Chapter 731 "Get Out"

Chapter 731 "Get Out"

Chapter 731 "Get Out"

"Crash!" The heavily loaded baggage cart passed by, splashing water.

The prisoners were numb, too lazy to dodge, nor did they dare to dodge.

In the Battle of Xiurong, one Xiongnu general (Qiao Zhong) and 2,500 surrendered soldiers were captured. Only a few hundred people including Qiao Yu escaped from the siege and their whereabouts are unknown.

Another question was about the number of Xiurong defenders before the war: more than 5,500.

During the actual siege phase, the number of Xiongnu soldiers killed was less than 3,000. It was obvious that they had no determination to die, and no determination to fight to the last man.

You have to know that this is Xiurong City, named after Liu Yuan. The fact that it was captured just like that shows how low the morale of the Huns had declined.

Of course, the orthodox Xiongnu still put up a strong resistance, especially when they were defending the river, they fought a field battle with the Silver Spear Army and tried to attack them halfway across the river. Unfortunately, the upper reaches of the Fen River (Lan River) were not wide enough, and the current was not fast, so they were defeated in one fell swoop.

During the defense phase, the Huns continued to die in large numbers, while the Di and Qiang suffered relatively few casualties. In the end, nearly two thousand of those who surrendered were from them.

This is reality.

After capturing Xiurong, Shao Xun took charge of the city and pacified the chieftains.

Wang Que'er led the Silver Spear Left Camp, the Luoyan Army, the Xianbei Light Cavalry, and a group of nearly 18,000 young men southward.

Before leaving, Qiao Zhong was tortured - in fact, he confessed without much torture - and learned that there were 4,000 Xiongnu imperial guards and "several thousand" or "more than ten thousand" Hu tribes in the Chihongshui area, who had built fortifications to defend themselves.

Qiao Zhong really didn't know the number of the mixed Hu people, so he could only use a vague number to deal with it.

As for who the defending general is, I’ll scare you to death if I tell you: King Liu Fu of Bohai.

Wang Que'er gestured on the map and found that the Hun camp was about 150 miles away from them, located in the Chihong River Valley, with a fort built on the road.

There should still be a large number of Xiongnu tribes in the mountains on both sides.

Their attitude is crucial.

These tribal soldiers are not difficult to deal with, and can be easily defeated in a direct field battle. However, they will not fight you head-on, but will only sneak attack your long logistics supply lines, which is very annoying.

This is actually the reason why Shao Xun wanted to appease the tribal chiefs.

There is no hope of turning enemies into friends, but it is better to stabilize them first. If there are some traitors among the tribal leaders who are willing to help lead the way, we can pick out a few tribes that are the most active and destroy them, and then the others will have to think twice.

In fact, at this time, some tribes had already chosen to cross the Yellow River and head to the Hexi area.

In the past two years, the climate in Guanxi has improved, precipitation has increased, and the grasslands in Hexi (Hetao region) are fertile. Wouldn't it be a good thing for the Tiele Huns to escape westward from Yanmen and Xinxing?
Shao Xun didn't care about these people who fled westward, nor could he. If they fled, the threat to the food supply route would be reduced. It was a good thing, and there was no need to complicate it.

Ever since Xiurong went south, the army's food supply had been harassed intermittently, which caused Wang Que'er's troops to march very slowly and had to send a large number of cavalry to cover the rear.

He calculated the time and felt a little worried.

Zhang Bin, a military strategist, was assigned to accompany the army and participate in the planning. Seeing Wang Que'er's worry, he advised: "Do not worry, Governor Wang. Marching in the mountains is not easy, and we must advance step by step. The transportation of food, equipment, winter clothes, and medicine is slow, which slows down the advance, but it is indispensable. For now, we still have to proceed steadily and not rush."

"What I am worried about is not the Xiongnu, but the weather." Wang Que'er pointed with his whip and said, "Perhaps in ten days or half a month, the snow will fall. Even if we have winter clothes, when the weather is cold, the morale of the soldiers will be low, and they will lose their fighting spirit."

Zhang Bin had obviously thought about this issue, and immediately said, "Military warfare is inherently unpredictable. When the first snow falls, it will not be too cold. If it really doesn't work, we can retreat to Xiurong, Loufan, Fenyang, or even Jinyang."

Wang Que'er's face still showed no expression. She only said, "Well, Lord Liang has issued the order. All we have to do is fight."

"The king's army is heading south. Even if they haven't captured any cities, the Xiongnu won't dare to take it lightly and will be on high alert." Zhang Bin added, "Qiao Zhong once sent people to Pingyang to ask for reinforcements. I heard that they got several thousand people, most of whom were from various tribes stationed in Hedong. The journey for this army to go north will be just as difficult, and they may not have as much food and grass as our army. In addition, once they leave, the troops in Chenguan and Hongnong will be too weak to fight and can only retreat step by step. Over time--"

Having said this, Zhang Bin shook his head.

Wang Que'er looked at the towering mountain ridges on both sides of the Chihong flood and didn't say much.

He understood what Zhang Bin meant.

If troops are sent out a second time, the breakthrough point will probably be in the south, not them.

The troops in Jinyang were regular troops, attracting the main force of the enemy army to gather and create opportunities for the front lines of Chenguan and Hongnong.

Liu Shan, Tang Jian and Liu Runzhong of Shangdang actually have the same role. They don't have many soldiers, but as long as they send a few of them to cross the Wuling Road and advance westward, the Huns will not dare to withdraw the troops guarding the north and south roads of Wuling.

The same thing happened to Yang Dan and Wen Qiao. They led tens of thousands of soldiers to attack Lengquanshui, but the battle was weak. However, the Xiongnu did not dare to withdraw the thousands of soldiers guarding the camp. Behind these thousands of soldiers, there were more than "thousands" who could be rotated or even reinforced at any time.

The fact that Liu Cong transferred troops from Hedong to Xihe in the north, but did not transfer troops from Pingyang, is very telling.

Considering the rapid progress of Hongnong, should Liu Cong send reinforcements?

Troops were deployed to guard everywhere, and a large amount of manpower was occupied and thinned out. Perhaps this was Master Shao's intention.

On October 21, the vanguard Duan Mobo arrived at the Xiongnu camp on the west bank of the Chihong flood (north of Fangshan County). The two sides chased each other in the mountains, arrows flew like locusts, and a new battle broke out.

******
The camp gate suddenly opened, and hundreds of riders filed out, shouting loudly.

The personal soldiers surrounded Shao Shen, using round shields to protect themselves and long spears to strike, and charged straight into the enemy formation under the threat of arrows.

Of course, this is far from enough, and arrows will definitely slip through.

However, he was Liang Gong's nephew after all, so these hundreds of war horses were equipped with horse head armor, which only covered the horse's head, neck, chest and abdomen.

This kind of horse-head armor is cheap to produce. During the Western Han Dynasty, there were more than 97,000 horse-head armors stored in the Donghai Arsenal. If the Western Han Dynasty could afford suitable war horses and personnel, at least 97,000 armored cavalry could be formed - of course this is impossible. The cost of armored cavalry has never been the armor, but the difficulty in finding war horses, the long training cycle for personnel, and the high daily expenses.

Hundreds of cavalrymen bypassed the large group of soldiers in formation, chased after the fleeing soldiers who were attacking the camp, and charged and attacked them fiercely.

When the killing was in full swing, Shao Shen stood out from the crowd, discussed the direction with dozens of "evil teenagers", and went straight to Wang Mi's banner.

Wang Mi stood on the high slope, the corners of his mouth twitching.

He had known Shao Shen for a long time. He was an old rival with whom he had been entangled for many years.

Shao the thief had put a lot of effort into training him. He was an excellent fighter and had above average military strategy. He was very brave when charging and especially liked to lead hundreds of cavalrymen in a charge.

Fortunately, he had made preparations today. As the flags were waved and the drums were beating, several battalions marched forward in neat rows, firing with strong bows and crossbows, shooting down a large number of fleeing soldiers and the pursuing cavalry.

"Xilulu!" The horse neighed in pain.

Several of Shao Shen's evil young soldiers had already fallen, leaving a gap for several arrows to fly in and pierce his armor. Fortunately, they didn't penetrate deep into the flesh, but the pain was excruciating.

What’s even more helpless is that the warhorse first stood up and then fell heavily to its knees.

Shao Shen hurriedly rolled off the saddle, took the reins handed to him by his personal soldier, jumped onto a new horse, and charged again with gritted teeth.

The Qiang cavalry surrounded them and shot arrows like rain.

Shao Shen urged his horse to rush forward, and when they passed each other, he swept his lance and knocked down the two men in an instant.

After rushing forward more than ten steps, another gun stabbed towards him.

Shao Shen dodged it narrowly, then grabbed the spear. The enemy cavalry pulled back hard, and Shao Shen's hand loosened. The enemy cavalry lost his balance and swayed, and was stabbed by the evil boy who followed closely.

Wang Mi had already stood up, secretly cursing the Qiang light cavalry for being incompetent and not fighting bravely. If my cavalry had not been completely lost long ago, would I need you?

Fortunately, the infantry had slowly pressed forward, and under the rain of arrows, the charging Jin cavalry suffered heavy losses.

There were more than a hundred riders surrounding that thief Shao's nephew, charging left and right among the Qiang riders, looking extremely brave.

The Qiang cavalry did not engage in a head-on confrontation with them.

When the Jin cavalry rushed forward, they dispersed and then rode and shot.

When the Jin cavalry turned, they went around the enemy's sides and rear and continued to shoot arrows.

The Jin cavalry gave up the fight and charged straight in the direction of the big banner, and the Qiang cavalry only managed to block them slightly.

It should be said that the battle situation is very stable.

But seeing that Shao Shen was still alive and kicking, Wang Mi couldn't hold back his anger.

He glanced to the east and saw another group of infantrymen coming out to continue attacking the village.

The Zhongwu soldiers on the wall rained down arrows like rain, and from time to time they threw stones, boiling water and other objects, and resisted very tenaciously.

Wang Mi was a little anxious.

His cousin Wang Yan was still fighting in Minchi. He could not stay in the Erling area of ​​Xiaoban for too long and had to capture the stronghold as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, the command flag was waved again. Another 2,000-man mixed infantry and cavalry team left the starting point and marched to the rear of the Jin cavalry, outflanking them.

We must kill Shao Shen, who is dancing the most happily, as soon as possible!

Once he died, the morale of the Zhongwu Army collapsed and a great victory was expected.

At this time, he had already deployed almost all of his reserve troops, and the total number of infantry and cavalry that were encircling Shao Shen was more than 4,000.

Shao Shen seemed to be aware of the danger as well. He slowly gathered his cavalry and looked for a gap to flee backwards.

The war drums under the banner beat faster and louder, which was a signal to speed up the advance.

Four thousand infantry and cavalry shouted in unison, moved quickly, surrounded the Jin cavalry that lagged behind, and killed them indiscriminately.

What's more, the Qiang cavalry, who had not been fighting hard before, now saw the Jin cavalry fleeing, and they immediately shouted and acted extremely bravely.

The entire formation began to stretch and gradually became chaotic.

At this moment, a large cloud of dust rose from the east, and the rhythmic sound of horse hooves was overwhelming, echoing in the valley.

Wang Mi's face changed and he looked up, only to see countless armored warriors riding horses galloping out from behind the camp guarded by the Zhongwu Army.

They were very fast, not sparing the horses or holding back any horsepower, just moving quickly.

"Palace soldiers?!" Wang Mi's face turned dark, and he felt as if he had made a mistake.

A total of 2,400 soldiers crossed the entire battlefield, dismounted at a gentle slope, and then drew out their weapons and formed a formation at a dazzling speed.

In an instant, more than two thousand armored warriors rushed over in quick steps.

Under the heavy crossbow fire, many Qiang cavalrymen who were chasing Shao Shen fell off their horses and screamed miserably. The rest of the people saw this and immediately dispersed and retreated.

After the crossbowman finished shooting, he immediately turned around and retreated.

The others quickened their pace, armed with heavy swords, lances, axes and long spears, and rushed straight towards the pursuing Mi soldiers.

Their maneuvers on the battlefield were not random, but were deliberately selected to attack the Mi Bing flank. From arriving at the destination, to dismounting and forming a battle formation, to advancing in a wall formation, the entire action was done in one go. After defeating the Qiang cavalry, they did not hesitate to cut into the Mi Bing formation, immediately stirring up a bloody storm.

"It's over!" Wang Mi couldn't stop shaking.

This is the last capital!
The nightmare from the past seemed to come back again. Every time he was full of confidence and had accumulated some savings, he would be caught and beaten by Shao Xun.

Not once or twice!
In the past few years, he had been relatively peaceful, and Shao Ze had not come to attack him on purpose, so his capital had become more and more solid, and his ambition had become higher and higher, but today it seemed that he was going to lose it all...

Wang Mi only felt dizzy and his ears were buzzing. In the end, there was only one huge word in his mind: "Get out!"

"Puff!" He spat out a mouthful of blood and was about to fall to the ground.

General Wang Gen stepped forward quickly and supported Wang Mi.

"Give the order to withdraw the troops and return to Shaanxi City." Wang Mi said weakly.

Wang Gen nodded and immediately sent someone to pass on the message. He then took his personal soldiers, helped Wang Mi onto a donkey cart, and escorted them as they raced westward.

(End of this chapter)