Chapter 82: The third way... incorporation!

"It really is a case of one general achieving success while ten thousand bones wither!"

"Using five thousand Qinzhou soldiers and himself as bait to lure the rebel army here in exchange for a hearty victory..."

"What a ruthless method!"

"What a ruthless heart!"

Cheng Yinan clenched his fists, staring fixedly at the culprit of everything, gritting his teeth and sighing.

From this kid named Chen Yan, Cheng Yinan saw unprecedented ruthlessness!

No wonder he brought five thousand old, weak, and disabled soldiers, and set up a Long Snake formation that looked stupid...

"Governor Cheng, you flatter me!"

Chen Yan smiled indifferently and said in a deep voice: "Those who achieve great things do not care about trifles!"

"As long as the result is what I want, any price is worth it!"

Fighting against the crowd with a minority and winning with fewer troops naturally requires paying a great price...

Especially when facing a rebel army that was in high spirits and had been capturing cities and seizing strongholds all the way.

As long as he, Chen Yan, won in the end, no one would criticize him for using five thousand Qinzhou soldiers as bait; they would only sing praises for his god-like use of troops.

"I don't understand..."

Mo Zhengxi came to his senses, exhaled a turbid breath, and asked in confusion: "With such a disparity in strength, how did you dare to set an ambush?"

Even adding the two thousand Qinzhou soldiers who were transferred away, Chen Yan only had less than two thousand five hundred people in his hands...

And the rebel army was more than twenty thousand, a strength difference of nearly ten to one!

If it were him, Mo Zhengxi, he wouldn't have had the courage at all...

Chen Yan heard this, the corners of his mouth raised slightly, and he said calmly: "It's very simple, because fighting a war is about one word: momentum!"

"If you lose the momentum, you lose ninety-nine percent!"

Why did he tie dry firewood to the tails of the cavalry horses?

It was to create the illusion of a large number of troops!

To make the rebel army unable to see through his reality, thereby creating a psychological fear...

Plus, he was certain that these rebel armies composed of rioters had not received systematic military training and could only fight favorable battles.

Of course, Chen Yan didn't say it absolutely...

The only exception after excluding ninety-nine percent was that army armed to the teeth with ideology.

Ordinary armies would collapse when the casualty ratio reached 20-30%, but they could fight until the casualty ratio reached 99%...

Holding the position until the last man.

"Are you really only seventeen?"

"Is this really your first time on the battlefield?"

Cheng Yinan listened to these arguments that hit the nail on the head, cast a questioning look at Chen Yan, and couldn't help but ask.

Such a seasoned deployment didn't look like it was his first time commanding a battle at all...

In fact, it didn't look like something someone of this age could possess...

"Of course!"

Chen Yan raised his eyebrows, smiled playfully, and asked back: "Do I look very old?"

Half an hour later.

Gu Yuci, who had finished cleaning the battlefield and counting the numbers, returned, his blood-stained face filled with unconcealable joy, "My Lord, our army has won a great victory!"

"Killed three thousand enemies, captured more than twenty-one thousand rebel soldiers!"

"Squad Leader Helian Shi beheaded the enemy general!"

Gu Yuci reported the brilliant results achieved in this great battle in an orderly manner.

"Good, very good!"

Chen Yan nodded and praised.

He paused and continued to ask: "Then what are our army's casualties?"

Compared to those glorious results, Chen Yan cared more about the status of his direct line.

This was his capital for standing in Qinzhou and quelling the rebellion in the future.

"Lost thirty-three cavalry, more than four hundred Qinzhou soldiers died in battle!" Gu Yuci heard this and blurted out the data that had already been counted.

Two thousand three against twenty-four thousand, a disparity of ten to one, such a great victory with this casualty ratio was already very good...

It could almost be compared to the Great General of the Heavenly Pillar breaking three hundred thousand with seven thousand, and Taizu settling Guanzhong with a thousand men.

"Bury them well!"

Chen Yan nodded, patted Gu Yuci on the shoulder, and said: "After returning to Chang'an, I will ask for merit for you all from the Great Chancellor!"

Losing one-tenth of the elite cavalry and one-fifth of the elite Qinzhou soldiers was barely acceptable...

"Thank you, my Lord!" Gu Yuci and the others cupped their fists and thanked him.

Yuwen Ze walked up and asked: "Brother, how should such a large number of captives be disposed of?"

"Kill them, or let them go?"

Since ancient times, disposing of surrendered soldiers had been a major problem for the winning side after the war.

If you kill them, killing those who surrender will ruin your reputation, and no one will dare to surrender in future battles.

If you let them go, letting the tiger return to the mountain might make them rebel army strength again, and this battle would have been fought in vain...

Both choices were very tricky!

"These are all good treasures!"

Chen Yan heard this, swept his gaze over those captives, his eyes shining, the corners of his mouth couldn't stop rising, and he smiled: "There is a third way..."

"Incorporation!"

At that moment, that person's troop expansion method emerged uncontrollably in his heart...

According to Chen Yan's instructions, the surrendered rebel soldiers were settled in battalions of five hundred.

They were divided into forty-two camps, guarded by Yan Maoxing's split troops.

Chen Yan led You Xian, Yuwen Ze, and others to one of the camps and asked straight to the point: "Do you know what the crime is for participating in the riot and helping the tyrant?"

"No..."

"I don't know..."

These surrendered rebel soldiers who were suddenly asked were basically farmers who had never read books, let alone knew the law.

"This is a crime punishable by the extermination of the nine clans!"

Chen Yan's expression was serious, and he said sternly: "According to the Great Zhou Law, your parents, wives, children, and family members will all be implicated!"

He paused and said word by word: "Not one will escape!"

This was intimidation, but also the truth.

"My Lord, I didn't know!"

"If I had known it was so serious, even if I had ten thousand guts, I wouldn't have dared!"

"Me too..."

"I wouldn't have dared either!"

The surrendered rebel soldiers, who were both frightened and intimidated, realized the importance of the problem and suddenly panicked.

"Lord Chen Yan, you are the Wenqu Star descended to earth, can you save us, save our families?"

A surrendered soldier suddenly realized Chen Yan's identity, knelt on the ground with a "thump", and begged.

Immediately after, one after another, the surrendered soldiers knelt on the ground, kowtowed repeatedly, and begged: "Please!"

"Save us!"

"We all have old fathers and young children at home..."

"Please have mercy!"

The timing was about right... Chen Yan was silent for nearly half a stick of incense, smiled secretly in his heart, cleared his throat, and said loudly: "You are all subjects of my Great Zhou, and were instigated and deceived by treacherous people, and were forced to go astray..."

"Are you willing to join my command now, atone for your crimes, and make contributions to make up for your crimes?"

As he spoke, his sharp gaze swept over them one by one.

Obviously, this rhetoric had been carefully polished by Chen Yan...

While shifting the contradiction, he established a unified enemy for these guys!

"Willing!"

"Willing!"

The surrendered soldiers seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw and scrambled to agree.

Someone seemed to have thought of something and asked: "Just by making contributions to make up for crimes, can we be exempted from punishment?"

"Those who abandon darkness for light will have their past crimes forgiven!"

"Families will be exempted from punishment!"

"If you make contributions, you will be treated equally, and I will ask for rewards for you all!"

Chen Yan raised his hand and clenched his fist, saying with ups and downs.

The camp was first silent, then boiled over, shouting: "We are willing to serve Lord Chen Yan!"

The voices of allegiance were one after another, endless.

This was the last hope for them and their families...

After Chen Yan exited the captive camp, he called You Xian to his side and asked: "Old You, have you recorded everything?"

He paused and ordered: "Take our Zhuque Guard people and do the same to the remaining captives!"

This demonstration exercise was the prototype of the Great Zhou version of the Two-Memory Three-Check...

"This subordinate understands!"

You Xian nodded and responded: "I'll go do it right now..."

Chen Yan smiled indifferently, turned to look at the others, and said: "Old Gu, A Ze, you go too..."

"And select the strong and combat-ready soldiers from the captives!" ===== CHAPTER 83 =====