Chapter 919 Method
Chapter 919 Method (Part )
When Shao Xun said this, Jin Zheng had already received the order to go south from Shengle and head straight to Shangjun.
From the perspective of the current situation, Shao Xun was once a little wary of Wang's mother and son, but the situation has eased recently. However, Jin Zheng has always been very hostile to them, and he has been on guard against them a lot.
He had more than 8,000 soldiers from the Zuo Feilong Guard and more than 8,000 subordinates, a total of 17,000.
Before leaving, he assigned a few people to gather most of the horses and find a place to graze them. After grazing, they moved forward and grazed them again...
The main force seized the baggage wagons. When marching, the wagons went on both sides, the government soldiers went in the middle, and only the thousand men with the best riding skills got horses and patrolled the periphery of the convoy.
As for food and fodder, they were taken directly from Shengle, mainly jerky, cheese, and some grassland specialties such as dried wild vegetables and mushrooms. There was also grain, but in small quantities.
The entire army carried two months' worth of supplies and marched south. Because there was no cavalry harassment, the march was extremely fast. In two days, they marched over a hundred miles and arrived at the north bank of Yulin Ferry, where they began to cross the river overnight.
That night, Shi Le personally selected more than a thousand soldiers, secretly opened the fort gate, and took a detour along the mountain plateau, preparing to intercept and attack the Xianbei cavalry.
But what he didn't expect was that there were sounds of horse hooves in the wild and the valleys were filled with Xianbei cavalry.
There were so many of them, team after team, group after group, with torches connecting the sky to the ground, like a sky full of stars.
Just as they had blocked the road ahead and were preparing to attack from the front and back together with the defenders in Fugu Fort, another group of people came from behind. They had no choice but to retreat hastily to the ridge.
The Xianbei cavalry rode in pursuit, but were defeated by Le's soldiers and eventually fled back to the fortress.
Trapped in such an isolated fortress, Shi Le smelled danger.
During the day on the 22nd, he climbed to a high place and looked into the distance. All he saw were mountain ridges, as well as terraces, river valleys, and corridors between the ridges.
The terrain of Shangjun is too fragmented. Between the towering mountains, there are some river valley plains scattered around. These are basically the only places suitable for farming.
However, these small plains are far apart and separated by continuous mountains, making it inconvenient to communicate with each other. Shi Le now has no idea about the situation in other places, such as what is happening in Liangu Fort?
This fort had a thousand households of soldiers and civilians, and their original source was also the remnant soldiers brought by Shi Le. It was named after two valleys connected together in the local area. It was roughly located forty miles north of Shenmu in later generations.
The valley is crisscrossed with rivers, making it a famous "rain nest" in Shangjun. There is no shortage of water and the farming conditions are very good. The only drawback is that the plain area is not large enough.
For example, were Gushan Fort, Qibao Mountain and other places also surrounded by Xianbei cavalry?
The valleys in the northern part of Shangjun with abundant grass and suitable for farming have basically been occupied by Shi Le. Now these forts are scattered among the mountains within a radius of hundreds of miles, like isolated islands. Will anyone be able to hold on and surrender?
Shi Le didn't know and didn't dare to think too much about it.
Every scout he sent out died and was unable to deliver any messages, which made him even more anxious.
While I was hesitating, the day on the 22nd passed quickly.
Many Xianbei cavalry left, and many more came.
They were even relaxed enough to dare to graze their horses on the terrace opposite Fugu Fort, and sometimes even go to the river next to Fugu Fort to water their horses.
Shi Le knew that this was actually a tactic of the Xianbei, to lure you out to fight for horses, and then ambush and kill all the people you sent out.
He did not take any action until nightfall when cries of killing were heard outside the castle.
Shi Hu led more than a thousand soldiers and horses and came from the southeast 120 miles away. Taking advantage of his familiarity with the geography, he found a group of Xianbei cavalry from the flank and rear. He suddenly attacked, knocking the Xianbei people off their horses, and then took advantage of the situation to enter Fu Valley.
"Where is Muguayuan?" Shi Le asked in surprise.
"Uncle, Muguayuan can no longer be defended." Shi Hu said with an unpleasant expression: "Today during the day, Shao soldiers spied on the other side of the river and took the opportunity to ferry 300 people across the river. They all had silver helmets and silver armor, just like silver spear warriors."
"Where did the Silver Spear Army come from?" Shi Le asked, shocked.
Muguayuan is not far from the Yellow River, and opposite is the newly established Baode County of Shao Xun. There are not many people there, so how could there be a Silver Spear Army? Aren’t the Silver Spear Army led by Shao the thief?
"Look at the flag, it's the Heiliang Right Camp." Shi Hu said.
Shi Le looked surprised and confused.
The Black Sword Army was a powerful force comparable to the Silver Spear Army, extremely fierce and victorious in every battle. But before, we had only heard of the Black Sword Left Camp, and the Black Sword Right Camp had never appeared on the battlefield. Could it be that this was the powerful force that the thief Shao used to guard the palace?
"If they can use the word 'Hei Yao' as their military name, they can't be far off." Shi Hu said, "My nephew went up to a high place to look around, and saw that they were wearing iron armor and holding lances. Their attire was exactly the same as that of the Hei Yao Left Camp."
After hearing this, Shi Le looked dejected.
The Xianbei people could only show off their power on horseback, and they might not be able to capture the strategically located Fugu Fort and Muguayuan, so they could only besiege and monitor them.
But the Heilongjiang Army is different. They are a regular army and the elite infantry that made Shao the thief famous. They are good at formations, field battles, and sieges.
"Uncle, don't hesitate." Shi Hu said, "I have sent people to lead the Muguayuan army and civilians to flee southward along the path behind the mountain. We can't hold this place unless the emperor sends a large army to help and repel the Xianbei. But I don't know when that will happen."
Shi Le sighed endlessly.
"Uncle, let's go." Shi Hu said anxiously, "On the way here, I saw that some of the stored grain had been discovered by the Xianbei, so they will not leave. Taking advantage of the night, we will rush out of the city to disrupt the Xianbei and force them to retreat. The soldiers and civilians in the Manbao will run away as many as possible. There are so many ridges and plateaus here, and the locals are sometimes confused by the twists and turns. The Xianbei are even more unfamiliar with the place, it is impossible for them to find every corner, maybe many people can run away." Hearing that the hidden grain cellars had been discovered by the Xianbei, Shi Le sighed and no longer hesitated.
Half an hour later, fierce shouts and screams were heard again outside Fugu Castle.
******
The troops of Kelan County had already withdrawn from the Tailuo River, capturing thousands of people and tens of thousands of livestock.
A portion of the miscellaneous livestock were presented as tribute to King Liang, and the rest were kept by himself.
The people were handed over to Jinyang, and two pieces of silk were given as a reward for each head - this sounded like an awkward deal, you hand over the captives and I give you a reward, this sounds normal.
The prefect Liu Zhao sent the county commander Wanqi Ke with 2,000 men to rush to Hehe County, cross the river and advance westward.
Wanqi Ke's younger brother was the magistrate of Langu County. He had previously recruited soldiers to help in the war and made great contributions. As a result, the Wanqi tribe was favored by the court. Wanqi Ke was even recruited as the commander of Kelan County in a common capacity to replace Huyan, who was ineffective in combat.
After receiving the order, Wanqi Ke led two thousand men and traveled day and night, with each man riding two horses, and rushed to Hehe County within a few days.
There are not many people in this county, and the largest family is the Zhou family who migrated from Runan.
They reclaimed the flat land suitable for settlement along the Yellow River, in the valleys, and along the streams, and planted millet and wheat.
Orchards are planned on the hillsides, where pears, apricots, naihua, chestnuts and other crops are planted, and a part of the land is used for grazing.
The Zhou family had never grazed so many livestock before. After they got married, they had closer relations with the surrounding Hu clans and tribes. Someone taught them practical techniques such as how to choose pastures, how to change pastures according to the solar terms, and how to manage livestock. They quickly became familiar with the techniques.
The agricultural planting that they were good at was gradually passed on to their in-laws.
For example, the Zhou family felt that the local wild pears were too small, produced too few fruits, and were not very tasty, so they planned to cultivate new varieties, which surprised the Hu people.
A noble family from the Central Plains played an extraordinary role in promoting the frontier region, almost raising the productivity level of the entire county. In another ten or twenty years, Hehe County may be even more different.
When the soldiers from Kelan County arrived at the ferry, the Zhou family sent people to deliver 5,000 hu of millet and more than 10,000 cattle and sheep as military supplies.
However, the Zhou family's children are more literary than martial, and for the time being they are not able to send children who are skilled in archery and horse riding across the river to help in the battle.
They only found some guides who often went to the other side of the river to do business and asked them to help lead the way.
The army began crossing the river on the 22nd, and by the 25th, a full three days, 2,000 people had not yet crossed.
If the war had continued at a normal pace, after the first few dozen people went ashore on the first day, they would have faced the concentrated charge of the enemy troops in the opposite city, and there would have been basically no chance of survival.
But a large number of Xianbei cavalry appeared all over the mountains and plains, chasing the Huns who were grazing outside and surrounding and monitoring the ferry city.
As soon as someone came out, they would immediately surround and shoot them on horseback, killing the Huns so that their infantry and cavalry could not leave the city at all. They could only watch the army on the other side of the river slowly crossing the river, feeling extremely frustrated.
The same is true in Dinghu County, Xihe County, south of Kelan.
Unlike Kelan County, which only sent cavalry, the wealthy families in Xihe County sent a large number of soldiers and farmhands, who gathered near Mengmenjin.
On the afternoon of the 23rd, Shao Gui, the second son of the king who was in charge of the gardens in Zuoguo City, arrived at the ferry by carriage.
Behind him stood three hundred strong men, all of whom were wearing iron and leather armor and holding sophisticated weapons. They were led by an officer named Zu, and were quietly waiting to cross the river.
The Xiongnu tribes in Xihe County also assembled more than 2,000 cavalry, together with the troops of powerful forces such as Dinghu Jia, a total of 4,000 infantry and cavalry, and lined up at the ferry to cross the river.
It seemed that there was no one in the Hun camp opposite, which was extremely surprising.
The Xianbei cavalry were just vanguards who rushed here and then ran away. They were much less courageous than the ferry defenders in the north, which made people despise them.
In the evening, the first group of Dinghujia's troops crossed the river and captured the empty Xiongnu camp.
When they cut down the "Han" flag and replaced it with the "Jin" flag, warm cheers broke out on the east bank of the river.
These ferry crossings had hindered them for many years, but now the situation had changed and they could finally cross the river in large numbers without any hindrance.
To be honest, it is more convenient to resupply in this way. You can just send it across the river by boat. It is much easier than circling endlessly in the mountains, and there is less loss.
Shao Gui watched quietly from a distance.
The seventeen-year-old boy was filled with emotion. His father had fought for twenty years and finally reached the final step.
The defense line of Shangjun Ferry, which the Xiongnu had painstakingly built, was shaken completely by the flank attack of the Xianbei cavalry.
There is no need to mobilize a large army in the three counties of Kelan, Xihe and Pingyang. All they need to do is send their men to cross the river and occupy the ferry.
There were many routes for the next advance. In short, once Shangjun was lost, everything was over, and Liu Can could no longer stop the army rushing across the river.
(End of this chapter)