Chapter 899 Determination

Chapter 899 Determination

Chapter 899 Determination
Jin Zheng had already arrived at Yanmen and climbed Xixing Mountain to look into the distance.

The vehicles and horses in the mountains are like dragons and like floods, they quickly pass through several narrow rivers, and then overlook the vast plains and merge into an ocean.

The three counties of Taiyuan, Xinxing and Yanmen mobilized more than 40,000 soldiers from the government, and transported a part of the 600,000 hu of grain and fodder stored in Taiyuan to Mayi in advance. The first batch of 200,000 hu had even arrived in Pingcheng, solving the urgent needs of the various tribes in spring.

After two years of fighting and with last winter being relatively cold, the number of livestock dropped sharply and all the tribes were unable to cope.

With these additional 200,000 hu of millet and wheat, we felt much more confident.

Jin Zheng had someone bring the horses, then he galloped down the mountain, leading more than a hundred of his personal soldiers straight to Yinguan.

After arriving here, he stayed for only one day, and then, accompanied by the commander of the army, Qin San, he selected three hundred soldiers of the Zuo Feilong Guard, took a guide, and rushed all the way to Mayi.

After arriving in Mayi, the Dai Guofu Xiang Su Zhongyi's troops sent hundreds of elite cavalry to meet him, so Jin Zheng led his troops north to Zhonglingchuan to investigate...

A few days later, orders were issued one after another.

When Xu Lang received the military report, he was organizing a military drill.

In the wilderness, 9,600 people were divided into three groups, A, B and C. Group A and Group B lined up to fight, while Group B deliberately exposed a flaw. After receiving the order, Group C immediately mounted their horses and galloped a few hundred steps, then quickly dismounted and formed a formation.

The large shieldmen guarded the archers and shot at them closely, widening the chaos. The warriors in heavy armor rushed in along with the chaos caused by the archers and defeated the enemy in one fell swoop.

"The opportunity for battle is fleeting." On the high platform, Xu Lang put his hands on his waist, stretched out his right hand, and said to the nearly ten thousand soldiers in the field: "If the soldiers of Unit C had not arrived on horseback, Unit B would have stabilized the situation and this opportunity for victory would have been missed."

The chief military officer Chen Jingen and others looked at each other and lowered their heads again.

Xu Lang? I'm really unfamiliar with him.

He was promoted only by relying on the favor of King Liang, unlike these old men who have been working together for twenty years.

After Xu Lang finished speaking, he was not very happy to see that no one agreed with him, but he did not show it. He continued, "Governor Jin has sent a message to order the army to advance to Mayi. Get ready and set off in the afternoon."

"General, leaving in the afternoon?" Chen Jingen was a little confused.

"We'll leave in the afternoon." Xu Lang looked into Chen Jingen's eyes and said, "How can we disobey Governor Jin's order?"

When the word "military order" came down, Chen Jingen was startled and immediately responded, "Yes, sir."

The other commanders and generals of the various tribes also responded.

Just when Xu Lang ordered the attack, Liu Runzhong's troops, who were grazing horses north of Yinguan, had already begun to act.

They dispatched tens of thousands of people this time, some of whom had just driven cattle and sheep into the territory of Yanmen County, and the remaining 6,000 cavalry were all here. After receiving the order, a few hundred people were left to herd horses and guard the baggage, and the remaining 6,000 cavalry all headed west to assemble in the area north of Mayi County...

On the green grassland, thousands of horses are galloping, surging like a tide.

The governor Zhang Tong had already left the city to welcome them. Guanqiu Lu stood on the top of the city wall, quietly watching the thousands of troops rushing over.

Thousands of knights gathered and dispersed in the wilderness.

Sometimes it is like a sharp arrow, with the elite riders in front and the shepherds behind, moving forward courageously.

Then they were divided by the terrain into dozens of groups. After each of them passed through, they gathered together with the central army's flag as the core, forming a solid whole.

It can be seen that this is not the first time that this troop has gone into battle. They are relatively experienced, and the commander has high prestige and can command all the troops.

The six thousand knights stopped "showing off" when they were close to Mayi and marched honestly in a column, because the closer they got to the city, the more villages, forts, farmlands and mulberry forests they saw.

They finally stopped in the Mayichuanshui area in the south of the city.

After sending out the rangers to keep watch, the knights dismounted, loosened the girths of their horses, and took them for a jog to cool off the sweat.

A large group of troops also arrived from the north of the city.

A vanguard of 3,000 people of Zuo Feilong Guard, led by Chen Jingen, arrived just after the Shangdang cavalry.

They did not cherish horses as much as the Jie people.

After dismounting, he immediately handed the riding horse to the Ding Zhuang sent by Mayi County to take care of it.

Yes, what they are riding are “riding horses” rather than “war horses”.

This horse does not need to be tall or particularly fast, as long as it has good endurance and preferably can tolerate rough feed - the Xiongnu horse is very suitable.

Even a mule is not impossible.

Anyway, they didn't fight on horseback, riding horses was just a means of getting around.

After the arrival of these 9,000 infantry and cavalry, Mayi suddenly became lively.

The prefect Zhang Tong, who had widely publicized that his ancestors were members of the Zhang Liao clan, was busy taking out grain from the county and prefecture levels and waiting for the grain transport team to arrive before replenishing it.

On the eighth day of the fifth month, Jin Zheng returned from the front line and said only one sentence: "I heard that the Hedouling tribe is in Shanwu (now Weiyuan Town, Youyu), and went into the mountains from the north of Mayi. The mountains and rivers are crisscrossed and the forests and grass are dense. This is beneficial to cavalry and archers, and even more beneficial to infantry who have experienced battles. After storing a month's worth of food and grass, we will march north in a large scale. I have made up my mind, and there is no need to say more." Among the people present, Liu Runzhong had the highest status.

He did not object, so everyone agreed and dispersed to prepare for battle.

******
Helan Aitou came to Shanwu.

He first looked at the slightly dilapidated city and didn't pay much attention to it.

The Xianbei were good at field battles but not good at defending cities, so it is understandable that they did not attach importance to city defense.

Upon receiving the news, Dou Qin and Dou Yuzhen, father and son, rushed to pay their respects immediately.

"I heard that the tribes had many complaints, so I sent you cattle, sheep, horses, camels, and some fine armor and equipment." There were a few more wrinkles on Helan Ai's forehead, and his once heroic face had mostly disappeared, replaced by endless fatigue.

Dou Qin felt a little sad at the sight.

Is it easy to be a leader? Every day when you open your eyes, you have to take care of your people's eating, drinking, and defecating. Isn't that stressful?

If there is a conflict between tribes, if they can argue in front of you, it means they respect your authority. If they solve it privately, they don't take you seriously.

Some tribes in Dongmugen Mountain think that Shiyijian is too dependent on the Jin people and want to surrender to Yihuai. While they are hesitating, do you want to offer them benefits to win them over?
They were attacked by tribes loyal to Shi Yijian. Do you want to send troops to rescue them? There were many casualties and livestock lost in the battle. Do you want to provide some subsidies?
If your prestige is great enough, you can suppress it and let each tribe swallow the bitter fruit themselves without them daring to object, but the question is, do you have this prestige?
There was heavy snow last winter and all departments suffered heavy losses. Now spring has come and they are complaining. Do you want to do something about it?

Liu Hu is still harassing the Nuozhen River branch and even the Yixin Mountain. The people of the Hexi tribe disobeyed orders and went directly back to the north of the Yin Mountain. They also call on you to go back to help him. Will you go?
Too many worries!

If Helan Aitou had not taken this position, and was only the leader of the Helan tribe, he would be able to attack or defend, and others would compete to win him over. But once he took this position, without enough prestige, ability, and wealth, he would be in a real pit of fire.

"Yu De, it's not that I don't want to help you, I just don't have anything else to offer." Helan Aitou sighed heavily and said, "Everyone is asking me for cattle, sheep and slaves, I——"

"Be patient with them." Dou Qin seemed to know only this one sentence, but it was a wise and prudent statement for the country.

"No matter how much patience you have, it won't last." Helan Aitou said, "I've finally figured it out. If we keep wasting time like this, there's no chance of winning. That bitch Wang has an adulterer who gives her money, but I can't compete with her."

Dou Qin deeply agreed with this.

The "adulterer" has occupied the rich Henan and Hebei. Who can have more money and grain than him? In the end, people will be in chaos and defeat is inevitable.

"What's your decision, Prime Minister? If we evacuate now, our troops will be able to move out within a few days." Dou Qin said seriously.

"No!" Helan Ai looked at Dou Qin deeply and said, "The situation is like this. I only have two choices. Either I go and go far away, or I take the initiative to attack and survive."

Dou Qin was shocked.

For Helan Aitou, there are indeed only these two paths.

The first option is to give up Shengle and escape back to Yixin Mountain, but no one knows how many people are willing to follow him.

After going to Yixin Mountain, try to contact the free tribes in Mobei and Hexi as much as possible to form a new alliance to fight against Shiyijian south of Yinshan Mountain - Oh, by the way, after returning, you must first eliminate Liu Hu who is not far away.

The second is to take the initiative to attack, just like what Aitou said, to survive from death.

However, if the attack fails and he flees back to Shengle, even fewer people will be willing to follow him. There may even be many tribes that turn against him and use his head as a weapon.

It was difficult to decide what to do next, but it looked like Helan Aitou had already made a decision.

"There are still a large group of people behind us, and the first group will arrive in a few days." Helan Aitou said, "Someone in Mayi told me that the Jin army has gathered in Yinguan, with nearly 20,000 infantry and cavalry, and they are not the Yicong, Luoyan, and Zhuosheng armies. If we can defeat this group, we will be the first to gain the upper hand, and the Jin army will not dare to act rashly, and the battle situation will be very promising."

Dou Qin nodded silently.

He was not surprised that Ai Tou got the news.

The two Tuoba respectively controlled the northern and southern capitals, and the nobles on both sides had relatives and friends on the other side, so it was difficult to find out the details of their connection.

If Aitou can get news from Mayi, Shiyijian must also be able to get news from Shengle. For both sides, there is not much that can be kept secret.

"This battle must be fast, so fast that people can't react in time." Helan Aitou said: "If we still can't win like this, then-"

At this point, Helan Aitou's expression was gloomy at first, and then he became angry and said, "Anyway, I will definitely not bow down to Shi Yijian. I will fight him in this life, and after I die, my son and grandson will continue to fight him."

"Don't be angry, Prime Minister." Dou Qin said with a wry smile, "Should I send out my troops?"

"Of course we do." Helan Aitou said, "With the tribes here, we will have 30,000 cavalry. We will charge directly into Mayi and Yinguan, kill the Jin people, and build a Jingguan outside Yanmen Pass. I don't believe they are not afraid."

Dou Qin was a little hesitant.

Helan Aitou grabbed his hand and said, "Yude, don't hesitate, gather people, cattle and sheep as soon as possible. In ten days at most, I will march south in a big way."

"Okay! I'll prepare it right away." Dou Qin gritted his teeth and agreed.

(End of this chapter)