Chapter 55: 20,000 vs. 130,000 rebels, can you quell the rebellion without losing a single soldier?

Liu Fu already possesses the Qiongqi, and could easily ride it back to the Later Han Dynasty in a grand manner.

But he didn't do that.

With the remaining reputation points just enough to raise a one-star exotic beast, Liu Fu bought a young Akhal-Teke horse.

The Akhal-Teke horse, which had been upgraded to a one-star beast, had now transformed into a dragon horse, standing three meters tall, about four and a half meters, with a pair of sky-blue, dragon-horn-like things on its head.

This dragon-horse has snow-white fur interspersed with golden stripes, making it both stylish and appear holy and pure.

Liu Fu mounted the dragon horse. While ordinary warhorses could reach speeds of 60 km/h, this dragon horse was extraordinary, reaching speeds of 90 km/h, faster than a regular car on the highway!

Traveling day and night, most importantly, the dragon horse didn't need to be fed at all. The system's animal breeding trough continuously replenished its vitality and stamina. In just one day and one night, Liu Fu had already reached the border of the Later Han Dynasty.

Upon seeing this renowned eighth prince of the Liao Kingdom, the garrison commander was immediately filled with awe and respect.

Upon seeing the dragon horse that Liu Fu was riding, they were even more shocked!

"How are the soldiers at the border?"

Upon Liu Fu's question, the garrison commander immediately replied:

"Everyone is holding firm and dares not relax for a moment."

Liu Fu looked at the food the soldiers were eating: cornmeal mixed with wild vegetables and grass roots.

If the soldiers guarding the border live such a hard life, how much more so must the people at home?

"I have secretly ordered all regions to allocate 400,000 shi of military rations to Qingcang Mountain. You should quickly notify the other border troops to go to Qingcang Mountain to collect the rations for the soldiers to eat."

The garrison commander was taken aback. Qingcang Mountain was only thirty miles away from here. He had never heard of any grain in that mountain.

After Liu Fu finished speaking, he left, went to Qingcang Mountain, threw out 400,000 shi of military rations, mounted his dragon horse and headed straight for Dongjun, where the rebel army was located.

When the garrison commander arrived at Qingcang Mountain with some skepticism, he was so excited when he saw the mountains of military rations piled up on the ground that he was speechless.

"When did His Highness the Eighth Prince prepare so much military rations for us?"

"They transported military rations right under our noses—400,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain! And we didn't even notice?"

"Your Highness is truly a divine being!"

…………

While the border troops were happily carrying military supplies, Liu Fu had already entered the territory of Dongjun.

Throughout the journey, Liu Fu maintained a low profile.

He can unleash Vajra and Qiongqi to intimidate all those with ill intentions.

But those people, fearing these beasts, will only lie low for a while. Although they may gain a moment of peace, these malignant sores will eventually erupt again if they are not eradicated.

The best way to get rid of these malignant sores is to draw them out. Only by eradicating them completely can the problem be solved thoroughly!

Two days later, Liu Fu had already located the rebels' encampment in Dongjun.

After the treasure-hunting rats were released, Liu Fu quickly learned about the situation of these rebels.

The total number of rebels has snowballed to around 130,000.

Among them, the wealthy families had about 10,000 servants, slaves, and assassins, all well-equipped.

The rest of those recruited were mostly barbarians from the mountains and forests to the east, and there was even a small force from the Scaled People Kingdom mixed in among them.

Wealthy merchants colluded with the Lin people, both domestic and foreign, to launch a rebellion, and they even relied on the power of the barbarians.

Having ascertained the truth, Liu Fu had already sketched out a general plan in his mind.

The barbarians of this world are widely present in many undeveloped primeval forests.

Further north from the Liao Kingdom, there was a kingdom called the Red-haired Kingdom.

In the deep forests to the east, there are many strong barbarians who live a primitive life, and there are even many cannibals among them.

The wealthy merchants recruited these Dongshan barbarians. For the barbarians, as long as they could eat their fill, it didn't matter who they worked for.

But if they don't have enough to eat, then they might resort to cannibalism...

Liu Fu seemed to be deep in thought:

“These Dongshan barbarians are the most numerous; we can make use of them.”

He released three of King Kong's henchmen.

Three thousand gorillas appeared in the jungle and began to build barricades according to Liu Fu's plan.

Over the next few days, Liu Fu awaited the arrival of reinforcements from Beijun and Jiangbei camp.

Now that most of Dongjun is occupied by the rebels, Liu Fu has no soldiers or generals by his side and cannot accomplish anything.

Fortunately, Liu Shan and Liu Dai lived up to their mission. After falsely conveying the imperial edict, they successfully mobilized 20,000 troops. Coupled with the lure of five catties of white flour steamed buns for each person, the soldiers were even more eager to sign up.

In these chaotic times, even cornmeal porridge is hard to come by. What a temptation it must be for each person to have five pounds of white flour steamed buns!

The soldiers, their mouths watering, marched hastily, covering a journey that normally takes ten days in just seven.

The rebels in Dongjun were unaware of all this until the Han army arrived.

Liu Shan held a gold medal bestowed by the emperor, which Liu Laowu had specially given to Liu Fu to execute first and report later, and had just entrusted him to deliver it to Liu Fu.

With the gold medal, Liu Fu could do things with a legitimate reason.

"Guards, move the tent up!"

Liu Fu directly ordered the cooks to collect the military rations. When the cooks saw the mountains of rice and flour piled up on the ground in the place Liu Fu had prepared, they were so excited that tears welled up in their eyes, and they all thought they were seeing things.

"My goodness! Is this true?"

"Are we dreaming?"

The people of the Later Han Dynasty were starving and emaciated. The soldiers often had to dig up wild vegetables to eat with corn porridge. The soldiers, who had not seen rice or flour for months, perked up as soon as they saw the cooks setting up steamers to prepare steamed buns.

"Listen up, everyone. His Highness said that he will give each of you five catties of steamed buns to eat today."

"If we wipe out the rebels this time, each person will be rewarded with ten catties of steamed buns and one catty of beef or mutton!"

When Liu Fu painted this rosy picture, the Han army roared with excitement, and their morale was instantly boosted.

In the central command tent, Liu Fu placed the gold medal bestowed by the emperor on a pedestal and personally took the commander-in-chief's seat:

"His Majesty has granted me this golden token, which allows me to act first and report later. If His Majesty is present in person, I will have full control over the suppression of the rebellion here."

Having said that, Liu Fu drew out a military order:

"Zhao Kang, the garrison commander of Beijun, divide your 10,000 Han troops into two groups of 5,000 each and surround the rebels to the west and north."

Zhao Kang was taken aback, and after receiving the military order, he hesitated to speak.

"Zhou Zhenguo of Jiangbei Camp, listen to my order. Your 10,000 troops will also be divided into two teams of 5,000 men each, to surround the east and south of the rebel camp. We will set up an ambush."

Zhou Zhenguo was a seasoned veteran, known for his outspokenness, and he offered the following advice:

"Your Highness, the enemy has 130,000 troops, while our army has only 20,000. We should concentrate our superior forces, seize the enemy's weaknesses, and defeat them in one fell swoop."

"With this little force, setting up an ambush is useless. Military strategy says that if you have ten times the enemy's strength, you can surround them. We need more than ten times the enemy's strength to besiege them. Right now, we only have 20,000 troops scattered around. Aren't we just waiting to be slaughtered by the rebels?"

Zhao Kang also felt that Liu Fu didn't understand military strategy and was giving nonsensical commands.

But Liu Fu had a clever plan. He picked up the imperial gold medal and waved it:

"Seeing the gold medal is like the emperor himself. I am giving you orders, not discussing them with you."

Zhao Kang, seeing this, could do nothing but sigh.

Zhou Zhenguo then added:

"Your Highness, my death is of no consequence, but these 20,000 Han soldiers are all born of parents and raised by their own. If we make a mistake in our military strategy and they perish, how can Your Highness bear it?"

This Zhou Zhenguo is indeed a loyal subject, Liu Fu thought to himself, and said to him:

"General Zhou, how about we make a bet?"

"I'll make a bet with you. These 20,000 soldiers will follow me to quell the rebellion. If even one of them dies on the battlefield after the rebellion is over, I will personally pay for their lives. What do you say?"

Zhao Kang and Zhou Zhenguo were both stunned. Had they heard correctly?