I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 421 Ending in Silence
Ma Qin was ready to fight Gan Ning to the death, but Gao Sheng beside him reminded him: "Today our army has suffered repeated defeats, the soldiers are exhausted, and the morale is low, while the enemy's morale is high after winning the first battle. Moreover, the main force of the enemy will not be too far away. Once they rush out during the battle, the consequences will be disastrous... It is better to avoid the sharp edge for the time being and fight again on another day!"

Ma Qin's mind was a little confused, and he asked back: "Now that the two armies are facing each other, how can it be so easy to retreat?"

Gao Sheng analyzed: "The roadblocks and traps that Gan Ning left behind to block our army are now in use when we withdraw. The 5,000 soldiers led by Ma Fei are scattered in the mountains and forests. If they don't clear them out, they will definitely not dare to pursue them rashly."

"Why don't we go back and try to see if we can capture Zizhong County in one fell swoop. If we can, we will use Zizhong County as our base to confront Xun You and seek a way to win. If we can't, we will retreat to Han'an County in time and reorganize the army!"

Han'an County is located in the south of Zizhong County and the east of Nan'an County. They captured it after defeating Ren Qi, the prefect of Qianwei who was supporting Nan'an County.

After seeing Ma Fei's head, Ma Qin's thoughts were in a mess for a moment.

This bandit leader, who led his soldiers to plunder and kill people at will, became instinctively afraid when he saw the heads of his relatives. He even thought of the scene of being beheaded and almost started talking nonsense.

After listening to Gao Sheng's words, he thought about it for a while with his not-so-bright head and felt that it made a lot of sense.

Gao Sheng saw that Ma Qin was still thinking and thought that Ma Qin was still hesitating, so he continued to persuade him: "This place is densely forested, and the only open area is this not-so-wide official road in the middle. It is difficult for our army to play to its strength advantage..."

Little did he know that Ma Qin was just a little slow in reacting.

But this sentence finally gave Ma Qin time to react - "Just as you said, withdraw the troops!"

On the other hand, signs of the rebels' retreat could not be concealed.

Seeing this, Yan Liang, who had just won a victory, was about to pick up his lance and prepare to pursue the enemy, but was stopped by Gan Ning.

Gan Ning said, "Sir Yan, wait a minute. Judging from our previous experience, the enemy is not a weak force. Their soldiers have seen blood. Now the enemy's formation has not yet dispersed. If we attack rashly, there will be ambushes on both sides of the official road. I am afraid that this will play into their hands."

"I can send out the Bantun Barbarians to ambush Ma Qin's messenger, and Ma Qin can also ambush my scouts in the mountains and forests. In these mountains and forests, we have a natural advantage of waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out!"

Yan Liang knew that Gan Ning had participated in many of the plans in the battle he had just experienced, and he had a certain degree of trust in Gan Ning's judgment, so he did not insist.

After all, in terms of military position, he was an official military Sima in the Xiyuan Army. When he arrived at the front army, Gan Ning even had to obey his orders. No one except Xun You could control him.

It goes without saying that the army, under the command of Xun You, wiped out the rebels under Ma Fei. However, it is worth mentioning that the rebels did not completely collapse because of Ma Fei's death. In fact, because many of them did not carry the money and food they received as rewards in this battle, many rebels returned the same way they came, wanting to meet up with Ma Qin and Gao Sheng.

Although their route had been discovered in advance by the Bandunman scouts sent by Gan Ning, the mountainous terrain was complex and the rebels would flee in all directions once they were attacked. Even if the rebellion was suppressed, there would still be a battle to fight in the future to suppress bandits and maintain public security in Jianwei County.

After Xun You arranged to deal with the scattered rebels, the army that was suppressing the rebellion resumed its previous marching posture.

Gan Ning continued his march with the 5,000-man vanguard that had been replenished.

This time, the rebels retreated cleanly.

Along the way, Gan Ning encountered not only a few defeated rebel soldiers, but the majority were civilians who were displaced because of the rebels' passage through the border. They didn't know how many of them they encountered along the way.

When they arrived in Zizhong County, they learned that the rebels had pretended to be reinforcements in an attempt to trick the city gates open during their retreat, but were discovered by Zizhong County Magistrate Li Sheng.

Fortunately, Li Sheng had served as the head of Mianzhu in the past, and was an old acquaintance of Jia Long and other military officials in the state, so his identity was confirmed.

Afterwards, the army set up camp outside the city. After learning about the atrocities committed by the rebels during the siege, all the officials from Xun You down were filled with indignation.

After a short rest in Zizhong County, the army set out again.

At this time, General Zhao Jin was still on his way to Jianwei County.

Ma Qin and Gao Sheng are retreating to Han'an County.

After failing in his attempt to defraud Zizhong County, Gao Sheng is still trying to find victory.

He discussed with Ma Qin for a long time, and suddenly realized something. He frowned and asked, "Why don't you speak? Don't you want to talk?"

Ma Qinze looked around and saw that no one could hear them, so he whispered, "In my opinion, after we arrive in Han'an County, we should find a chance to get away."

Gao Sheng frowned. He still remembered Ma Qin's bold words when he set out from Zizhong County to fight. It was just a small defeat. Why was he so discouraged?
He said: "Victory and defeat are common in the military! Think about how glorious it was when we left Shu County. At that time, you and I both wanted to take this opportunity to achieve something. Now we have occupied much more land than when we left Shu. There are many talented people in Shu, and we are definitely not alone. As long as we can defeat Xun You, we will surely have many followers, so why worry about not being able to accomplish great things?"

These words seemed to arouse Ma Qin's lofty ambitions again, and he suddenly shouted: "Great things can be accomplished!"

The sound was so loud that Gao Sheng shivered with fear.

Perhaps this is the only way to strengthen his confidence.

……

When he returned to Han'an County, Ma Qin was no longer confused. He said to Gao Sheng: "We will defend Han'an, rely on the city, and wait for Xun You to show a flaw before counterattacking!"

Han'an County was used as a springboard for attacking Zizhong County. After Ma Qin took it, he placed the looted money and grain here, preparing to transport it to Zizhong later. Unexpectedly, it was used here.

Gao Sheng also said: "The longer we hold out, the more chances those who support us will have to secretly help us. Let's wait and see!"

"Wait for another day!"

At this time, General Zhao Jin was still on his way to Qianwei County.

……

"If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have listened to you! It's too late to regret now!" Ma Qin complained to Gao Sheng with a bitter face.

The two of them kept guarding... not only did they not get a chance to fight back, they found themselves surrounded.

At first, they could still comfort themselves that they would be able to find Xun You's flaws, and someone would definitely help them to set Xun You's backyard on fire.

but……

The intelligence they received clearly showed that Xun You's army to suppress the rebellion had only more than 20,000 troops, even less than their own.

But when the army that was sent to suppress the rebellion entered Qianwei County, the enemy's military strength was increasing every day.

By now, Xun You had led a large army to besiege them in the city of Han'an.

Although there was money and food in the city, it was all gone under siege.

Under such circumstances, places like Nan'an County, which had been captured by them, could not even communicate.

The longer the time went on, the more panicked they became.

Under their looting, the original people in Han'an City were either killed or fled. Now, apart from the rebels who followed them, there are only a small number of people in the city who are hiding somewhere unknown.

This made it impossible for them to find anyone in the city to risk their lives to charge into the battle.

I can only say it's karma.

At this time, Zhao Jin, who had been on the road, finally arrived in Jianwei County.

After meeting Huan Dian and others and understanding the current situation of Qianwei County, Zhao Jin found an opportunity to have a secret discussion with Xun You.

Zhao Jin said straight to the point: "When I came here, the emperor told me that Gongda is a talented minister, and he knows everything about planning major events and pacifying the country. He told me to consult with Gongda on all matters. If we have any disagreements, you should listen to me on how to fight, but you should listen to Gongda on matters other than fighting..."

At this point, Zhao Jin paused and smiled before continuing, "At first I was a little unconvinced, but after hearing how Gongda trapped the rebels here... Even if it were me, I couldn't do better..."

Zhao Jin took Xun You's hand and said solemnly: "You and I should work together to fulfill His Majesty's trust!"

"Dare you disobey my order?" Xun You replied.

Although he was a low-key person and not one who would take credit for himself, he was still delighted when he heard Zhao Jin's words.

Apart from other things, if he had not made full use of the conflicts between the local powerful families, how could his troops have increased? Moreover, Ma Qin and Gao Sheng were not fools. They tried to break through several times, but were blocked by him.

What's more, Zhao Jin's words not only showed Zhao Jin's approval, but also the emperor's trust in him.

"What should we do next? What's Gongda's opinion?"

Xun You smiled slightly and was about to say something when he heard someone knocking on the door in a hurry and shouting anxiously, "My Lord, there is an urgent report from Shu County. In Canling County, the Qiang and Hu tribes outside the Great Wall have joined forces with the Di and Hu tribes to cause chaos. Many officials and civilians have been killed or injured!"

The smile on Xun You's face disappeared.

After Xun You finished reading the urgent military information, he said to Zhao Jin: "I was just about to say that Ma Qin and Gao Sheng are not the whole story of this rebellion, and its root is still in Shu County! I didn't expect that before I even went to Shu County, the matter of Shu County had already come to me!"

"It's just right that the general is here. Ma Gao and the other two are just trapped beasts. We just need to prevent them from jumping off the wall in desperation... But Shu County! General, I have a request. Please lead the army here to continue to besiege the rebels. I want to lead the troops to Shu County!"

"Good!" Zhao Jin agreed sincerely.

From the current perspective, the lives of Ma Qin and Gao Sheng were the greatest contribution to the suppression of the rebellion. Xun You's move seemed to be giving the credit to him... As a general, who would be dissatisfied with having many military merits!

(End of this chapter)