The Nameless of the Common Clans

Baibo Valley is not actually a valley. It is sandwiched between the Luliang Mountains and the Taihang Mountains. The four counties of Yangxian, Xiangling, Pingyang, and Yongan are now included in the Baibo Valley. The Fen River passes through it, and the water and soil are rich and fertile. Baibo Valley is a collective name. According to the information that Man Chong sent people to collect and inquire about over the past year, the internal structure of the Baibo bandits is very loose. Most of them are clansmen from various places who lead the villages and bravely occupy the local areas. Taking advantage of the civil strife in the court, they segregated themselves in this area under the banner of the Yellow Turbans. .

For so many years, they have joined forces to fight against the imperial court, while also devouring each other. Now the most important ones are four groups, Yang Feng, Hu Cai, Li Le, and Han Xian, each with more than ten thousand troops.

It is obviously impossible to raise 40,000 soldiers and horses in the land of four counties. Most of these people are still engaged in farming, and some of them rob passing merchants. Of course, after so many years, they have formed their own internal rules. Passing merchants only need to stay behind A part of the property can be passed over, and even if there is trouble, the Baibo thieves will come forward to deal with it. In addition, they are also distributed in Taiyuan County, Xihe County, and Shangdang County.

"In other words, in fact, most of these Baibo thieves are local clans?" Looking at the information collected by Man Chong, Chen Mo asked with a smile. He was not surprised by this result. Pure thieves may be able to occupy the city for a while, but if they don't understand How can governance be able to stay here all these years?

Just like the Gebei bandits back then, although they were very powerful, they were quickly suppressed.

"Most of them are like that." Manchong nodded. In fact, it's not just the Baibo bandits. Most of the bandits with some influence in various places have some relationship with the local gentry, but few are as big as the Baibo bandits.

"So, if I send troops, the Baibo thieves will definitely get the news?" Chen Mo asked with a smile.

Man Chong nodded. This was also the difficulty in clearing out the Gebei thieves. If they couldn't defeat them, they would turn into civilians. But as soon as the soldiers and horses left, they would immediately gather people to become bandits. However, Baibo Valley was an important area for Chen Mo to annex the state in the future. It must be If Chen Mo kills him, he may be ostracized by the nobles in Hedong and even Bingzhou.

"Send someone to pass a letter to Baibo Valley, telling them that I have no intention of starting another war. If the Baibo thieves are willing to surrender, they can apply for official positions from the court." Chen Mo thought deeply: "You will secretly release the names of these thieves you have collected. Go and let them know that we know the root of the thief."

Since there is no way to make a surprise attack, let's be more upright and write a letter first. If the other party doesn't agree, we will send out troops at that time. If they can't fight as usual, they will disperse among the people. Then Chen Mo will just send the army to Baibo Valley, and all the recorded thieves will be killed. , those are all for the purpose of liquidation. Even for self-protection, we can only confront him head-on.

Here, Chen Mo was not afraid of him hitting him head-on, but he was afraid that the other party would hide away.

"My lord, I'll do it now." Man Chong nodded. Even if those clans were willing to reconcile with Chen Mo, the thieves on the list would obviously not be willing to wait to die. The best outcome would be for these thieves to come with the clan. In a melee, no matter who loses or wins in the end, it is Chen Mo who will profit in the end. Then he will lead his army to drive these thieves towards Taiyuan. Not only will he gain the land of four counties, but Chen Mo will also have an excuse to invade Taiyuan. When the time comes, he will provoke After a while, the gentry of Taiyuan could even beg Chen Mo to go and suppress the bandits.

"One more thing." Chen Mo thought for a while and said, "Tell everyone, because this year has attracted a large number of refugees, the grain stored in Hedong has been used to resettle the people. I hope everyone can donate some food for this troop dispatch."

"I understand." Man Chong nodded, said goodbye and left.

"Bo Dao shouldn't fight quickly now? If so, the Bai Bo thieves might try to fight with you." Zang Hong, who was handling official duties, smiled after Man Chong left.

"In this way, they will relax their vigilance and concentrate on defense. However, the four counties are neither big nor small. To defend, the troops must be dispersed and defeated one by one." Chen Mo said with a smile, Baibo Thief The total number is quite large. If a swarm of swarms comes to fight, Chen Mo's soldiers and horses may not be able to defeat them no matter how elite they are. However, if the opponent's soldiers and horses are separated, the fight will be relatively easy.

"You are too calculating." Zang Hong shook his head and smiled.

"If you meet a powerful person, the disciple would not dare to do this." Chen Mo smiled and said: "But Baibo Thief, the disciple still has some confidence."

"When will the troops be launched?" Zang Hong asked as he spread out the bamboo slips he had written on in his hand and waited for the ink to dry.

"In the past few days, although the disciple now has a lot of soldiers and horses in hand, Jiguan and Puban need to be heavily guarded, as well as the security of various places. This time the disciple is planning to mobilize 5,000 soldiers and horses to participate in the battle. It will be easier to mobilize, but the food and grass will be consumed. Not much." Chen Mo smiled and said, "We will send troops as soon as Gao Shun comes."

"Don't underestimate the enemy. There are countless capable people in this world. Although Bo Dao has strategies, don't underestimate the world's heroes." Zang Hong looked at Chen Mo and frowned.

My disciple has indeed become a talented person now, but there are also many smart people who are arrogant after becoming talented, which is not a good thing.

"Disciple, remember this!" Chen Mo said with cupped hands.

…

Three days later, Yang County.

After sending away the people who came to report the news, Yang Feng immediately invited Hu Cai, Li Le, and Han Xian to come over to discuss how to deal with Chen Mo.

"The young man Chen Mo became famous mostly because of the praise of his time. He may not be that powerful." Hu Cai said with a smile: "Now that we haven't even collected the army rations, you want me to surrender? Don't you know that in this land east of the river, whenever there is trouble? , can it escape our eyes and ears? "

"Then according to Brother Hu's wish, we will not surrender?" Yang Feng looked at Hu Cai and said.

"Of course we can't surrender." Hu Cai nodded and said, "He has no food, so what can he do even if he has soldiers? We only need to hold out for more than a month, and when his food and grass are exhausted, we will march south, just in time to drive this ignorant young man out of Hedong, and we can replace him."

If Chen Mo had military rations, they might still consider it, but since it has been determined that Chen Mo's military rations must be asked for from the nobles of each county, what is there to be afraid of? As long as we hold on, Chen Mo will retreat when he runs out of food.

"That's right." Han Xian nodded and said, "Although Chen Mo has a great reputation, he is mostly opportunistic. If we fight head-on, are we still afraid of him?"

Behind Yang Feng, a general frowned and said, "Generals, but if this happens, our army will inevitably be dispersed. If Chen Mo is defeated one by one, won't our army have to sit and wait for death?"

"Who are you? When is it your turn to speak here?" Hu Cai frowned and shouted.

"This is my general Xu Huang." Yang Feng said with a smile, "He used to be an official in Yang County. After being persecuted by his superiors, he surrendered to me. He knows a lot about military tactics and is brave and good at fighting! Gongming is right, but Chen Mo has only more than 10,000 men and horses. Any of us has as many men and horses as him, and we are defending the city. Gongming doesn't need to worry too much."

Xu Huang bowed slightly and said no more.

Hu Cai frowned and glanced at Xu Huang and said, "It's still the same as before. The four of us will help each other and rush to help each other. This time, Chen Mo will know how powerful we are. Hedong is not his."

Yang Feng nodded and said, "Then each of us will guard a county."

"That's right!" Hu Cai smiled.

At that moment, the four discussed how to rescue and how to defend together if there was a problem, and then left.

...

On the other hand, after Chen Mo waited for Gao Shun to come to Anyi to meet up, he said goodbye to Zang Hong and led his army straight to Baibo Valley.

"My Lord!" Outside Linfen City, Bao Geng came with several scouts to meet Chen Mo, and bowed to Chen Mo and said, "Most of the villages outside Xiangling are deserted. It seems that they have all moved to the city. The thieves are not giving us the opportunity to raise food here." "They retreated quickly." Chen Mo smiled and nodded. "But they all retreated into the city. I'm afraid it will be difficult for our troops to attack the city." Cui Geng beside Chen Mo frowned and said, fighting with fewer troops and attacking the city, even if Chen Mo's army is elite, this battle is not easy to fight. "The other side is determined to consume our army, so they will naturally not leave the city easily. However, we can take this opportunity to divide the land and attract a group of refugees to settle here. Since the land here is already unowned, it is reasonable for me, as the governor of Hedong, to redivide these unowned lands." Chen Mo smiled. "Yes!" Cui Geng understood, nodded with a smile, and immediately went to call the refugees to divide the land. Most of the refugees who migrated from Luoyang have now gathered in the Linfen area, and now it is just right to divide this area.

Hu Cai is ready to fight a defensive battle with Chen Mo. He has found out that Chen Mo only brought 5,000 soldiers this time, and he has more than 10,000 soldiers stationed here. He doesn't believe that Chen Mo can still attack.

But after waiting for a few days, except for Chen Mo's scouts, there was no sign of Chen Mo's army coming. Hu Cai was a little suspicious and sent people to find out that Chen Mo was dividing the land along the Fen River. The Fen River area is the most fertile land. If the clans in the city knew about it, it would be a rebellion. Hu Cai immediately ordered everyone to block the news and not let anyone know about it.

Anyway, it is winter now. Even if Chen Mo divides the land, when he drives Chen Mo away, won't these fields still return to their hands?

After a few days, Chen Mo still did not attack. Hu Cai was not in a hurry. In addition to patrolling the city every day, he would drink and have fun with the generals.

However, a month had passed, and there was no news of Chen Mo's action. Seeing that the New Year was over and the spring plowing was coming, Hu Cai could not wait any longer. Didn't they say that Chen Mo's food and grass were insufficient?

On this day, he was about to send someone to spy on the news, when suddenly someone reported that a defeated army had arrived in the north of the city, which seemed to be Li Le's troops in Pingyang.

"Why are Li Le's troops here?" Hu Cai's face changed after hearing the report from the person who came. He hurriedly led his men to the enemy tower in the north of the city. He saw hundreds of remnants outside the city. Some were already sitting under the city, while others were anxiously pacing back and forth outside the city. Some were constantly patting the city gates, begging the soldiers on the city to let them go.

"Put down the hanging basket and let one of their generals come up." Hu Cai frowned. Li Le was in Pingyang, so why were the other side's troops here? He had to ask clearly!