Chapter 23: Conquering the Great General of the North

  Not long after Du Village was occupied, a small problem arose. That is the affiliation of Du Yuanzheng and his 200 heavenly soldiers. In the eyes of the Qin army that appeared in Du Village, Du Yuanzheng was a private soldier recruited by Gongsun Ce, who could give Du Yuanzheng's family civilian status. The heavenly soldiers were considered to be Du Yuanzheng's household slaves, and their families were also slave households, unable to obtain civilian status. Fortunately, these slaves were registered under Du Yuanzheng's name, becoming Gongsun Ce's servants in disguise.

  This is something that Gong Sun Ce and Du Yuan Zheng cannot understand, but can accept. The Tianbing family members are slaves, but the Qin army will not use them without reason, after all, they are serving Gong Sun Ce, and between Gong Sun Ce and the Qin state, there is an additional Gong Sun Ce, so the Tianbing family members have no land to farm and no place to live. Gong Sun Ce can only let the Qin army issue a certificate, sign it himself, and let them go to Xianyang to find Xue Ling.

  He is now a sixth-grade military officer, and although it's unclear how much reward the Great Qin will give him, it shouldn't be a problem to support 800 people for a short time. As long as he doesn't stop galloping and advances rapidly, his military rank won't rise like a rocket? At that time, there will be a lot of land, and with manpower in hand, the land can be utilized to its maximum potential.

  Moreover, the families of these heavenly soldiers are easy to control and will not cause trouble. Because the heavenly soldiers have merged with the war souls of the Du family's history, they will be loyal to the gods, that is, Du Yuanzheng. As long as Gong Sun Ce wins over Du Yuanzheng, it is equivalent to controlling the heavenly soldiers. The families of the heavenly soldiers will definitely live a stable life for the heavenly soldiers and for themselves, and work hard for him.

  Du Yuanzheng's surrender can be said to have increased Gong Sunzhi's combat power by more than double. First, let's talk about these heavenly soldiers, who are roughly familiar with riding and shooting, and are not afraid of the battlefield in both distant and close combat. The two hundred Du family heavenly soldiers can completely ride horses and use kite flow tactics to annihilate Gong Sunzhi's two hundred Yuqi riders.

  There were also more than 800 Du clan members who had moved to Xianyang, which increased Gong Sun's potential. Development requires talent, but it needs its own people even more. Those who surrendered in the early stages of development will always be purer and more trustworthy than those who joined after expanding their power.

  Because the Du Shi Tianbing belongs to Gong Sun Ce's private slave in the Qin army, so all the logistics and supplies are responsible by Gong Sun Ce. Along the way, the Qin army will only supplement the supplies for Gong Sun Ce's symbol riding soldiers. All the supplies needed by the Tianbing are collected by Gong Sun Ce himself, but this is not a big problem for Gong Sun Ce now.

  They, four hundred cavalrymen, left Du Village and occupied a deserted small village in less than an hour. Liu Wei was about to raise the Great Qin flag when Gong Sun Ce stopped him, looking at the empty village, he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten something along the way.

  "The flag won't be planted for now, I think we've done something quite foolish along the way." Gong Sun Ce stroked his chin, the short layer of stubble was very tactile, he patted his goose feather knife and said: "This thing was picked up by us on the road, even the revived Qin army didn't say anything, it seems this is my private property. So let's collect what we need first, that's ours. Then plant the flag to wake up the Qin army, I reckon they won't be able to say anything either."

  "It's necessary to try, even if the Qin army forcibly collects them, we're just busy for nothing. If they don't care, then we'll be fine. Not to mention anything else, just this armor on our bodies, if we put it on before waking up the Qin army, will they still force us to take it off after they come out?" Liu Wei regretted that battle in the county town a bit, if Gong Sun's inference was correct, their losses would be great.

  Liu Wei's tone was filled with regret: "In the county town, seven or eight bank vaults are all filled with glittering gold coins! If we could get our hands on this batch of gold first and then revive Qin Jun, that would be great. At least I can have my armor plated with a layer of gold, my golden armor..."

  When he heard that he could make a fortune in gold, Du Yuanzheng, who had vowed to be a house man, suddenly widened his eyes and asked Gong Sunce hastily: "Gong Sunce, gold! Gold! Can it really be done like this?" Gong Sunce gave Du Yuanzheng a firm nod, and Du Yuanzheng immediately felt happiness coming towards him like a spring breeze. His body on the horse swayed uncontrollably, as if he had been blown drunk by the spring breeze.

  "Cheng Shen, take a hundred cavalry to scout ahead. If you encounter fewer than two hundred enemies, defeat them; if more than two hundred, retreat." Gong Sun Ce intended to test his own judgment in this small village without wasting time, so he ordered Cheng Shen to lead the vanguard and scout ahead first. This small village was less than five kilometers away from Du Village, and their cavalry took an hour because they had to march cautiously.

  Cheng Shen led the vanguard, taking a hundred elite cavalrymen and disappearing from everyone's sight. Gongsun Zan currently has a weak foundation, so he cannot be careless. If he had a thousand cavalry under him, he would dare to bring only dry rations and advance lightly and quickly. Three hundred miles in one day is not an impossible dream.

  "Yuǎn zhēng, you bring people to search around and see what can be found." The Yuǎn cavalry is good at killing enemies, but letting them rummage through boxes and drawers is like asking them to paint cakes to satisfy their hunger - it's not something they're good at. So assigning such tasks to Du Yuǎnzhēng's heavenly soldiers is quite suitable. Heavenly soldiers are ordinary people with the power of war souls, and they are also loyal. Ordinary people doing things like rummaging through boxes and drawers is what they're best at. Some exceptionally capable ordinary people can even dig three feet underground, and won't even miss a mouse hole.

  Du Yuan Zheng was overjoyed when he heard the news, although most of the gold would end up in Gong Sun Ce's pocket. He could still get his hands on a large amount of gold, which he considered one of the happiest things. At this time, his mind was filled with glittering gold bars and gold jewelry. He seemed to have forgotten that this was just a small village, and when the villagers escaped, they would definitely take all their valuables with them, leaving behind only a few.

  Du Yuanzheng led his heavenly soldiers in a swift and fierce charge, dispersing them to search door-to-door. Gong Sun Ce, on the other hand, began discussing the next route with Liu Wei, pointing at the map: "We are heading northwest, and only after taking down Pingliang, Guyuan, and Baise can we have the freedom to maneuver and fight. This route is a bit circuitous and will waste a lot of time. That guy Guan Hai is advancing westward along the highway, and he'll be able to complete his mission."

  "It's a good thing we're cavalry, so I plan to develop our troops into full-fledged cavalry in the future. With faster marching speeds, the quicker we act, the more we can slaughter these awakened military souls before they fully grow in strength. As soon as we enter Liangzhou and occupy Pingliang Commandery, I plan to swiftly head south and take down this place first!" Gong Sun Ce pointed at the city of Longxi Commandery, his tone resolute.

  Liu Wei lit a cigarette, somewhat puzzled by Gongsun Zan's intention, pointing to the area of Longxi County and saying: "I have served here for half a year, there are too many hills and small mountains, which is not conducive to the deployment of cavalry. As long as we are blocked by the enemy at the pass, and defensive fortifications are built, we will have no chance."

  Gongsun Ce, who was also a heavy smoker, lit one and pointed to Dingxi County, slightly north of Longxi County: "My clansmen are there. They migrated from the south at the end of the Ming Dynasty and have been thriving for over ten generations. Although I am an illegitimate child among illegitimate children, a side branch among side branches, as long as I bring a few thousand horses with me, they will have to listen to me obediently."

  "There should also be several successors in the clan, Du Yuanzheng can obtain the inheritance of his ancestors' souls, and the number of generals that have appeared in my Gong Sun family for generations is countless. As long as half of the inheritance comes down, it will also be a considerable force!" This is one of Gong Sun Ce's goals, he pointed to Longxi County and said: "Longxi Li, the birthplace of the Li surname in the world. The number of civil and military officials that have appeared over the generations is like a multitude of stars, if we can take it down, our strength... Hehe..."

  Listening to Gong Sun Ce's silly laughter, Liu Wei also imagined it. After the expansion of his forces, when would he lead the army alone, with thousands of horses and soldiers, attacking cities and plundering lands, iron horses and golden spears. Liu Wei couldn't help but feel heroic, pointing at Longxi County and saying: "Even if we can't take it down, we'll still bite off a piece of meat!"

  But to say that Cheng Shen led a hundred riders on the road, just happened to meet a group of rioters head-on. The rioters were also divided into three six nine grades, and the most common ones were composed of refugees. The strong ones were the rebels of past dynasties and so on. Cheng Shen was very lucky, he met the worst kind of rioter, with no armor on his body, wrapped in hemp cloth, and the weapons in his hands deeply explained what "rise up" meant.

  Cheng Shen thoroughly implemented Gong Sun's great policy of annihilating all enemy forces with less than 200 men. Suddenly, he charged forward, his large halberd in hand, and the hundred elite cavalrymen rushed forth like a whirlwind. The hundred disorderly soldiers immediately collapsed like dandelions in the wind, flying about in all directions. Two legs can't compare to four legs, especially when they are the extremely resilient Symbol horses. Therefore, the hundred disorderly soldiers were completely beheaded, turning into flying ash.

  Cheng Shen regrouped his troops and marched less than a mile before encountering another band of rebels. He charged without hesitation, causing the rebels to collapse again. As Cheng Shen led the Yu cavalry in pursuit, he realized it was time for him to retreat. Before him lay a sea of rebels, endless and dense.

  Most of these rioting troops were refugees in disguise, with white headscarves wrapped around their hair, rushing over the mountains and fields, endless and terrifying. As the commander controlling the tiger tally, Cheng Shen's greatest advantage was that he listened to orders. Seeing the enemy far exceeding the 200 men Gong Sun said, he killed the fleeing rioters cleanly, and before the main force of the rioters arrived, he galloped away on horseback.

  A timely retreat by Cheng Shen enraged a commander-like leader of the disorganized army. Facing cavalry, even well-equipped infantry would be at a disadvantage, let alone their tattered and impoverished migrant troops? However, Cheng Shen's ability to take down 200 of his men with his eyes cast downward truly infuriated him.

  Cheng Sheng retreated too quickly and didn't even see that this chaotic army had a banner, the banner was very majestic, with six big characters: Han Zhengbei General!

  There was also a handsome flag, made simple but with a large Li character printed on the surface, fluttering in the morning wind. This so-called Great Han General of the Northern Expedition, surnamed Li and named Le, was actually from the Taiping Taoist Yellow Turban Army at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After the Yellow Turbans were defeated, the Taiping Taoist rose again with two branches: one was Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army, whose most brilliant achievement was to raid Yuan Shao's old nest in Ye City.

  Another one is the White Wave Army. Although the White Wave Army existed for a short time, it triggered many events. For example, Dong Zhuo was not afraid of the coalition forces of Guandong, but because the White Wave Army and the coalition forces of Guandong joined hands to attack, Dong Zhuo was frightened and retreated to the road to Guanzhong, which was cut off by the White Wave Army. If so, he would be surrounded by the White Wave Army and the coalition forces.

  Then Dong Zhuo would have burned down Luoyang and forced the people to move to Chang'an. After that, Dong Zhuo sent his son-in-law Niu Fu with the elite troops of Longxi to attack the White Wave Army, but they were unable to conquer them. Then he sent Li Jue, but even until Dong Zhuo's death, the Western Liang army, which had intimidated the heroes of Guandong, was still unable to get rid of the White Wave Army.

  After Dong Zhuo's death, Li Jue and Guo Si took control of the government, but later turned against each other. Yang Feng, who had surrendered to Li Jue, joined forces with Dong Cheng and led an army to escort Emperor Xian out of Chang'an. Faced with the pursuit by Li Jue and Guo Si's newly formed alliance, Yang Feng gathered other leaders of the White Wave bandits and engaged in a decisive battle against Li Jue, but was defeated and fled with the emperor to Anyi, where they established a temporary imperial court.

  During this period, the White Wave Army generals reached the peak of their lives. For example, Li Le was appointed as the Grand General of the Northern Expedition by the Han Emperor! So after he and his White Wave Army revived, the first thing they did was to make a flag. Then they led their troops southward, preparing to surrender to the Han army camp.

  Even if you can't be a great general who conquers the north, at least you can still be a general, right?