Chapter 712 2

Chapter 712 2

Chapter 712 Two Peaks
Around March 15th, the grass has already turned green and the busiest period has passed.

With the sound of trumpets, thousands of herdsmen were gathered together.

The young men were in front, carrying swords and bows.

The old and weak followed behind, grazing the livestock around the water and grass.

Shao Xun set up camp on top of Gushan Mountain, with his assistants, generals, and chieftains of various tribes standing by his side.

"My lord, that is the Wuqiang garrison, with one thousand cavalry and one thousand infantry." Under the fluttering military flags, the Protector General Su Shuyan pointed to a troop heading westwards for Shexian County and said.

"Where is the commander of Wuqiang Town?" Shao Xun asked.

"I am here." The Hun Huyan Jian stepped out from the crowd and answered loudly.

Su Shuyan turned the booklet in his hand to a certain page and pointed it to Shao Xun.

Shao Xun looked at the troops marching forward again.

He was an old warrior, and he saw at a glance that there were about 2,000 infantry and cavalry, so he said, "One man from each household, not bad."

Wuqiang Town is located in Xiabo County, Anping, and originally had 2,000 households and 12,000 to 13,000 people. Due to its participation in the encirclement and suppression of Lukou Town and Zhongshan Liu Kun, this military town, which was mainly composed of surrendered Xiongnu people, gained another 500 households and countless livestock.

On the whole, each household provides one male adult, which is considered relatively respectful.

"Go, and obey the military orders of Governor Qinghe Yang." Shao Xun waved his hand and gave the order.

"Yes, sir." Hu Yanjian took the order and left.

After they hurried down the mountain, their followers rushed forward to greet them. Dozens of them mounted their horses and made a circle to the temporary pasture in the rear. Seeing that the old and weak were already dismantling tents and driving cattle and sheep, they immediately felt relieved and went forward to catch up with the strong and strong ones - that is to say, Wuqiang Town not only dispatched 2,000 infantry and cavalry, but also a number of the elderly, the weak, women and children to serve as logistics personnel.

"Where is General Lu Zezhen?" Shao Xun asked, looking at the booklet.

Looking at the numbers above, he was slightly surprised.

After the Hebei unrest was quelled, Lu Zezhen's territory expanded and he also absorbed some captured population. However, he did not expect that the reported number would be as high as 8,000 households and more than 44,000 people.

I remember that there were only more than 20,000 Jie people, several thousand Wuhuan and Xiongnu in this town. After Lukou Town was pacified, there were 3,000 more Wuhuan men and women. Now there are another 10,000 Jin people?
"I am here." Liu Hezhu stepped forward and bowed. His attitude was much more respectful than that of Wuqiang Town General Huyan Jian.

Shao Xun suddenly smiled, stepped forward to help Liu Hezhu up, and said, "Have General Liu's troops set out?"

"Two thousand cavalry and three thousand infantry have all been dispatched." As Liu Hezhu spoke, drums sounded at the foot of the mountain, and battalions of troops with large flags bearing the word "Liu" advanced in the wilderness.

This unit is much more organized.

The cavalry equipment is better than that of Wuqiang Town, the training is stronger, and the morale is not low.

The infantry is mediocre, at the level of average peasant soldiers, but having rolled through the pile of dead bodies in Hebei, they have a strong spirit and are not a weak brigade.

Judging from the formation, Lu Zezhen still relies on cavalry as the main force, and the infantry is purely there to cooperate with them.

If there is any delicious food, try to give it to the cavalry.

If you have good equipment, try to assign it to the cavalry.

The cavalry has the priority right to distribute the looted property.

If a real battle broke out, it is entirely conceivable that Liu Hezhu's cavalry would serve as a supervisory team and line up behind the infantry. After the infantry charged forward and shook the enemy's position, the cavalry would look for a breakthrough point and rush in.

If the infantry cannot shake the enemy's position, the cavalry will most likely not force their way in and may just run away.

Using cavalry to attack on foot was probably the most instinctive tactic used by the Hu forces that entered the Central Plains.

"Lu Ze's soldiers are quite magnanimous." Shao Xun said, "Follow the orders of Governor Yang and capture Hukou Pass for me."

"Yes, sir." Liu Hezhu bowed again and turned to leave.

Behind Lu Zezhen's 5,000 infantry and cavalry, there were more than 2,000 old, weak, women and children, driving carts and herding cattle and sheep. They were in a mighty procession.

After Liu Hezhu took the order and left, former general Qihuo and general of Shangbai Town, Bo Sheng, stepped forward to pay their respects.

This is a huge force, currently with 10,000 households and more than 50,000 people. The allocated territory is also quite large, spanning four counties: Julu, Anping, Qinghe, and Guangping - mainly located at the junction of the four counties.

So far, the Qihuo Army has been very active in sending troops and has dared to fight and fight, and Shao Xun could not find any fault with it.

This time, 6,000 people were dispatched, including 2,000 Wuhuan cavalry, 1,000 Xiongnu cavalry, and 3,000 Jin infantry.

Shao Xun comforted him as usual.

After these three towns were dispatched, there were already 13,000 infantry and cavalry, plus the 3,000 people brought by Yang Dan from Qinghe, as well as 1,000 county soldiers supported by Weijun, and several thousand young men (Shi Le's surrendered soldiers), totaling about 22,000 people. They set out from Shexian to attack Hukou Pass.

Having too many soldiers is not a good thing either. First, the terrain cannot be used to deploy the troops. Second, the logistical pressure is too great. Twenty thousand people are basically enough. We can slowly advance towards Hukou Pass.

If the casualties on the front line are too heavy, the rear will continue to recruit people from the four counties of Wei, Guangping, Julu and Anping to fill the gap.

This is using one's own strength to hurt others. There is no trickery. The terrain of Bingzhou is there, and the two sides have been confronting each other for a long time. There are no loopholes caused by carelessness, so it is difficult to take shortcuts.

Of course, using one's own weapon to injure others is not a bad tactic.

There may be heavy casualties at the beginning, but the situation will be different when the enemy can no longer hold on.

On March 17, after inspecting Fukouxing, Shao Xun went to Handan to inquire about logistics and food transportation matters.

******
A large army gathered in Changshan.

Li Chong was stationed in Jingxing County. The nobles of the seven counties of Changshan, Zhongshan, Gaoyang, Hejian, Zhangwu, Zhao, and Boling gathered 10,000 soldiers and horses, and merged them with the more than 10,000 Qingzhou soldiers under Liu Ling's command. This was the first route to conquer the Xiongnu (counting from north to south).

On March 18, half of the 10,000 nobles had arrived, and Li Zhong kept sending messengers to urge them to come—not only to bring troops, but also to bring food, equipment, and other supplies. On the 19th, Liu Ling's troops had set out from Tianchang Town, totaling 8,000 people, marching southward in a mighty force, heading straight for the outside of Jingxing Pass.

Lu Ya, who came from the Changguang Lu family (a local tyrant), led his own 500 followers and 2,000 infantrymen westward. He parted ways with Liu Ling outside Tianchang Town and headed west.

The swamp in spring is still a bit cold.

When the soldiers stepped on it, the mud at the bottom of the water began to bubble up and make gurgling sounds.

Some people cut reeds, wove them into rows, and laid them in shallow water.

Some people were even more violent. They pushed the baggage carts in directly and filled them with sandbags to create a road.

There are still some roads in the swamp.

Because of the existence of Jingxing Pass in the southwest, many merchants who did not want to pay taxes took this route, and over time, a road was created. However, due to the unpredictable climate and the changing swamp terrain in the past twenty years, many roads that were originally connected have become half hidden and half visible in the water.

There are actually quite a few paths that do not exist on the map.

The most typical one is the "forbidden pit" next to Tongguan.

Ban: prohibit. Pit: pit valley.

If Tongguan wanted to collect taxes, they had to go through the canyon between the mountains and plateaus south of Tongguan, which was inconvenient for the army to pass through. For this reason, generations of merchants took over, and by the late Tang Dynasty, they even cut down the forests in the canyon, forcing the imperial court to build a camp in the forbidden pit to intercept them, which was outrageous.

Lu Ya's march was a typical light-footed and rapid one.

There was no armor, only simple spears, ring-handled swords and a small number of bows. Each person carried seven days of dry food, mostly meat jerky, cheese and even milk powder - not modern milk powder, but cheese ground into coarse powder, usually equipped for cavalry. That is, when marching quickly, put some milk powder in the water bag, and it would automatically shake when riding a bumpy horse. People could eat and drink directly on horseback, and they could defecate and urinate in their crotch, saving time.

If Lu Ya's two thousand men, after crossing the entire reed marsh, found that there were enemy troops waiting for them in the west (the area of ​​Niangzi Pass in later generations), they would really have no chance of survival.

To put it bluntly, it's gambling.

Du Shi Le was short of troops, and when Liu Ling led his troops to attack Jingxing Pass, he had no energy to look after other directions.

Of course, if you only rely on this method, the chance of success is still too small. Lu Ya has a second insurance along the way.

On March 22, Guo Rong brought more than a hundred people to the southwest of Shangai County (now Yangquan). When they were about to rest, they heard the sound of horse hooves.

Guo Rong was startled and swiftly climbed up the tree, put his hands on the tree, and looked in the direction of the sound.

There were quite a few people coming, probably dozens of them, and they were very close. When they turned a corner, both sides could already see each other.

"Wang Xiu!"

"Guo Rong!"

Both of them were shocked.

Wang Xiu was the chief secretary of Shi Le's court. He had met General Guo Rong when he was still a low-ranking official.

He never expected to meet Guo Rong in the mountains of Shangai.

Wasn't he captured? Why was he here?

Just when he was feeling something was wrong, he saw Guo Rong on the tree drawing his bow and arrow. With a "whoosh", the arrow flew through the air and shot Wang Xiu to the ground.

"Kill the bandits!" Guo Rong roared and continued to draw his bow and arrow.

"Kill the bandits!" The Guo soldiers who were resting immediately picked up their weapons, rushed out and fought with Wang Xiu's followers.

After Wang Xiu's death, the military officer Cao Pingle fled backwards, grabbed a horse, rode on it, and disappeared among the mountains.

When Shi Le's troops saw Wang Xiu's tragic death and Cao Pingle's escape, their fighting spirit was lost and they were defeated by Guo's troops.

Guo's troops fought more and more bravely and soon defeated them.

Those of Shi Le's troops who managed to grab horses fled, while those who failed to grab horses fled into the mountains and forests on both sides.

Guo Rong jumped down from the tree, rushed up in two steps, cut off Wang Xiu's head, and then called a confidant and ordered him: "Take this head to Shangai County and tell them that Wang Xiu is dead. Shi Le will definitely suspect that you are collaborating with the enemy. If you don't want to die, surrender to Liang Gong and you can still save your family."

The confidant knew that if Shangai County returned to the right path, the direction of Weize would certainly be open and unguarded, so he hurried away and ran towards Shangai County.

Guo Rong had someone bring the horses and said, "Chase them! Don't let any of them get away!"

The soldiers responded loudly, looking for horses and charging forward.

Guo Rong's heart was even more burning with enthusiasm, as this was the time to achieve great things.

He knew very well why Wang Xiu came to Shangai.

Shi Le's territory was in Xinxing County, but Jingxing Pass was under his responsibility - this was Leping County.

As a senior aide, Wang Xiu brought dozens of people to Shangai, and he must have urged the county magistrate to recruit the troops of the noble families to guard against the direction of Weize.

This means that the battle must have started at Jingxing Pass.

Guo Rong didn't know when someone from Weize would come. According to the last message from the messenger, he only knew that in "late March" General Li Chong of the front army would divide his troops into two groups to attack Leping and Xinxing.

The time is so blurry, but there is nothing I can do but this much.

He only needs to stabilize Shangai County and respond to the large army that may cross the Weize River to make a contribution.

Once the army arrives at Shangai, Jingxing Pass will be of little significance.

(End of this chapter)