Chapter 329 New Tactics

Chapter 329 New Tactics

Chapter 329 New Tactics

Shao Xun waited in the ancient city of Xinzheng for five or six days before he received the first batch of food and fodder.

He did not take the Yingchuan gentry's things in vain. He gave a batch of seized property to the Yingchuan gentry and let them divide it among themselves. It could be regarded as a kind of buying grain, although most of them did not want to sell it.

At this time, the enemy forces were also frequently mobilized.

Just as Wang Bing saw in Waihuang County, batch after batch of Xiongnu cavalry gathered and rushed towards the ancient city of Xinzheng.

Shao Xun, who was about to set out eastward, saw this and ordered his troops to stop advancing.

The ancient city of Xinzheng is not big, and has been abandoned for many years and is in ruins, but it still has a certain function of sheltering from wind and rain.

On November 21st, Shao Xun climbed to the top of the city wall and looked at the increasing number of cavalrymen gathering in the wild, wondering what they were going to do.

Most of the cavalry were concentrated in the west, north and east, leaving the south alone, as if to encourage Shao Xun to retreat.

Behind the cavalry, there were infantrymen who were struggling to transport food and fodder.

"Are you planning to fight me?" He frowned.

Now we are back to the situation when we faced Liu Cong last year. The Huns rely on their cavalry advantage to control the wilderness, block information, and prevent you from contacting the outside world.

At that time, Shao Xun had a clear goal, which was to advance to Luoyang, so he focused on moving forward and finally arrived at the city.

Now what? What is the goal?
To the northwest of the ancient city of Xinzheng, Lu Ming led a cavalry unit, fighting and retreating, towards a gently sloping area with undulating terrain.

When they were about to get close, Tao Bao shouted from the high slope: "Stop acting, they are not chasing us."

When Lu Ming turned his head, he saw that hundreds of soldiers had turned their horses around and rushed back to the old city of Xinzheng.

He was immediately deflated.

The area where they are located has relatively undulating terrain, perhaps because it is close to the mountains.

This kind of terrain is certainly not very friendly to cavalry, but it is even more unfriendly to cavalry that relies on charging and close combat.

The more complex the terrain, the greater the advantage of mounted archers.

The simpler the terrain, the greater the advantage of mounted archers.

It sounds a bit contradictory, but it’s actually very simple——

On the complex hills and mountains, it was difficult for both sides to charge forward, so what was more tested at this time was the riding skills.

During the Han Dynasty, Chao Cuo mentioned several places where the Xiongnu cavalry had an advantage: "climbing mountains and descending slopes", "entering and exiting streams", and "narrow and dangerous roads".

These places require more advanced riding skills. There are not many scenes suitable for hand-to-hand combat charges, and it is not easy to be caught by shock cavalry, which helps the Huns to keep their distance and "gallop and shoot at the same time."

In fact, it is to make use of the two major advantages of the Huns, their superb riding skills and accurate archery, so that the Central Plains cavalry, who are good at hand-to-hand combat, have nowhere to use their strengths, which is in line with the essence of the military strategy of "strengthening one's strengths and avoiding one's weaknesses."

Of course, on hills and streams, cavalry is no more effective than infantry, but that is another matter.

The extremely simple terrain, such as the endless prairie, has few rivers and is nothing but grassland and sand, which is even more suitable for the Hun light cavalry to fly kites in circles.

The most feared terrain is the kind of terrain that is relatively flat but has many rivers, forests, houses, and ditches. There are many scenes suitable for charging, but it is not conducive to circling and increasing distance for horse archery, which is quite a headache for horse archers.

Today, Lu Ming wanted to lead the palace soldiers to this rolling hills and then kill them with horseback archery. Unexpectedly, the palace soldiers did not fall for it and retreated after chasing for a while. For this, he was ridiculed by Tao Bao.

"Is the general coming?" Lu Ming asked after getting off his horse.

"I haven't received any confirmation yet." Tao Bao sighed, "What if you don't come? Do you have any food?"

Lu Ming also sighed.

I fought with Shao Xun once in May this year, but it ended hastily due to a locust plague.

It can be said that this was an unsuccessful military operation.

During the post-war summary, Da Hu repeatedly comforted everyone, saying that he had found a way to defeat Shao the thief.

Everyone became interested.

After Da Hu told everyone the solution he had come up with, everyone was very excited and started to discuss the details one after another.

Tried it today, and it really works!

So he urgently hoped that Da Hu would come quickly and take the 20,000 cavalry with him.

With 30,000 cavalrymen at hand, even if they were just light cavalrymen riding a single horse without much armor, as long as reasonable tactics were used, Shao Xun would definitely suffer a great loss.

But the reality is also there: Is there enough food?
"In the summer, there are locust plagues. In the winter, there is a food shortage. Is Shao thief so lucky?" Lu Ming became more and more angry as he thought about it. He drew his sword and chopped hard on a bush.

"That's fate." Tao Bao smiled and said, "We finally caught Shao the thief, but we can't outlast him. But it doesn't matter, we'll come back next year. We'll set up a trap, drive Shao the thief a hundred miles away, and then slowly crawl back."

"Haha." Seeing that Tao Bao's words were interesting, Lu Ming's mood also improved.

The way to use troops is to play to one's strengths and avoid one's weaknesses, and to avoid the real and attack the fake.

Shao's Silver Spear Army and Palace Soldiers are good at fighting, so I won't fight with you.

You always have weaknesses, places that cannot be covered, so we just focus on these places and attack them.

"Forget about today. I'll go tomorrow and lure out his cavalry." Tao Bao said, "It's not easy for Shao to maintain cavalry, so every time we can kill one, it's good. If we can kill them all, it will be easier to fight next year. We may have a chance to make Shao make mistakes in a hurry and annihilate his silver spear army."

"Silver Spear Army..." Lu Ming groaned, "These people can fall asleep amid the shouting and killing. The longest time they have served as soldiers is six or seven years. I wonder what the price will be if we want to annihilate them."

"Take your time." Tao Bao said with a smile, "Let's give it a try tomorrow."

"That's right." Lu Ming nodded.

The next few days were strange for both parties.

Shi Chao went south from Chenliu and entered the territory of Yangxia.

He led more than 10,000 infantrymen and 1,000 cavalrymen and surrounded the Yangxia County because he heard that a lot of so-called "military farming camps" had gathered in the city.

The battle lasted for four or five days, but the city was never recovered.

Shao Xun led his troops to leave Xinzheng and head eastward to Weishi, relying on the protection of vehicles.

The cavalry led by Lu Ming, Tao Bao and others were like flies, following closely behind, harassing repeatedly and constantly blocking the enemy.

They even send people to dig roads and destroy bridges ahead of time. In short, they try every possible way to create obstacles for you.

On the first day of the march, the large army only walked ten miles.

The next day, Thirteen Miles.

Day three, seventeen miles.

After three days, Shao Xun had an epiphany: the Huns were also learning about war in the war, constantly improving and progressing.

The enemy cavalry looked more like they were covering for a certain unit. He had to admit that a side with a large number of cavalry could indeed effectively delay a side dominated by infantry.

He also had to admit that people can make progress.

He used the chariot array to break through the Xiongnu's blockade last year, which was a bit unexpected. But this year, the Xiongnu seemed to have figured out a way to deal with him.

It took him only three days to walk forty miles, which made him smell danger.

On November 29th, it snowed heavily.

The Hun cavalry who had been watching them suddenly withdrew and disappeared without a trace.

Maybe it was too cold, maybe there was not enough food, or maybe they had completed their mission, in any case they ran away.

The next day, Shao Xun led his troops to recapture Weishi County, which had been occupied by the enemy.

Shi Chao failed to capture Yangxia, suffered heavy casualties, and then attacked Yuan's fort, but failed again. Seeing that his army's food was running out, he had no choice but to retreat.

Before leaving, he destroyed some irrigation canals in anger, blocked the wells in the vegetable patches, set fire to the houses of some of the people in the farming camp, and then hastily retreated through Liang State.

At this point, the war east of Hulao Pass seemed to have come to an end.

This outcome was unsatisfactory for both parties.

Shao Xun saw a huge crisis.

The Huns consumed the food, cattle, and sheep that they had accumulated with great difficulty, and lost a large number of infantry, cavalry, and horses. In the end, they had to retreat in disgrace without gaining anything.

Next year, they may not come again.

In spring, the grass has not yet turned completely green, and it is also a time of shortage. He is worried about food, let alone the Huns.

There might be fodder in the summer, but why would they come to attack Luoyang?

Perhaps, starting from next year, his main target will become Shi Le.

A few days later, when he was leading his troops north to Junyi and clearing out possible remaining enemies, news came from the west of Hulao Pass: the Huns retreated in large numbers, passing through Hongnong and Henei, and withdrew in two routes.

He immediately changed direction and headed towards Xingyang. At this time, he met Wang Bing who was chasing him hurriedly.

"My Lord." After getting off his horse, Wang Bing bowed to the ground and cried, "Situ has passed away."

"Huh?" Shao Xun didn't react for a moment.

But when he remembered that "Situ" referred to Sima Yue, the expression on his face suddenly became very rich.

Wang Bing glanced at him secretly.

At this time, Shao Xun had already calmed down and was deep in thought.

"When did he die?" he asked.

"It's been half a month."

"Why have you come here? To announce a death?"

"I am willing to take the prince back to Xuzhou."

"Not right!" Shao Xun said subconsciously.

Wang Bing's heart skipped a beat. It turned out to be just as he thought. Shao Xun was unwilling to let him go.

Shao Xun frowned.

Wang Bing said he would take the prince away, but how could it be that simple? Would the princess also have to go with him? How could this be possible!

Shao Xun stood there, silent for a long time.

Wang Bing was anxious, and stood up silently, saying: "The prince has been under your protection for a long time, and I am grateful. If you can take Xuzhou back, I will make friends with you in the future, watch over each other and help each other, and together we will be the shield of the court."

Shao Xun had calmed down, glanced at Wang Bing, and said angrily: "You guys! Do you know that this is going to harm the prince?"

Wang Bing quickly defended himself: "We all swore to heaven that we would serve the prince as our master, and everyone has seen it."

"Do you swear?" Shao Xun sneered and asked, "I know the background of those soldiers in Fan County. How many soldiers are left in the East Sea Kingdom Army?"

"About three thousand."

"The most reliable ones are only these three thousand men." Shao Xun said, "The rest of the soldiers are either from the Beggars' Army or from Yu and Yan states. I want to ask you, are the Beggars' Army obedient?"

Wang Bing said nothing.

"Some of the soldiers from Yu and Yan states were recruited by Situ during his lifetime, and some are from the noble families of the two states. Let me ask you again, are they obedient?"

Wang Bing could not resist and argued: "We have been restrained by military law for a long time, so we are naturally obedient."

"Don't be so confident!" Shao Xun pointed his finger at Wang Bing's chest and asked bluntly, "How did Zhang Fang die?"

Of course, Zhang Fang was killed by Zhi Fu. Is there any need to ask? Wang Bing was about to say something, but stopped.

Why was Zhi Fu able to kill Zhang Fang? And after killing him, he was able to walk away without hesitation? As if he was in an empty place?
This question is worth pondering, as it is closely related to your foundation.

"It seems that you have understood something in your heart." Shao Xun patted his shoulder and said, "Come back to Luoyang with me first and meet the princess and the prince. Even if you want to bring the prince back, you don't want to do it this way."

"Okay." Wang Bing nodded and responded.

He came to the west to meet the princess and the prince. If it weren't for the war, he would have arrived by now.

After finishing the important task on his mind, he asked again: "My Lord, have you defeated the enemy army and recovered Chenliu?"

"It's not a big defeat." Shao Xun shook his head and suddenly asked, "Do you know Wang Youzhou?"

"Wang Jun?" Wang Bing shook his head and said, "We have never had any contact."

After saying that, he added, "This person is arrogant and looks down on others. Your Excellency has greatly offended him, so I'm afraid he won't be in a good mood."

Shao Xun frowned secretly. The battle in Chang'an that year has left a legacy of disaster to this day.

However, he quickly adjusted his mentality. If he hadn't had the horses he robbed that time, it would have been impossible for him to ride two horses alone and intercept Wang Sang's troops this time.

Although these Xianbei horses were gradually becoming old and could no longer be used as war horses, they still played a key role in his military system.

Where there are pros, there are cons. How can there be any benefit in this world without paying a price?
A real man should not always take shortcuts.

He had to think of other ways to deal with Shi Le's new tactics. Could a living person be killed by holding his urine?

On the 30th, the army set out for Xingyang, intimidating the enemy while entering Luoyang via Hulao Pass.

(End of this chapter)