Chapter 300: Capture
Editor: Atlas Studios
After Qi Haoran killed Feng Yu, he led 20 people to Jiangyou. At the same time, he even sent a letter to Assistant Commander Lu to send another 2,000 people to the town.
Although there were already rumors that they would not take those people’s lives and had even brainwashed them mentally, there might be people who could not help but want to escape. As long as one of them escaped, there would be no stopping it later. Hence, Qi Haoran still made some preparations.
Mu Shi had already surrounded Jiangyou and Jiang Zhong in the county.
The rebel army that wanted to return to reinforce Tongchuan Prefecture was held back by the garrison.
In the county, Jiang Zhong looked at the motionless army outside with a dark expression and said, “We can’t wait any longer. We’ll break out tonight. Otherwise, even if they don’t attack the city, we’ll die due to the encirclement.”
At this moment, Qi Haoran, who had just rushed to the camp, also said, “We’ll make a move tonight. You guys have surrounded him for three days and he has already reached his limit. We can’t let him be driven to desperation. Otherwise, I’m afraid we won’t be able to protect the citizens in the city.”
Although Jiang Zhong had always been polite to the wise and treated the commoners well, if forced into a desperate situation, he might resort to threatening Qi Haoran with the commoners.
Qi Haoran was sure that he would not compromise, but it was naturally better if fewer people died.
“When do we do it?”
“Let’s see when they break out. Let them out and ambush them on the way.”
“But Jiangyou has a total of four city gates and we only have 2,000 troops. If we split up, I’m afraid we won’t be able to stop them.”
Qi Haoran looked at the map and said in a low voice, “The mountains in the east are high and dense, but the roads are blocked. If he wants to escape to the south, there’s only one main road. Most importantly, Zitong is not far to the south, and that place is still under the control of the Imperial Court. He just escaped from here, so he won’t mess with Zitong.”
“There’s Xingyuan Prefecture to the north, Xiamao County to the south, and Li County to the west. There are even dense forests there where it’s convenient to hide people. Based on Jiang Zhong’s traditional combat style, he will definitely bring most of the people out from the west gate. The remaining people will break out from the north gate and attract our attention. Therefore, I’ll bring 1,000 people to the west gate, while you bring 800 people to guard the north gate. The remaining 200 people will be spread across the south and east gates, in order to create the illusion that there are many people. These people will only surround the place but not attack.”
“Little General, is bringing 1,000 men along enough?”
“Besides, Jiang Zhong’s soldiers were randomly gathered in a rush, but they haven’t been trained.” Such people were usually cannon fodder on the battlefield. If any random person could go to the battlefield, they wouldn’t have to spend so much effort to recruit soldiers and train them.
“Little General, it’s better not to underestimate the enemy.” Mu Shi felt that Qi Haoran was being a little arrogant. After all, the other party had fought a few battles and seen blood.
Qi Haoran nodded. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” Although he was proud, he was not arrogant. Naturally, he knew that one had to be bold in war but fight cautiously.
Jiang Zhong led his men to open the west gate. When he heard the shouts from the north gate, he knew that the people he had arranged had already rushed out to fight with the Imperial Court’s army.
He ordered people to open the west city gate. The soldiers stationed outside clearly did not expect someone to rush out at this moment, so they were stunned for a moment. Jiang Zhong shouted, “Charge out!”
The rebel army charged at the soldiers. The army clearly did not care about the west gate and actually only sent 100 to 200 people to guard the west gate. When those people saw that they were coming aggressively, they symbolically resisted for a moment before fleeing in all directions. Instead of chasing after them, the rebel army ran forward with Jiang Zhong.
Jiang Zhong led his men and ran for three miles before he slowly felt that something was amiss. Considering the west city gate was an important place only second to the north gate, how could they rush out so easily?
“Stop.” Jiang Zhong waved his hand to restrain the team and looked at the two sides of the road suspiciously. Suddenly, he felt that this road was abnormally quiet. His expression immediately changed and he shouted, “Retreat! Retreat quickly!”
However, it was already too late. Arrows shot out from the forest on both sides, and huge rocks even rolled down from the mountain on the left. When Jiang Zhong retreated, he realized that the soldiers who had fled previously had surrounded him again. Moreover, it wasn’t merely 100-odd soldiers like before. It seemed that he had fallen into their trap.
Jiang Zhong could only draw his sword and shout, “Brothers, let’s fight it out with them!”
However, he did not dare to fight the Imperial Court’s army to the end. Therefore, when it was almost dawn, he saw that there were only 300 to 400 people left on his side, but they could not break through the defense line no matter what. He had no choice but to put down his sword and surrender.
After Qi Haoran detained them, he began to clean up the battlefield and count the casualties. When everything was settled, Mu Shi also sent a letter informing that dozens of people escaped, but most of them were captured.
Qi Haoran nodded and escorted him back to Tongchuan Prefecture. He directly handed him over to Assistant Commander Lu to deal with.
Jiang Zhong was different from Feng Yu. Qi Haoran could kill a scumbag like Feng Yu without informing the Imperial Court. However, a rebel leader like Jiang Zhong had to be escorted into the capital and be adjudicated by the Emperor.
Qi Haoran took out the map and asked, “Are there still no traces of those 40,000 people?”
“Yes.” Assistant Commander Lu frowned. “It’s as if they’re ghosts. There’s no news of them at all. It’s not like there are 40 to 50 people. This is 40,000 people. How can there be no trace of them at all?”
Qi Haoran frowned. “Are there any fortifications nearby that can hide so many people? For example, the lairs of the mountain bandits that were exterminated.”
Assistant Commander Lu felt that Qi Haoran was thinking too much. “When the Imperial Court exterminates bandits, they will destroy the bandit’s lair when they leave. Otherwise, wouldn’t they be providing convenience to those who come later?”
Qi Haoran scratched his head. “Since there are old and young among the 40,000 people, it’s impossible for them to stay outside. They must be staying somewhere. Considering this place is only so big, I don’t believe we can’t find them. Go and ask the magistrate of Tongchuan.”
“I’ve asked, but he doesn’t know anything.” Assistant Commander Lu was also a little angry. “If I hadn’t known he’s a magistrate, I would have suspected that he was hiding the people.”
After all, how could 40,000 people not leave any traces behind? Previously, Assistant Commander Lu thought that they were careless and didn’t investigate carefully. But damn it, even after he sent the most impressive scouts, they still couldn’t find any traces.
Qi Haoran narrowed his eyes and asked, “Where did they appear for the first time?”
Assistant Commander Lu looked at Qi Haoran strangely. Shouldn’t he be asking about where they appeared the last time?
However, he still pointed at a point on the map and said, “Here, Zhaohua.”
Qi Haoran instructed, “Send someone to bring back all the captives in the town. I’ll bring people to inquire.”
When Qi Haoran appeared again, he was wearing a set of clothes that he had exchanged for two taels of silver with a beggar in the city. Fei Bai could only smear his face and follow beside him. “Master, are we really not bringing anyone along?” Fei Bai advised Qi Haoran as he looked around anxiously.
Qi Haoran replied calmly, “Aren’t you ‘someone’?”
