Chapter 146 Sima the Thief Dies
The second day of May, Gaoyi County, Zhao State.

A large group of ox carts and people in fancy clothes with their hands tied were marching northward. The people in brown cloth were not restrained. More than 500 rebel soldiers were distributed on both sides of the team.

"Everyone, please be quick on your feet. If you don't reach Yuanshi County before dark, everyone will be whipped."

Li Lian on horseback swung a whip to drive away the men from the large families he had robbed. He was actually a very kind-hearted person and only treated the men from the gentry harshly.

He didn't even have time to care for the delicate and tender-skinned girl from the noble family, so how could he whip her?
Gaoyi County is just south of Yuanshi County. The aristocratic fortresses in the north had been almost completely looted, so Li Lian often led his men to Gaoyi County further south to rob people.

The rebel army was preparing to capture the county seat of Yuanshi County, but the Changshan soldiers had been guarding the city. The general's plan was to first defeat a group of Changshan soldiers and then go south to capture the counties of Zhao State. So Li Lian continued to plunder southwards to replenish the rebel army's population and store food.

When the team reached a small river, a group of Jin cavalry suddenly rushed over from the east. Li Lian immediately ordered the rebel soldiers to abandon the looting of the day and escape north of the river.

As long as the soldiers escape back, no matter how many people from the noble families there are, they can be captured back.

Unfortunately, the Jin army had been lying in ambush for a long time, and Jin army infantrymen armed with spears appeared one after another on the other side of the river, and the total number soon reached thousands.

"Brothers, surrender first and wait for the general to rescue you."

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Li Lian gave the order to surrender and fled with the rebel cavalry who had horses.

There was considerable chaos on the south side of the stream. Although the Jin army's encirclement came quickly, it failed to trap the rebel cavalry, which were more slippery than horse thieves.

Of the three hundred cavalrymen, nearly two hundred and thirty or forty escaped.

……

Looking at the Li family rebels who didn't even dare to fight, Sima Qian sneered, "Is this the rebel army that you Yecheng Army boasted about? I think it was purely Sima Ying and Sima Yi who didn't send troops to encircle and suppress them in order to preserve their strength, so that the rebels became stronger."

He was the third son of King Zhao. Previously, Zhao State was in crisis, but his father was busy dealing with Queen Jia and had no time to take care of it. Now that he was finally free, King Zhao sent him to lead the three armies to the north to quell the rebellion between Bing and Ji.

Of course, Sima Lun would not just sacrifice his own soldiers. The Prime Minister's Office issued several orders and finally asked Sima Ying in Yecheng to send three armies to quell the rebellion.

The three armies had a total of 4,500 soldiers, and the soldiers and civilians on both sides barely numbered over 10,000. Only then did they dare to ambush the bandits who were coming south to rob. Unexpectedly, Li's bandits were defeated at the first touch.

The Jin army officer who commanded the troops in Yecheng was Sima Ying's left chief secretary Lu Zhi. Lu Zhi was a short man with average features, famous for his intelligence and tolerance. He was a close confidant of King Sima Ying of Chengdu.

Of course, Lu Zhi is more famous as the great-grandson of the great Confucian scholar Lu Zhi.

"You are wrongly accusing the King of Chengdu and the King of Changshan. Previously, the Li rebels were not powerful and were entrenched in Leping County of Bingzhou, so the Grand Commander Liu Bao sent troops to suppress them. Unexpectedly, the Youzhou army was vulnerable. The two kings were misled by the Youzhou army and thought that the Jizhou troops were useless, so they waited for the Luoyang Central Army to go north to quell the rebellion. Today, relying on the fierce soldiers of the Central Army, we will naturally kill the rebels and flee in panic."

Lu Zhi agreed with Sima Qian and his father Sima Lun, but he secretly despised Sima Qian and his father Sima Lun.

Now all the nobles in various places knew that Sima Lun followed the example of Sima Yi when he assisted Cao Wei. He established a government and appointed officials, and appointed his descendants to important positions.

But as Lu Zhi knew, there was still a Huainan King Sima Yun in Luoyang City. He secretly raised assassins and connected with Sima Ying, Sima Yi, Sima Jiong and others who were outside to be crowned kings. He was preparing to imitate his great-grandfather Sima Yi and launch a spectacular mutiny.

After hearing the news from the King of Chengdu, Lu Zhi almost praised these kings as the good descendants of Emperor Gaozu, saying that they had learned all the tricks by heart.

Sima Qian did not notice the perfunctory tone of the Zuo Changshi beside him, and just kept blaming the soldiers in Yecheng for being afraid of fighting, which led to the growth of the bandits.

"After this bandit is defeated, the King of Chengdu can expect to be demoted."

Sima Qian's official position was only Huangmen Lang. He had long set his sights on guarding Yecheng. Military power was more important than anything else nowadays. If his old father could ascend to the throne, then he could also compete for the position of crown prince.

Lu Zhi nodded in agreement and took all the responsibility on himself. He suggested that Sima Qian lead his troops to station north of the stream, and the soldiers from Yecheng stationed south of the stream, and then march to Yuanshi County tomorrow.

"With such a coward leading the army, it's no wonder that the soldiers in Yecheng don't even dare to fight the rebels."

Sima Qian did not refuse. He needed the military merit of suppressing the rebellion so that his old father could give him a higher title. He also needed the prestige brought by a great victory. After the two independent Jin armies cleaned up the battlefield, they quickly set up camp across the river and cooked meals.

……

"If we don't give the soldiers in Yecheng a hard blow, they will think the rebels are easy to bully."

After learning that tens of thousands of enemy troops had entered Gaoyi County, General Li, who was in Yuanshi County, decided to march south to attack the camp overnight.

"Those brothers are waiting for you to rescue them. My men are still strong enough to fight. Let's kill them tonight."

Although Li Lian was exhausted after traveling all the way, he still wanted to follow the general south.

"No, the brothers are exhausted, so we should retreat to our fort to rest. I will lead these two hundred cavalrymen south. Tomorrow, third brother, remember to bring people to capture prisoners. You can send three or four brothers who are energetic to lead the way for me."

General Li ordered the cavalrymen who fled north with Li Lian to rest well and then go south to clean up the battlefield after waking up tomorrow.

Li Lian wanted to say a few more words but was stopped by the general.

The two groups of rebel cavalry separated at this point. The 200 cavalrymen following the rebel general were all elite soldiers, and marching overnight was not a difficult task for them.

Li Hao, eager for a battle, led his troops and galloped for forty miles before finally reaching the Jin army camp.

The rebel cavalry often had to deal with the forts of the aristocratic families, so they carried tools such as iron pickaxes and hammers. After the archers suppressed the Jin army's night guards, the dismounted cavalry quickly broke through a gap that allowed the general to pass.

"Sima, little thief, die!"

Li Hao, holding a cross halberd, charged forward fiercely, and the rest of the rebel cavalry followed, shouting non-stop. From the sound of the voices, it seemed that thousands of cavalry were raiding the camp.

The darkness greatly increased the fear in the hearts of the Jin army soldiers. Many of them woke up in shock, dressed simply, picked up their weapons and fled to a secluded place.

We don’t know how many bandits there are, so we should save our lives first.

"The enemy soldiers are coming, please flee quickly, General."

The Jin soldiers who were patrolling earlier passed the news of the enemy attack to the central army tent, and then the guards on duty helped the commander up, put a piece of armor on him, and then took Sima Qian out of the tent and fled south.

Searching for the generals of the Jin army is much easier than searching for the chiefs of the Xianbei army. Whoever is dressed most gorgeously and has the most soldiers around him is the main general of the Jin army.

General Li was like a ragtag army, slashing and stabbing back and forth with the halberd in his hand like lightning, and he killed his way to the vicinity of the main general of the Jin army who was still looking for a horse.

"Stop the bandit quickly, stop him quickly."

Sima Qian shouted in panic, but he didn't have many personal soldiers around him. When the painful cries and groans of the nearby soldiers spread, this group of personal soldiers also fled one after another.

Li Hao laughed loudly, and swung his halberd blade, cutting the man's body into two pieces.

"Cut off his head and keep it safe for me. I will hang it on the top of Jingxing City in the future."

Li Hao ordered the rebel cavalrymen behind him to clean up the man's body, while he himself quickly chased and killed the Jin army soldiers in the camp.

Even the Jin army's central army did not have troops elite enough to quickly get out of the tents during a night attack and form a battle formation to meet the enemy. The battle was one-sided, and the Jin army soldiers who fled in panic actually blocked the charge of the rebel cavalry.

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(End of this chapter)