Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 80 Infiltration

??

Liu Ye said in a serious tone, "After capturing Dengzhou, whether you two generals accept the offer of amnesty or declare yourselves kings, we, the White Lotus Sect, will be allowed to openly recruit believers within the city, forming a mutually supportive alliance with your forces." In reality, Liu Ye's true intention was to get close to and influence the rebel leaders; the so-called recruitment of believers and forming a mutually supportive alliance was merely a pretext.

Upon hearing Liu Ye's "request," Li Jiucheng snorted coldly: "After capturing Dengzhou City, along with the old Liaodong people within the city, my army will number in the tens of thousands. We can go anywhere in Shandong. What qualifications does your little White Lotus Sect have to support us?"

"General Li, you are mistaken. While your forces have certainly increased in strength after capturing Dengzhou, there are indeed no government troops in Shandong that can rival you. However, Shandong has the Grand Canal, which is the only way to transport grain and taxes from the south to the capital. Dengzhou is also too close to the capital. The court will not sit idly by and let Shandong descend into chaos. It will definitely gather a large army to encircle and suppress them. Are you confident that you can withstand the heavy troops from the nine border regions?" Liu Ye said calmly.

Although Li Jiucheng was arrogant, he knew that the border troops were not comparable to the local Shandong troops, and that as long as he did not accept the offer of amnesty, the imperial court would continue to mobilize large armies until victory was achieved.

Kong Youde nodded and said, "Brother Liu is right. The imperial court will not leave us to fend for ourselves in the heart of Beizhili. They will definitely send a large army here."

Liu Ye continued to deceive, "Whether we accept the offer of amnesty or continue fighting, my White Lotus Sect has all sorts of people from all walks of life. Putting aside everything else, we are better at gathering information than your ordinary soldiers. Besides, since we are able to stand here, we also have a way to enter the government army's camp. Knowing ourselves and our enemy is the key to victory."

Not only Kong Youde, but even Li Jiucheng couldn't help but nod in agreement. The followers of the White Lotus Sect came from all walks of life, so they could naturally gather a lot of information that they couldn't find out on their own. They could ascertain the government's stance and bottom line, and thus gain the upper hand in deciding whether and when to accept the offer of amnesty. Moreover, since they could infiltrate the rebel army, they could also find ways to blend into the government army and learn about its movements.

In fact, Liu Ye had no confidence in infiltrating the government army, nor had he even considered it. He was merely using the fact that he had infiltrated the rebel army to deceive these rebel leaders.

Kong Youde looked at Li Jiucheng and, seeing that he did not object, agreed: "We will do as Brother Liu says. As long as you can help us open the gates of Dengzhou, we will agree to all your requests."

“Tell Geng Zhongming that we are all brothers from Pi Island. If we take Dengzhou City, we will share the benefits equally,” Li Jiucheng added.

"You two generals are wise. By cooperating, we can leverage our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, and each of us can get what we need."

Liu Ye was secretly delighted, as the other party had been led onto the path he had envisioned. Through a series of deceptions, the rebel leaders were all fooled by his "openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass" trick. They all believed that he was doing this to recruit followers for the White Lotus Sect, but no one suspected that his true purpose was to bury the future of the rebels.

After the matter was settled, Kong Youde and others informed Liu Ye of the details of Geng Zhongming and the others, and sent two hundred personal guards. The three of them then mingled among these two hundred rebel soldiers, joined up with Zhang Tao's defeated troops, descended from Mishen Mountain, and headed straight for the gate of Dengzhou City.

Zhang Tao's routed soldiers, having been promised benefits and sharing the same roots as the rebels, cooperated readily. Upon arriving at the city gate, they shouted loudly towards the wall, demanding that the guards open the gate and let them in.

On the city wall, General Zhang Keda was furious to see the defeated soldiers who had caused him to suffer a defeat. He said to the general guarding the gate, "Do not allow them to enter the city. These people collapsed at the first sign of trouble on the battlefield and then suddenly came to surrender. Their intentions are hard to fathom."

The defending general was also Zhang Keda's subordinate, not a former member of the Dongjiang army. He had no pity for these Liao soldiers. He nodded in agreement and shouted to the people below the city: "Get out of my way! Anyone who comes near the city gate will be shot dead."

A soldier who looked like a captain below the city wall cursed back, "Fuck you! I escaped with my life on the line, and you son of a bitch treat me like this? Are you trying to force us to join the rebels?"

Zhang Keda instructed his men, "Shoot a few dead first."

Upon hearing this, several guards immediately raised their bows and aimed at the fleeing soldiers below the city. At that moment, an angry shout came from behind: "Put them all down!"

Upon hearing Sun Yuanhua's voice, Zhang Keda ordered his soldiers to halt firing their arrows. Turning around, he saw Sun Yuanhua striding up the city wall, followed by Zhang Tao and Wang Zheng. He quickly bowed and said, "General Sun, the soldiers outside the city are mostly defeated troops. They were captured for several days before claiming to have escaped and returned. I suspect it's a trap. I was just about to drive them away..."

Sun Yuanhua walked to the edge of the city wall, looked at the group of ragged, defeated soldiers below, and said to Zhang Tao behind him, "Come and identify them, see if they are your own men."

After carefully examining the wall, Zhang Tao replied, "That captain is indeed my subordinate. I can't recognize all the others. We can let them through the city gate and identify them gradually."

"How could you do this, General Zhang!" Zhang Keda angrily said to Zhang Tao, "Have you forgotten the old story of Liaoyang? If we hadn't let the Mongols in, how could we have suffered such a defeat and become so irreparable? Now Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde are stationed outside the city with no reinforcements in sight. Although we are surrounded on three sides, we have the water city as our rear. After spring, we can replenish our food and reinforcements. We only need to hold the city and wait for the rebels to run out of food and be defeated on their own. We must not let any suspicious people into the city."

The soldiers outside the city were all under Zhang Tao's command. On the day he led his troops to fight against Li Jiucheng, his Liaodong soldiers collapsed at the first encounter, and many of them defected to the rebels. This also led to the defeat of Zhang Keda's regular army, making him lose face in front of Sun Yuanhua. Now, seeing that there were hundreds of soldiers coming to surrender, he believed that he could regain some face and recover some strength. Therefore, he hoped to let these people into the city and said, "General Zhang, how do you know that these soldiers are not sincerely coming to surrender? As you said, the rebels are isolated and their future is bleak. These soldiers are naturally unwilling to serve them."

"How could General Zhang know that there weren't spies sent by Li Jiucheng among them?"

"As I just said, we must carefully identify them at the city gate before letting them in. They are all my subordinates from Pi Island. They haven't worked with Li Jiucheng and the others for a long time. What good would it do them to rebel with Li Jiucheng? We have the righteousness of the imperial court on our side. General Zhang, please don't be so paranoid."

Knowing that Zhang Tao was Sun Yuanhua's confidant, Zhang Keda immediately said to Sun Yuanhua, "General Sun, you are wise. The Dongjiang troops have caused chaos three times on Pi Island and once in Shandong. I will not say that everyone among them is plotting a rebellion, but the mix is ​​mixed and difficult to distinguish. The best course of action now is to hold our ground and wait for reinforcements. Without reinforcements and supplies, the rebels will be defeated on their own. Letting them into the city now would only increase unpredictable variables. I urge you to reconsider, my lord."