Chapter 903: Chaos

Chapter 903: Chaos

Chapter 903: Chaos (Part )

The Shanwu on May 22nd has some meaning of the Battle of Guangwu two years ago.

The difference is that the Hedouling tribe did not take the initiative to attack, but only dispatched cavalry to monitor everywhere.

Jin Zheng set up camp on the top of Nanshan Mountain and immediately sent two troops to detour from the west and east of the city in an attempt to get behind the enemy.

The eastern route was retreated halfway through.

In areas with open terrain, enemy cavalry surrounded us from all directions and engaged in battle with the Jie cavalry first.

The soldiers of Zuo Feilong's guard palace dismounted and formed a battle formation.

But Suo Tou did not fight with them, but only attacked the Jie cavalry. After charging twice, he forced them to retreat. Then one part of his cavalry harassed the palace soldiers who were advancing in formation, while the other part went around and attacked the palace soldiers' garrison, trying to plunder their horses.

Jin Zheng decisively sent out the second batch of palace soldiers, and Liu Runzhong also sent out the second cavalry to fight. Suo Tou did not engage in much fighting and quickly broke away from the contact.

Jin Zheng looked at it for a long time and said, "Suotou is delaying."

Liu Runzhong also saw it and said, "Maybe they are covering the old, weak, women and children. There shouldn't be many people left in Shanwu City."

"As commanders of an entire army, is it okay for Dou Qin and his son to hesitate and not move forward?" Jin Zheng asked.

Liu Runzhong was silent for a moment, and then said, "The governor doesn't know. This is how wars are fought on the grasslands. If you can win, it's like a pack of wolves hunting, pouncing on you from all directions and biting you fiercely; if you can't win, they will scatter and flee, looking for an opportunity to fight. As for whether it will disrupt the overall battle situation, it depends on the prestige of the Chanyu. If the Chanyu has a high prestige, naturally no one dares to retreat at will. If the Chanyu has a low prestige, then you can't blame others. This is very different from the Central Plains."

"In the battle under Shanwu City, the enemy cavalry has too much advantage, and the government soldiers can't fight alone. Instead of fighting like this, why not..." Jin Zheng stared at the dilapidated Shanwu city wall and said, "It's almost night, why not send a group of soldiers to attack the city at night, and you also take the initiative to attack the enemy cavalry at night. It doesn't matter if you can't break through, just make a big noise, the bigger the better."

"Governor, what are you doing..." Liu Runzhong seemed to have thought of something and turned pale with horror.

Jin Zheng didn't say much, just said: "Pick up the wounded and dead horses on the battlefield and smoke some dried meat."

After giving all these instructions, Jin Zheng called Tuoba Liugou who had made great contributions before.

He escaped back with Xu Yi and passed on important military intelligence.

Xu Yi was injured and will now march with the baggage train. Liu Gou, apart from having a bruised face and nose, is not seriously injured and will continue to follow the army as a scout and guide.

"The King of Liang knows your name." Jin Zheng was rarely friendly to such a warrior, and said with a smile: "Say 'Six Dogs' is too ugly."

Tuoba Liugou was also smart and asked immediately, "Your Majesty, are you going to give me a name?"

In fact, his name is Liu Gou, and he has no surname.

The surname Tuoba was derived from the clan leader.

The chief was originally a branch of the branch of the Tuoba clan...

He ordered that all the more than 300 households in the entire clan should use Tuoba as their surname, and Liu Gou was given the surname in large numbers.

"The king said that you have been loyal, brave and respectful since you surrendered to us and have made great contributions, so he gave you the name 'Tuoba Sigong'. What do you think?" Jin Zheng asked.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the name." Tuoba Liugou said happily.

"Are you familiar with this mountain range?" Jin Zheng asked.

"I am familiar with the east, but I have only been to the west a few times, so I am not very familiar with it." Tuoba Sigong answered honestly.

"It's okay, I have other guides." Jin Zheng said with a smile: "Get ready, follow me after nightfall."

After that, Jin Zheng ignored him and began to order the soldiers to hand over their dry food and collect more than ten days' supply for three thousand men.

As for those whose dry food had been taken away, there was nothing they could do but to eat horse meat for a few days until the baggage train arrived.

That night, Jin Zheng personally led 3,000 soldiers, each riding two horses, and evacuated the battlefield first to the south, then detoured to the west and disappeared into the night.

******
On the morning of the 22nd, a marching team suddenly stopped.

Fierce fighting broke out on the mountains on both sides.

That was when a team patrolling in the mountains encountered an enemy that had attacked by surprise and they engaged in a hasty battle.

When Yamashita learned about this, he immediately stopped advancing.

Still using the old method, using grain carts to block the road and prevent the enemy cavalry from charging forward.

The government troops stayed behind in the river valley of the post road, and more than 3,000 government soldiers who followed the army went up the mountain as soon as possible and rushed to the place where the two sides fought.

A moment later, more than a thousand riders came from the rear of the convoy, shooting arrows like rain as they ran.

Some of the strong Wuhuan men fought back, while others quickly retreated and even crawled under the cars. They really had no intention of fighting.

On the contrary, the soldiers of the government were still able to fight with bows and swords, and with the cover of carts, they were able to hold their ground with difficulty against the enemy's cavalry archers.

Almost at the same time, enemy soldiers broke through the blockades on some mountains and rushed down the mountain.

The two thousand Jie cavalrymen accompanying the army were divided into several groups and attacked in all directions, trying their best to intercept.

Countless troops from both sides fought together in chaos.

Xu Lang stood on a carriage, sending people to capture and kill the Wuhuan men who tried to escape, while commanding the palace soldiers and their troops to plug the leaks everywhere.

After fighting for a long time, although there were heavy casualties, the situation was slightly stabilized.

During the battle, they captured several enemy prisoners. After torture, they learned that they were under the command of Dou Qin and were ordered to move south. They took advantage of their familiarity with the geography, sneaked out, attacked and killed the baggage train, and cut off the army's retreat.

As for how many troops went south, to be honest, no one is quite sure. Some say two thousand, some say three thousand, and there is no consensus.

After hearing this, Xu Lang secretly thought it was a good thing that only so many people came.

In fact, cutting off the retreat route will not be of much use at this time.

Unless they can stop the Dai army coming from the Wuzhou River, otherwise, the Jin governor will not be cut off from supplies. After all, the distance from Zhongling River to Shanwu is not too far, and Shanwu to Wuzhou Town is only 70 or 80 miles. Dou Qin's plan is just helpless. While he was daydreaming, the battle in the valley became more and more intense.

The shouts of killing from both sides were deafening and blood was shed wantonly.

Enemy cavalrymen dismounted from their horses and climbed up onto the grain carts, and were stabbed down by the government troops.

The soldiers of the government had no time to be happy as they were soon shot to the ground by arrows that came from nowhere.

Outside the grain carts, corpses were piled up one after another, almost level with the grain carts. Countless gangsters stepped on the corpses, shouted and rushed forward, but were quickly repelled.

Occasionally, more than ten gangs of soldiers would rush into the chariot formation. The soldiers from the government could not resist and fled in all directions, but the situation was soon stabilized by the soldiers from the government who came over.

Several plumes of smoke gradually rose in the valley.

The valley was narrow and the convoy wound for several miles. The baggage train had to be divided into more than ten groups, each fighting on its own. Some of them fell into the hands of the enemy after a long and fierce battle, or the Wuhuan people simply collapsed and were easily captured by Suotou.

They brought firewood, started a big fire, and burned the grain carts.

Xu Lang did not panic too much, but dispatched troops everywhere to rescue, killing the dismounted Suotou and fighting on foot while putting out the fire.

The two sides fought for half a day, and only more than 400 grain carts were burned by Suotou. The loss was still within an acceptable range.

Compared with the loss of food, the number of people who fled, died or were injured was quite large, which made him extremely angry.

Especially the Wuhuan people, who did not want to work for the Jin army at all. When the battle started, only a few of them dared to fight hard, while the vast majority hid or fled. The grain carts that were burned were mainly in the areas they were responsible for.

In the afternoon, perhaps because Suotou themselves suffered heavy casualties, or perhaps they felt that it was too disadvantageous for the cavalry to dismount and fight on foot, they eventually slowly broke contact and disappeared over the horizon.

Xu Lang then breathed a sigh of relief and ordered an inventory of the losses.

The first head-on battle with Suo Tou made him feel a lot.

The first impression is that the palace soldiers are indeed more powerful than the imperial guards, much more powerful!

They eat and drink well all year round, hone their martial arts, and often conduct group exercises as defense units. There are also several large-scale drills every year. Over the years, their combat effectiveness has become very strong.

The second feeling is that the rope head is also very good at fighting.

They were barbaric and daring in fighting. They knew that dismounting and fighting on foot was not in their favor, but they still obeyed orders. They were much more cohesive and united than the tribes under the rule of the Huns in the past. No wonder Tuoba Xianbei could defeat the Huns repeatedly and suffered very few defeats.

The third feeling is that it is extremely important to choose a terrain that is beneficial to your side.

He didn't dare to imagine what it would be like if he were on an endless flat grassland. He was afraid that the battle would be very difficult.

******
Outside Yinguan County, cavalry were galloping and thousands of horses were galloping.

A grain transport team was surrounded in the wilderness.

The overwhelming number of cavalry surrounded them, rushed to the front, lined up in a row, and marched sideways.

In an instant, arrows rained down like rain. The servants, grooms, drivers and a few guards of the caravan were all running around in panic, and countless of them were shot dead.

There were few counterattacks, and the few archers from the Fubing Corps were quickly drowned in the rain of arrows as dense as locusts.

In just half an hour, this baggage train consisting of 500 horse-drawn carriages was completely wiped out, and 30,000 hu of grain was seized by the enemy.

Helan Aitou was extremely pleased with what he saw, so he led more than 10,000 cavalrymen to the outskirts of Yinguan City. In a surprise attack, he defeated the herdsmen of Liu Runzhong who were on the move, and tortured and interrogated them, trying to find out other grazing places so that he could plunder all their cattle, sheep and horses.

Zhang Sui, the chief officer of Longxiang Prefecture in Yanggu, stood on the top of the city wall, feeling a little nervous.

He had only 600 soldiers from the government and 600 military followers, so he was considered to be a pretty capable fighter.

There were countless grain carts piled high outside the city.

The enemy cavalry came too fast.

As soon as the cavalry reported the enemy situation, Zhang Sui realized that something was wrong.

He immediately ordered all the grain that could be moved into the city. At the same time, he sent a messenger to urgently recall a grain transport team that had just set out, and notified another grain transport team that had set out from Yanmen Pass to return immediately and not come to Yinguan for the time being.

After doing all this, he sent people to rush everywhere to notify the old and weak Jie people who were grazing in the wild to move with their livestock and not let the enemy find them easily.

He has done everything he could.

There are mountains of food and weapons everywhere in Yinguan City. It must not be broken by the enemy, otherwise this enemy force that comes from nowhere will have enough money to fight everywhere.

"Take out all the weapons and distribute them one by one. Groomsmen, drivers, and servants should each have one. Arrange them roughly for me. At this moment, everyone must go into battle." Zhang Sui ordered.

"Chief Secretary, those instruments must be sent to Governor Jin." Someone reminded him, "If they are lost or damaged, with Governor Jin's temper..."

"I can't control much." Zhang Sui said, "We are the government soldiers. After the war, Governor Jin can't control us. Just follow his orders."

"Yes."

Zhang Sui felt hungry, so he asked someone to bring him some corn rice. While eating, he looked at the enemy troops outside the city, and found that they did not even leave the city walls.

That afternoon, a general flag with the word "Shao" on it appeared outside Yanmen Pass.

The three thousand soldiers of the Left Cavalry Guard broke away from their subordinates, rushed out of the pass and headed towards Yinguan.

Behind them, the Silver Spear Right Camp and other troops were marching through the passes of Xixing Mountain and gathering at the foot of the mountain.

In this battle, everyone was controlled by Kim Jong-un, some were rushing for their lives, some were fighting in chaos, and both the enemy and us were out of touch and caught off guard.

If swearing could lead to death, Jin Zheng would have died no less than ten times by now.

(End of this chapter)