Chapter 260: Peace
Chapter 260: Peace (Additional chapter for the leader, the Eastern Zhejiang Observer)
Liu Cong sent troops to launch a surprise attack on Maojin, which happened quickly and ended just as quickly.
Many things on the battlefield are like this. I set a tactical intention and then rush to implement it. If it succeeds, it succeeds; if it fails, it's not surprising.
Obviously, Liu Cong's tactical intention failed.
Of the 5,000 cavalrymen who marched a hundred miles to attack Maojin, only 1,600 of them managed to escape.
That night, another two hundred riders returned.
The next day, more than a hundred riders returned.
Then there is nothing.
It is said that some of them have broken through the pass, but no one knows where they are now or whether they are still alive.
When Liu Cong received this news, Liu Yuan's envoy, Huyan You, the Emperor Taizong of the Han Dynasty, had just arrived.
Liu Cong didn't have a good look at him.
One reason was the news of defeat.
The second reason was that this person had no ability and the court had no official position to assign to him, so he could only be the head of the imperial clan - Huyan You was the son of Huyan Yi and the nephew of Empress Huyan.
Also, this person has a bad attitude.
"The emperor has ordered the troops to return to the capital!" Huyan You pulled Liu Yuan's tiger skin and answered loudly in front of all the generals.
Liu Cong glared at him with murderous eyes.
"You..." Huyan You took a half step back, a little scared.
"Your Highness." Grand Herald Fan Long stood between the two men and said with a smile, "Victory and defeat are common in the military. The country of the grasslands has more than a hundred thousand cavalry, and now it has only lost a few thousand soldiers. What is there to be afraid of? The emperor has always loved your Highness, so you can return quickly and report the battle situation. Your Highness can still be the vanguard when we set out next month."
When Fan Long said the first half of his sentence, Liu Cong didn't react. But when he heard the second half, his expression lightened up a little.
Fan Long observed the expressions on his face and knew that his persuasion had worked, so he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He knew the King of Chu very well. He knew that he had a stubborn temper, was extremely competitive, and easily lost his temper in a fight. He was afraid that he would not be easy to persuade.
It had been decided long ago that the expedition would be launched in October. With 50,000 cavalry and over 100,000 infantry, the army would march in full force, and conquering Luoyang was the minimum goal.
It had been decided long ago that the King of Chu would be the vanguard. After all, there were not many members of the Han royal family who were good at fighting.
King of Chu Liu Cong is one, King of Shi'an Liu Yao is one, and King of Ruyin Liu Jing is also one, but the latter two are not your Majesty's sons, so there is still a difference between them.
Fan Long actually didn't quite agree with Liu Cong being the vanguard.
The military system of the Han Dynasty was different from that of the Jin State. It had always emphasized cavalry and light infantry. The vanguard commander-in-chief must have commanded the cavalry, and he could be said to have controlled the elite troops of the entire country.
Once Liu Cong becomes the vanguard, the 50,000 elite cavalry selected from the hundreds of thousands of people including the Xiongnu headquarters, the Han army, the Jie people, the Wuhuan, the Di and Qiang people in Hexi, the Xianbei tribes, and the miscellaneous Hu people in northern Dai will be handed over to him.
Liu Cong's personality can only be said to have both good and bad qualities.
Fan Long was very worried that if he suffered a setback at the gates of Luoyang, he would refuse to retreat and even rejected the emperor's order, insisting on winning the battle.
The most basic thing is that a general should not raise troops out of anger.
King Cong of Chu may not be able to do it.
"Since there is an imperial decree..." Liu Cong paused when he said this.
Wang Mi stood aside, not knowing how to describe his feelings. But now he had no other choice. Fortunately, his capital was not completely lost, so he could start over.
Huyan You became arrogant again and looked at him with a sneer.
So what if he was the emperor? Without the support of Huyan clan, the emperor would not be able to hold on to his position.
Liu Cong was a man who either won a great victory or suffered a great defeat in battle. How could he say that he was amazing?
"Then withdraw your troops." Liu Cong said the second half of the sentence with difficulty: "But——"
Fan Long and Huyan You were worried again.
"We can send part of the cavalry to ambush outside Hongnong City. If the bandits come out of the city to chase them, we can kill them." Liu Cong said again.
Fan Long sighed secretly in his heart.
The King of Chu still refused to give up and wanted to make some money before leaving.
But there is nothing wrong with sending cavalry to ambush.
If there is no ambush, just retreat directly, which is quick and easy. Moreover, we should be on guard against Yuan Yan leaving the city to pursue us, although he has been beaten to a point where he has little strength left and it is unlikely that he will leave the city.
"I am only responsible for conveying the order. Your Highness can decide how to withdraw." Fan Long said.
Liu Cong nodded and immediately gave the order.
A moment later, more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry on the march began to turn around and return to Hongnong.
On the afternoon of September 2nd, the army returned to Hongnong.
There was silence inside and outside the county town, as if the previous brutal siege had never happened.
Liu Cong glanced at the top of the city wall with hatred. The big flag with the word "Yuan" was flying high, as if mocking him.
"Retreat!" He flicked the whip and headed towards Yejin.
Wang Mi's troops have already withdrawn a group of people to Hebei, and now there are still 15,000 to 16,000 people left in Henan.
After receiving the order, they gradually broke camp and crossed the river in batches.
The remaining 4,000 Xiongnu cavalry cruised far away, monitoring Hongnong City.
In the past, they would have been eager to see the enemy abandon their fortified city so that they could surround and annihilate them in the wilderness.
But now, I don’t have so many thoughts on this.
After suffering two consecutive losses, I have lost all my fighting spirit and need time to recover.
The entire retreat was very peaceful.
The two sides seemed to have a tacit understanding and ended the war that had lasted for half a month.
When the last group of Hun cavalry left, they dismantled and destroyed the pontoon bridge.
Peace returned to the river again.
******
On the second day of September, Shao Xun accompanied the last batch of evacuated soldiers out of Dayang County and arrived at the south bank.
Almost like Liu Cong, he ordered the floating bridge to be burned to separate the north and the south.
After arriving at Shan County, the entire army headed straight for Hongnong without rest.
When passing Qiliai, he stopped to take a look. The battlefield had been cleaned up, but there were still faint traces of blood, broken arrows, and damaged weapons left in the grass and gullies.
"Write this down," he said suddenly.
The personal guards brought a desk, pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and the clerk sat down to prepare to take notes.
"Liu Cong is a stubborn, unyielding, and easily angered man." Shao Xun said, "His military style—"
"Be bold and brave, and take risks."
"There are only two outcomes for this man in a fight: a great victory or a great defeat."
The clerk's pen moved quickly as he recorded.
"Liu Cong has strategies for fighting and can see the key points at a glance. In front of him, being mysterious can easily backfire. A steady and balanced strategy is most suitable for dealing with such a person." Even if he was an enemy, Shao Xun was reluctant to slander him too much.
In fact, he gave a neutral evaluation of Liu Cong and did not look down on him just because he had just defeated him.
Liu Cong sent cavalry to attack Maojin, which was indeed a bit risky, but his tactical intention was very bold.
A little deduction will show that the main forces of the side are in Dayang, Hebei. Liu Cong made full use of the high-speed mobility of the cavalry to capture the empty Maojin and burn the pontoon bridge, which would cause great trouble to Shao Xun.
It’s just that Mr. Shao has always been steady in fighting.
When leaving the two tombs at Xiaoban, Li Chong was left behind to lead several thousand soldiers to garrison and guard the retreat.
When heading north to Dayang, he ordered Zhang Gu and Yu An to ambush at Qiliai, southwest of Shan County, and even assigned them armored cavalry. This was also a trick to secure his retreat - he did not expect to really ambush the enemy, but was just making preparations. He would be satisfied if he returned empty-handed, because it meant that the enemy did not come to attack his retreat.
Throughout history, there were many generals who liked to march lightly and quickly. Some of them were even recorded in history books and praised by people.
But advancing light troops quickly itself means huge risks, and the key to success lies in taking the enemy by surprise.
Once the enemy is prepared, they will most likely fail and may even suffer serious losses.
Liu Cong was unlucky to meet Shao Xun, as he happened to encounter the Turtle School, which liked to build strong camps and fight stupid battles.
If he had met a general who also liked to take risks, he might have succeeded.
So, there is nothing to laugh at the enemy.
Each general has a different personality and style.
In fact, Shao Xun sometimes wanted to try Liu Cong's combat style, because although he was steady in fighting, he was prone to miss opportunities sometimes - some opportunities required you to reduce your own safety redundancy and risk defeat to capture them, but he was not willing to take too big a risk.
"It is particularly important to analyze the enemy's character and style." Shao Xun added at the end.
After the document was recorded, it was submitted.
After Shao Xun finished reading it, he felt that there was nothing wrong with it, so he handed it back and said, "After returning from the expedition, it will be compiled into the "Silver Spear Army War History."
"Yes." The clerk took it carefully.
After returning, it will have to be polished and included in the war history. It will be used in the teaching of martial arts in Liang County in the future.
The army continued to move forward and arrived in Hongnong on the fifth day of September.
The prefect Yuan Yan personally went out of the city to greet him.
Shao Xun looked at the man carefully.
He is not good-looking, short and stocky, his skin is even a bit dark, and there are thick calluses on his hands.
Is this really a scholar?
Or is it that the gentry in the border areas who have long faced the threat of war are different from the gentry in the Central Plains?
"Master Yuan has done a great thing." Shao Xun laughed and said, "You fooled me."
Yuan Yan smiled bitterly and said, "If the governor hadn't come to help, Hongnong would have fallen sooner or later."
Shao Xun looked at the more than a thousand Hongnong County soldiers arrayed in the distance and asked, "How many soldiers does the Lord have?"
"More than 1,600." As the two were talking, they had already arrived in front of the county soldiers. Yuan Yan said, "We had recruited some men, but after the Xiongnu withdrew, we let them go home."
Shao Xun nodded and looked at these soldiers who had experienced many battles.
"Shao Sima."
"General Shao."
Several officers couldn't help but shout.
"Oh? You wait--" Shao Xun took a closer look and found the man familiar.
"We are from the East Sea Kingdom Army, and we followed Captain Mi here."
"So it's you!" Shao Xun happily walked over, held hands, and said in surprise: "It's really clear when I see old friends."
Everyone was very happy.
As he was speaking, more than ten people came over and said in unison, "Greetings to Sima Shao."
Shao Xun looked at him and didn't recognize him, but he still pretended to be happy and said, "I'll drink with you tonight."
In order to march west to attack Sima Yong in Chang'an, Mi Huang served as the governor of Hongnong as the General of the Western Army and brought 1,500 royal troops with him.
When Mi Huang returned from Guanzhong and took up the post of Inspector of the Imperial Capital, he took all the key members with him, leaving behind only about a thousand people.
Now, several years have passed, and after many wars, no one knows how many of the thousand people are left.
Yuan Yan watched silently from the side.
Only at this time did he fully realize the influence of the famous Duke of Luyang County in Luoyang.
Wherever he goes, there are soldiers he has led.
The dozen or so people he was talking to were considered the backbone of the county’s military academy and were very experienced.
If he wanted to take over the Hongnong County troops, there probably wouldn't be too many obstacles.
After speaking with the military schools, Shao Xun, surrounded by the army, entered the city of Hongnong County.
When he entered the city, he asked Yuan Yan, "The Xiongnu army is very large and will attack sooner or later. Does the governor have any strategy?"
"Mr. Shao, could you please make it clear?" Yuan Yan said.
"If the Huns gather an army of more than 100,000 to attack, Hongnong will not be able to be defended. How about retreating to Yiyang?" Shao Xun looked into his eyes and asked.
Yuan Yan was hesitant and could not make a decision.
He is the prefect and has the responsibility to protect the territory. He can't just leave like that. It's a difficult thing.
(End of this chapter)