Chapter 568 Qin Rentu and Cheng Mowang
"How does Zheng Gong feel about this errand?"
At the gate of Chang'an City, Tang Jian, Duke of Ju State, and Zheng Yuanxuan, Duke of Pei State, walked side by side. Tang Jian stroked his long beard and turned to ask Zheng Yuanxuan. It was the beginning of November at this time, the wind was blowing south, and the grass and trees were rustling. Traveling in this kind of weather is better than summer, but it's not much better.
The most important thing is that more than three months ago, he made a hard trip, but it was all in vain. Now that he is on an envoy, Tang Jian has no spiritual motivation.
"Mr. Tang, I'm afraid it will be another hard job this time." Zheng Yuanxuan still clearly remembered the failure to return last time, especially the indifference and white eyes when facing Qin Lang. Now he has accepted the decree again and is going to announce the decree to Qin Lang. If only that was the case, it would be better, but the emperor gave them an errand, asking them to check the achievements of Qin Lang's army. The key point is to test the head, check the military merits, and especially to check whether Qin Lang has committed any illegal activities.
This errand, it is clear that they are going to find fault with Qin Lang, this kind of errand will definitely not be welcomed by others.
But the emperor's decree, how could they, as courtiers, refuse.
"A victory report came, which made people dazzled. Qin Qiong recruited and surrendered more than 300,000 Dangxiang Qiang in Hequ, and killed 14,000 Dangxiang Qiang and captured more than 16,000 prisoners in Qin Langdie Prefecture. He also rescued the defeated prisoners in Minzhou They captured more than 5,000 Qiang people in Taoyuan, recovered Taozhou without bloodshed, hired more than 1,000 Qiang people, and then wiped out 13,000 Qiang people under the city of Minzhou. In Zhang County and Lanzhou Didao County, a total of 11,000 enemies were wiped out in the two wars."
Tang Jian pointed and counted there, "Just talk about Qin Lang, he fought several battles, beheaded more than 38,000 troops, captured 22,000 prisoners, and rescued more than 7,000 defeated troops. There are more than 20,000 captives, if you talk about this feat, it is astonishing."
Zheng Yuanxuan was also amazed, "Mr. Tang, even if the reported credits are true, have you noticed a serious problem? Qin Lang kills a lot in every battle, especially in the city of Minzhou, where he and Lanwei In the several battles in Zhuzhou, every time it was completely wiped out, and the Dangxiang and Tuyuhun troops were all beheaded, don't you think there is a problem with this?"
Yes, how can it be possible to kill the enemy in a normal battle? Even if it is an encirclement and annihilation battle, at most 30% to 40% will be killed. One pawn.
It is very difficult for this kind of battle to wipe out the enemy and kill them all. There is only one possibility, either Qin Lang falsely reported his military achievements, or he killed the prisoners.
"Do you think Duke Wei has falsely reported his military achievements again this time, or killed the prisoners?" Zheng Yuanxuan asked.
"It may be possible to make a false report. Last time Qin Lang led 3,000 cavalry to join the party, but he dared to report that he killed 30,000 Qiang people, but the court estimated that they killed at most a few thousand, and at most no more than 10,000 people. Zhenfu Division Some people went to Dangxiang, and indeed found some Zuoer Jingguan according to the marks marked on the map, but only part of them were found, and some had been destroyed by the Qiang people, and the verified number was only more than 3,000."
Zheng Yuanxuan also agrees with Tang Jian's views, but this time the enemy invaded, the number can be verified, so the possibility of false reporting is not very high. He even believes that Qin Lang killed prisoners, or a large-scale killing of prisoners.
"More than 38,000 people were killed in front and back. I estimate that at least more than 20,000 were captured and slaughtered."
"Human massacre!" Tang Jian, an old Jianghu, couldn't help cursing in a low voice. Although captives are often killed on the battlefield, it is rare to say that everyone who is not left is slaughtered, but Qin Lang has at least three battles. There was a massacre.
"Going to Minzhou this time, I think I will offend the Qin family and his son."
"There is nothing we can do about it, we are responsible." Zheng Yuanxuan said.
·····
Hezhou, Yuhan.
Fenglin closed.
Qin Lang looked into the distance at the gate. He led his army to pursue the Tuyuhun army all the way from Minzhou, along Taozhou and entered Didao, Lanzhou. The army broke through several times and was killed and retreated.
In the end, Tuyuhun asked to surrender, but Qin Lang refused, and killed all 6,000 people with bows and crossbows. These 6,000 people participated in the Taozhou massacre. Qin Lang refused their surrender, blood for blood, tooth for tooth, and not one was left The massacre in the valley of Kanglang.
Qin Lang sent troops to cut off the left ears of six thousand Tuyuhun soldiers to keep records of meritorious service, and cut off all the heads. They built a human-headed temple under Kanglang Mountain and carved inscriptions.
Then he led his army westward into Hezhou, and unexpectedly and swiftly attacked the Tuyuhun army who had invaded Hezhou at the mouth of the Yellow River where Hezhou Lishui entered, and wiped out another 5,000 troops.
After the victory in this battle, the other Tuyuhun troops who invaded Hezhou retreated in a panic. Qin Lang sent troops to chase and kill them along the way, beheading more than 3,000 people, and there was no enemy in Hezhou.
At the foot of Xiaojishi Mountain, Cheng Yaojin, the governor of Kuozhou, had just arrived from Lanzhou and passed by Hezhou. Hearing of the great victory, he came with his own soldiers.
Old Cheng came all the way from Chang'an, so he didn't even care to take a sip of water.
Since the start of the war, Chang'an and Luoyang have been shaken for a while, and the emperor keeps ordering, but Luoyang's news is seriously lagging behind, and it can't keep up with the progress of the frontline battle. new progress.
Old Cheng also received several appointments one after another. Every time he received an order, the last order came again, canceling the previous order.
After finally taking the new appointment of Kuozhou governor, he set off from Chang'an to Lanzhou, but the situation on the front line changed again. Qin Lang regained Taozhou and Minzhou, wiped out the enemies who invaded Wei, Lan and He states, and ran away defeated the enemies of Kuozhou.
"My old Cheng finally got a chance to fight. You kid is too dishonest. Why don't you let me go for nothing? You have to think of a way for Uncle Cheng. How can I get a chance to fight? You can't let me go. You, Uncle Cheng, have come here." Old Cheng didn't bother to take a sip of the tea, and played a rogue with Qin Lang, "Where's Uncle Bao?"
"Grandfather is in Minzhou to deal with the aftermath. This time there are more beheads and more prisoners. In addition, Tuyuhun and Dangxiang invaded and destroyed many cities. Many people's homes were destroyed and their wives and daughters were taken captive. Winter is coming. What to do There are too many things to do in the aftermath."
Lao Cheng patted Qin Lang on the shoulder, "What's the matter, you guys don't want to fight anymore after you've made a lot of money? I was in a hurry, but I didn't even take a sip of the soup. Damn, how dare this Tuyuhun dare to fight?" Offend my border, take my compatriots into captivity, should they just run away? This matter must not be let alone so easily, you have to fight, continue to fight, Saburo, if you are tired from fighting, you give me the soldiers, and I will be refreshed Just in time, I led the troops to continue the pursuit, and went to Fucheng City to capture the old thief Fuyun alive."
Qin Lang also understands Cheng Yaojin's enthusiasm. Originally, he had partnered with Lao Cheng and Qin Qiong for many years, and their official titles and titles have always been about the same. A reward, but since then, the gap between the two brothers has become wider and wider.
Qin Qiong took command of the army several times, or went out of the town, and this time he made great achievements.
He, Cheng Yaojin, didn't get any chance to lead the army after Xuanwumen. Last time he managed to get the chance to lead the way in the Northern Expedition, but he didn't do anything in Youzhou, but Su Dingfang picked up the one who captured Mie Jieli. great merit.
This time, Lao Cheng was willing to fight a big battle and make great contributions. How could he accept that it ended like this.
"Uncle Cheng, our army has moved thousands of miles away, and the army and horses are exhausted." Qin Lang said.
From defending the five-star fortress for more than a month, to the Jedi counterattack, killing all the way, from Diezhou to Taozhou, Taozhou to Minzhou, Minzhou chased to Weizhou, and then to Lanzhou, and Lanzhou entered Hezhou. Non-stop, non-stop, non-stop, until now, it is true that people have reached their limits, and horses can't stand it anymore.
To be honest, the revenge of the siege of Diezhou was also avenged, and the blood debt of the Taozhou massacre was also collected. The whole army is actually quite satisfied and tired now, and they don't want to pursue it anymore.
The people of Tuyuhun all ran back to their hometown in Qinghai, what to do afterward, it was already cold and snowing, and the soldiers hadn’t come to change their winter clothes yet.
Many soldiers are also somewhat satisfied, and the merit books of all of them are very long. Now everyone just wants to cash in the rewards as soon as possible, and then go home, reunite with their wives and children, and return to their hometowns.
Old Cheng didn't get anything, but Qin Lang and the others had already done a lot of battles.
"We can't just let it go, we have to continue fighting, we can't be beaten by Tuyuhun, and now he has gone home, let's just forget it? When did our Tang Dynasty become so cowardly?"
Qin Lang smiled, "Uncle Cheng, it's not that we are cowardly, it's just that this time the war has reached this level, we really should withdraw the money first, and it's not impossible to fight again, but it's not right now, it's already winter now , We are completely unprepared, we can't let the exhausted soldiers continue to chase the vast hinterland of Tuyuhun on their weak horses? If something happens, wouldn't we become Li Daoyan's second?"
"This time, let's repel the invading enemies first, arrange and rescue the people who have been tormented by the war, let the soldiers and horses spend the winter first, and wait until next autumn when the horses are fat, we will gather troops and horses, and go deep into Tuyuhun in one fell swoop. Not too late."
Old Cheng was very upset.
It can be seen that Qin Lang is unwilling to send troops, and there is nothing he can do.
Qin Lang was appointed by the emperor as the deputy chief of the Xikaidao march for this campaign, and he was also in command of the Taohe side, and also controlled the soldiers and horses of the troops of the Longyou prefectures. Cheng Yaojin's new governor of Kuozhou was controlled by Qin Lang.
Qin Lang said that it is not suitable to continue chasing and fighting now, and Lao Cheng can't do anything about it. Although he is Qin Lang's elder, the army doesn't care about seniority, only about position.
"Sanlang, do you think this is okay? You let me go to the army to see if there are any passionate brothers who are willing to fight with me again. I don't want many. If I can have five thousand The soldiers on the left and right are willing to fight with me, so you can support Uncle Cheng and let me fight, three thousand is fine, what do you think?"
"Uncle Cheng, the soldiers are indeed exhausted, and the weather is cold and the soldiers and civilians are exhausted. It is not a good time to use troops. It is also difficult to supply troops at this time. Most importantly, it is very dangerous for three to five thousand soldiers to go deep into the hinterland. Even if you succeed in winning one or two battles, it is of no benefit to the overall situation, it is nothing if you win, but once you lose, you will be in danger of annihilation of the entire army, it is really not worth it."
As far as the overall strategic situation is concerned, it doesn't make much sense to think about one or two partial victories at this time.
But Cheng Yaojin still wanted to fight a war, "I can't let the Tuyuhun people come and go like this, they must be punished!"
(end of this chapter)