Chapter 383: Gaoping City

Chapter 383: Gaoping City
On the horizon where the forest, farmland, stream and sky meet, an endless crowd of people surged out like a rising tide.

This is a tide of cavalry, an ocean of horses.

Silver helmets and brown leather armor covered the sky and the ground, rolling up surging waves.

The horse lances, cavalry spears, swords, illuminated by the sunlight, shine like rippling waves, making people dare not look directly at them.

The flags fluttered in the wind, like racing sails, floating in the wind over the sea.

The neighing of war horses, the wailing of trumpets, the angry roars and the thunderous drums of war were like the roar of mountains and the sea, reaching straight into the sky.

The Hun cavalry who were ordered to stop them were pale and trembling all over.

Big chest and straight eyes.

It's not like he had never seen thousands of cavalry before, but this was the first time he had seen one with such a powerful momentum and such a tight formation.

These hundreds of men were like a small boat in the raging sea, tossed by the huge waves and on the verge of capsizing completely.

"Shoot...shoo the arrows!" Bu Da shouted nervously as if he had grasped a life-saving straw.

The herdsmen woke up as if from a dream. They drew out their horn bows, took a rough aim, and threw them forward.

"Buzz!" A large number of arrows fell, like a stone sinking into the sea, with no reaction at all.

The Jin cavalry continued to charge forward in overwhelming force.

"Shoot again!" Bu Da fired the first arrow.

"Buzz!" Another wave of arrows rained down, and this time only a few people on the opposite side were scattered.

The sound of horse hooves could be heard and the waves were approaching.

There was no time to launch a third wave of arrows, and a short and fierce hand-to-hand combat immediately broke out.

A large saber chopped hard on the neck of a Jin cavalryman, but failed to protect against a long spear stabbed from the side. His facial features were twisted in pain.

Before he died, he grabbed a Jin cavalryman and fell off his horse together.

A large group of cavalry passed by in formation, trampled the two of them into a pulp, and drove away the hundreds of rangers who were blocking their way.

The cavalry were defeated and fled in all directions.

No one pursued them.

The large group of people slowed down their pace slightly and continued to move forward towards Gaoping.

After they retreated, the cavalry gathered together slightly and returned to the battlefield.

They found Buda, whose chest had been trampled so hard that it was sunken. They tremblingly took out a bundle of felt blankets, wrapped the body, and rushed away.

Not long after they left, the second batch of more than a thousand Jin cavalry arrived with more than four thousand horses.

After taking a quick look at the battlefield, he chased forward without any intention of stopping.

In the evening, the third group of more than a thousand riders, carrying more than 5,000 horses, chased slowly and still did not stop. They chased until nightfall and finally arrived at the temporary camp.

They arrived at the right time. Thousands of Hun cavalry were galloping in the wilderness, trying to harass and seize their horses.

The cavalry in the camp left a few people to watch the horses, and separated 700 cavalry to chase and fight the Huns.

The Huns did not dare to engage in close combat, but instead circled around and shot arrows continuously, and from time to time the Jin cavalry would scream and fall off their horses.

Some people tried to disperse the horses, but those who were left behind to watch the horses shot them back with bows. The two sides were in a stalemate, repeatedly looking for each other's flaws.

Finally, when the third batch of Jin cavalry arrived, the Huns finally dispersed and gave up the harassment.

The second group of cavalrymen did not bother to bandage their wounds, and immediately moved forward with their horses that had had enough rest, to catch up with the first group.

The third group took over the camp.

Some were on guard, some were cooking, some were feeding the horses, and they were all busy and happy.

This is what a long-distance raid looks like.

The attacking infantry were fine and could safely spend the night in the wild.

But if we were dealing with the Huns, who had a large number of cavalry, the danger would suddenly increase a lot.

Their mobility is no weaker than yours, and they are good at guerrilla warfare, sneak attacks, and harassment. If you are not careful, they can sneak behind you and attack your troops while they are camping and resting, thus interrupting your wave-by-wave advance.

Obviously, Jin Zhun of Gaoping had received the news of Zhang Yue's defeat. Before that, he had already known that the Dongwuyang floating bridge was completely destroyed, so he sent out a large number of messengers and cavalry.

The Xiongnu cavalry, who were scattered and looting in various places, slowly retreated.

In the wilderness, there were scattered Hun cavalry everywhere, with as few as a hundred and as many as thousands.

They often encountered the Jin army on the run unexpectedly, and encounters broke out every moment.

It was also at this moment that the men deeply realized how decisive it was to immediately order a direct march to Gaoping.

If the Huns were given a few days, Jin Zhun's infantry and cavalry could quickly expand to 20,000 or 30,000 people.

The opportunity only lasts for a moment and is fleeting.

******
On the ninth night of October, the moonlight shines brightly on the banks of the Ji River.

On the river bank, the horse leaned over and rubbed its head against its owner affectionately.

The sound of people chewing dry food was everywhere, and there were even people lying on the ground snoring.

Most of those who could fall asleep in this situation were warriors from Liangzhou, as they had long been accustomed to this hard and dangerous life.

The sound of horse hooves could be heard faintly on the ground in the distance.

From time to time, a party would withdraw to camp to bandage their wounds.

They seemed to be in good spirits. They grinned, talked and laughed loudly, and mercilessly mocked the Hun cavalry they met, although every time they went out, there would be a few fewer people when they came back.

Some were sharpening swords.

Although long-handled horse-fighting weapons are used in daily life - some people even use long-handled heavy horse-fighting weapons such as lances - a bow and two short weapons are also inserted in the saddle sheath. These are their secondary weapons and need to be maintained from time to time.

What's more, after such a long raid, many people's horse lances had been abandoned on the battlefield, and now they could only use horn bows and short weapons.

Finally, there was a group of people trimming the horses' hooves and feeding them.

Anyway, do what you should do.

Suddenly, a dark cloud floated over, blocking the bright moonlight, and the earth suddenly became dark.

Another group of cavalry retreated, about a hundred people, many of them were injured, and some even had feather arrows stuck in their backs.

"Fortunately, we set out early. The enemy troops are increasing in number. Every time we walk for a while, we encounter a group of cavalry." The people who came back shouted loudly.

While they were talking, they hurriedly loosened the horses' belly straps, took the steaming hot horses to jog along the river bank to work off the sweat, and then fed them some soybean meal and bran mixed with salt water.

It doesn’t matter if you are tired or hungry, but you must take good care of the horse.

"Splash!" A fish jumped high up from the Ji River and then fell back down. Shao Xun, who was inspecting the camp, saw it and laughed, saying, "This is a good omen. This time we will attack Gaoping and we will surely win a great victory."

When everyone heard this, they were delighted.

It’s not that they understand those mysterious things, but they have confidence in Shao Xun.

Having fought so many battles with Mr. Chen, he won every time, and various wonderful tactics emerged one after another. Whatever he said was what it was, and he was always right. This has gradually become the seal of his thoughts.

"When we reach Gaoping, if there is a large group of Huns trying to stop us, use the Qihuo Army as the vanguard, followed by the brave cavalry." Shao Xun said to the generals following behind him.

"After the Cavalry opens the gap, all the men will rush forward without any hesitation."

"In this battle, I am invincible and will kill him without leaving a single piece of armor."

"Yes." The generals responded loudly.

Half an hour later, the sound of horse hooves could be heard from the distant land.

Soon, Qiao Hong came riding back and reported: "Mingsir, we were harassed by bandits on the road, and lost some men and more than a thousand horses."

"It's okay." Shao Xun comforted.

Since setting out, he had lost no less than two thousand horses due to running to death, being disabled, or being attacked by the enemy. He had long been accustomed to it.

"The camp is in your hands." Shao Xun looked at Qiao Hong and said, "Bring your men up after dawn."

"promise."

Shao Xun then asked the generals to select their troops, leaving some extremely tired men and horses in the camp to rest, and taking away those in relatively good condition.

After a while, more than 2,000 cavalrymen had been reorganized and lined up with their horses.

"Let's go!" Shao Xun stepped on his horse's belly and took the lead.

Cai Cheng, Liu Ling, Yuan Xi and other close generals followed closely behind with more than 300 personal soldiers.

More than 2,000 cavalrymen from various armies trotted quickly.

The army soon disappeared into the Gaoping wilderness.

******
It was already noon on the tenth day. After lunch, Jin Zhun climbed to the top of the city wall, hesitating.

About nine thousand infantrymen had gathered in the city.

Among them, 5,000 were brought by him, and the other 4,000 were young men conscripted from Dongping, Gaoping and Rencheng.

The cavalry gradually gathered more than 5,000 people. In fact, most of them were already nearby, and more than a thousand were withdrawn from Jiyin and Peiguo.

As for the group that ran the farthest, they seemed to be active in Chenjun, Liangguo and even Qiaoguo, and had not had time to come back yet.

This number of soldiers seemed sufficient for a battle, but also insufficient. Jin Zhun was very conflicted.

He had already received the news that Shao Xun had defeated Zhang Yue at the gates of Jiyin City, and that an entire army of 5,000 men had been wiped out - this was notified by Shi Le, who had also sent someone to inform him, and he had also attached a suggestion to retreat to Qingzhou for food.

When Shi Le did this, Jin Zhun immediately understood.

The impact of the interruption of the food supply route was so far-reaching that the morale of the army was completely shaken.

But Shi Le can retreat, but he cannot retreat for the time being. He still needs to wait for news from Liu Ya, Huyan Yan, Zhao Gu, Cao Yi and others.

Shao Ze came too quickly, not giving him any time to react.

From Jiyin to Gaoping, after breaking through numerous obstacles, we should be less than ten miles away from here, right?
There is no way to retreat at this time, we can only fight first.

There were already cavalrymen lined up outside the city.

They led their horses, sat on the ground, and waited quietly for the battle to come.

Jin Zhun sat high on the city wall, silently watching the battle as if he were an outsider.

At the beginning of the evening, smoke and dust rose in the west and the sound of horse hooves sounded like thunder.

Jin Zhun perked up and looked into the distance.

The cavalry in the west dismounted far away.

Some people began to gather up the extra horses and retreated quickly.

Another group of people took the time to rest and prepare for the next battle.

Jin Zhun subconsciously clenched his fists, then let out a long sigh.

Jin Ming knew how to fight. He did not give the enemy a chance to rest. He immediately ordered the cavalry to mount their horses and charge towards the direction of the enemy's station.

The Jin army noticed the movement here and responded immediately.

In the wilderness, a flag led to the left, followed by hundreds of riders.

Another flag led to the right, and hundreds of cavalry followed closely behind.

Directly ahead, three hundred light cavalrymen were already charging forward.

Behind the light cavalry, there were about a thousand cavalrymen trotting quickly.

Behind these thousand people, there seemed to be another thousand people—the smoke and dust were too heavy...

Jin Ming opened his eyes wide, trying to see clearly.

The 300 light cavalrymen who served as the vanguard fired their bows and began to shoot at their own cavalry.

At first glance, they are obviously Wuhuan people, probably from the Begging Army.

Jin Ming spat and said, "Wuhuan wild dog, it will follow whoever gives it food."

However, the wild dogs are still very good at fighting.

As the bowstrings sounded, people from both sides fell off their horses and suffered heavy casualties.

Perhaps unable to bear the casualties, the Wuhuan people quickly dispersed to both sides, causing the Xiongnu cavalry's formation to become somewhat disrupted.

At this moment, hundreds of cavalrymen rushed out from the smoke and dust.

Jin Ming stood up suddenly.

This cavalry unit numbered about three hundred people, with shining armor and an extraordinary might.

Under the iron helmet, a silver veil covered his face, leaving only two orifices exposed.

He was wearing thick armor that looked stronger and heavier than those worn by infantrymen.

The horse also has a face veil, which looks extremely ferocious.

There is a chicken neck on the horse's neck, armor on its body, a saddle covering its buttocks, and even a parasitic device connected to the saddle at the back of the horse's rump to prevent stray arrows from hitting the horse's rump, and it can even shield people from stray arrows shot from behind.

The three hundred cavalrymen charged forward with a thunderous speed, and their speed was not slow. Taking advantage of the slight chaos caused by the Wuhuan "wild dogs" in the front, they increased their horses' speed to the extreme. In the terrified eyes of the Xiongnu cavalry, they charged into the enemy's territory like destroying rotten wood!
It's over! Jin Ming stumbled back a few steps, feeling dizzy.

This is the Youzhou Cavalry Commander of the Cavalry Army!
(End of this chapter)