Gaomi County. When Wu Qinyuan heard the news from his subordinate, he couldn't help but hesitate." Is the Beihai Army really looking for another route to bypass my Gaomi?”"Milord, that's right. It looks like they've found a small path that goes around my Gaomi.”" Hehe, Sir, it seems like the Beihai Army is helpless against us. They can only leave on their own," Advisor A said.
"Could it be that the Beihai Army is plotting something?”Another staid advisor B said. "What conspiracy? As long as my army holds fast, what can they do to me?”Advisor A sneered. "But even if the Beihai Army bypassed Gaomi today, they will definitely attack again in the future. I heard that Anqiu, Changan, Pingchang, and other counties have been wiped out, and they even chose local celebrities and elders as county magistrates. It seems that they are determined to obtain the counties in the south of Beihai.”Advisor B's words were filled with worry.
Wu Qinyuan listened carefully to the conversation between the two advisors. He did not say anything but tapped his fingers on the table." Pass down my order. Tell them to closely monitor the movements of the Beihai Army. At the same time, tell the 5000 elites in the city to prepare for battle and be ready to attack at any time.”Wu Qinyuan finally made up his mind. It was Advisor B's words that touched him. Since the Beihai Army was determined to take over the counties in the south of Beihai, then Gaomi County was definitely in their plans. Even if they did not attack today, they would attack in the future. They had to seize the opportunity to completely defeat them in order to remove the threat to Gaomi. In terms of familiarity with the terrain, how could the Beihai Army, who had come from afar, compare to Wu Qinyuan? There were several roads that could continue south through Gaomi. Wu Qinyuan knew it like the back of his hand, but there were only two roads that could pass through grain, baggage, and vehicles. Now, as long as they kept a close watch on those two roads, they would be able to catch the movements of the Beihai Army.
"General, the route has been explored. There are two routes that can pass through Gaomi. One is along the Xishui River, and the terrain is flat, making it easy for the army to pass through. The other route bypassed Gaomi through Gaoxiang, but the terrain was undulating, making it very inconvenient to pass through.”Bing Yuan smiled when he heard the report. " Changgeng, this is the road." He pointed at the road that bypassed Gao Xiang on the map.
"General, most of our army has safely left Gao Xiang. Now it's our turn to pass through.”A military marquis reported to Zhao Qing in a low voice. The majority of the baggage was made up of elite Tiger Infantry Battalion soldiers. "It's time." Zhao Qing muttered to himself as he looked at the bushes on both sides of the road. This narrow path was winding in the uneven mountain area, and only grain vehicles could pass through. The bushes on both sides of the mountain were the ideal place for murder, arson, ambush, and robbery.
As soon as Zhao Qing finished speaking, he heard the sound of a drum. The two sides shouted. As expected, they were ambushed. Zhao Qing was not surprised but happy." Enemy attack!" Raise your shields! Three beats of the drum! Smoke, inform the front line!" Zhao Qing quickly gave the order, and then a rain of arrows came. Since they were prepared, Zhao Qing's army did not panic. They abandoned the supply wagons, raised their shields and swords, and began to gather and be on guard. Because they were well-prepared, very few soldiers were injured by the rain of arrows. After a few rounds of arrows, the hidden Gaomi soldiers rushed out. The commander was Wu Qinyuan!
"Attack!" "Attack!" The commanders of both sides gave their orders, and a battle broke out in the mountainous area. Zhao Qing had his eyes on all directions, and he had already seen where the commander's flag was. He gathered his troops and attacked the commander's flag fiercely. The Gaomi soldiers he met were killed with a single sword. In the round-robin battle, Zhao Qing was only second to Xu Sheng in the North Sea, and even stronger than Taishi Ci. How could these ordinary soldiers stop him?
The Tiger Infantry Battalion soldiers were mostly strong Wanderers, and their martial arts skills were far superior to the Gaomi soldiers. In an instant, the troops were led by Zhao Qing, the arrowhead, and quickly charged towards the Gaomi commander's flag. The Tiger Infantry Battalion soldiers, who were fighting their own battles, did not retreat but advanced under the leadership of their respective dubo and marquis. In an instant, the 3000-strong " logistics " team actually turned the tables against the ambush of the 5000 Gaomi soldiers. Each unit of Tiger Infantry Battalion soldiers attacked the front and back, and those who were further away from the enemy fired their arrows. Their attack and defense were orderly. In such a narrow place, their combat efficiency was much higher than the Gaomi army's attack.
In less than a moment, nearly half of the Gaomi Army had been killed, while the Beihai Army had only suffered 300 casualties. Most of them were City Defense Army soldiers mixed in. The difference in combat power between the two sides was growing. "We've been tricked!" Wu Qinyuan didn't expect the enemy's supply troops to be so powerful. It was obvious that they weren't a real supply troop. The thought of falling into a trap flashed through his mind. However, the enemy and the enemy had already crossed paths, and there was no longer any possibility of leading the entire army to retreat. Wu Qinyuan's heart was in a fierce struggle.
"General! Retreat quickly, or it will be too late. All our brothers will die here!”Seeing that his own soldiers were either injured or killed in a single strike, and that the enemy was as powerful as a tiger pouncing on its prey, and that his own soldiers were dying every second, Yi Junhou anxiously said to Wu Qinyuan. Retreat? It was easier said than done. Wu Qinyuan's face was filled with pain and bitterness. Perhaps it was a huge mistake to go against the Beihai Army. After dominating a region for a long time, Wu Qinyuan often had the illusion that the world was just like this. However, the current situation told him that the world was not what he had imagined. In an instant, Wu Qinyuan's original ambition collapsed. This world was not as unrestrained as he had imagined. The feeling of being awe-inspiring in all directions was gone in an instant.
Retreat? He might be able to escape unscathed, but these 5000 high-density disciples, these 5000 elites who had been painstakingly trained, would probably be completely wiped out! At that time, how could Gaomi fight against the Beihai Army? How could he face his hometown? I'm afraid the entire Gaomi will be destroyed. His family would also be destroyed.
"Pass on the order, raise the surrender flag!" "General, you can't. If we retreat now, there's hope. Moreover, Gaomi still has thousands of soldiers!”"Thousands of soldiers? Even with the elites of Gaomi, they were defeated in a two-on-one battle. What else could the thousands of old and weak people in Gaomi County do?”Wu Qinyuan said bitterly.
"If we surrender now, we might be able to preserve some of our strength. Order the troops to withdraw from the battle and prepare to surrender!”，At the same time that the Gaomi Army raised the white flag, Zhao Qing, who was less than a hundred steps away from Marshal Wu Qin's flag, immediately saw," Sound the golden bell! All troops are on alert!" The order was passed down loudly.
For a moment, the battle stopped, leaving only the wails of hundreds of wounded soldiers. "The defeated Wu Qinyuan greets General Zhao!”Wu Qinyuan met Zhao Qing with a pale face. He was about to bow down when Zhao Qing stepped forward to help Wu Qinyuan.
"General Wu, you have the ability to judge the situation and consider the overall situation. You decisively stopped the war.”When Zhao Qing said this, his heart was filled with respect and sincerity. Indeed, it was not that there were no people who could take it up and let it go, but there were too few of them. Zhao Qing was born as a street ranger. He had seen many people who could win, and even more people who could not afford to lose. However, there were very few people who could win and lose. Wu Qinyuan was able to admit defeat decisively and was able to take it up and let it go. He was indeed worthy of being appreciated.
"The Lord of the Kong Mansion is not targeting General Wu. As long as General Wu is willing to stop the war, turn it into friendship, and do his best for the people, General Wu will be a hero of Beihai County.”Zhao Qing's words moved him with emotions and benefits. Wu Qinyuan had been in the vanity fair for a long time and had long developed a clever mind.
"This Wu overestimates his own strength and is only a laughing stock.”Wu Qinyuan knew that now was the time to bargain. From the other party's tone, it seemed like he was being used. The more low-key he was at this time, the more likely he would gain. "General Wu is too polite. As long as General Wu is willing to cooperate fully with our army, I, the Lord of the Confucius Residence, will recommend you as a lieutenant of the Imperial Court!”Zhao Qing had been in the southern part of the North Sea for many days and had a deeper understanding of the various forces entrenched in the south. Before planning today's plan, he had planned to wipe out the elite forces of Gaomi and then force Wu Qinyuan to surrender. As for the post-war arrangements, he had already made plans with Bing Yuan to force Wu Qinyuan to surrender.
Now that things had gone far beyond their expectations, Wu Qinyuan had actually surrendered when he saw that the situation was not right, greatly reducing the difficulty of the Beihai Army attacking the city. They knew that as long as they could convince Wu Qinyuan to cooperate, Gaomi County would fall without attacking, so they directly offered a price, which Wu Qinyuan believed would be very difficult to refuse. As expected, Wu Qinyuan couldn't help but be moved when he heard such excellent conditions. In his heart, being able to protect his family's wealth was already a good choice. Who knew that he could go one step further and have the chance to become an official lieutenant of the Imperial Court, becoming a general of the 1st Battalion! It was much better than the self-proclaimed bandit suppression lieutenant. This condition had already exceeded his imagination. How could he not be moved!
"How can a defeated general be so unjustly loved by the general?”Wu Qinyuan knew that Zhao Qing had more to say, but he didn't know how harsh the conditions were. "However, there is one thing that requires General Wu's cooperation. Beihai County can no longer have a single clan's troops. All the troops of the local wealthy clans need to be reorganized into the city guards of the county. The salt pans along the southern coast were to be taken over by the government.”Although this condition was a little uncomfortable for Wu Qinyuan, it was still acceptable.
"Since we are all commoners, I don't dare to say anything about the other great clans, but my Wu clan's troops will naturally be disbanded to serve the county.”Gaomi County fell without attack.
"As the thousands of soldiers in the county are relatives of the Wu family, the reorganization is slightly different from other places. Those who are willing to retire and return to the fields are allowed to return to the fields. The rest will be selected according to my original selection method to form the City Defense Army. They will be mixed into my army. In total, there are more than 2000 soldiers in 4 divisions who meet the requirements. More than 1,000 will voluntarily return to the fields. The remaining 4000 are willing to be reorganized into garrison soldiers and will be distributed in the wasteland around Gaomi. After all, Gaomi had been developed by Wu Qinyuan after many years of hard work, and there was not much land left for farming.
Most of the soldiers were refugees. It was said that the government would only take one stone of military rations for 20 mu of land, and the rest would be kept for themselves. This condition was even better than that of the current tenant farmers. Since Wu Qinyuan had surrendered, we didn't get anything from Gaomi County. Fortunately, Wu Qinyuan knew what was going on and took the initiative to give up 200,000 dan of rations. Otherwise, we would have to transport rations from the rear for our army. Although Wu Qinyuan felt extremely pained, he was still forced to hand over the southern saltworks that were under his control. Just this alone would increase the annual income of my North Sea by several million dollars. At the current rate of 30 dollars per stone, it would basically be enough to cover the expenses of the North Sea to buy grain.
The news that the powerful local forces of the Wuqin Yuan Division in Gaomi County had collapsed in just ten days quickly spread to all the forces in the nearby counties. The army came to join them everywhere. In just ten days, they had wiped out Yi 'an, Pingchang, Dongwu, Jiao County, and other counties. They had rebuilt the local county offices, and nearly 50,000 counties in the south were under the direct administration of Beihai. In this way, Zhao Qingnan's army finally managed to open up the grain route to the sea within a month. They had collected nearly 300,000 dans of grain during the entire operation. Apart from the rations left for the local City Defense Army, they could also provide more than 100,000 dans of grain to the North Sea. The City Defense Army had nearly two battalions of more than 5000 people. This meant that there were currently six battalions of 15000 people in the City Defense Army of the counties in the southern part of Beihai. Among them, three battalions of the City Defense Army and more than 10,000 elites of the Tiger Infantry Battalion were stationed in Dongwu. They were guarded by Zhao Qing and the newly surrendered Wu Qinyuan to prevent the Tibetan Tyrannical Tribe from harassing the grain route. Bing Yuan temporarily led two troops to stay in Jiao County, where the grain route entered the sea. The entire battle was brilliant. The entire southern part of Beihai was once again under the control of Beihai. More importantly, The road to Xuzhou was finally clear.
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