Chapter 14: Another Reason

Muffled thunder occasionally came, and lightning also pierced the night sky several times, but it never rained.

Zhang Xiaoheng's troops, who were surrounded at the core, were now silent. The rebels on the periphery also took advantage of this rare cool night to sleep peacefully.

There were a few more muffled thunders, and the rebels felt that the ground beneath them was shaking slightly.

They all muttered a few curses, turned over, and then fell asleep.

While sleeping soundly, these rebels heard the guards and soldiers on duty inside and outside the camp exclaiming in surprise.

I didn't want to be disturbed at first, but after all, the rebels could no longer continue with their dream. Because the earth beneath them no longer trembled slightly, but was disturbed by wet and cool water stains.

These water stains turned from gentle to rapid, and the rebels within a radius of dozens of miles were frightened.

In the dark night, there was a panic situation of people shouting and horses neighing, and they couldn't see each other clearly, which made it even more noisy.

"It's because several big rivers nearby have burst their banks!"

Finally, some rebels made an accurate judgment, and the rebels, whose calves and knees were submerged in the water, understood that this was not a cool night to enjoy, but a flood that could kill their lives.

Zhang Xiaoheng led his soldiers to live on high ground, so naturally they would not be afraid of such endless floods.

This was precisely the rangers he ordered to ambush various places in advance, and took advantage of the night to dig up the embankments of several large rivers nearby, causing the floods to spread and spread to the surrounding areas.

The rebels originally thought that their defense was at a low level and they could trap Zhang Xiaoheng and other generals to death. Unexpectedly, the high ground at this time was like an island in a fairyland, while the surrounding area was filled with mayflies in the ocean.

Those who can swim and are good at water can be counted as mayflies, while more of them have become, or will soon become, underwater fish, turtles, shrimps and crabs.

More judges had to scramble to get closer to Zhang Xiaoheng's camp in order to survive. The clothes and armor on their bodies were soaked through, and the bowstrings could no longer be pulled apart due to the moisture.

The wet armor was put on their bodies, adding a lot of weight out of thin air. They were frightened at this time. How could they fight against the king's army?

Either they were killed by the royal army, or they knelt down and surrendered. When the rebels saw the dawn, their eyes were filled with bright white water.

In this battle, the king's army achieved great success. Not only did they drive back the enemy troops, they also killed and wounded thousands of people and captured more than 10,000 people.

As for the number of rebels who were drowned by the flood, there is an countless number.

After this battle, the enemy troops in Shouyang and Zhongli no longer dared to leave the city at will. Fight with the king's army again? The rebels didn't dare, at least for the time being.

The rebels huddled in defense, and Zhang Xiaoheng's troops became the guerrilla troops everywhere.

Not only can he assist in the defense of Yiyang County, Ruyin County, Huaiyang County and other places, he can also deter and contain the rebels in Shouyang area so that they cannot expand the scope of the rebellion. Furthermore, he can intimidate other town generals who are secretly commotion,

This narrow strip of land between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River was somewhat peaceful. Zhou Shengchen, who returned to the camp on the north bank of Jiangling, continued his subsequent plans.

Military advisor Xie Chong was originally worried about the warships often sent to the south bank to harass him. But when Zhou Shengchen returned, the people on the south bank seemed to be afraid of Zhou Shengchen, but they no longer sent out warships.

Zhou Shengchen only said that because of the well-organized military advisor Xie Chong and the powerful military commander General Ma Ganhua who supported the left, the south bank did not dare to attack aggressively.

Zhou Shengchen can roughly guess the real situation: because South Bank coach Xiao Wen is uneasy, there will be no major war between the two sides for the time being.

Xiao Wen on the south bank still maintained the previous peace. He only said that he was doing it in the name of his father and not to add more casualties and military expenses to the people.

This situation remained until autumn, and winter was approaching again.

The envoys between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were still busy. Xiao Wen couldn't make up his mind, so he had to ask someone to forward it to Jiankang's father, Xiao Xu.

Going east along the Yangtze River to deliver letters and memorials is naturally very enjoyable. However, the approval after returning from Jiankang would take a long time.

In the back-and-forth negotiations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, Zhou Shengchen left the camp early and led a hundred thousand troops to sweep away the barbarian natives along the north bank.

There are endless mountains and ridges along both sides of the Taiwan Strait. In these deep mountains and old forests, there are barbarians who have lived in them for generations.

They call themselves natives, and they are wild and fierce by nature, but they are more simple and fierce. They are divided into different ethnic groups. They may have hundreds of people living in a certain mountain range, or tens of thousands of people living in a certain self-proclaimed territory.

Zhou Shengchen treated these natives with a combination of gentleness and iron fist. Take the initiative to show weakness and goodwill, and then demonstrate your own force.

These natives were not very convinced at first, but they did receive food assistance and generous treatment from the royal army.

People's hearts change people's hearts. Most of the native leaders would bring their main troops to express their respect and surrender to Zhou Shengchen. But there are also some native leaders who rely on their arrogance inherited from generation to generation and want to continue to be free men who have no control over heaven and earth.

Zhou Shengchen immediately ordered General Gan Hua to select strong soldiers and divide them into several groups to attack the mountains.

The natives refused to surrender, but fighting against the royal army, which had sophisticated tactics, was like throwing an egg against a stone.

Thousands of natives were entrenched in a deep mountain somewhere, relying on their familiarity with the terrain and the loss of arrows contaminated with poison to resist.

In order to subdue his character, Zhou Shengchen personally led a team into the mountains to search.

Suddenly, there was a sound of gongs in the layers of mountains and forests. Countless arrows of different lengths were lost and flew toward the king's army with bright light.

The king's army was wearing armor and even had shields in their hands. The number of soldiers it lost was not very high. But because Zhou Shengchen was charging forward, he was still shot in the shin by a stray arrow.

He gritted his teeth, immediately tore off a piece of his robe to strangle his wounds, and then immediately ordered: "Surround this mountain, light a fire and set off smoke!"

When the soldiers saw that the king was injured, they were furious. Immediately, thick smoke billowed into the sky, and streaks of flames snaked along the mountain road toward the top of the mountain.

No matter how stubborn the natives on the top of the mountain were, they could not resist such a fire attack. They first screamed and then yelled, running along various mountain roads, trying to find a way out.

But since Zhou Shengchen wanted to overwhelm these natives, he was fully prepared for this battle.

There are thousands of mountain roads, but they all lead down the mountain. Since the Wang Army has 100,000 troops, it is not too difficult to seal off this mountain range.

The natives could not find a way out for two days in a row, knowing that they were indeed in a desperate situation. At this time, I thought about the other surrendered natives. Not only were their lives not in danger, but they also had food, clothing, and fields. It was impossible to surrender because there were fireworks everywhere.

The ruthlessness of water and fire cannot be controlled by anyone, not even God.

Just when the natives were preparing to be smoked or burned to death with all kinds of regrets, the royal troops at the foot of the mountain were in a panic because of Zhou Shengchen.

Seeing that the flames were like hot red iron whips of punishment from heaven, and the smoke was like the anger of gods, about to destroy all the disobedient natives, Zhou Shengchen suddenly issued a general order.

"Everyone go up the mountain to put out the fire!"

When his order was issued, the soldiers were immediately stunned.

"The natives must have woken up, we can't kill them all!" Zhou Shengchen continued.

While the soldiers were still hesitating, military advisor Xie Chong said, "His Royal Highness has issued an order."

Army Commander Ma Ganhua immediately shouted: "I would rather die than die as a native!"

After that, he turned around and walked out of the tent.

After receiving the order from the mountain, the officers and soldiers of the royal army immediately used various methods to go into the mountain to put out the fire, risking being smoked to death or burned to death.

Use branches to beat, or pass buckets in turn, or even use your body to roll to put out the fire...

The soldiers of the king's army were so brave at this time, because of their different mentality, that they were even more brave than rushing into the formation of millions of enemy troops.

The fireworks besieging the natives made them understand that the king's army was not inferior to them even if they were fighting in the mountains and forests. The purpose of rescuing them at this time was to protect the people in the world and to ensure that the people could live and work in peace and contentment, which would continue continuously.

It only took a moment to prevent the fire from burning down the mountain, but it took 100,000 people to extinguish the fire for more than ten days before finally opening up a life channel from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain.

When the natives on the mountain saw the king's soldiers rushing towards them with fireworks on their bodies, they were first shocked and then grieved for the unnecessary casualties of the soldiers on both sides.

The native leader led his subordinates down the mountain road along this life passage. When they saw the royal camp, they immediately fell to the ground.

"Huang Tianhe is rude and offends the king's army. He is unworthy of King Xiao Nanchen!" He cried loudly and crawled towards the camp on his hands and knees.

Before he had gone far, he saw a brocade robe appearing in front of him. When he was slightly surprised, he saw a pair of warm palms supporting his arm.

Looking up, the face of a young man appeared in Huang Tianhe's tearful eyes.

Not daring to confirm that this gentle and elegant man with a jade-like face was Zhou Shengchen, Huang Tianhe hesitated and did not dare to speak.

"I have no choice but to go too far, so please don't blame Huang Toucheng." Zhou Shengchen put a little force on his hands, but Huang Tianhe couldn't resist, and he easily pulled him up from the ground.

"My king!" Huang Tianhe bowed in shame and said, "I deserve to die. You are so ignorant!"

Zhou Shengchen laughed a few times, took his arm and walked into the tent.

Huang Tianhe was pulled by him to sit beside him, and met Military Advisor Xie Chong, Army Commander Ma Ganhua and others.

Zhou Shengchen smiled and said a few comforting words to him, and then ordered people to arrange for the natives who came down from the mountain to eat first, and then sent them to the big tent with wine, meat and food.

After picking up the wine bowl, Huang Tianhe said shamefully: "When I saw Your Highness that day, I thought I was shot. Fortunately,"

Laughing, Zhou Shengchen opened his trouser legs and said, "It's just a hit! Huang Tou Ling is indeed a marksman!"

Huang Tianhe was shocked when he heard this. He quickly put down the wine bowl and immediately started sucking his blood to heal his wounds.

Pushing him away, Zhou Shengchen waved his hands with a smile and said, "Fortunately, I searched for many herbs before entering the mountain, so that I would not be poisoned. The good medicine here has miraculous effects, and it is indeed cured."

After Huang Tianhe repeatedly shouted "fortunately", he dared to raise his wine bowl and drink with him.

While the wine was in full swing, Huang Tianhe patted his chest and said, "Although I'm useless, I can rely on my trust to help my king to gain stability!"

Zhou Shengchen looked at him with a smile and listened to him continue.

"I'm not boasting, but more than a hundred miles away from here, Huang can be heard by someone." After Huang Tianhe said that, he chuckled, and then continued, "More than a hundred miles to the west, there is a man named Shi Mengyuan. The leader is in charge. There is another leader named Bashan Tiger more than a hundred miles to the southeast, who is also very powerful."

After that, he picked up the wine bowl first, and Zhou Shengchen touched it with him and drank it all.

"Huang is willing to be my king's envoy and go and ask those two people to come and obey his orders." Huang Tianhe said confidently.

Military advisor Xie Chong couldn't help but glance at Zhou Shengchen, meaning that he should not be gullible, let alone let the tiger go back to the mountain.

"Okay! I am waiting here! Prepare some wine and wait for Huang Tou Ling and others to come over and have a drink together!" Zhou Shengchen said happily.

Military advisor Xie Chong was immediately anxious when he saw this, and quickly said: "It is cold at this time, and the king's army is large in number, so it is not good to stay here for a long time."

What he meant implicitly was that even if Huang Tianhe had this intention, Zhou Shengchen should follow him with heavy troops to intimidate him.

Waving his hands, Zhou Shengchen said with a smile: "The natives are all loyal and courageous people who keep their word. If I don't believe in Huang Tou Ling, why bother to risk the death and injury of many soldiers by inviting him down from the mountain? ?”

Seeing that he had broken his words, military advisor Xie Chong could not say more.

At this time, Huang Tianhe came back to Xie Chong's words. He sat with his head down for a while, drank a large bowl of wine, and then curled his lips and said, "It's not because Huang is greedy for life and afraid of death, but it's because of me, Wang Renyi! Otherwise, I will only live for a hundred years in the world. Huang was smoked to death and burned to death on the mountain, so what else?!"

Zhou Shengchen quickly took his arm and said with a smile: "The military advisor is just thinking about the army. Huang Toucheng must understand."

After taking a long breath, Huang Tianhe stopped looking at the others and only said to Zhou Shengchen: "I am nothing more than a life. If you can recruit those two people for my king, wouldn't it be a great thing?! But if it doesn't work, Huang I don’t dare to be ashamed and refuse to return, so I can just come back and ask for death from my king.”

Hearing his heroic words, Zhou Shengchen couldn't help but pat his thigh.

After all, there was an injury on his leg, and he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. But he still held back and did not change his expression.

Immediately raising his thumb, Huang Tianhe praised and said: "My king is wise and powerful, Huang is right to vote!"

"Huang Tou Ling is really brave and brave, and he is extremely righteous. If Huang Tou Ling agrees, it will be a lucky day for us to become brothers with different surnames!" Zhou Shengchen said with a smile.

Huang Tianhe was so happy that he laughed and almost jumped up to sing and dance on the spot.

Suddenly he frowned again and fell into deep thought.

"What's wrong with Huang Toucheng?" Zhou Shengchen asked quickly.

Turning to look at him, Huang Tianhe first bowed and bowed, and then said with emotion: "Huang is so lucky because of God's will. However, Huang feels that the only thing he can do is to offend my king. But he didn’t get any credit, and he didn’t dare to accept my king’s order immediately!”

Zhou Shengchen smiled and said, "It doesn't matter." Huang Tianhe then handed over his hands and said, "I, Wang Kuanren, but Huang needs to make some meritorious deeds."

Seeing that he insisted on doing this, Zhou Shengchen comforted him and continued to drink together.

After gathering for a few days, Huang Tianhe immediately ordered his subordinates to accept Zhou Shengchen's rectification and adaptation.

From now on, these brave natives can be mobilized by Zhou Shengchen to become a special combat unit.

Afterwards, Huang Tianhe took only about twenty followers with him. After saying goodbye to Zhou Shengchen, he went to those two places to recruit.

Watching them go away, Xie Chong sighed and said: "Your Highness is magnanimous, but I don't know if Huang Tou will agree to it?"