Chapter 721 Turning Like the Wind

Chapter 721 Turning Like the Wind
In the city of Jinyang, the Qingzhou soldiers and the Jizhou soldiers each occupied a place and firmly controlled this city that was abandoned by the Huns.

I heard that Liu Yasheng wanted to set fire before he retreated, but it was rainy for days and the weather was humid. Even if the rain stopped, it was not easy to start a fire. After the enemy retreated, the few remaining people spontaneously put out the fire, and then it rained again, saving this important northern city with a circumference of 20 miles.

Outside Jinyang City, there were endless carriages and horses.

The drivers and grooms spoke with Hebei accents and were covered in mud like monkeys, but they still summoned up their last bit of strength to unload the grain and load it into the warehouse.

After finishing all this, some people will return as soon as possible to transport the next batch of food.

Some people rested for a day or two, and then transported military supplies and equipment to the north to support Governor Li Chong's attack on Xinxing.

There was also a "ding-dong" sound coming from the distance.

The Taiyuan nobles pulled out many craftsmen from their own fortresses, working day and night to repair damaged vehicles, mend torn armor, and reforge swords with curled blades...

At the foot of the mountain in the west, there is abundant grass and water, and herds of cattle and sheep.

Some overused draft animals are also grazed here and will be raised for a while before being put back into use.

The mountain roads were rugged and transportation was difficult. Not only did many soldiers suffer casualties, but the animals also often fell into the ravines and valleys, causing great losses and requiring timely replenishment. After fighting in Bingzhou for so long, everyone had a deeper impression: fighting is all about logistics.

Perhaps because of the continuous rain, the rivers and streams were running wildly, carrying a lot of mud, leaves and even corpses. The shepherding women and children went through great pains to move some of the livestock to the hillside or farther away from the river.

Someone is already making the cheese, and it will be shipped out soon.

Livestock that died of disease, battle or were injured were slaughtered on the spot.

After the leather is roughly tanned, it is put away and can be made into leather armor later.

The meat is further processed. Due to weather conditions, it is not convenient to air dry it, so it can only be smoked. The smoked meat is also regularly transported to the front line as supplies.

Offal and other foods were cooked in earthenware pots and cauldrons. Under the southern city wall, rows of pots were a spectacular sight. They were for the soldiers to eat to replenish their strength and fight more vigorously.

Troops arrived one after another in the camp east of Jinyang City.

Cursing the muddy and dangerous road, they looked for a place to make a fire and dry their wet clothes.

The camp was filled with smoke and coughing. The wet firewood made people so irritated that they wanted to curse.

Further away, groups of prisoners and laborers were rushing to fill the puddles on the post road.

They used whatever they could find, including soil, broken bricks and tiles, and branches, and worked tirelessly to ensure that the passage of the baggage convoy was not affected.

This is the other side of war, the side that few know about.

Without this aspect, there would be no warriors fighting in various conflicts on the battlefield, let alone victory.

Under such circumstances, Li Zhong took three days to reach Yangqu County, and then made simple weapons and launched an attack on Shiling.

******
On May 20th, Lu Ya led more than a thousand people as the vanguard and attempted to attack the enemy camp on Shiling Mountain, but retreated after leaving a pile of corpses.

"There should be no less than 2,000 people on the mountain." Lu Ya pulled off the two feather arrows stuck in his armor and said, "The bandits are mainly guarding a few narrow mountain roads that are only wide enough for a bicycle to pass through. They have built fences and earth walls, with iron-armored warriors with large shields and long spears in front, and archers deployed on the sides and back. If you want to attack, you must give me elite soldiers."

"How many elite soldiers does the enemy have?" Li Chong asked.

"It's hard to say." Lu Ya replied: "There may be some defeated soldiers who retreated from Jingxing on the mountain, but the mountainside is full of elite soldiers, there must be a thousand people in total."

Li Chong had an idea in mind.

Shi Le, the once powerful and majestic Great Hu, has now become a country with only such a small number of elite troops.

I heard that when Lord Liang went to Nanyang, the Le family was able to mobilize a thousand heavily armored elite soldiers, and even raised a small number of cavalry. Now many years have passed, and the power of the Le family has penetrated from Nanyang to Shunyang, Xinye, Yiyang and other counties, and its strength has become even stronger.

From the perspective of military strength, Shi Le was not necessarily stronger than the Nanyang Le family. It was just that they had fought for many years, had rich experience in battle, and had a group of fearless men under their command, which was better than the Le family. However, the Le family had fought many battles in recent years, and their war experience had gradually improved, and they were no longer the same as before.

"Dig trenches, build trenches, and store supplies and equipment." Li Zhong ordered: "Send people to monitor the mountains on both sides to prevent the thieves from making detours and attacking us. Send cavalry to patrol the food routes in the rear. If there is any news, report it immediately."

Li Zhong was instructing other officers around him with these words. They all trusted him very much and quickly followed his orders.

Lu Ya was a little confused and asked hurriedly: "Commander-in-chief, weren't we talking about attacking Shiling Village just now?"

Shilingzhai refers to the temporary camp built by Shi Le at Shiling Pass.

As the northern gate of Jinyang, Shiling has a very dangerous terrain. Therefore, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, a military town was built on the southern foot of Shiling, called "Shiling Town", and a pass was built on the mountain, called "Shiling Pass".

The Jin Dynasty was in a state of semi-abandoning Bingzhou, and at the same time opened its doors to welcome the Hu people moving south. Of course, it was too lazy to care about the north gate of Jinyang. At this time, Shiling Pass and Shiling Town did not exist.

Without war, there would not be so many dangerous passes. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the two sides fought bloody battles in western Henan and Bingzhou, which was related to the fact that both sides used the terrain to resist resolutely and continuously built fortresses.

"I only have 6,000 men, and less than 5,000 infantrymen." Li Zhong looked at Lu Ya deeply and said, "The Art of War says, 'A general should not worry about victory, but should worry about defeat first, so he can fight a hundred battles without danger.' With such a small force, if we rashly attack the camp, the casualties will be too great, and we may be taken advantage of by the enemy. If we are defeated, Jinyang may be slaughtered and looted by the enemy, which will not only greatly dampen morale, but also allow Shi Le to solve the urgent problem of insufficient food supplies."

"Commander-in-chief..." Lü Ya was a little unwilling, and said, "At this time of great victory, we should raise our weapons and fight bravely to chase the enemy to the north." "Are you the commander-in-chief or am I the commander-in-chief?" Li Zhong scolded, "Go down and reorganize the troops, and stop making noise."

"Yes." Lu Ya bowed and turned to leave.

Li Zhong called the messenger again and ordered, "Go south quickly and urge Governor Jin to bring the Silver Spear Right Camp."

"Yes." The messenger rode away quickly.

Li Chongze began to patrol the camp with his personal soldiers, meticulously.

Any trench that is not dug properly must be redone.

Those who fail to place the deer antlers and chevaux de frise according to regulations will be whipped on the spot.

No one has any complaints.

After so many years, everyone knows that following Li Chong in battle is very tiring. A lot of the time, they were digging trenches and building fortifications, and most of it was even "useless work."

But everyone also knows that when fighting with Li Chong, it is difficult to be ambushed by the enemy, and there is basically no risk of running out of food.

At that time, when the Xiongnu cavalry was strong and the food supply was at its most critical, Governor Li built an earthen city every thirty miles, not afraid of the trouble at all. He was willing to give up the attack and advance slowly for this.

As he said: Before thinking about victory, think about defeat.

This is his style, different from others.

******
On the 21st, it rained heavily again, with occasional thunder.

Shi Le came from Jiuyuan County, the new seat of government forty miles away, to inspect Shiling Village.

Zhang Jing, who had escaped from Jingxing Pass, stood behind him with a unhappy look on his face.

He had been stripped of all his official positions and had to follow Shi Le as a commoner and obey his orders.

Of course, Da Hu, who only controlled one county, could not give him any real power. At this point in the battle, he really had no energy left and just wanted to retreat to a safe place, lick his wounds quietly, and take a break.

The wind and rain were getting stronger and stronger, penetrating the straw raincoat, soaking into the armor, and wetting the lining, making people feel a little chilly in the early summer.

"If it weren't for the rain, the Shao bandits would have come even faster, and Shiling Pass might have been lost." Shi Le wiped the rain off his face and sighed, "With five counties, few soldiers and generals, and a lack of food, what can we use to fight the Shao bandits?"

Xinxing was not a big county and had been plagued by wars for many years, so it was difficult for it to survive a long war.

This time, a large number of young men were conscripted, which would inevitably delay farming. Even if the Shao soldiers were repelled this time, the grain harvest would be greatly affected. If the Shao soldiers attacked a second time, there would be no luck.

He now understood Liu Kun's feelings.

Trapped in Taiyuan, they had no time to recuperate, no time to encourage childbirth, persuade people to engage in farming, or train young men. Wars followed one after another with no chance to breathe. The more they fought, the poorer and weaker they became. If it had not been for the support of Tuoba Xianbei, Liu Kun would have been wiped out many years ago.

But does he have his own "Tuoba Xianbei"?

In the past, there was some, such as the Pingyang court, which would occasionally allocate some money, food, cattle, sheep, and equipment to him, and help him share the pressure of the war. But now, there is nothing left. His defeat is only a matter of time, maybe a month, or three months if he is lucky. Is there any point in holding on?
"Your Majesty, Xinxing is not a place to stay for long, so why not..." Zhang Jing hesitated to speak.

Shi Le remained silent and only asked, "I heard that Liu Yongming was trapped in Lu County?"

"Yes." Zhang Jing replied, "It is definitely not a good thing."

"Where is Liu Yasheng?" Shi Le asked again.

"Maybe he's in Jinyang, maybe he's already gone, I--" Zhang Jing gritted his teeth and said, "If Liu Yasheng is trapped in Jinyang, how many days will he have enough food? I'm afraid he'll have to eat people in the end. I think he might have already left. At the end of March, he moved the 10,000 elderly, weak, women, children, and refugee men and women away. He didn't plan to stay in Jinyang to the death."

Shi Le sighed.

Yes, as the commander-in-chief, Liu Yao could hardly protect himself, and their men had all been severely injured by Shao’s army. What reason was there for them to persist?

"Your Majesty, it's time to make a decision." Zhang Jing couldn't help but persuade again.

Shi Le looked at his right-hand man who had lost all his fighting spirit after being defeated. After a long while, he said, "I will assign 500 of you to escort all the officers and their families in the city to the west. Do not make a fuss and leave at night. Do not bring any baggage with you. Travel light and only carry seven days' worth of dry food. After entering the Fen River Valley, travel south and enter Pingyang via Xihe. I have some familiar tribes and fort commanders on the other side of the Fen River. When you run out of food, you can go find them. Do it as soon as possible."

Zhang Jing secretly breathed a sigh of relief and responded in a deep voice.

Sending all his family members away means that Da Hu has no determination to stay.

At present, the main force of the Jin army has not arrived yet, and there is no determination to attack. Once the army arrives in full force, Shiling Village will most likely be difficult to defend, and Xinxing’s fall is inevitable.

Seeing that Shi Le had nothing to say, Zhang Jing bowed deeply and left quietly.

(End of this chapter)