Chapter 681: Execution of Generals and Withdrawal of Troops
Chapter 681: Execution of Generals and Withdrawal of Troops
The light cavalry passed by the west side of Xunshi County without even looking at the Xiongnu defenders in the city, and headed north all the way to the foot of Danzhu Ridge.
It is rumored that the Battle of Changping broke out at the foot of Danzhuling Mountain, and both sides fought to the death in an extremely brutal manner.
After this battle, Changping remained the focus of contention among various regimes.
If you want to take Jinyang from the south to the north, you either have to go through Guanjuejin (the area around Queshu Valley) in the Yuncheng Basin in the west, or go through Changping. There is no third way.
Liu Yao had already lost Tianjing Pass, the most important geographical advantage in Shangdang, and let Shao's troops in. So he could only settle for the second best and try to defend Danzhuling, the boundary mountain, to stop Shao's army.
If we can't stop here, the northern half of Shangdang will be undefended and the next line of defense will be within the borders of Taiyuan.
Shao Xun and Liu Yao knew this, and so the battle began.
Juqu Chong's light cavalry did not attack the city, but instead repeatedly provoked the enemy at the foot of the mountain, intercepted messengers, and drove away scouts, threatening the return route of more than 3,000 troops of Huyan Shi's army who were guarding Xun's clan.
More than a thousand Mule Army soldiers also went north to the Danzhuling area, looking for opportunities to fight.
Liu Yao led his army down from Danzhu Ridge. The two sides fought on the banks of the Dan River, and Juqu Chong was defeated.
The next day, another large number of cavalry arrived, including the local tyrant Liu Runzhong and his son, as well as scattered tribes of Jie, Wuhuan and Xiongnu who had not followed them south and had surrendered in recent days.
Thousands of cavalry rushed forward and fought against Liu Yao's troops repeatedly.
On the 15th, Liu Yao mobilized the Jie and Wuhuan people in Lu County, Zhangzi County and Huguan County to march south and continue to increase troops.
However, this increase in troops was not to achieve victory, but to withdraw Huyan Shi's troops.
That night, Huyan Shi ran away under the cover of darkness.
As he walked, he secretly complained that the King of Zhongshan had underestimated the enemy. He had not expected that the thief Shao would go north in person and would not give up until he achieved his goal.
Xunshi County is fifty miles away from Danzhuling. Without the help of cavalry, it would be almost impossible to withdraw.
On the night when Huyan Shi retreated, Jin Zheng led the vanguard to the outside of Xunshi City - yes, Jin Zheng led about 20,000 infantry and cavalry north, but he himself served as the vanguard, which can only be said to be very personal.
"Don't stop!" Jin Zheng looked at the panting soldiers and said, "People from the right camp, follow me north, and be quick. General Bo, you lead the cavalry to cover the left and right. General Duan, you lead the people in front to open the way."
"Yes, sir." Bo Sheng and Duan Shujun looked at each other and responded in unison.
Duan Shefuchen, the general of Yutian Town, also joined the army in this expedition against Han. However, after entering Shangdang, he suddenly fell ill and was unable to walk, so he handed his troops over to his nephew Duan Shujun and followed Jin Zheng northward.
After receiving the order, the two men reorganized their troops, lit torches, and hurriedly pursued the enemy without caring about the inconvenience of marching at night or the possible casualties.
In the second half of the night, the cavalry of both sides met in the wilderness. After a fierce battle, they found that they had killed more of their own people than the enemy at night, so they broke off contact.
Jin Zheng led his men in pursuit all night, and after dawn they saw the smoke and dust from the retreating enemy troops from afar.
Both sides were out of breath and exhausted, and the cavalry was left behind.
"Those who have armor, follow me!" Jin Zheng asked people to take the armor from the pack horses, and put it on with the help of his personal soldiers.
Most of the more than 2,000 people who followed him north did not carry armor, so there was no need for further instructions. Those who were good at archery took out their bows and, under the leadership of the officers, seized the high ground on both sides of the road.
He pulled out the spear like an archer, and after recovering his strength a little, he formed a formation on the road and advanced slowly.
Jin Zheng led more than 200 people, fully armed, carrying swords and shields, axes, spears, and wooden clubs, and rushed forward in small steps.
Huyan Shi seemed to know that he couldn't just run away at this time.
After waiting for a long time and not seeing any of their own cavalry, they gave up hope.
Neither side had cavalry, one side had more than 3,000 men, the other side had more than 2,000.
One side did not have time to ask the baggage troops to take off their armor, and the other side did not carry any at all.
When we meet on a narrow road, there is not much to say.
The personal soldiers, armed with swords and shields, stepped forward quickly and stood in front of Jin Zheng.
The soldiers gathered around him, everyone breathing heavily, but everyone was steadfast.
"Kill!" The sword and shield soldiers rushed ahead of Jin Zheng, raised their large shields high, and rushed into the enemy's spear jungle.
"Die!" Jin Zheng picked up a heavy sword, took advantage of the enemy's confusion, raised it high, and chopped it down with force.
"Puff!" The long sword wedged into the junction of the shoulder and neck, almost cutting off half of the enemy's body.
"Bang!" Jin Zheng kicked the corpse away, took two quick steps, and used the momentum of the forward charge to kill an enemy officer in iron armor.
The officer subconsciously turned his body, and the heavy sword passed by his ear and hit his shoulder heavily.
"Ah!" A scream rang out almost immediately.
The man was wearing armor, and although it was shattered by the blow, the heavy sword did not penetrate his flesh. His screams were more like his shoulder blade being shattered - the word "heavy" in the word "heavy" means that it can be used as a blunt weapon to some extent.
The bodyguards bravely stepped forward and pushed the enemy back.
The long gunners of the right battalion also quickly followed to keep the formation intact.
Jin Zheng licked the salty and fishy blood at the corner of his mouth, and without caring that his iron armor had been stabbed by a bullet, he slashed with his sword again, almost landing on the original place, and completely knocked down the enemy officer.
Then he ignored him and continued to charge forward, looking for the third person. The sword light fell from the sky, almost cutting off half of the enemy's body. He pulled the heavy sword hard, but it didn't move, so he spat, pulled out the ring-headed sword at his waist, pushed away the personal soldiers who were fighting with the enemy around him, and jumped up again, slashing left and right, with great courage.
The enemy had never seen such brutal people before. After being attacked by these two hundred people, they could not stand and retreated.
The archers have moved to both sides, drawing their bows and arrows, first eliminating the enemy archers, then aiming at their officers, and finally shooting the ordinary infantry.
The Silver Spear Army archers, who had practiced for many years, were very accurate, and they pressed the enemy archers so hard that they could not raise their heads. The balance of the battle tilted little by little. After a while, the enemy army could no longer resist and was defeated on the spot.
The spearmen of the Silver Spear Army quickly caught up and ran in a line.
More than 2,000 people beat up more than 3,000 people.
The enemy abandoned their baggage, weapons, wounded soldiers and everything else. Their formation became increasingly scattered until it could no longer be scattered.
"Chase! Don't stop!" Jin Zheng panted, threw away the ring-handled sword with a bent blade, picked up a spear, and shouted.
More than 2,000 people were greatly encouraged and followed closely behind, rushing northward.
On the morning of the 17th, less than 20 miles away from Danzhuling, Jin Zheng caught up with Huyan Shi, who had just gathered hundreds of remaining soldiers.
A short attack directly defeated them.
That afternoon, a group of Xiongnu cavalry came charging at them. Jin Zheng had no choice but to retreat to a high place on the side of the road and form a battle formation.
The Huns attacked once but failed, but they did not give up and kept patrolling on the periphery.
Jin Zheng waited for two hours before the Xianbei cavalry brought by Duan Shujun drove the Huns away.
They continued their pursuit and reached the foot of Danzhu Ridge at dusk.
At that time, the mountain was brightly lit, and some people were building camps. There were probably no less than 10,000 soldiers, but no one dared to come down the mountain to rescue.
Jin Zheng chased all the way to the pine and cypress forest at the foot of the mountain, killed the last group of Hu Yanshi's personal soldiers, and then rushed up the mountain path with only dozens of people.
There were many figures on the hillside, and one could almost see the Huns' guard camp on the periphery.
Huyan Shi ran with tears streaming down his face and stumbled.
There was a constant sound of arrows flying through the air from behind, but fortunately most of them were blocked by trees. Of course, there would be one or two muffled groans from time to time, and Hu Yanshi knew that they were from the personal soldiers who had followed him all the way.
The fire on the mountainside was in sight in the distance. Huyan Shi could even hear the shouts of the patrolling soldiers, and hope of survival suddenly ignited in his heart.
He was really scared.
Jin Zheng rushed and hit him fiercely, chasing him like a madman, which frightened him. From now on, he didn't want to see this thief again.
"Bang!" While running in a panic, Huyan Shi was unexpectedly tripped by a dry vine and fell heavily to the ground.
"Ah!" A scream was heard nearby, and the last soldier who had not fallen behind stepped forward and blocked an arrow for Huyan Shi.
Hu Yanshi secretly cried out that something was wrong and stumbled to his feet. Just as he was about to leave, he turned his head as if possessed by a ghost, and saw a man as tall as a black iron tower rushing up and knocking him to the ground.
This man was very strong. He grabbed his throat with one hand and took out a dagger from between his boots with the other hand and slashed his neck with it.
Blood spurted out.
Jin Zheng laughed loudly, increased the strength of his hands, and cut with the dagger bit by bit. After a long time, he finally cut off Huyan Shi's head completely.
A dozen ragged Silver Spear Army soldiers caught up with them, but when they saw Jin Zheng killing the rebel general, they didn't even have the energy to laugh.
Jin Zheng handed the head to them, grabbed a bow, drew an arrow, and shot an arrow at the enemy patrol who was peeking not far away.
"Ouch!" It seemed like someone was frightened and fell to the ground.
"Shao's soldiers are attacking, quickly strike the gong!" A tense and high-pitched voice rang out at night.
Jin Zheng put away his bow, spat in the direction of the enemy army, and walked down the mountain in a swagger.
There were sounds of horse hooves coming from the foot of the mountain. Xianbei, Wuhuan, Lushui Hu, and Jie people swarmed in, and even the mule army showed up. They intercepted more than 300 people from Huyan Shi's fleeing army at night and surrounded and killed them. There were bloody human heads under the saddles.
When everyone saw Jin Zheng carrying Huyan Shi's head down the mountain, they were shocked.
This beast!
The death rate of his personal soldiers must be the highest. How can you survive following such a master who likes to break through formations and kill generals?
"Rest for two days." Jin Zheng ordered, "When the army arrives, attack the enemy camp immediately."
"Yes, sir." The generals took the order and left.
On October 20th, troops from various directions arrived one after another, with the total number of infantry and cavalry exceeding 25,000.
Jin Zheng ordered an attack and Liu Yao personally went to the front line to supervise the battle. The two sides fought for three days, but Shao's army, which was on the attacking side, was never able to capture the enemy camp.
On the 24th, heavy snow fell from the sky and covered the entire earth within a day.
This seems to be a signal.
Sure enough, at noon on the 25th, Jin Zheng received an order from the rear: withdraw troops.
The battle in the year of the catastrophe has finally come to an end. Both sides seem exhausted and in urgent need of taking a breath and building up momentum for the next war.
(End of this chapter)