Chapter 385 Withdrawal of Troops

Chapter 385 Withdrawal of Troops

Chapter 385 Withdrawal of Troops
While Shao Xun was chasing towards Pei State, Jin Kang had already retreated towards Dongping with his infantry.

Before leaving, they even set a fire and burned down the entire Gaoping County City.

The more than 2,000 Xiongnu cavalry who were coming for Jin Zhun had no idea where they were going, so they followed Jin Kang's 9,000 infantrymen and retreated northward. A few days later, they arrived in Dongping and connected with Shi Le's cavalry.

Upon hearing of the defeat at Gaoping, Cao Qi, who was collecting food and fodder in Lu, retreated directly to Mount Tai and joined Liu Ya and Hu Yanyan.

The two of them had 10,000 cavalrymen in total, and three or four thousand were given to Jin Zhun, leaving about 6,000 men. They estimated that this amount of troops was not enough to defeat Shao, so they retreated towards Jinan.

Now, everyone has a question, where did Jin Zhun go?
Well, Jin Zhong did go to Pengcheng and arrived on the night of the 14th.

They ran and dispersed along the way, and people came to join them along the way. When they arrived at Pengcheng, their force had expanded to 7,000 cavalry.

After counting with fingers, it was clear that the casualties in this wave were about two thousand cavalrymen, all of whom died under the city of Gaoping.

So, where did the other 5,000 cavalry go?
Jin Zhun sighed. He had fought in wars before and knew that most of these people were actually looking for him.

Unfortunately, he couldn't stop.

When we were in Fangyu County, we collected some supplies, but soon we heard that Shao bandits were marching towards this side, and the number of their number was unknown.

So after resting for a night, they went south along the Si River, passed Pei County, and headed all the way to Pengcheng.

When we got here, we were so exhausted that we almost cried.

The damn thief Shao was always following behind. Every time he wanted to stop and set up a shelter, he would hear the news from the scouts that the pursuers were heading south, so he was forced to set off and did not gain a foothold until he reached Pengcheng.

During the process, they once wanted to cross the river to the north to join Shi Le, Liu Ya, Hu Yanyan and others. However, the other side was full of lakes and swamps, which was not conducive to the cavalry's driving, and they could not find any boats.

It would take time to make a temporary raft, but Shao was always far behind him, only one day away from him at the closest, and only two or three days away from him at the farthest. He really didn't have the courage to stop.

In fact, he knew very well that after such a fierce pursuit, Shao the thief didn't have many men left. Unfortunately, his own troops were even worse off and their morale was so low that they were unable to fight in a short period of time.

In this way, Shao drove the sheep all the way to Pengcheng.

To be honest, he didn't even want to stay in Pengcheng.

After a quick rest for two days, they rushed northward towards the East China Sea and Langya.

The most important task now is to reunite with Shi Le, Liu Ya and Hu Yanyan.

As long as he can find them, gather their troops together and reorganize them, he will still have more than 20,000 cavalry, plus 30,000 new and old infantry. He can also contact Zhao Gu and Cao Yi's tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry, rely on the city and restore morale, and there may be a chance for him to fight.

Of course, deep down, he really didn't want to fight.

Without that momentum, any further battle would be a failure, and there might not be enough supplies.

If the King of Hanoi agreed to withdraw his troops, he would fully support it.

However, after returning, there is a high probability that all my positions will be stripped away, and I don’t know how much effort I will have to put in to move up.

Ugh!
But it's better than losing your life. On this point, Jin Zhun is still very open-minded.

******
On the east bank of the ferry, the Silver Spear Army has been stationed here for several days.

In the past few days, they have thought about expanding outward, but they have no baggage vehicles and it is difficult to move under the supervision of cavalry.

Fortunately, there are still supplies on the ship. After all of them are unloaded, it will be no problem to support the ship for another ten days.

Jin Zheng and Wang Que'er patrolled near the ferry all day long.

They did not know that the destruction of the pontoon bridge was the decisive factor in shaking the morale of the Huns and forcing them to retreat.

They are like an isolated island now, with no idea of ​​what's happening in the outside world.

It was not until the Battle of Gaoping broke out and all the Shi Le infantry and cavalry active nearby withdrew overnight that they slowly smelled something different.

On October 11, three days after the Battle of Gaoping ended, Wang Que'er, who served as the temporary governor, ordered the transport troops to let the trackers disembark and go upstream at night towards Lingjin.

On the 12th, Liu Can arrived at Dongwuyang and looked at the Yellow River.

Following him was the Minister of the Secretariat Zhu Ji.

After hearing that the thief Shao had returned, Emperor Liu Cong sent Zhu Ji to find out the situation.

The situation is more serious than we imagined.

Four days after the Battle of Gaoping ended, the news had already reached us.

We are all experienced warriors, how can we not know what will happen next?

The morale of the royal army has been crushed, so it is not appropriate to fight any further.

In some wars, there are only one or two key battles, and if you lose, you should withdraw.

For example, in the Battle of Luoyang two years ago, Beigong Chun attacked the camp at night, killed Huyan Hao, and then won another battle, which shocked the army besieging the city.

At that time, the current emperor still wanted to continue fighting, but the late emperor decisively recalled the army and returned to Pingyang for reorganization.

At this time, it was the King of Henei's turn to make a decision. "Can Sima Rui take Xuzhou?" Liu Can asked.

This is the message Zhao Gu just sent.

When Sima Rui, the King of Langya in the Jin Dynasty, heard that Zhao had occupied Xuzhou, he sent his navy northward and headed straight for Xia Pi, with a force of tens of thousands.

Liu Can was still a little scared of fighting in that place with crisscrossing waterways.

He had just been tricked by someone using the navy, and now he had a better understanding of the usefulness of the navy.

There is a saying in the Central Plains: "Ships in the South and Horses in the North". The terrain and weather in the south greatly reduce the role of cavalry, and a large number of naval forces are indeed needed. However, Xuzhou is located in a place with many lakes and rivers. Fighting in this place makes a big difference whether there is a navy or not.

"Zhao Gu has only more than 20,000 troops, and may not be able to resist the Jin army. We can order them to retreat quickly." Zhu Ji said.

Liu Can nodded silently.

It was really depressing that we finally captured Pengcheng and Xia Pi, but in the end we had to give up.

But from a rational point of view, this is something that cannot be helped.

Furthermore, if Zhao Gu really gained a foothold in Xuzhou, could the imperial court really effectively control him? Not necessarily, it was too far away.

In this light, Xuzhou is not very valuable. Losing it is painful, but it is not unacceptable.

"Regarding the war between Yu and Yan, can Mr. Zhu give me any advice?" Liu Can asked again.

"The king has already made the decision, why ask me?" Zhu Ji shook his head and sighed.

Liu Can smiled and said, "I can't hide it from Lord Zhu. Indeed, I have the intention to withdraw my troops."

Zhu Ji nodded. This was exactly what he wanted, although the emperor had not yet made up his mind.

"What's going on in Guanzhong?" Liu Can asked again.

"Not very good." Zhu Ji said: "The Jin bandits have contacted many people and divided their troops into two groups to march towards Chang'an. The King of Zhongshan (Liu Yao) has few soldiers and may not be able to resist."

Sima Mo had been killed, and local officials and tribes all sent hostages to the court.

But there were also people who refused to surrender, such as Fengyi Prefect Suo Chen, Anyi Protector Qu Yun, Pinyang Magistrate Liang Su and others, who fled all the way to Anding County.

The governor of Anding, Jia Yi (yǎ), and the chieftains of the Di and Qiang tribes in the territory all sent hostages to Pingyang. However, after joining forces with Suo Chen's gang, they became more and more unwilling to accept the result, so they decided to rebel.

The crowd elected Jia Pi as their leader and appointed himself General Pingxi. Pi recruited all the men in the county and also mobilized the Di and Qiang chieftains to fight against the Han together.

So, everyone gathered a group of Hu and Han troops, claiming to have 50,000 infantry and cavalry, and marched towards Chang'an.

When former Yongzhou governor Qu Te, Xinping prefect Zhu Hui, Fufeng prefect Liang Zong and others heard that Jia Pi had started an uprising, they also conscripted young men and persuaded the various tribes in the territory to send troops, and also gathered a wave of troops, claiming to have 100,000 infantry and cavalry.

The total number of the two armies was 150,000, which was certainly an exaggeration, but the momentum was indeed not small.

The most important thing is that Liu Yao, the King of Zhongshan, who stayed in Chang'an, had few soldiers. He didn't even dare to trust the Jin army that surrendered to him. After all, didn't Jia Ji surrender before? He even sent a hostage. What about now?
For them, raising an army and returning to the country is a big deal, and a few protons are nothing!
There are actually still soldiers in Pingyang, but fighting on two fronts is not a good idea. It is best to end one side and concentrate on dealing with the other.

In this case, it is actually the war in Henan that should end.

The Dongwuyang pontoon bridge was damaged and the army's morale was shaken.

The battle of Gaoping was lost and morale was crushed.

Shao Xun and Sima Rui each led their troops to pursue and kill, it's time to end it.

However, there is still one thing that makes people upset: no one knows where Jin Zhun has gone.

Whenever Liu Can thought of this, he felt upset.

Would he be chased by the thief Shao and drowned in the river?

With no other options, he could only reappoint Liu Ya as the commander-in-chief of the vanguard army to unify the command of all troops to retreat from Qingzhou.

Of course, Jin Zhun had to salvage what he could, not for this incompetent guy who had suffered a defeat, but for the troops under his command - it was always good to have more people coming back.

As for Jin Zhun himself, he was already fed up with it.

Although he speaks nicely, knows how to deal with people, and is good at flattery, he just can't do it.

After this defeat, His Majesty will definitely remove him from his post - or at least demote him. It is meaningless for Liu Can to protect him.

"Shao Xun is more dangerous than those people in Guanzhong." Liu Can suddenly sighed: "No wonder the late emperor valued him so much. It would be great if he could serve the Han Dynasty."

Zhu Ji smiled bitterly, feeling slightly jealous of Shao Xun.

These people who "serve the thieves" usually endure a lot of contempt and ridicule, and even have to offer their daughters to the emperor and other kings for their enjoyment, just to barely keep their current status.

Shao Xun was "unruly" and "resisted the heavenly soldiers", but he easily won the favor of the Xiongnu nobles, who even wanted to marry a princess to him.

One is sending a girl to the Huns, and the other is the Huns sending a girl to you. Thinking of this, even though Zhu Ji was well-read, he wanted to swear.

What a world!
(End of this chapter)