Chapter 884: Battlefront

Chapter 884: Battlefront

Chapter 884: Battlefront
The flames had died down, but the stones were still warm.

Su Zhongyi took off his clothes and lay down. After a moment, he let out a comfortable groan.

Guanqiu Lu and the shogunate's chief clerk Li Ju looked at each other, but said nothing and just waited quietly.

After a long time, Su Zhongyi got up after lying down for a long time. He smiled bitterly and said, "I fell off a horse and got injured a few days ago. I haven't recovered yet. Then I got sick and lay down for a long time. Alas, I'm old. I'm not even forty yet, but I'm already sick."

As he was talking, a witch came over with a knife, carefully inquired about the pain on his body, and then cut with the knife until blood came out.

This is the bloodletting therapy used by the Wuhuan and Xianbei people.

Just like the sailors in the European Age of Exploration, when they saw that the weather was good today, they decided to let some blood out, which was good for the body and mind.

This method of treatment, which seemed commonplace to the Wuhuan people, made Guanqiu Lu and Li Ju's eyes twitch - moxibustion, burning stones for self-irrigation, lying on the burning ground, opening the pulse to bleed, and praying to the gods of heaven, earth, mountains and rivers, have always been the traditional treatment methods of the Wuhuan and Xianbei people, and have been passed down for hundreds of years.

After Su Zhongyi was bled, he sighed with satisfaction, then looked at the two and said, "The battle was not going well. Yu Ju was defeated in Wuzhouchuan and suffered heavy casualties. Fortunately, the Wuzhou garrison was still there, but they mainly defended and only attacked occasionally. The enemy army besieged the city for several days, and probably two to three thousand people died. Since they couldn't take it down, they stopped fighting and mainly besieged it."

At this point, his face was somewhat relieved, and he said, "On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, all the leaders gathered in Changchun Palace. Liu Lugu and I had a secret show together. He was so upset by my secret show that he said that supporting the two garrison troops of Wu Zhou and Gao Liu was too much of a burden, so I scolded him. He was still unconvinced at that time, but now he should know how powerful I am."

"We will rest for another day tomorrow. The day after tomorrow I will personally lead 3,000 soldiers to rush to Liangchang for support." Su Zhongyi added, "Master, don't worry. Liangchang City still has 2,000 strong men and can hold it."

Li Ju pondered for a while and said, "It is better for the Prime Minister to be careful. If we are ambushed, the whole army will be wiped out. The Liangchang defenders may be frightened and surrender the city, which will be bad."

Su Zhongyi nodded and sighed, "Things are different now. Aitou has many strong cavalry under his command. Our cavalry is not as good as his, but we have a lot more infantry. Now it depends on who can hold on."

According to the latest battle situation, Helan Ai's troops were divided into three routes. Thousands of cavalrymen in the south broke into Mayi County, winning more battles than losses. Most of the local wealthy families closed their doors and defended themselves.

Kelan County dispatched several thousand cavalrymen to the north to provide assistance, and Zhuosheng's army also went south to Mayi, where they joined forces with the Wuhuan there and defeated Suotou.

The enemy troops have not retreated along the way, but it is obvious that the situation has reached a stalemate. Seeing that there is no profit to be gained, they will retreat sooner or later.

The central route had more than 10,000 cavalrymen, who first attacked Wuzhou but failed. They then divided their forces to capture Liangchang, but also failed.

So they could only send out light cavalry to plunder everywhere.

They did not dare to send out too many soldiers to plunder, because there were hundreds or thousands of cavalry in Wuzhou and Liangchang cities respectively. If they suddenly attacked, they could harass the places where they grazed their cattle, sheep and horses.

The northern route was Suotou's main force, with a total of 30,000 cavalrymen dispatched to attack Dongmugen Mountain. They won battle after battle, and many small tribes took the opportunity to surrender.

Shanyu's Inspector Wang Que'er has led 8,000 cavalrymen of the Yicong Army to the north for reinforcements, and there is no news yet.

The battle isn't that ugly at this point.

The Dai Kingdom suffered a small loss, but it still managed to hold on. This may be related to their current system. With the three Shannan counties, even if they lose a few battles on the front line, they will not lose everything.

Now they have only one strategy: consumption.

Hold on to your territory firmly. Even if the local area has been severely harmed by the enemy, you must hold on. When the enemy begins to retreat, launch a massive counterattack.

Li Ju saw that his suggestion was accepted, so he stopped talking and said, "The capital of Dai State is still greater than that of Shengle Suotou. As long as we can hold on this time and make Suotou lose money, it will not be so easy for them to launch such a large offensive next time. As for Pingcheng -"

"Don't worry." Su Zhongyi said, "The Madam has returned from Changchun Palace, and the assistant minister Wei Xiong and others have been ordered to take charge of various matters. Liu Lugu, Pu Gulu, and Yu Ju have all been sent out. Although Da Xi Heruo is not very close, he is also relatively respectful. There are also people from Changsun and other close tribes outside the city, and the Daizhou Wuhuan soldiers are also rushing here, so there should be no problem."

Li Ju thought about it and found that the situation was indeed not that dangerous, so he felt relieved.

"Mr. Guanqiu is the shogunate's Gold Division official?" Su Zhongyi looked at Guanqiu Lu and asked.

Jin Caoyuan was in charge of currency and salt and iron affairs - the two words "goods" and "currency".

If a county or state set up a Jin Cao, it would also be in charge of "municipal affairs" - the government affairs of trade markets.

"It's just a figurehead. Except for the first day, I've never been in office." Guanqiu Lu said with a smile.

"No wonder I haven't seen it." Su Zhongyi also smiled and said, "Go back early. There will be no peace before the end of August. If you see the king, you can tell him the truth. If you can mobilize the army, victory will be certain."

"I'm afraid there won't be a large army coming this year." Guanqiu Lu did not hide the truth and said, "All troops should keep an eye on the country to prevent any chaos."

"I see." Su Zhongyi nodded.

The King of Liang has more important matters to attend to, so it is good enough that he can send the Yicong Army and Zhuosheng Army. Some battles will eventually have to be fought by the Dai Kingdom itself, and the King of Liang will only send a large number of troops to help when it is really critical.

"In fact, before the Protector General went north, he requested to transfer the Luoyan Army to Yunzhong for assistance. Perhaps they will arrive in August." Li Ju said on the side.

"That's all right." Su Zhongyi said happily, as if his illness had been cured by 70%.

The two talked with Su Zhongyi for a while, then said goodbye and left.

Before leaving, Guanqiu Lu turned his head and looked at the endless dome in the wilderness.

This land is truly marvelous.

There are brick houses, wooden houses, thatched huts and felt tents. The living habits of the people are different. Although it is extremely chaotic, it has its own unique core.

At the end of June, Guanqiu Lu finished purchasing goods and prepared to leave Pingcheng. Because of the war, merchants from all over the country were in a panic and rushed to deal with the goods on hand, which gave Guanqiu Lu a bargain.

On June 29, he ordered his men to return south with livestock, leather, beautiful pearls, and horses, and he brought his own personal attendants, one man and several horses, via Kelan, and returned to Pingyang on July 10. On July 11, Shao Xun summoned him to Shanglin Garden.

******
"You said that the Pu tribe has a lot more orchards, vegetable plots, and farmland?" Shao Xun was not interested in anything else, and even only asked a few brief questions about the war that was breaking out, but he was very interested in the changes that had taken place in the production and life of the Dai people.

"Yes." Guanqiu Lu replied, "I stayed in Xinping for two days and visited the huge tent of Pugu Ting, the son of Pugu. There were more things in the tent, such as screens, desks, mirrors, incense burners, and pearl curtains. The musical instruments such as the Jiangnan Taosheng that were brought with the carriage were also bought by him. I heard that Pugu and his son lived in the city more than outside the city, and they once wanted to tear down the huge tent in the wild."

"How big is the account?" Shao Xun asked.

“It can accommodate hundreds of people.”

"It looks like it's Pugulü's tribal tent. If even this is torn down, we'll have it within our grasp." Shao Xun clapped his hands and laughed.

Near Xinping is the Pu tribe’s pastureland.

This tribe was originally nomadic and farming-based, but now it has settled down.

This is also what Shao Xun meant. Each tribe should divide its pastures and try not to cross the boundaries.

After demarcating the boundaries, we teach them farming techniques and stabilize them little by little.

The tribe that can't escape is easy to control and not worth mentioning!
Of course, as it stands now, if the Pu tribe is determined to migrate, they can still do so.

It takes a little time and patience to let the Pu tribe fall little by little, and finally become like the Wuhuan people, with the tribe disintegrating and developing into a powerful clan.

"How about public and private schools?" Shao Xun asked again.

"There are dozens of children learning to read in the official school. There are several private schools, and the one where Zhuge is engaged has the most disciples. I heard that there are nearly twenty people, most of whom are children of Wuhuan and Xianbei nobles who have learned to read. It is not clear how well they have learned, but it doesn't look very good." Guanqiu Lu replied.

"It's OK." Shao Xun said, "Don't be too hasty about anything. It's only been a year, it's still early."

There is one thing Shao Xun didn't say. This is the core area of ​​the New Party in Daiguo, and there is already a certain degree of sinicization. If it is a place like Shengle where the old party gathers, it will be much more difficult.

"Is there any news about the Lady Dowager of Dai?" When Shao Xun asked this question, his expression and tone remained unchanged, as if he was asking an unrelated person.

Guanqiu Lu shuddered subconsciously and said, "When Madam Wang heard that Suo Tou was coming in large numbers, she returned from Changchun Palace and summoned the leaders of the tribes who had not yet gone out to fight, and ordered them to select their own troops to fight the bandits."

"What is Wang Feng doing?" Shao Xun asked curiously.

"Madam Wang suggested that he return to Dai County to recruit men, cattle, sheep and horses."

"Did you go?"

"He has gone and has not yet returned."

"This Wang Feng is so stupid!" Shao Xun sneered.

At the critical moment, he returned to Dai County to raise money and food. When the people in Pingcheng heard that reinforcements were coming, they felt much more stable. And Wang was the one who made the decision in Pingcheng. If the enemy was repelled in the future, the credit would mainly go to her.

Of course, if she suffered a major defeat, the responsibility would also be hers, but she took the gamble anyway.

Shao Xun was not very worried about the war situation in the north.

On the whole, Shengle has less money and food, fewer people, and insufficient production of materials such as armor and equipment. The more they fight, the less they have. The only thing they can rely on is their stronger combat effectiveness.

However, there are also several nomadic tribes in Pingcheng who dare to fight and fight. They are still wild and fearless. With the help of armor and weapons, they may not be without the ability to fight.

In addition, they have the city, the Yicong Army, the Zhuosheng Army, the Wuzhou and Gaoliu Army to help, and even the Kelan County has sent troops to attack Suotou from the flank. The Dai County direction can also mobilize at least 20,000 cavalry reinforcements...

Helan Aitou sent out about 50,000 cavalry with great momentum, but he divided his troops into three groups in a suicidal manner. If the first three moves failed to achieve significant results and their momentum was lost, they would suffer heavy losses when retreating.

So, did they achieve any results?
There is not much news at present. The local tyrants in Mayi County of Dai State lost a lot of soldiers. The personal guards led by Yu Ju also suffered a defeat, and the losses are unknown. Dongmugen was mostly a minor defeat, and several small tribes defected at the last minute, so the losses may be slightly greater.

But the most important thing is that these are the results achieved by Sotou in the first half month after he launched the war.

Half a month later, there were almost no significant results and they even suffered a defeat in the direction of Mayi.

What does this mean? It means that Dai has “bottomed out” and stabilized its position.

Pingcheng has the ability to hold out, but Shengle does not.

Shao Xun subconsciously looked at a letter on the table. It was written to him by Wang, and its main meaning was: asking for help.

Shao Xun did not refuse directly, but he only sent 3,000 infantry and cavalry of the Luoyan Army to the north, and sent another 200,000 hu of summer wheat from Taiyuan to Mayi and Yunzhong.

That's all the support.

The Xianbei people still need to continue fighting, killing themselves, the more fiercely the better.

After such a large-scale killing this year, they will launch another wave of harassment next spring to deepen Shengle’s economic difficulties, and then use a political offensive to disintegrate its alliance.

By summer, we can gather our army and deal it a fatal blow.

(End of this chapter)