The territory of Guoxian County has undulating slopes and crisscrossing ravines. Li Tianwang, who was born and raised here, felt that it would not be difficult to avoid the officers and soldiers who were unfamiliar with the place.
We can only blame them because they were reluctant to bear the conditions in the county seat of Guo County and wanted to stay one more day as long as they could.
Suddenly the city was blocked by officers and soldiers.
This blocked city is different from being surrounded in the city and relying on the city to resist stubbornly.
Instead, the city gate of the county town was captured by the Xinghe Army that suddenly appeared, and tens of thousands of rogue bandits became the turtles in the urn.
It's really not that the Xinghe Army is too strong, it's entirely because the enemy is too weak.
In fact, Huang Yi did not use any strategy or tactics, he just personally led his men to gallop.
Of course "Li Tianwang" sent out sentries and ambushes, and set up open posts and hidden posts, but it was a pity that they were useless against the fast and windy Xinghe Army cavalry.
Why?
How could the sentry who discovered the Xinghe Army not be discovered by the Xinghe Army's sentinel who had a telescope?
In the three counties that were harmed by the rebels, anyone found riding a horse had to be detained, because there were only two types of people left on horseback. If they were not horse-riding by the Ming army, they must be spies of the rebels.
How many good horses can the rebel spies have? How could their riding skills be comparable to those of Mongolian soldiers such as Huxiaochuan and Gubul?
Even if the spies were not arrested, just by comparing speed, the Xinghe Army cavalry led by Huang Yi himself would definitely arrive at Guoxian County before the spies who wanted to report the news.
He envisioned seizing the city with lightning speed, but it turned out that Huang Yi had high expectations for "King Li Tian".
When Huang Yi led the cavalry to the north gate of Guoxian County, he found no one resisting.
The next step is more interesting. The Xinghe Army cavalry and mounted infantry passed directly through the streets of the city to seize the three gates in the southeast and west.
Listening to the rumble of horse hooves and watching the groups of fierce and powerful armored cavalry passing through the city, the people in the city were dumbfounded. There were at least hundreds or thousands of people wandering all over the place.
There must have been dozens of people so scared that they peed their pants.
They didn't know which group of people came, but they all knew it must be the army.
I don’t know which of the rioters suddenly screamed:
"Oh my god! They're officers and soldiers, or armored cavalry! Run away quickly!"
"Why did the officers and soldiers come suddenly? Where are our detective horses?"
"How many scouts can we have? I'm afraid they've all been killed."
"Quick, quick, quick, it's important to escape, the officers and soldiers kill without blinking an eye!"
"Hurry up and run to the mountains. The officers and soldiers are going to chop off our heads to receive the reward."
"I can't run away. There are officers and soldiers at the city gate. Wow..."
"Wuwuwu, it's over, I'm dead..."
"It's all your fault for seeking death. The man named Li killed officials and rebelled against Zhao'an. What should we do now? Wuwu..."
Originally an unorganized and undisciplined mob, they became even more chaotic after being frightened by the murderous Xinghe Army.
This was the first time that Huang Yi faced the rebellious Shengdou people. He knew that their fighting power was weak, but he didn't expect that they would be so weak that they could run around and bump into each other like headless flies.
Seeing that dozens of rioters who were wandering towards the military formation were shot and killed, Huang Yi issued an order to persuade them to surrender as much as possible by shouting propaganda in Shanxi dialect in order to reduce the number of killings.
"Those who don't want to die, listen up. We are a Xinghe Army that will never kill good people and take credit for their merits. We will only kill the first culprits and ignore those who follow them. Those who surrender will be given three measures of food to go home."
"The culprit is the one who led the rebellion!"
"Those leaders who tempted you to commit murder and arson are also the culprits. Remember their faces."
"Whoever captures and kills the leader and surrenders will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver and two stones of wheat. Anyone who captures King Li Tian alive will be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver. Please inform the court and grant official positions to hundreds of households."
The Xinghe Army often shouted and had a tacit understanding for a long time. Hundreds of people shouted in unison under the leadership of the town governor.
"Are there really any officers and soldiers who would never kill a good person to take advantage of his merit?"
"Shit! All officers and soldiers kill without blinking an eye!"
"How can you still be considered a good citizen like this?"
"Why doesn't it count? Well, I didn't kill anyone."
"You didn't follow to rob Mr. Zhao's house? Mr. Zhao is a high-ranking official who has retired and returned home!"
"Um, I'm not grabbing anything. I'm a good citizen. I don't want to die!"
"Don't run, stop! If you don't stop, I'll stab you in the back."
"Masters of the army, I have surrendered. I am a good citizen and did not commit murder or arson. The one who is chasing me is a leader."
…
King Li Tian's name was Li Jin, and most of the backbone of the rebellion were surnamed Li and came from an ancestral hall.
Of course they knew they were the culprits, so how could they be willing to arrest them without restraint?
When Li Jin saw that the army had not started fighting, most of his troops gave in. Unknown how many of them ran to surrender. He was so angry that he called several uncles and brothers to kick and beat him to gather his troops.
They beat and cursed while threatening: "Stop dreaming, the rebels will only die if they fall into the hands of the army!"
"The officers and soldiers can chop off your heads in exchange for a reward of silver from the court, five taels of silver per head!"
"Comparing my feelings with my own, I can't spare the life of the dog waiting for you just for the sake of money!"
"If you dare to have second thoughts, I will chop you up right now!"
"Cheer up, everyone. The officers and soldiers are nothing. I will take you to kill them all!"
Half an hour after the city gate was captured, Li Jin finally led thousands and hundreds of troops to try to recapture the city gate.
It's just that their troops were not trained at all, and they were no different from the group fights in the village. There was no use in large numbers, and they were killed by the Xinghe army who were waiting in formation.
In a short time, more than 300 elite soldiers were killed, not a single officer or soldier was killed, and the morale of the rebels plummeted.
When they heard the condition of surrendering and avoiding death, many rioters threw down their weapons and ran to surrender.
How could King Li Tian watch helplessly? Immediately suppress those who surrender.
However, nothing happened, and soon the rioters started fighting on their own.
Huang Yi not only ignored them, but also organized more than 2,000 rebels who had surrendered to return their weapons, and ordered them to perform meritorious service, go back to capture the leader of the thieves, and rescue Jia Xiao.
There are too many rioters who are afraid and refuse to go back!
Of course, the Xinghe Army was not merciful, and immediately shouted in unison: "Those who disobey military orders will be killed, and those who escape from the battle will be killed."
It was not just talk, but real action. After beheading a dozen rioters who refused to move forward on the spot, the rest of them rushed into the streets screaming...
How to distinguish the rebels who have surrendered and been sent back to fight?
Very simple!
These people were all ordered to bare their left arms and shoulders, which was equivalent to being half naked.
Those who have not surrendered can still pretend to be half naked, right?
It doesn't matter. Anyone who is half-shirtless is considered a surrender. It doesn't matter if there are leaders among them.
The Xinghe Army will definitely organize manpower screening after the war.
All in all, this is not a war, but a farce.
The Xinghe Army drove away more than two thousand half-shirted rioters and fought for a while. After a while, the number of half-shirtless people turned into four thousand.
An hour later, most of the men in Guoxian County were half-shirtless.
All the half-shirted rioters said that they were the first to surrender, and the others were the fake ones...
