Chapter 247: Opening the City Gate
Not long after, a troop of 5,000 soldiers marched out of the city from the north gate. Compared with the rioters that Jia Cong had encountered before, the followers under Bai Ji were obviously much more elite.
Not only were there cavalry consisting of hundreds of war horses, but at least half of them had swords and spears in their hands. Bai Ji and a dozen of his confidants were even wearing simple armor.
The army chased northward for more than two hours and finally saw the caravan from afar.
Just as described, there were more than a thousand guards and servants in the caravan, and the long carts stretched for two or three miles.
"Come here, charge at me and kill me!"
Bai Ji immediately gave orders, and ordered his troops to charge forward. However, before his troops got close, they saw the thatched coverings on the carts being lifted, and soldiers in neat armor jumped out. Before they could react, a rain of arrows came towards them.
Although they are elite, it is only relative! If they bully ordinary people, Bai Ji's men will have no problem, but facing the regular army that dares to fight back, they don't even have the courage to fight.
Without Bai Ji's order, the believers who were originally rushing forward all turned around and rushed in the opposite direction, and some even simply fled.
Especially the constant screams accelerated the defeat!
At this moment, how could Bai Ji not know that he had fallen into a trap?
"Run!" Bai Ji had no other thoughts and only wanted to escape back to the city to save his life. However, since they had already been lured here, how could Jia Cong not have other plans?
The next moment, a thousand cavalrymen came charging at them from behind! Shang Yin, the leader, held a broadsword in his hand and slapped the horse he was sitting on. Bai Ji didn't even have a chance to dodge, and Shang Yin chopped off his head with one blow.
After Bai Ji's death, all the White Lotus followers became even more confused. Moreover, soldiers and horses that were ambushed on their left and right wings came out to attack. Five thousand White Lotus followers were directly surrounded by more than ten thousand soldiers and horses under Jia Cong's command. Jia Cong had never encountered such a rich battle before.
Moreover, these so-called rebels were actually just civilians with weapons, not to mention compared with the Rakshasa ghosts, even compared with the stronger yamen runners, they were much worse. As long as they met a stronger general, they had no reason or hope to win.
The battle lasted less than an hour and ended. More than half of the 5,000 soldiers led by Bai Ji were killed, and more than 2,000 were captured directly.
In this battle, Jia Cong did not fight personally at all . He had no interest in such an opponent. From the moment Bai Ji led his troops out, the fate of this army was doomed. Not to mention that Jia Cong had 10,000 men, even if he only had 1,000 soldiers from the Beijing camp, it would be enough to make these 5,000 people flee in panic.
"General! You are simply amazing!" Shang Xin came to Jia Cong with a big grin. Five thousand troops were defeated by him just like that? Wasn't this victory a little too easy?
"These people are too vulnerable! Let's do it again. As long as we lure them out, I will lead the troops to fight them myself."
Jia Cong smiled and said, "I'm afraid there will only be one such opportunity. How could they fall into the trap twice in such a short period of time?"
Shang Xin smiled awkwardly, "That's fine. After all, we got such a big advantage, and we have made the first contribution! Even if we have to attack the city next, it will be worth it."
"I lured them out of the city for more than just them."
"General Shang, go find their leader and ask him about the situation in Hailing City. Then, have 5,000 soldiers quickly change into the enemy's attire. The fake merchant caravan will have to continue pretending to be one more time. We can directly use their identities to trick the city gate open."
"As long as we enter the city, won't Hailing be ours?"
"Marshal, you have an amazing brain! You're even smarter than me." Shang Xin said, patting his head.
Jia Cong's expression froze. He really wanted to ask this brother whether he was praising him or insulting him...
Shang Xin left excitedly, but when he found out that the guardian who led the troops was chopped into two by him, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. Fortunately, he did find out the situation in the city.
"That's fine. Dead people are sometimes more useful than living people!" Jia Cong said with a smile. Then, he asked someone to deal with Bai Ji, who was chopped into two pieces. The 5,000 White Lotus Sect troops were freshly formed . After waiting for a while, when it gradually darkened, the army escorted the "caravan" back to Hailing.
When they were outside Hailing City, a soldier shouted towards the city wall, "Hurry up and open the city gate! Dharma Protector Bai Ji is back."
The defenders on the city wall looked down and saw the guardian Bai Ji sitting on his horse, staring at them. Immediately, the defenders did not dare to delay and directly ordered the drawbridge to be lowered and the city gate to be opened.
In this way, the army led by Bai Ji entered the city gate directly.
However, as the army entered the city, the defenders found something wrong. Although the leader was indeed Bai Ji, why were the others all new? Before they could ask, the army drew their weapons and rushed towards them.
"Du Zhuang, don't fight here any longer. Bring your troops and go to the government office immediately to surround and kill him. Don't let that elder escape!"
"General Shang, lead the troops directly to the city's west camp. We cannot let these chaotic soldiers mix in with the civilians, otherwise it will be difficult to distinguish them."
Jia Cong gave orders one after another, and troops rushed to various places, no matter whether it was the other city gates or the military camps in the city, people went to attack, leaving only a small number of people to continue to besiege and kill the not-so-large number of city gate defenders.
Moreover, in addition to the arrangements in the city, Jia Cong also ambushed troops outside several other city gates in advance. Although the news here could not be concealed, it would be extremely beneficial for them to conceal it for even one more day. After all, it is definitely two different levels of difficulty to attack someone who is unprepared and to face someone who is prepared and defending with all their strength.
At the very least, by buying more time, they can first capture all the White Lotus sect members in Jiangbei.
The battle was easier than Jia Cong had imagined. The elder and some other key members were caught in a trap by Du Zhuang's 1,000 men. Although there were still more than 10,000 soldiers in the camp, the camp was blown up by Shang Yin's charge and only lasted less than two hours before the remaining soldiers all surrendered.
As for the city gates in other directions, they were also taken down smoothly.
In this way, Jia Cong's first step in suppressing the rebellion, the Battle of Hailing, ended easily! Only a thousand soldiers on his side were injured, but nearly ten thousand members of the White Lotus Sect were killed or injured, and the rest became prisoners in Jia Cong's hands.
