Chapter 730 Progress

Chapter 730 Progress

Chapter 730 Progress
The Erling area of ​​Xiaoban is located between the East and West Xiao Mountains. It is a key point on the post road. It is 100 miles west of Shaanxi City and less than 60 miles east of Minchi.

After the army broke out, they did not pursue the remaining enemies, but immediately built fortifications and cut off the passage.

There are only two roads between Shaanxi City and Luoyang.

The first route was the southern Yi Yang Road, and later Cao Cao opened up the northern Xin An Road.

The Luoshui River Valley was Shao Shen's old nest where he had operated for many years. The Yiyang Road had been in the hands of the Jin Army for many years. Now the northern road was suddenly cut off, and the transportation between Shaanxi City and Luoyang was cut off.

At the same time, thousands of Xiongnu soldiers inside and outside Minchi County were also isolated.

When Wang Mi received the news, he broke out in a cold sweat.

He had originally planned to gather reinforcements, escort provisions and equipment to Minchi, and rescue his cousin Wang Yan. Now think about it, if he went to Minchi, and the troops at Mount Xiao were defeated, allowing Shao Shen, his old rival, to rush out, he would be trapped in the east and could never return to Shaanxi City.

However, it is probably difficult for my cousin Wang Yan to come back.

Over the years, two younger brothers and countless cronies were killed by Shao, and Hongnong people from top to bottom have a deep hatred for Shao. However, judging from the current situation, it may not be possible to avenge this hatred.

Whenever I think of this, I can't help but feel heartbroken.

But what can be done?

There seemed to be no better solution, so he could only send his family across Tongguan in advance to protect his wife, concubines, children, property, and servants.

"When will the reinforcements arrive?" It began to drizzle again today. Wang Mi used to feel very annoyed, but now he hoped for more rain.

"The prince said that the counties in Guanzhong need to plant winter wheat and cannot spare many people." Chief Secretary Zhang Song handed over a letter and said.

Wang Mi took it and looked at it carefully, then tore it to pieces and said sarcastically, "It's just nonsense. How much more grain did Shao get by relying on the two-year three-harvest system? Anyone who is not blind can see it. Hongnong has been learning it for several years, but Guanzhong is only learning it for the first time this year. Hum, stupid!"

After saying that, he was still not satisfied and continued, "Shao the thief has already sent out his troops, but he is still dithering. I think Liu Can is a man of ruthless heart. The emperor has taken great care of him, how can he repay the emperor? Not to mention the grace between the monarch and his subjects, even if we talk about the affection between father and son, he is not qualified."

Zhang Song, the chief secretary, Wang Gen, the general, and others looked at each other and subconsciously glanced inside the hall. Fortunately, they were all close acquaintances.

After Wang Mi finished scolding the people, he sighed again and said with a weak look: "For now, we still have to rely on Liu Can. When we go to Guanzhong in the future, I am afraid I will have to try my best to please him. Oh, send someone to pick up some valuables and go to Chang'an to deliver them to the popular people around Liu Can, so as to prepare a retreat first."

"Yes." Zhang Song replied.

"Who is the most popular person around him?" Wang Mi asked.

Zhang Song thought for a moment and said, "It must be Jin Zhun. He just led his troops to force Chen An to surrender and seized half of Tianshui."

"Where's Sima Bao?"

"He is still in Tianshui, being protected by his general Zhang Chun and others." Zhang Song said, "Chen An should be attacking Sima Bao now. Sima Bao will surely not be able to hold out, and will most likely flee to Liangzhou."

"Zhang Shi must be crazy to let Sima Bao pass." Wang Mi sneered, "I think he will send troops to intercept him."

"Yes." Zhang Song nodded, agreeing with this judgment.

Wang Mi was about to say something else, but he saw his personal soldiers leading the messenger towards him, so he stopped and looked at the messenger.

The messenger bowed and said, "Duke Qi, the Marquis of Yi has arrived with more than 5,000 soldiers and has passed Tongguan."

Shuaiyi Hou was a newly appointed Marquis. His surname was Pu and his given name was Hong. He was a Di people.

A few years ago, the emperor appointed Pu Hong as General Pingyuan, but Hong refused the offer and proclaimed himself Captain of Protecting the Di People, Governor of Qinzhou, and Duke of Lueyang County.

At this time, as Liu Can conquered cities in Guanzhong and Lueyang was taken by the Han Dynasty, Pu Hong had no choice but to bow his head.

As Sima Bao became more and more incompetent, the Zhang family in Liangzhou was plagued by internal conflicts. Pu Hong also gave up and accepted an official position in the Xiongnu.

The first battle after taking over was to go east through Tongguan and assist Wang Mi in resisting the offensive of the imperial army.

But Wang Mi felt that these few thousand people were not enough, so he asked again: "Is that all?"

"That's all." Zhang Song replied.

"Bang!" Wang Mi kicked over a small stool and said angrily, "What about Pingyang? I remember that there are more than 100,000 Di, Qiang, Ba and Jie people in Pingyang and Hedong counties. Why don't you send troops?"

After Feng Yi's rebellion, many Di and Qiang people were moved to Hedong.

Later he rebelled again and moved again.

The Jie people also migrated from Guanxi because they were not very honest and showed signs of rebellion.

The Ba people moved even earlier, not because they wanted to rebel, but because Liu Cong was worried that they would rebel, so he took action in advance.

The Huns began migrating five years ago.

There were two directions of migration. From east to west were the five tribes of the Xiongnu and the more reliable Six Barbarians and mixed Hu tribes, while from west to east were the less reliable mixed Hu tribes.

To this day, more than 400,000 Hu and Han people have migrated to Guanzhong - half of them are from the five Xiongnu tribes - and have become the main force in Liu Can's campaigns to the east and west.

No less than 200,000 people were relocated from Guanzhong, most of whom were Di, Qiang, Ba and Jie people. They were forced to farm and graze in the four counties of Taiyuan, Xihe, Hedong and Pingyang, and even a small number was moved to Hongnong.

Among these people, the largest number is placed in Pingyang, and they are currently the reserve force of the court.

"Mingsir," Zhang Song said, "There is news from Pingyang that the eunuchs Wang Shen and Xuan Huai persuaded the emperor to mobilize more than 10,000 people to go north to Xihe to set up fences and guard against the Shao bandits. The furthest ones to the north may have reached Chihongling or even Xiurong. Not many people will come to Hongnong."

Wang Mi was panting heavily, obviously very angry. After a while, he finally calmed down and said, "Urge Pu Hong, and as soon as the troops arrive, we will march eastward. As for now——"

Wang Mi looked at the crowd and said, "Beat the drums and gather the troops. Follow me eastward and chop off the head of Shao's good nephew."

"Yes." The generals responded loudly.

The war has come to this point, and no matter how difficult or frightening it is, we have to send troops.

No one likes to be forgotten and abandoned, not to mention that Wang Yan is the cousin of Duke Qi, so it would be unjustifiable not to save him.

On October 15th, Wang Mi led 2,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantrymen eastward.

******
"Crash!" Before Wang Mi sent out his troops, the shaky earth wall of Minchi County collapsed, forming a large gap.

The huge noise made both the attacker and defender stunned for a moment, then they suddenly woke up, shouted loudly, and rushed towards the gap.

Looking down from the air, more than two thousand soldiers were fighting bravely and risking their lives.

Blood was shed here and lives were lost here.

The sound of swords and guns entering flesh was endless.

Shouting and cursing could be heard everywhere.

The ground was rough and uneven, and the soldiers of the Luoyang Central Army kept falling down as they charged. The people behind them followed closely behind, stepping on their bodies and charging straight up, until they were bleeding from their mouths and noses and merged into the ruins.

Some of Wang Mi's soldiers fell from the top of the city wall and were not dead yet. They were dizzy and had not yet reacted when they saw countless sharp swords and spears stabbing at them.

Arrows kept coming from the walls on both sides of the gap, reaping lives. But as they kept shooting, they lost hope, because there were too many Jin soldiers rushing over, and they could not kill them all.

So they retreated, threw away everything that could be thrown away, opened the city gates, and ran away into the mountains and forests on both sides. As for how to cross the continuous mountains and forests to return to Shaanxi City after escaping, they could not take care of it - if nothing unexpected happened, most people would freeze to death in the mountains.

Wang Yan rushed over with more than 300 personal soldiers and fought with the imperial guards.

But there were already too many Jin soldiers rushing in, and there was no way to drive them out. Moreover, there were people shouting and running around, which greatly affected the morale of the army. Therefore, even if Wang Yan fought desperately, he still couldn't save the situation - perhaps, from the moment Shao Shen left Mount Yao, their failure was doomed, and being able to hold out for a few more days was already a good management of his army.

Huang Biao, the commander of the three divisions of the Zuowei, also led hundreds of soldiers from the vanguard camp and advanced bravely.

He had already seen Wang Yan's figure jumping left and right in the ruins, so he asked someone to bring him a single-soldier crossbow. He raised his hand and shot. The crossbow arrow flew through the air and hit Wang Yan directly in the chest.

At such a close distance, even a god could not save him. Wang Yan screamed, took several steps back, and fell to the ground on his back.

When the soldiers on both sides saw this, they shouted again and fought each other in a more intense and desperate manner.

The setting sun is like blood, and the mountains are like the sea.

In the village, as the last enemy soldier staggered to the ground, loud cheers came from inside and outside the pond.

The soldiers mounted their horses with smiles on their faces and chased the fleeing troops from the enemy camp west of the city with ease.

Those who have been able to hold on until now and not run away, regardless of others, are at least brave men who dare to fight and are relatively loyal to Wang Mi, and even grateful to him.

Kill them all!
Kill all the drama thieves, the rest are just bug thieves!

Thousands of soldiers marched westward and killed more than a thousand enemy soldiers.

On October 319, , the third year of the Shengui reign, the central army of Luoyang and the troops of Yu and Yan prefectures captured Minchi County and killed Wang Yan, the general of Liu Han's army.

The next day, Inspector General Yang Hui led the government troops and his followers westward to join the Zhongwu Army sixty miles away.

The central army in Luoyang suffered heavy casualties and rested for several days at Minchi, waiting for replenishment of troops and equipment.

The next target is Shan County.

This is a hopeless fortress. In history, there is more than one person who held out for a whole year with a group of miscellaneous soldiers without any reinforcements.

Every time the imperial guards thought about it, they burst into tears. How many lives would it take to fill this void? Would they still be able to survive?
However, at this point in the battle, perhaps it won't be so troublesome.

If the brothers on other fronts make good progress, Shan County will not be difficult to capture easily. It all depends on their luck.

The military report of the capture of Minchi was quickly sent to Bingzhou via an express route of 500 miles.

A few days later, the soldiers of the Silver Spear Army climbed to the top of Xiurong City.

Shao Xun saw him on the hill outside the city and felt relieved.

After hearing the news of the capture of Minchi, he took out a beautifully crafted horn bow and handed it to the vanguard Duan Mobo, saying: "This is the bow Liu Yuanhai gave me. You take this bow and go to the mountains and valleys to persuade the chieftains of various tribes to surrender. I have no sectarianism, I just hope that both the barbarians and the Chinese can live in peace. The Xiongnu can also be my children, and I can also sit on the position of Chanyu. Those who surrender with their people will be rewarded and not punished; those who raise troops to resist will be punished more severely. Go quickly!"

"Yes." Duan Mobo fell to the ground, sincerely convinced.

After Duan Mobo left, Jin Zheng led his troops back from the old city of Fenyang and captured alive more than 2,000 people including Liu Yasheng.

Liu Yasheng was probably used to running away, so he fled after only three days of resistance. Jin Zheng led his troops in pursuit, and after three battles and three victories, he captured him alive.

At this point, most of the obstacles west of Taiyuan have been cleared and progress is relatively smooth.

(End of this chapter)