Invincible Iron Army 58, Disarmament Book Flag

  Wang An's army began to flee, and this time they were truly defeated. The Xiongnu army was extremely pleased and thought: "Finally defeated the invincible enemy." The Xiongnu army approached Wang An's army, with no hope of winning in a running battle against cavalry.

  Wang An's army was truly defeated this time, his troops were no match for the numerous Xiongnu army. Jiang Cai felt hopeless in his heart and thought that they would all be finished off here.

  The Xiongnu cavalry is gradually approaching, the Xiongnu arrows have already killed many of Wang An's soldiers. Righteous King gritted his teeth and shouted to the soldiers: "At all costs, annihilate this army, kill Wang An, and heavily reward the soldiers who get Wang An's head."

  The Xiongnu cavalry had approached Wang An's army, and Du Lu felt that the end of his own army was near. But then a large force suddenly appeared behind the Xiongnu, and together they launched an attack on the Xiongnu from behind.

  The Xiongnu were startled by the sudden appearance of this army and thought, "Is there an ambush here?" Du Lin and others commanded the troops to counterattack against the Xiongnu army.

  The soldiers of the local governors thought to themselves: "Wang An is pretending to be defeated to lure the enemy, and soon he will have a killing move. If we let him take the initiative, we won't get any credit." Tang Zi Long was also working hard to command his troops to attack the Xiongnu soldiers. He thought to himself: "This Wang An is really mysterious, maybe he has some trick up his sleeve. We must make some achievements before he makes his move." The soldiers from Youyang in the back were of the same mind and reason, and they all charged towards the Xiongnu with enthusiasm. Even the new recruits forgot their fear, and their hearts were filled with the desire to defeat the enemy and achieve great things.

  Dulin commanded the army to start encircling the enemy, and in his heart he said: "With Wang An's xìng character, it's really despicable and reckless. Let him stare at the Xiongnu army, they will definitely be very unlucky, maybe they will be killed soon, I must hurry up before Wang An to gain as much credit as possible".

  Tang Zilong also thought to himself: "Du Lin is an old fox, he's now charging forward without regard for anything, there must be benefits ahead, we can't let him monopolize all the advantages, I'm a good person, and my whole life I've looked down on people like Du Lin".

  The army of the Great Jin pursued north for twenty miles, watching as the Xiongnu army disappeared without a trace. They were at a loss, but they put on an air of triumph, after all, they had been chasing the Xiongnu. As for being chased by the Xiongnu army earlier and fleeing in disarray, they chose to forget. Did we get chased earlier? No, look at you, so young and already seeing things.

  Jiang Cai looked at Wang An, who was showing a look of extreme regret and frustration, pounding his chest and stamping his feet. He too was confused in his heart, thinking to himself: "Could it be that we didn't defeat them just now, but rather deliberately lured the Xiongnu army?" Wang An's actions were profound and unpredictable, making it difficult for people to guess what he was thinking.

  Dulin found Wang An and said, "You guys were really convincing when you pretended to be defeated earlier. Brother Wang is truly talented, with strong soldiers under his command. It's like you're born to do this, I'm impressed beyond words." Wang An replied, "Of course, it's not just anyone who can lead an army." Jiang Cai asked in surprise, "Brother Wang, were we pretending to be defeated earlier?" Wang An said, "No way, we were really defeated. Look at my new shoes, they're all worn out. With your understanding of me, do you think I'd be in such a sorry state if I wasn't truly defeated?" Jiang Cai said, "Yes, you forgot that last time we went on a night raid and got chased for dozens of miles." Wang An said, "Let's not bring up that matter." Jiang Cai thought to himself, "So it seems he doesn't want to mention embarrassing things." Dulin exclaimed, "Wang An, you were really defeated! But earlier you told us to pretend to be defeated and retreat, luring the enemy in, and then have us attack them from behind. So that means you lied to us!" Wang An said, "Of course I did. If I didn't say that, would you guys have chosen to launch a counterattack? If you hadn't attacked, the Xiongnu army would have continued to pursue my troops, and we would have suffered heavy casualties. There wouldn't be this glorious victory today." Wang An thought to himself, "If only I had an army of 100,000, would I ever be reduced to personally luring the enemy? Look at how pathetic I look being chased by the Xiongnu..." Wang An told Jiang Cai, "Tell the brothers not to mention what happened earlier when we were being pursued." Jiang Cai thought to himself that this matter was indeed better left unspoken, especially since his shoes had been lost - how embarrassing.

  Dulin said: "You can tell us the truth, and we will choose to attack", Wang An said: "The leaders of this army are all old foxes. If I told them that I would lose the battle on purpose, hoping that my brothers would pull me one by one, and then attack the Xiongnu troops from behind, the Xiongnu are afraid of my name, they must think that I have ambushed troops in the back, and they will definitely run away. Do you think these old foxes will save me?" Dulin thought to himself: "Save you? Don't be ridiculous".

  Du Lin said discontentedly, "Wang brother, spare some mercy." Wang An was taken aback and said, "So I called them old foxes, Du Lin didn't want to listen." He then pulled his words back and said, "I spoke a bit too strongly, what I should say is that there are some old foxes in your army." Du Lin said, "That's still not right." Wang An said, "Alright, I accept criticism. Let me put it this way: there aren't any old foxes in your army. Are you satisfied now? I used a negative sentence this time." Du Lin rolled his eyes and thought to himself, What kind of negative sentence is this? Saying some people aren't, isn't that still saying some people are? You're taking advantage of me not being educated, but even though I'm uneducated, my IQ is fine. It's strange, though - every time I fall for Wang An's tricks. Has my IQ really gone bad?

  Wang An's army withdrew back to the city, and the Jiedushi had defeated the Xiongnu's attack under Yuyang City this time. Naturally, he wanted to report his achievements to the emperor. On the list of merits, the one with the greatest merit was naturally the leader, that is, the Jiedushi Liu Jiao Jiao. Then came the various defensive envoys, followed by officials at all levels, and even Wu Ge, who did not participate in the Battle of Yuyang, and civil officials from all over the country had merits. The soldiers below also had some small merits.

  Wang An also had merits, but these merits were the same as those of ordinary centurions. In other words, although Wang An risked his life and fought bravely, eliminating nearly 80,000 Xiongnu soldiers, his merits were the same as those of a centurion defending the border. Perhaps this centurion was having tea, drinking wine, or flirting with women while Wang An was fighting.

  The militiamen under Wang An's command did not have any merits, because the ones who were reported this time were the regular troops from Youyang. The militiamen were not soldiers, at least when it came to sharing benefits, these militiamen were not soldiers, but in battles, officials treated them as soldiers again.

  The soldiers who were awarded, their deeds spread throughout the country, earning them great fame. However, the actual heroes, the Weiyang militia, remained unknown and forgotten by the Jiedushi and Fangyu Shi. Even if Liu Jiayou remembered them, she alone could not resist the entire bureaucratic system and its hidden rules.

  The militia of Youyang were filled with indignation, thinking that they had been forgotten, but the defenders at this time did not forget them. The reason is that this army showed its strength in the battle of Youyang City and now has very strong combat effectiveness, which makes the defender both worried and envious, hoping to assign this army to his own account, while fearing that they will not obey and trigger a mutiny.

  Wang An's position at this time was also very embarrassing. He was appointed by the governor as an official responsible for defending the south city, but in the official system of Puyang, there was no such position after the battle. Wang An's official position was still a hundred officials, and he had lost the right to equal dialogue with the defense envoy, nor could he enter and exit the governor's mansion at will. It is now very difficult for Wang An to see the governor.

  Here is the translation:

  Wang An gathered his soldiers and said, "Brothers, thank you for your support over these past few days." The soldiers responded with thunderous applause to Wang An's sincere words. Wang An continued, "We have three thousand comrades who will never leave our side, but today they cannot be here. However, in my heart, they are always with us, watching over our battles from above. I want to tell them now that we have won, and the great Jin has triumphed!" The soldiers erupted into a frenzy of cheers.

  Wang An said, "I have 900,000 taels of silver here, not one coin of which I have taken for myself. Today, it will all be distributed among you. From now on, we are no longer superior and inferior, but brothers. If you wish to continue serving as soldiers, you can go to the various defense commanders to enlist. If you wish to return home, take the silver and leave now. However, I must say that this silver also includes compensation for those soldiers who died in battle. They too have a share."

  "Unfortunately, I am unable to reward your merits, but I have had an ironworker create a badge for each of you. This badge is quite crude, but it records our glorious history of fighting for the country." The soldiers were extremely moved and accepted this simple badge as if it were the most precious treasure.

  Later on, these iron badges became highly valuable. Even collectors who managed to collect just one would see their social status greatly increased. A mountain cannot hide the truth, and in the end, it will be revealed. The people will not forget those true heroes, especially those who resisted foreign invasion.

  Liu Jiao and Du Lin arrived at Wang An's army, intending to inquire about the situation. Upon learning that Wang An had issued an order to disband the army, they felt a great sense of relief. Du Lin and several other jiedushi immediately offered very generous terms, hoping to recruit these soldiers. However, they were all rejected. The reasons given were: Firstly, when the jiedushi abandoned the southern city to build a new one, the soldiers in the southern city also abandoned the jiedushi. They vowed never to be soldiers again and never to fight for the jiedushi. Secondly, if they became soldiers, they would only obey one leader, Wang An. Although Wang An was greedy, had some bad habits, and some personality issues, he was a man of great integrity and justice. Fighting under his leadership was an honor for life. This "small person" was much better than the fake gentlemen. When Wang An heard this, he was moved to tears, thinking, "I am indeed a true gentleman, not a small person."

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