amaotonovel Chapter 709 I don't need a reason to hit you
Chapter 709 I don't need a reason to hit you
There is no moon tonight, and it is pitch black all around.
In such an environment, one could not see people's faces even if they were standing right in front of them. It was also the first time that Pan Jun had come into contact with the Tambe garrison, so he naturally could not distinguish who was who, let alone recognize who the garrison commander, Khostu, was.
But don't forget that armies have battle flags, and everyone moves according to the flags, including the enemy.
Instead of looking for someone, Pan Jun looked directly at the enemy flag. Seeing the flag move, he decisively charged forward and cut down all the enemy soldiers blocking his way as if they were melons and vegetables.
When Hostu saw Pan Jun charging towards him, he had no choice but to speed up his escape again. The flag bearer was terrified by Pan Jun's bravery, his mind went blank and he lost the ability to think. He instinctively followed Hostu and fled, and then betrayed Hostu.
Pan Jun led his army to the banner quickly, and directed the army to flank from both sides. They soon surrounded Hostu and his hundreds of personal guards, and then launched an attack to annihilate them.
Seeing that he was surrounded and could not escape, Hoss was desperate and started shouting and yelling in a panic.
Pan Jun had traveled from Kushan to Parthia, and had experienced a lot along the way. He had also spent some time in Mulu and had learned a few words of Parthian dialect. He understood the meaning of a few words and immediately ordered, "The one dressed the most ornately must be kept alive, and the rest must be killed."
The Han army surrounded Huo Sidu from all sides and quickly slaughtered all of Huo Sidu's personal guards, leaving Huo Sidu alone standing beside the corpses, trembling with fear.
The Han army gave him no chance to grieve. A soldier stepped forward and swung his sword hilt at his ankle, knocking him to the ground. Several other soldiers quickly rushed over, tied him up, and brought him before Pan Jun.
Pan Jun didn't communicate with Huo Sidu but directly ordered, "Leave the men behind to watch him. Send him to General Ma after the battle is over. The rest of you continue the attack and try to finish the battle before dawn."
Tambe had 50,000 garrison troops, none of whom Pan Jun wanted to keep. Keeping any of them would be a hidden danger. The Han army had just arrived in Tambe and had not yet established a foothold, so he did not want to cause trouble for himself.
But they can't be let go either, because if they are, they will return to the Sassanid family and come with the family to attack their Han army, which is more troublesome than keeping them.
So let's follow Guan Xing's advice and focus on annihilating the enemy's manpower; let's cut them all down.
When pushed to the brink, these Han generals would even slaughter the cities of their own country. How could they possibly have any pity for the people of other countries? Slaughtering cities of foreign tribes outside of Han territory was something they truly felt no psychological pressure about.
Under Pan Jun's command, the Han army launched a full-scale massacre of the city's defenders. Ma Chao even personally gathered several thousand troops to break out of the city and pursue the Tanbei defenders who had already fled.
To reiterate, the primary objective is to annihilate the enemy's fighting force. The Sassanid army and civilians are limited; killing one reduces their numbers and weakens their future counterattack capabilities.
The Han army raged in the city all night. When dawn broke, the city was littered with corpses, and even the blood on the ground had frozen into bright red blood ice.
Ma Chao, who had gone out of the city to pursue the enemy, returned safely and entered the city, stepping on the blood-red ice to reach the city lord's mansion to meet with Pan Jun.
Pan Jun quickly bowed and said, "General, all the garrison troops in the city have been slaughtered. There are no survivors. Tambe City is ours now."
"Furthermore, I have already sent people to clean up the corpses and transport them outside the city for centralized burning, so that the city can be completely renewed before dark."
If so many corpses are not dealt with, they could easily cause a plague. Fortunately, it is winter now, so the corpses are not decomposing so quickly.
Ma Chao, however, was unconcerned about that and instead asked, "Where are my provisions? Have they been damaged?"
Why did he rush from Murrue to Tambe, braving wind and snow to travel thousands of miles? Wasn't it all for the city's food supplies?
Now that the battle is over, naturally the first thing to do is to check their spoils of war.
Pan Jun quickly replied, "General, rest assured, I have inspected the city and the granaries are full. Moreover, Tambe and Mulu are located in northern Parthia, which is equivalent to the Central Plains of the Han Dynasty. Wheat is the main grain crop there, and the wheat in the granaries looks very promising. I estimate that there are at least two million shi of wheat in the city."
“How much… how much…” Ma Chao asked in shock, “I didn’t hear you clearly, say it again.”
Two million shi of wheat—they prospered.
When has Ma Mengqi ever been so extravagant in all the years he has fought?
Hearing Pan Jun's assurance, Ma Chao still felt it was unreal. He dragged Pan Jun to the granary to check it out himself before he was relieved. He couldn't help but excitedly say, "Great! With this batch of grain, I'm confident I can crush the entire Parthian Empire."
Pan Jun shook his head and said, "We still can't let our guard down. We benefited from the Parthian Empire this time, but it might not be so smooth next time."
Ma Chao asked curiously, "What do you mean?"
Pan Jun replied, "Last night's battle went too smoothly, so smoothly that it felt unreal to me. So I reconsidered the course of the battle and the reasons for its success, and concluded that we benefited from the Parthian Empire."
"Over the years, the Parthian Empire has been repeatedly defeated and routed by the Sassanid family. In other words, the Sassanid family is the aggressor in the face of the Parthian Empire. The Parthian Empire has been terrified by the Sassanid family and does not dare to take the initiative to attack. As a result, the Sassanid family's Tambe garrison has become complacent and thinks that the Parthian Empire will not dare to attack, so they are sleeping soundly."
"Of course, the weather also played a part. It would be freezing to death to stand guard outside in such cold weather. But I think it was the Parthian Empire that was too cowardly, which emboldened the Sassanid army. Pride comes before a fall."
Ma Chao pondered, "That makes sense. In other words, after this battle, we've gone from being in the shadows to being in the open. The Sassanid family is now on guard against us, making it much more difficult to launch a sneak attack and achieve success, right?"
Pan Jun nodded and said, "Yes, but I captured Horst, the garrison commander of Tambe. He keeps shouting that he is the younger brother of Ardashir, the patriarch of the Sassanid family, and is asking us for treatment befitting his status."
Ma Chao sneered, "Treatment befitting his status? What kind of treatment does a prisoner want? Can't he have any awareness as a prisoner? Where is he?"
Pan Jun did not answer, but instead ordered the guards outside the gate to bring Hostos here.
Soon, Huo Sidu was escorted into the hall and forced to kneel in front of Ma Chao.
Ma Chao stared at him for a moment, then asked in the newly learned Shule dialect of the Western Regions, "I heard you wanted to see me?"
Hosdu was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then quickly questioned in the Shule language, "Who are you, and why did you ambush me?"
Shule in the Western Regions is not far from Parthia, and the two countries often traded. As the eldest son of the Sassanid family, it is normal for Hosdu to know some Shule dialect.
Ma Chao crossed his arms and looked down at her with a smile, saying, "I didn't know you could speak foreign languages. That makes things easier. I am Ma Chao, the General of the Cavalry of the Great Han Dynasty. You should know where the Great Han Dynasty is, right?"
How could I not know?
The Silk Road has been opened up by Emperor Wu of Han for three hundred years, and several waves of envoys from the Han Dynasty have come. How could Hostu, a Parthian nobleman, not know where the Han Dynasty is?
But the Han general went on a distant expedition to Parthia and even attacked my city?
Am I still dreaming?
Hoss was so shocked by the news that he was completely stunned. It took him a while to come back to his senses. He struggled angrily and said, "General of the Great Han, why did the General of the Great Han come to my Anxi? I didn't provoke you. Besides, the Great Han is tens of thousands of miles away. Are you out of your mind to attack me from such a distance?"
He was about to pounce on Ma Chao when Ma Chao kicked him to the ground and taunted, "Do I need a reason to hit you? Don't you understand the principle of punishing the wicked to save the people?"