Chapter 371 Are You That Stupid?
Chapter 371 Are You That Stupid?
Rhythmic calls sounded on the south bank of the Luo River.
The trackers moved forward hesitantly on the soft grass along the river, pulling the grain-laden boats upstream.
The autumn rains continued and the water level rose sharply.
The turbid river water, mixed with mud, sand and fallen leaves, rushed down and headed straight for the Yellow River.
Occasionally, you can see corpses, floating in the river, as if struggling or drifting with the current.
Before they die, they may still be missing their wives and children at home, thinking about the work in the fields, and fantasizing whether the next year will be a good year with good weather and good harvests.
But under the general trend, people were caught up in it, and there was no way to escape war and death except to become savages in the mountains.
We encountered some villages and forts along the way.
The village was deserted. When we camped at night, we could see thick dust, and it was obvious that no one had lived there for a long time.
Many houses were torn to pieces, and the wood, bricks, stones and even adobe were taken away and turned into part of temporary camps.
Broken pots, broken arrows and even white bones can be seen everywhere, silently telling the suffering of the time.
In fact, let alone the villages, all the earthen walls that were not high enough or thick enough were gradually abandoned along the way.
Those who survived either built camps in the mountains, or built large forts on the plains, or ran back and forth between the mountains and plains. They were not afraid of hard work, went down the mountains to farm during the day, and hid in the mountains at night, trying to survive in the chaotic world.
When camping or marching, they would often encounter attacks from enemy cavalry.
The number of enemy cavalry on the north bank of Luo River was small, but they followed closely.
If you stop, he stops too; if you walk, he follows you, watching you all the way.
There were more enemy cavalry on the south bank, but not as many as expected. There were only about 3,000 or 4,000 cavalry in total, divided into three groups: one for herding horses, one for resting, and one for harassment.
The veterans of the Silver Spear Army have long been accustomed to it, eating, drinking and sleeping.
Under their leadership, the recruits in Buildings 11 and 12 behaved relatively calmly - in fact, they were not really new recruits, as they had undergone three years of rigorous training and were good in all aspects, the only thing they lacked was combat experience.
The auxiliary soldiers were a little agitated, but under the punishment of beatings, they managed to suppress the fear in their hearts. As time went by, their fear lessened a little, and they were much better than when they had just left Hulao Pass.
The calmest people were probably the troop transports on the grain ships.
No matter how powerful the Hun cavalry were, they could not swim to the surface of the river to fight.
It would be even more disadvantageous to stand on the river bank and shoot at them. They have cabins for shelter, but the Huns do not.
Even if they really swam there at night and fought on the water, it is still unknown who will be more powerful.
What's there to be afraid of?
As long as Mr. Chen's troops can protect the river bank and prevent the Huns from attacking and killing the trackers, there will be no problem.
When it comes time to return, the boat will drift downstream and even the trackers will be unnecessary, which makes it much safer.
On September 13, the army had arrived near Gong County and finally faced the first relatively large-scale siege.
Almost at the same time, a large group of Xiongnu cavalry moved eastward, with a number of up to 5,000, heading straight for Chenggao and Hulao Pass.
Two days later, a large group of infantry was transferred from outside Luoyang City and marched quickly along the north bank of Luo River.
Then, a miracle appeared——
Shao Xun escorted a large number of grain boats upstream along the south bank of Luo River towards Luoyang.
The Xiongnu infantry and cavalry left Luoyang in a mighty force, went downstream and headed straight for Chenggao and Hulao Pass.
More and more Xiongnu cavalry were ordered to be transferred to Gong County.
They surrounded the convoy and fleet, staring eagerly, as if waiting for the next order.
******
Tens of thousands of troops stationed at Yique Pass to rest.
Liang Fen, Beigong Chun and Fu Chang climbed to the top of the city wall and looked into the distance.
"Meet the commander of the camp." A lieutenant shouted.
Liang Fen and the other two turned around and saw a young general walking towards them.
This man was tall and sturdy, wearing a martial cap on his head, holding a sword in his left hand and a long spear in his right hand.
Although he was wearing heavy armor, he was still very fast. When he saw Liang Fen from a distance, he took a few quick steps to greet her.
Liang Fen and others returned the gift.
"Lord Liang wants to go north to Luoyang?" The man who came was Shao Shen, who held the position of commander-in-chief of the camp army in the Xuchang government.
He has not yet married, but his engagement has been confirmed. His wife is the granddaughter of Du Yin, the owner of Yiquanwu.
Even though the brothers Du Dan and Du Yin have become masters of fortresses, their lineage still has a network of connections in the court.
Shao Shen's wife, who was not yet married, was, in general, the great-granddaughter of Du Wuku, and the man he was marrying was a local tyrant in Yiyang.
The brothers Du Dan and Du Yin had lived in Yiquanwu for a long time, and it was difficult for them to be called people of Jingzhao. It was certain that they had established a new branch.
If Yiquanwu had not been ruined and the Du brothers had survived and grown stronger, this would have been the Yiyang Branch of the Jingzhao Du family.
"General Shao, can you send scouts to investigate the north of the pass?" Liang Fen asked.
"We sent people to investigate ten days ago, but they didn't come back." Shao Shen said a little embarrassedly, "The Xiongnu are the most cunning. To be honest, I often hear people talking about the war between the kings. The Xianbei cavalry dared to charge head-on and fight hand-to-hand, but the Xiongnu were the most cowardly. They rode two horses, without armor, and wandered around in fur coats. At the slightest sign of trouble, they would scatter immediately. But they would not go far away and would still stare at you. They dare not charge head-on, but they are very good at intercepting messengers, expelling cavalry, and attacking scouts. Have you heard about it? A few days ago-"
"Wait." Liang Fen smiled and stopped Shao Shen from saying anything else, saying, "That is to say, when we left Yique Pass and reached Luoyang, we didn't know if there were bandits, how many bandits there were, and where they were?"
"I don't know." Shao Shen sighed.
Liang Fen nodded, then looked towards Guanbei, remaining silent. Shao Shen looked at Beigong Chun and said, "Lord Liang wants to return to Luoyang? I see you have a lot of cavalry, how about I lead some people to fight with the army? I don't have many cavalry, but there are still three or four hundred of them, all of them are brave and courageous, what do you think?"
"Governor." Someone from the military academy couldn't help but remind him.
Liang Fen laughed and said, "General, I appreciate your kindness. Yique Pass is very important. Once it is lost, the enemy will march straight into Liang County. I heard that Mr. Chen's family is all there. If they are disturbed, it will not be good."
"They moved to Xuchang at the beginning of the month." Shao Shen said, "But you are right. I have an uncle in Guangchengze - well, Guangchengze has land for relief, land for salary, military land, as well as granaries, artisan camps, and pastures. It really cannot be looted by thieves. What a pity."
Liang Fen shook her head and laughed, continuing to look towards the north.
Fu Chang stroked his beard for a while and asked Shao Shen, "Young General, do you know the situation of the enemy and our troops deployed around Luoyang?"
"I don't know much, and some of it may not be true, so just listen to it." Shao Shen said.
"My second uncle has already escorted the grain to the capital. He should not have reached Luoyang yet. I don't know whether the Xiongnu has sent people to besiege it."
"Wang Mi stationed troops in Xin'an, and seemed to be building a city. Occasionally, he would send a small group of troops south to Luochuan to fight with the troops stationed in Yiyang."
"There is no trouble at Taigu and Huanyuan Passes, no thieves have appeared."
"There is a Mi clan fortress on Mount Song. A few days ago, a small group of bandits appeared there and were forced to retreat. They must be looking for a mountain path leading to Xingyang."
"The Mi family fortress also said one thing. Baiguwu was besieged by the Xiongnu and suffered heavy casualties. It may have been broken by now. I don't know how many of Cao's troops are left."
"That's all. In fact, it's about the same as the previous Hun invasions."
Liang Fen, Fu Chang and Beigong Chun looked at each other.
This was not the first time that the Xiongnu had failed to achieve anything under the city of Luoyang. So the question is, were they so stupid as to repeat the same futile effort over and over again?
If you think your enemy is too stupid, you are not fooling others, but yourself!
The most important thing is that we don’t even know the total strength of the Huns.
It is actually very dangerous to leave Yique Pass at this time because you know nothing about the outside world.
"Go north tomorrow." Liang Fen thought for a long time, and finally just sighed and gave the order.
If the current emperor is a wise ruler, he could station troops at Yique Pass and wait and see before making a decision.
But he was worried that the emperor was frightened and would become resentful when he saw that he had not arrived for a long time. In the end, the ones who would suffer would be the Liang clan and his daughter.
He is not as cool as Shao Xun, who can press the emperor's head and force him to admit his mistakes.
******
The sky is green and the fields are vast.
From Yewang in the east to Ji County, the wilderness is thousands of miles long and endless.
In the cool autumn wind, carriages, horses, cattle and sheep passed through the barren fields, walked through the lush meadows, passed by the tall fortresses, and stopped on both sides of the clear Qi River.
The shepherds drove the cattle and sheep to graze.
The herdsmen were washing their horses and adjusting their horn bows.
In the distance, the sound of orderly training of infantry and cavalry could be heard.
The Golden Tent had already fallen, and the King of Hanoi spent the night by the Qi River, enjoying the women presented to him by the commanders of the rural fortresses and the nobles and powerful families.
Even Ji County, which was ruled by the traitor Shao, had to surrender under the might of the Han Dynasty.
Wonderful!
Central Guard General Jin Zhundian was in charge of the imperial guards and was patrolling along the river with more than a thousand elite cavalry.
The Di and Qiang people had already cut down trees and set up camp.
The four tribes of the Xianbei in Shangjun only set up a tent. In the evening, the herdsmen who had finished cutting the grass were carefully chopping the fodder.
As the saying goes, a horse cannot grow fat without night grass, and the same goes for cattle and sheep.
Contrary to what most people imagine, the main source of food for ordinary herdsmen is actually cow, sheep and horse milk.
Milk can be squeezed fresh or made into torrents or cheese, which can be stored for a longer time and is very filling.
The grassland tribes migrated, some of them were gone for several months or even a year or two, relying entirely on this food to survive.
This is also what people in the Central Plains cannot compare with.
When Li Guangli conquered Dayuan in the past, he actually transported food over long distances, and in the end the army ran out of supplies. It was really ridiculous.
When grassland tribes went to war, they just drove their cattle and sheep on expeditions. Why would they need to transport food in carts?
Unfortunately, the land in the Central Plains is fertile, but there is not much pasture. It is unknown how many years it will take for these barren fields to be covered with pasture grass commonly found in grasslands, allowing the Han cavalry to gallop freely without worrying about military supplies.
After inspecting both sides of the Qi River, it was already dark.
Jin Zhun also temporarily arranged more than 3,000 cavalrymen and ordered them to go south along the Yellow River, patrol everywhere, and capture and kill any enemy scouts they encountered.
When we returned to the Golden Tent, the steaming roasted lamb had been served.
The cheerful voice of the King of Hanoi came from the tent: "Shao Xun is really a natural grassland hero. His use of cavalry is incredible. He rushed to attack Gou Xi and took a detour through the counties of the Han Dynasty. He is so brave. Haha, if he surrenders, I will report to the emperor and marry my sister to him. In the future, he will serve under my command as the son-in-law of the Han Dynasty."
After listening to this, Jin Zhun chuckled twice, then frowned again. If Shao Xun really surrendered after his defeat, it would not be a good thing for him.
It would be better for you to die in Luoyang.
In the Han Dynasty court, since the late emperor, there have been too many people who have been thinking about you.
(End of this chapter)