Chapter 124: No Way Out
Chapter 124: No Turning Back (Additional chapter for the leader, Young Master Qingshan)
The galloping horses among the magnificent mountains, rivers and valleys are as poetic as a painting.
Horses waded across the shallows, splashing huge amounts of water.
The knights were covered in dust, but their eyes were still firm.
After defeating the enemy, each person will be rewarded with five pieces of silk, and if there is any capture, there will be additional rewards.
This kind of outstanding and generous reward is extremely rare. As the saying goes, there must be brave men when there is a big reward. If we don’t fight hard now, when will we fight hard?
"Dismount and rest for an hour." Shao Xun gave the order beside the grass by the river.
At the command, everyone started to move. They did not rest immediately, but first assigned people to keep watch from a distance, then loosened the bellybands of the horses to let them cool down, and then fed them some beans, chaff, and salt water.
After doing all this, he sat on the ground, took out some dry food and water, and started eating them in big mouthfuls.
Shao Xun sat cross-legged on the ground, holding a silk map and looking at it carefully.
Tang Jian handed over a dry and hard Hu pancake. Shao Xun grabbed it and started to eat it without even raising his head.
They were now in the suburbs of Liang County, on the banks of the Ru River, about a hundred miles away from Luoyang.
The horses have been changed once.
To be precise, nowadays, not only are they riding horses, but there are also a lot of mules.
The replaced horses were handed over to the more than 200 people behind.
They had more than two thousand horses, mules and donkeys at their disposal, half of which were loaded with luggage - mainly armor and spears, as well as some repair tools, medicines, whetstones, spare bowstrings and other miscellaneous gadgets.
It is not easy to travel with luggage on the back, and the mules consume a lot of energy. Therefore, every half a day, the luggage needs to be transferred to another mule to restore their strength.
Generally speaking, they are currently in a wave-like manner.
The three thousand horses and mules were divided into three parts.
The first part was carried out by the soldiers on horseback. When the horses could not run anymore, they would rest on the spot, feed the horses with fodder and salt water, and they would also take the time to drink some food and water, or take a nap.
After the second batch of empty horses caught up, the soldiers would rest and switch horses to continue their journey. The first batch of horses, which were exhausted, would rest on the spot or be let out to graze to save feed.
When the third group of mules carrying baggage arrived, they transferred the baggage onto the backs of the first group of horses, and then a small number of people led the empty horses to chase the soldiers.
The core idea is to change the horses but not the people, and move forward in waves.
There are few people now, only a thousand soldiers, but when tens of thousands of cavalrymen make a long-distance attack, the scene will be lively.
Along the entire raid route, some people were fighting, some were sleeping, some were moving forward, some were feeding horses, and some were packing luggage. The overall movement was actually in waves.
A long-distance raid and a short-distance explosive assault are not the same thing.
After Shao Xun finished studying the map, he waited for a while, but the follow-up horse herds still did not arrive, which made him a little anxious.
The first time leading a large group of mounted infantry on a long-distance raid, it was indeed easy to stumble.
No one has experienced this before. Problems may occur in every small link, and the cost of problems is time delay and long wait.
If there is an opportunity in the future, I must form a special Flying Dragon Army like the Tang Army - Flying Dragon means imperial horse.
Heavy infantrymen who are proficient in various martial arts carry armor, weapons, bows and crossbows, travel on horseback, and dismount and fight on foot when they reach their destination.
It has the mobility of cavalry, combat effectiveness far exceeding that of cavalry, and the ability to attack tough targets. It is a very balanced branch of the military.
But it's just a thought.
The cost of a mounted infantryman is even higher than that of a cavalryman. It is truly a toy for the rich.
When the western sky was filled with rosy clouds, the rest of the horse herd finally arrived.
Shao Xun did not blame the sweaty soldier. He said nothing and directly ordered to change horses and set off overnight.
The soldiers silently took out simple torches and placed them in the saddle bags under the saddles, two for each person.
After reorganizing themselves a little, they rushed away.
******
In Xuchang city, people were in panic and running around.
Most of the hereditary soldiers had been taken to Hebei by King Fan Yang and handed over to Gou Xi for command to attack Gong Shifan, Hao Chang and others.
Judging from the battle reports that have been sent back, it seems that the battle was going well. In a few months, these traitors will be completely wiped out.
It was going to be like this, everything was under control, very good.
But now something unexpected has happened.
The King of Donghai led an army of 30,000 and stationed in Xiao County in the west. He was defeated by Liu Qiao in a battle and fled back to Xuzhou in a panic.
This was not just a matter of defeat on the battlefield. More seriously, the governor of Yuzhou, Liu Qiao, rebelled! He was forced to do so by Sima Yue.
How can this be good?
Xuchang was empty, with only two or three thousand defenders, all of whom were old, weak and disabled soldiers left over from the expedition, and their morale was extremely low.
Do you expect those soldiers with big white beards or childish faces to defend Xuchang?
No one dares to think so.
Some people have even fled, preferring to hide in manors outside the city rather than stay in Xuchang and wait for death.
Their departure greatly shook morale, causing more people to want to escape.
In desperation, Tian Hui, the governor who stayed in Xuchang, could only order the city gates to be closed and defended strictly.
But what is the use?
A group of old, weak and disabled soldiers, who did not dare to kill the enemy, still had some courage to sneak out of the city at night, and they were quite brave.
As a result, every midnight, the four walls of Xuchang became "highways", and people kept climbing down from the city walls and disappearing into the night.
Tian Hui had thought of ways, such as killing people to establish his authority, but they could only stop the problem temporarily, and the next day the old ways would return. There was nothing he could do.
If we wait another ten days, I'm afraid everyone will run away, because the more time passes, the more they run. "Superintendent, should we send a letter to each household in the county to ask them to send their soldiers into the city to help?" a minor official ran over and asked.
Tian Hui kicked him and cursed, "You want to harm me? People's minds are hard to predict. Who knows if the people entering the city are Liu Qiao's men?"
The clerk had a sad face and said, "This is not a solution. There are less than 2,000 soldiers in the city, and many of them are newly recruited servants. How can we fight?"
"We have to defend it even if we can't." Tian Hui gave him a hateful look.
Of course, that’s what he said, but when he really couldn’t hold on, Tian Hui would definitely not stay and die.
Based on his many years of service to King Fanyang, he would not necessarily be punished even if he lost Xuchang. He could even continue to lead the troops, accumulate merits, and rise again.
Money, women, and mansions are all empty; your own life is the most important.
"Stop lying on the ground, what are you pretending for?" Tian Hui kicked him again and scolded, "Hurry up and send someone to get the news. Liu Qiao may have returned from Pei State. Let's see if they are going back to Liang State or coming to Xuchang directly."
"Yes." The clerk lay on the ground, groaning with difficulty.
He was indeed pretending just now. This time he was really kicked and hurt. He struggled for a long time before getting up, then lowered his head and left.
Tian Hui snorted coldly, took his guards and began to patrol the city.
Yuzhou was quite special, being one of the eight old governorships. The governor was stationed in Xiang County, Liang State, and the governorship was in Xuchang, Yingchuan County.
Since the Cao Wei Dynasty, Xuchang has always been an important town. Not only is a large number of hereditary soldiers stationed there, but there are also mountains of money, food, and armor so that they can move south at any time to deal with the Eastern Wu. The Wancheng governor on the front line has few troops under his command and can only defend himself, without much ability to fight back.
Such an important town could not be lost at all, but Tian Hui had no intention of dying with it.
The fast horses are ready, and there is more than one.
If Liu Qiao comes, he can take his eldest son and the Princess of Fanyang and escape directly, and Xuchang will be given to you.
As for his wife and daughter, he couldn't care less about them.
It's common for men to go to war and abandon their wives and daughters. There's no need to make a fuss. No matter what they think, my most important thing is to save my own life.
After inspecting the entire city, Tian Hui went back home to rest.
The number of soldiers is decreasing, which is annoying. I might as well go home and play with women.
******
"Shh!" The horse's front hooves suddenly went soft and it fell to the ground.
Shao Xun was startled, but did not panic.
Amid the exclamations of others, he suddenly stretched out his left foot, pushed against the ground, and managed to stabilize his body so that he would not fall out.
Then he knocked the horse's belly with his right foot, pulled the reins with both hands, and lifted it up with all his strength, and the warhorse suddenly stood up.
After riding his horse slowly around, he looked at the field where the sun was rising and gave the order: "Arrange the guards and let the whole army rest. Call the guide to me."
"Yes." Tang Jian finally came to his senses and obeyed the order.
The generals watched from afar, all of them were filled with admiration.
We traveled for several hours last night and many people fell off their horses.
Some failed because of poor riding skills, some because of being too tired, and some simply stumbled.
General Shao's riding skills are also first-class.
The guide came over quickly and bowed.
"Where is this?" Shao Xun asked.
"This place is called Guanxiang," the guide replied, "We have entered the territory of Xiangcheng County, Yuzhou. If we continue to travel during the day, we should be able to enter the city before the gate is closed."
"Why should I go to the county town?" Shao Xun smiled, took the Hu pancake and water bag, and started chewing them.
We marched for most of the day yesterday and ran for at least half the night. Now we are exhausted and have no choice but to extend our rest time.
Pan Tao, the Imperial Court Minister, had only given him two suggestions.
The first plan was to gather refugees around Luoyang and choose a location to build a fort.
This suggestion is crucial to Shao Xun.
Other people's soldiers, even if they are deeply influenced by you, will still be unstable unless that person dies.
The only relatively reliable ones are the private troops he has recruited.
Pan Tao’s second suggestion was that Xuchang had few soldiers, and most of them were old and weak!
Shao Xun was hesitant at first and thought about it for a long time in Jinyong City.
Later, everyone knew that he was a pervert. After the blood rushed to his head, he simply went all out and improved on Pan Tao's strategy, promised a generous reward, boosted morale, and directly launched a large-scale raid of hundreds of miles.
As they got closer to Xuchang, Shao Xun relaxed.
For some things, there is no turning back.
If you don't make a fortune, you'll be wasted. Who do you think you are, King Fanyang? Even your cousin's princess and Queen Yang, I want them to give birth to my children.
After eating the Hu pancake, Shao Xun took out the heavy sword and wiped it silently.
This continued until the afternoon, when a new batch of mules arrived. He jumped up and mounted the horses.
More than a thousand knights quickly followed, like a raging torrent, crossing the farmland where the autumn harvest had been completed and heading eastward.
On the night of September 7, a large group of cavalry appeared to the west of Xuchang City and stopped.
finally reached.
(End of this chapter)