bookbashuk Page 486
Page 486
Bian Xiang nodded in agreement.
Then he said,
"It's a pity they got away this time."
.....
Just as Zhao Yuan and Bian Xiang were talking,
The fighting near the edge of the woods had also come to an end.
Dong Ping brought two thousand soldiers with him from Dongping Prefecture.
Apart from two or three hundred people stubbornly resisting,
Besides being executed by the Liangshan soldiers,
The remaining Imperial Guards and Garrison Troops
They have all surrendered to Liangshan.
Meanwhile, on the Liangshan side...
Taking advantage of the ambush,
In addition, they were highly trained elite soldiers.
In total, fewer than fifty people were killed or injured.
"Chief, what should we do with these prisoners?"
Sun An came over and asked for instructions.
"Um,"
Zhao Yuan turned his head and looked at the noisy crowd.
The surrendered soldiers, their faces filled with unease.
After a moment's hesitation, he said,
“In this way, you can have the soldiers report on each other,”
"Among them were those who oppressed the people of Dongping Prefecture and committed numerous evil deeds,"
“They shall be punished according to their crimes.”
"Those who are willing to join Liangshan will be summoned to the mountain."
"Let the rest go."
"Chief, isn't this a bit too lenient?"
Sun An suggested,
"In my opinion, we should bring all these people to Liangshan,"
"It would be better to let them work as laborers on the mountain for two or three years, and then release them."
“If these are troops from other places, then of course they can do this,”
Zhao Yuan shook his head.
"But don't forget, these are all local soldiers from Dongping Prefecture."
"Although they have been captured by Liangshan, they still have relatives and family members in Dongping Prefecture."
"If we bring all these people to Liangshan,"
“Wouldn’t their families in Dongping Prefecture be very anxious?”
"If we are further provoked by malicious individuals spreading rumors,"
"Wouldn't it be a huge loss for Liangshan to lose the hearts of the people of Dongping Prefecture?"
"But letting them go like this would be too easy on them!"
Bianxiang couldn't help but say.
"Gaoliang Niangzi had already sent someone back with a message,"
Zhao Yuan said with a smile,
"Prefect Cheng of Dongping Prefecture has already opened the city gates and surrendered."
"Now, Dongping Prefecture is already in the hands of Liangshan."
"What good will it do for these captured soldiers to return to Dongping Prefecture?"
"Aren't they still the people under the rule of Liangshan?"
"The capital of Dongping Prefecture has actually surrendered?"
Sun An and Bian Xiang heard this,
They were all overjoyed.
“I had previously heard that this Prefect Cheng was a retainer of Tong Guan from the Eastern Capital,”
Sun An said with a face full of disdain,
"Now it seems that this governor, like his master, is utterly useless."
"That's not how it works,"
Zhao Yuan retorted,
"Although this Prefect Cheng was originally a retainer of a treacherous official,"
"But his reputation as an official has always been quite good."
"After arriving in Dongping Prefecture, the administration was relatively efficient and clear-headed."
"According to the information that Zhu Gui and his brothers gathered at their hotel,"
"This Prefect Cheng was very popular among the people of Dongping Prefecture."
"The reason we surrendered so readily this time was out of desperation."
"The entire Dongping Prefecture has only about three thousand soldiers."
"After Dong Ping led out two thousand people, less than a thousand of them were left, consisting of the old, weak, sick, and disabled,"
"With just these people, even if he wanted to defend Dongping Prefecture, he definitely wouldn't be able to."
"It is better to surrender than to let soldiers and civilians waste their lives."
"Brother, Dongping Prefecture is a big city,"
Bian Xiang said excitedly,
"Now that Gaoliang Girl has taken that place, she must have seized countless amounts of money and grain this time, right?"
"There's no such thing as a free lunch,"
Zhao Yuan said helplessly,
“Brother Bianxiang, don’t forget the great plague that happened two months ago.”
"Didn't I just say that this Prefect Cheng is a good official?"
"When the plague broke out in various parts of Shandong, this prefect had already taken out most of the money and grain in his treasury to provide disaster relief."
"According to what Lady Gaoliang said, there are so few rats in the treasury of Dongping Prefecture that they are so rare that you can hardly find a single one."
"Then what use would we have for Dongping Prefecture?"
Bian Xiang said dejectedly,
“My brother said before that even if we take Dongping Prefecture, we cannot hold it.”
"If that's the case, then we've worked for nothing this time..."
Chapter 639 Dong Ping's Thoughts
"How can this be considered a wasted effort?"
Sun An said with a smile,
"This time, we suffered no more than fifty casualties, yet we managed to eliminate all the troops in Dongping Prefecture,"
"They've really scared Dongping Prefecture half to death!"
"Even if we can't capture Dongping Prefecture this time, there will always be other opportunities in the future."
"I just feel that it's a huge loss to leave such a large and beautiful city undeveloped."
Bian Xiang glanced at Zhao Yuan.
"Brother, why don't we just leave Dongping Prefecture behind?"
“This is different from your Yizhou Prefecture.”
"The city of Dongping is located right next to the lake,"
"Even if the imperial army comes to conquer us, we will definitely be able to hold our ground."
"We can hold out,"
Zhao Yuan said helplessly,
"But have you thought about how much the entire mountain stronghold would lose if we did that?"
"Our main force is currently stationed at Liangshan Marsh."
"With this vast expanse of water as our shelter, we are not afraid of any number of government troops coming."
“Besides that, there are two more villages,”
"On that Dulonggang! That hill is easy to defend and difficult to attack. We can hold it with just over a thousand soldiers."
"When the government troops arrive, fight if you can, retreat if you cannot."
"The other branch camp is located on the White Tiger Mountain, guarded by the Wu brothers."
"Not many people know about this, and the government troops are probably even less aware of it, so it's not appropriate for them to send troops there."
"As for Dongping Prefecture, although the city walls are high and thick,"
"But how can a city wall spanning several miles be defended without three or four thousand soldiers?"
"Furthermore, Dongping Prefecture City has no natural defenses."
"Once the government troops arrive, it will be clear that they will be unable to subdue Liangshan in the marshland,"
"At that time, we will definitely make a fuss about Dongping Prefecture City."
"Once they completely surround the city,"
"When the time comes, should we go down the mountain to rescue them, or not?"
"this....."
Bianxiang was completely taken aback by the question.
After a while,
Cai Gan smiled and said,
"Brother, I just think that Dongping Prefecture is a pity,"
"But I never expected there to be so much to say about this."
"This decision was made after discussions among the three strategists on the mountain,"
Sun An laughed,
"The three strategists are all capable men, so let's not worry about them."
“Brother Sun An is right,”
Bian Xiang laughed heartily and touched his massive axe.
"I'm still more comfortable doing this kind of murderous business!"
...