Chapter 376: Do it
Chapter 376: Get it done
The entire grain unloading work lasted until the evening of the 27th.
In the past few days, Shao Xun has been planning the marching route in the Nanyang Palace.
He had seen the grain ships before. One of them carried 4,500 hu of grain, which was not small in that era, but not very big either.
The key issue is the type of structure. It is impossible to cram so many infantry and cavalry in and take them away.
Food can make full use of space, but people cannot.
A ship can only carry about a hundred people, including food, equipment, soldiers and transport personnel, and it needs to be modified. After all, this is not a professional warship.
With more than seventy ships, they could only carry the Silver Spear Army, and could not even bring the auxiliary troops.
The several thousand people of the Yicong Army, the Xiaoqi Army and the Liangzhou Army were even worse off. They were the main force - the infantry would have little effect if they were to intercept the Huns' retreat.
If we don't bring infantry and only load cavalry, the number will be sharply reduced.
Horses are not very obedient on a boat and often require a larger space and cannot carry more than a few people.
After much thought, the only option is to divide the troops.
Another tricky problem was that due to successive wars, there were actually not many horses and mules in Luoyang City.
Shao Xun brought with him more than 2,000 cavalrymen, with a total of less than 3,200 horses, plus several hundred mules, many of which were captured along the way.
Normally, the soldiers would lead their horses and walk, at the same speed as the infantry...
The two thousand cavalrymen under Beigong Chun were not much better. The entire army had just over three thousand war horses and riding horses.
The cavalry soldiers had only one horse each, and they were even poorer.
Such cavalry has no mobility at all, and their speed is only slightly faster than that of infantry.
Horses are a tool that is being acquired at a rate that cannot keep up with its consumption. They are so scarce that they restrict the formulation of plans in every way.
Shao Xun moved his fingers across the map, frowning as he thought.
Got to do it!
If he could not do so, he would have to gather together more horses and bring fewer men, or simply change the route and get the cavalry out of his plan of action.
War is a serious matter, and all you can do is make constant choices.
In the end, it would be great to win in the ugliest way possible.
As for winning in the most soul-stirring, most violent and aesthetic, and most heroic way, that is something that can only be achieved by chance. Rong Ma would be very lucky if he could do it once or twice in his life - he was lucky, as he had already experienced a thousand-mile raid on Gou Xi.
Thinking of this, he sat down and thought seriously about the next battle plan.
While thinking, his eyes were always fixed on a certain point on the map.
It’s you.
Early in the morning of September 28, the large group of people left Luoyang.
At that time, the chariots were marching along the south bank of the Luo River, with shining armors gleaming in the sun and flags covering the fields.
The cavalry walked on foot, leading their horses, and guarded the outside of the chariot formation.
The river was empty, not even a single boat was on it.
The grain transportation mission has been completed, so these things are naturally no longer needed.
In fact, the Hun cavalry didn't dare to get close.
One reason is that they are outnumbered, and the other is that this army is really difficult to deal with. Getting close to them is simply asking for a fight. After all, those crossbows are not for show.
Besides, they had so many cavalrymen that they would mount their horses and charge at them from time to time, driving them out.
As a result, when they set up camp in the evening, these Hun cavalry scattered and even gave up the night harassment, which was meaningless.
The march continued the next day.
By noon, the number of Xiongnu cavalry south of Luo River suddenly increased.
This is actually understandable.
Now the entire Luoyang battlefield has come to a complete standstill, with only the Silver Spear Army still marching, which naturally attracted all the attention.
The Huns called upon their friends and mobilized all the cavalry they could find to try to fight the Jin cavalry guarding the outside of the chariot formation.
The Jin army also went against its usual practice and took the initiative to attack. The cavalry of both sides fought back and forth in the wilderness, suffering casualties on both sides.
That night, the army camped on the south bank of Luo River.
At this time, at Jiuqu Du, a few miles north of Luoshui, a fleet set out at night and quietly headed east.
The march continued on the third day.
The fighting between the cavalry of both sides became more intense.
The Huns brought in a lot of cavalry, trying to use their numerical advantage to run in a relatively open area and shoot at medium distance.
In short-range close combat, the Jin cavalry had the advantage.
In medium-range horse and archery combat, the Xiongnu cavalry had the advantage.
Both sides fought with real enthusiasm, showing off their skills and making the game exciting.
During the break, the Silver Spear Army's infantrymen even filled the vehicles and cheered loudly.
Not to mention cheering when their own cavalry fought well, when some of the Xiongnu cavalry displayed difficult riding and archery skills, these bastards actually cheered. The brave cavalry general Wang Hu's face turned black!
By the evening of that day, the army had reached a place twenty miles west of Gong County and set up camp.
The Huns dispersed far away, firstly to prevent the Jin cavalry from launching a surprise attack at night, and secondly because it had started to rain since dusk, so they would just go hunting tomorrow and return to the camp to rest.
Shao Xun jumped up and said with a smile: "God helps me."
Under his command, five hundred carefully selected cavalrymen rode north on horseback at night.
After the cavalry left, six battalions of 3,600 fully armed Silver Spear soldiers, led by him, disappeared into the rainy night. The boats sailed downstream at a very fast speed, and soon sailed out of Jiuqu Du and entered Luoshui.
When the first ray of sunlight rose in the sky, the fleet was near Luokou.
Under Shao Xun's order, one ship after another dropped anchor - the anchors at this time were made of stone, as can be seen from the word "ding".
It took a long time for more than 4,000 infantry and cavalry to get off the boat and step onto the soft river bank.
Shao Xun turned over and rode on a horse, and ordered: "Let's go!"
******
On the first day of October the rain stopped and the sun shone brightly.
Early in the morning, Lu Zhuyan angrily drove everyone out and took out the hay to dry.
The grass had stopped growing long ago, and the horses were eating a lot, so they needed less.
Actually, he has recently ordered that the food should be mixed with grain to feed the horses. The reason is simple: that damn Shao thief is here again!
The man led his troops along the Luo River. Wasn't his goal obvious? He was heading straight for Chenggao, obviously intending to attack the Hulao Pass defenders from both sides.
Shan Zhenxi had already sent people to ask for help, and gradually withdrew people from the city gate and moved them to Chenggao County.
There is not much food in the city, but it should be enough to support it for a month or two.
Can the thief Shao wait for so long at the foot of Chenggao City? I'm afraid he can't wait.
After breakfast, Lu Zhuyan rode his horse for a walk.
The ground was a little muddy and soft, so the horses couldn't run very fast. But it wasn't a big problem, it was a sunny day, so it would be fine after drying in the sun.
After dismounting, Lu Zhuyan listened to the scout's report again. He felt relieved when he learned that Shao Xun's troops were still sixty or seventy miles away from Chenggao.
To cover this distance, four days would be considered fast given the constant harassment from the cavalry.
What's more, they dug up a lot of roads and tried every means to delay the Jin army's progress, so it was normal that it took them five or six days to arrive.
Anyway, the longer you can delay it, the better.
"Be careful!" When Lu Zhuyan saw a shepherd slave spilling hay on the ground, he immediately became angry and hit him on the head with the whip until he was bleeding. Only after being persuaded by others did he kick the man over and walk away.
The shepherd slave seemed to have been pardoned. He staggered away and continued to work.
The others looked at him with sympathy and sighed.
At this moment, several knights who were on guard outside ran back, shouting as they ran.
Everyone looked over with puzzled eyes.
It rained last night and the mud is soft. Are you trying to kill yourself by running like this?
There were also some smart people who reacted and said: This is an enemy attack!
They immediately looked towards the big tent where the nobles were.
Lu Zhuyan had just entered the tent and had a drink. When he was a little tipsy, he saw two of his confidants rushing in.
His eyes widened in anger, and he was about to reprimand, but he heard words that almost petrified him: "The Jin cavalry is charging towards us."
Where did the Jin cavalry come from?
Lu Zhuyan suddenly stood up and left the tent.
As he walked, he was thinking: If there are really Jin cavalry coming, then they must be Shao Xun's men, but they are surrounded by people, how can they escape? Moreover, the soil is soft today, even if one person rides two horses, it will take a whole day to walk sixty or seventy miles, and the horses are not strong enough, how can they fight?
What absurdity!
When he walked outside angrily, he saw a large group of cavalry swarming in and rushing towards him more than 200 steps away.
He is stupid.
The ground was shaking. As the enemy cavalry got closer and taller, Lu Zhuyan reacted and shouted, "Quick! Get on your horse and meet the enemy!"
The confidants all dispersed and went to look for their own shepherds and slaves, but it seemed a little too late...
The distance of two hundred steps was reached in an instant.
When Lu Zhuyan jumped onto his horse and drew his horn bow, a thick horse lance was already heading straight for his chest.
He subconsciously leaned over the horse's back and dodged the dangerous attack. But before he could be happy for long, another horse lance attacked from the side, directly lifted him up and threw him heavily to the ground.
"Bang!" Lu Zhuyan fell to the ground unwillingly.
From the chest to the back, a hideous wound was stained red with blood, which was flowing out.
Hundreds of Jin cavalry rushed into the Xianbei camp, charging indiscriminately and slaughtering the enemies running on the ground.
Shao Xun ran up from behind, his horn bow making continuous noises.
Every time he shot one or two times, someone would scream and fall to the ground.
Cai Cheng guarded him closely, swinging his saber repeatedly, and the ground was stained red with blood.
"Hurry, go gather the horses and don't let anyone take them away." Shao Xun ordered loudly.
"Yes!" Cai Cheng pointed to several people and asked them to pass on the message.
There were probably several thousand Xianbei people in this camp, and an even greater number of them - Jin slaves?
The whole place was blown apart by the charge of these 500 riders, and there was chaotic flow of people everywhere.
Someone has already seized the horse and escaped.
But more horses are still grazing or enclosed in temporary fences. These horses are their primary targets and must not be lost.
Soon, after making a circle, the five hundred riders gradually began to split up, with groups of dozens of riders heading straight for the Xianbei people's horse pastures, stables, and fences.
Some Xianbei people escaped on horseback, and no one cared about them, letting them go as they pleased.
Someone knelt on the ground and begged for surrender, but no one cared about him. Just kneel on the ground for a while.
If anyone wants to take the horses away, he is courting death. I’ll be counting on my good nature if I don’t twist your head off!
After fighting for a while, the figures of the Silver Spear Army soldiers appeared on the western horizon.
Shao Xun breathed a sigh of relief, this time it was a sure thing!
(End of this chapter)