Chapter 386 "Battle of the City"

Chapter 386 "Battle of the City"

Chapter 386 "Battle of the City"

In the northeast of Wuping County, a team of more than a hundred people is struggling forward.

It can be seen that they were originally cavalry, but at this time, almost all of them were walking and leading their horses.

The number of horses has been greatly reduced, with less than one horse per person, and they have lost a lot of weight and don’t look like they can be ridden for long.

They had received the order to retreat from the messenger, so they prepared to retreat to Gaoping. Unfortunately, they were blocked by the cavalry infantry of the Jin people, and the messenger was shot dead by the crossbow machine, so they were a little confused about the direction.

After going around in circles, several days were wasted. When they walked along the river, they were blocked by a group of palace soldiers on horseback.

They did not fight them on horseback, but dismounted and formed a battle formation, using crossbows for long-range attacks, bows for medium-range attacks, and spears, axes, and heavy swords for close-range attacks.

Those who were in a hurry to escape had no intention of fighting with them and could only stay away from them.

But avoiding it like this is not a solution.

Wherever they went, as long as they encountered a rural earthen enclosure, their whereabouts would be exposed, and they would be forced to flee for their lives.

The food and water they carried with them became increasingly scarce, and not only were the people very hungry, but the horses were also losing a lot of weight.

At this point, the little remaining food was used to feed the horses, and occasionally some hay was found for them to eat.

As for people, they have already started killing horses to satisfy their hunger.

This is their situation, it is very difficult and they don’t know if they can return alive.

People's hearts began to split from then on.

Some people still had a little confidence in their hearts, believing that Gaoping was still there, and as long as they could retreat and rest for a while, they could come back and fight again.

Some people began to wonder why the Central Guard issued the order to retreat. Isn't this strange? Did the enemy's main force press down on Gaoping City? Or was the food supply route cut off?

If it is the latter, then the situation is very dangerous.

With the food supply cut off, even if the army still had a small amount of food in stock, the morale of the army would be shaken, and a decisive battle with the Jin army would be meaningless.

When Cao Yi and Shi Le heard the news, they would just run away and would not obey the order to come over at all. They are not mentally ill.

When the news came that Shi Le and others had either retreated or hesitated to advance, the morale of the Gaoping defenders would only drop further and their chances of winning would be even lower.

At that time, the infantry in the city might be able to hold on for a while, but their cavalry stationed outside the city would be forced to face the enemy directly.

With such morale, dividing the troops into several groups and engaging in guerrilla warfare and archery is simply courting death. The enemy only needs to focus on defeating a small number of people, and the rest may run away, so there is no need to fight.

The only way to win is to concentrate troops for a decisive battle, but can they really defeat the Jin cavalry in a head-on fight?
The Xianbei people's tactics were similar to theirs. The Han people were defeated in several cavalry duels in Bingzhou...

This war has come to an end - at least the first phase has ended - and now they need to go back alive.

Three hundred cavalrymen appeared on the distant horizon, and the retreating Huns exclaimed in surprise.

The three hundred riders rushed to a distance of more than a hundred steps, and one group of them gathered the horses, while the remaining two hundred and fifty formed a battle formation and advanced.

The crossbows, bows, spears and heavy swords sparkled in the sun.

Do you want to fight or not? Everyone looked at the leader.

The chief frowned, seeming to be hesitating.

These Jin army soldiers, called Fubing, never fought with them on horseback, but dismounted and fought on foot, armed with strong bows and crossbows, large swords and heavy axes. When they formed a formation, they were really difficult to deal with.

If there is enough food, sufficient horsepower and arrows, it is not impossible to give it a try.

But right now, there is no possibility of winning at all.

"Go!" The chief immediately ordered a retreat.

Everyone jumped on their horses and rode away.

The other party immediately sent the horses to the palace soldiers.

The soldiers mounted their horses and pursued them swiftly.

Both sides ran and chased each other.

Occasionally, a Xiongnu cavalryman would turn around and shoot an arrow, shooting down the palace soldiers who were chasing too close, but they remained unmoved and, after slowing down their horses a little, still followed behind.

While fleeing, horses kept falling to the ground, neighing and foaming at the mouth.

It is self-evident what would happen to the Xiongnu cavalry who lost their horses in the vast land of Henan, which is full of forts and earthen walls.

******
South of Suiyang County, Liang State, a group of Xiongnu cavalry had just crossed the river.

A group of people emerged from behind the woods ahead.

The leader of the team turned pale.

The day before yesterday, he was still in Chen County, and retreated after receiving the order. Along the way, he always felt that he was being watched.

Behind those crude camps, it seemed as if there were always eyes watching their whereabouts.

As a result, after only two days of walking, they were caught up.

He knew that the enemy could resupply at will in those camps, feed their horses to be fat and strong, and their men could sleep well and then wake up energetically to chase them. But they could only camp in the increasingly cold wilderness and could not get new supplies. They could only rely on the food and water they brought with them to persist in returning to Gaoping.

The morale and state of the two sides are not on the same level.

The leader led his men to escape without any hesitation.

Fortunately, the condition of their troops was much better than the one in the northeast of Wuping. They had enough horsepower and no shortage of replacement horses. Therefore, they shook off the pursuers while running and disappeared into the wilderness.

But everyone knew that it was not time to let down their guard, because the enemy would track them down based on the traces.

All night long, the leader looked back suspiciously, as if someone was chasing him.

After daybreak, I had dark circles under my eyes and felt weak all over.

At this moment, a cavalry group with about the same number of people as them appeared at the abandoned village in the north.

That didn't look like a regular army, but more like a private army led by the sons of noble families and their servants.

They looked over here in surprise, as if they had not expected to meet the Huns.

After hesitating for a moment, everyone jumped on their horses, waving spears and halberds, and rushed forward.

The chief shouted and ran away with everyone, without even the slightest thought of fighting back.

Morale is a wonderful thing. It cannot be seen or touched, but it is one of the decisive factors in determining the outcome of a war.

People who talk about military affairs on paper are most likely to overlook morale, because it is not as intuitive as the number of soldiers, horses, and food. It cannot be seen or touched, so why should I consider it?

This encounter this morning has made us realize the importance of morale.

It can make a brave warrior lose his mind and become unable to fight. He will only think about killing his comrades rather than letting himself die, and let his comrades die in exchange for his chance to escape.

Unless you push him into a desperate situation and make him fight like a trapped beast, he will become like a possessed person and will not be able to get out of this emotion in the short term.

As the chase continued, the Hun cavalry left behind more than ten corpses and finally got rid of the pursuers.

Continue running the next day.

When passing by a fort, more than thirty warriors riding horses and mules suddenly rushed out of the fort.

The team dispersed again and ran away into the distance.

But not everyone ran away. About twenty people dismounted and surrendered, expressing their willingness to serve the commander of the fort.

After fleeing to this point, some people really lost confidence and felt that if they continued to flee, they would die sooner or later, so they might as well surrender.

This behavior is not an isolated case.

On the vast land of Yu and Yan, thousands of Hun cavalry were scattered everywhere.

Abandoned horses, weapons, wounded soldiers and sick people could be seen everywhere.

Some people managed to escape and ran to Gaoping, but suddenly found that the place was deserted.

Coincidentally, Xi Jian from Jinxiang County on the other side of the river arrived at Gaoping with 3,000 men, killed more than 100 Huns, captured 200, and the rest fled.

Someone received the news halfway and rushed towards Pengcheng.

As a result, when they were crossing Qiao State, the nobles and powerful people who had not dared to attack them before sent people to intercept them. They killed hundreds of people and captured hundreds of people. They also took away countless horses, which each family divided up with smiles on their faces.

What's more, the various tribes even began to send people to hunt down lone Hun soldiers, collect horses and weapons abandoned in the wilderness, and strengthen their own forts and manors.

In the end, only four or five hundred cavalrymen successfully arrived at Pengcheng, and even fewer escaped via Gaoping. Aristocratic families such as the Yang family of Taishan, the Humu family, and the Ma family of Dongping, along with a group of powerful men, joined the cause of snatching the defeated soldiers and horses.

When the Hun army arrived in full force, they did not dare to take action and even offered money and food.

When the Xiongnu showed no signs of decline, they did not dare to take action even if their forces were dispersed, but they would not give them money and food.

Now that the Hun army has withdrawn and the defeated soldiers have scattered, don't blame them.

To be honest, the gentry might be better off. Some powerful people really have no sense of right and wrong. Not to mention the Huns, they would also kill the lone soldiers of the Jin army.

……

Shao Xun arrived in the suburbs of Pengcheng two days after Jin Zhun withdrew.

There were still several thousand Zhao Gu's garrison troops in the city.

Shao Xun didn't know why they hadn't retreated yet.

The Huns are retreating on all fronts. Are you waiting to die by staying here?
Looking at the sparse cavalry following behind him and the food and water on the backs of the pack horses, he left Pengcheng, gathered up the stragglers along the way, and also captured and killed some of the remaining Hun soldiers and collected the horses.

When he arrived in Pei County, he received a military report handed over to him by the county magistrate.

After reading it, he sneered and thought to himself: What a battle that took the whole city!
However, the war is indeed coming to an end.

He does not have the ability to march north, and the Huns have no intention of moving south in the short term, so the situation will remain stalemate for now.

But the war between Jin and the Huns was far from over. After resting, they would continue fighting until a winner was decided.

(End of this chapter)