenly tells you to kill your horse for food."
"Ha! I'll kill that bastard if he dares telling me to kill my horse!"
"That's right. This is the thing that is happening in that army right now. From the words of the surrendered troops, those men are a mixed force of Zhang Yang and Wang Kuang. Since Wang Kuang is dead and Zhang Yang is leading them, sooner or later, Wang Kuang's men will want to leave the army. We should let these men destroying themselves."
Li Feihong pondered as he was confused by Zhang Liao's insight, "If I were their general, I would have traded my treasures or my weaponry with the locals for food. Are you sure that they will continue eating their horses?"
Zhang Liao shook his head, "I don't."
"Eh?"
A smile appeared on Zhang Liao's face, "But two to three days of horse eating is more than enough to ruin their morale. I'm sure that a portion of their men should have already left the army."
While Zhang Liao was displaying his wisdom, Gao Shun returned.
"Zhang Yang Army had left the city an hour ago. We also found thousands of Zhang Yang's abandoned soldiers in the city, and they want to surrender to us."
Lu Bu and Li Feihong stared at Gao Shun with widen eyes. They then gazed at Zhang Liao in astonishment.
"See?" Smiled Zhang Liao, "Let them ruin themselves for another day. We'll continue chasing after them tomorrow."
| ← Ch. 207 | Ch. 209 → |