Chapter 1144 "Running in both directions"
Chapter 1144 "Running in both directions"
The setting sun shone on the blades, giving these battlefield weapons a dark red hue.
The mountain ridges in the distance stood tall, like the bodies of dead giants.
The mountain path twisted and turned among the trees and rocks, and was twisted into a gray-brown intestine.
The long line was like a dying centipede, crawling slowly on the mountain path.
The wind was very strong. After blowing over the mountains, the willow branches and pine trees rustled, just like the soul-calling flags chanting on the grave.
Luo Yan panted and sat down on a large bluestone.
He regretted taking the baggage vehicle with him on the road.
The road conditions were very bad and bumpy, and there were many damaged and abandoned ox carts and horse carts along the way.
The most frustrating thing was that some mountain roads were so narrow that ox carts could not pass through, so they had to open up roads temporarily, which greatly delayed the journey.
He now understood the difficulty of advancing hundreds of miles when Deng Ai launched a surprise attack on Yinping.
It sounds easy to say "cut a path through the mountains and build bridges over the water", but it's so frustrating to actually do it.
That damn Jin Dynasty deserved to be destroyed!
When the world is at peace, don't you know how to level the road? Don't you know how to re-explore and open up the road?
It's funny to say that most roads today are actually built and dug because of the needs of war. If a war really breaks out, they will have to open mountains, carve stones, and build pavilions and planks to pass through. Once the war is over, they are reluctant to even repair the existing roads...
"Oh!" After resting, Luo Yan continued to move forward with the help of his personal soldiers, leaning on a wooden stick.
Behind him, the team stretched out as far as the eye could see. And because of the terrain, sometimes he could clearly hear the drums over there, but could not see a single person, which made Luo Yan a little worried.
But——there’s nothing I can do.
Just as he had to carry a large number of ox carts due to the severe shortage of draft animals, he had to take such risks if he wanted to take a shortcut and cut off the Liang army's food supply.
As it gradually darkened, the entire army stopped advancing.
Luo Yan met a Baihuyi chieftain who was delivering food, cattle and wine in the valley.
However, the other party was not very polite. After delivering the supplies, he turned around and left. Before leaving, he added: "I didn't see Mr. Luo today, and we won't meet again in the future."
After that, the group quietly disappeared into the twilight.
All the generals had angry expressions on their faces. Luo Yan took a look and thought that he should boost their morale, so he asked them to come over and sit down, and said with a smile: "They are just people who don't know their destiny."
The generals' expressions eased slightly.
Luo Yan added: "Back then, Fan Mu recruited Qiang people to fight for Emperor Gaozu of Han. After entering Guanzhong, he defeated the three Qin kings and was granted a title of marquis. This is the 'Fan Three Marquises of the Lost Qin'. After the war, Emperor Gaozu exempted the seven surnames of Qiang people from rent and taxes. The name of the Bandun Man spread throughout Guanzhong. Wherever they went, the Qin army in Guanxi fled upon hearing the news."
The generals were greatly inspired when they heard the glorious past of their ancestors.
I heard that earlier, after the King of Qin annexed Bazhong, in order to appease the Qiang people, he "married Qin women for generations."
It turns out that they were so brave that even the King of Qin and Liu Bang had to coax them to fight for their lives.
"During the Yongchu period of the Later Han Dynasty, a number of Qiang people entered Hanzhong. They were defeated by the Banshield Soldiers. The Qiang people were terrified and called them divine soldiers. They told their people not to travel south again."
"In the second year of Jianhe, the Qiang invaded again, and the shield soldiers defeated them again and again."
"If there were no wooden shields, the people of Shu would all have their hair loose and wear clothes with the left side of their clothes on."
"The seven surnames of Bandun have made great contributions since the Battle of Muye until the Qin Dynasty. They defeated the Three Qins, conquered Yelang, destroyed Laoshen, subdued the King of Dian, killed Qiang captives, and defeated evil bandits. They participated in all the battles. They fought against the Qin soldiers, the Southwestern Yi, the Qiang people, the Tianshi Daoists, the Cao army, and the Jin army. Which one did they not fight?"
"Now the Liang bandits have come again. I cannot stand them. All you generals need to do is to attack them."
After saying these words, the Bantunman officers and soldiers became visibly angry.
Ever since the Battle of Muye when they conquered King Zhou, the Qiang people have been a powerful force, fighting in the south and the north, in the east and the west. Their entire history is a history of conquest. How much has the world changed today compared to the Qin and Han dynasties?
Just kill the enemy!
After resting for a night in the valley, the army continued to move forward on December 17. At this time, the Bandunman vanguard was only a hundred miles away from Hanfeng County.
******
In the early morning light, there were shouts and neighs of horses in the valley.
The scouts leaped back and forth in the mountains, sometimes cutting through the bushes and dead vines in front of them and moving forward quickly; sometimes climbing up the rocks by grabbing the exposed tree roots and trudging forward with difficulty.
The first battalion of troops has already set off. These are the Qiang soldiers from the Xu clan of Quren, or the Baihuyi barbarian soldiers. They are of the same clan as the Bandun barbarians of Baxi. Sometimes they are also called the Bandun barbarians in a broad sense, rather than the Baihuyi - the Bandun barbarians in a narrow sense are no more than the seven clans of Baxi.
Xu Yaozu kicked away the wild vines that were entangled with the halberd and looked dimly at the Liang army scouts who were waving flags.
The air is filled with the smell of rotten sweat, mixed with the musty smell of dead branches and leaves, which makes people feel "refreshed" when it rushes into their noses.
He looked at his own team again.
The total of two thousand people were not all from his own tribe. There were also people from his mother's family, his wife's family, and his brother-in-law's family. They had to be able to fight and be familiar with the roads. They also had to have familiar faces in the tribes in Hanfeng and even further northwest.
Their family actually fled back from Shu, and originally lived in Zhi County, Ba County. They were relatives of the Xu family of Quren, Badong County.
In the 250th year of Yan Xi of the Shu Han Dynasty (), the prominent family Xu Ju rebelled. General Deng Zhi suppressed the rebellion and moved families of the prominent families Xu, Lin, Xie, and Fan (Fan Changsheng's family) to Shu to serve as hunting and archery officials.
After Li Cheng entered Shu, Xu Yaozu's father fled back to his hometown in Zhi County with his people and took refuge with Luo Shang (nephew of Luo Xian), the governor of Yizhou in Jin.
The army rushed to Ba County, but seeing that they were no match for the enemy, they went to Badong to seek refuge with their relatives, where they have lived until today.
Xu Yaozu spent his entire adolescence in Shuzhong. Now that he is nearly 50 years old, he misses those spirited youthful years more and more.
"Bang!" A crisp sound came from the front, interrupting his memories.
Xu Yaozu looked up and saw that a swordsman accidentally hit a stone while cutting thorns, causing a crack in his ring-handled sword. He was immediately distressed.
He sighed and said nothing. The Qiang people are poor!
Most people wore straw or linen sandals, some of whose soles were almost worn through and they were just wrapped with something.
A well-made ring-handled sword is really valuable in the tribe. I'm sure that guy must be heartbroken.
There was a commotion behind me.
A moment later, dozens of people came over, escorting a young soldier.
"Captain Huan." Xu Yaozu immediately saluted.
Huan Wen was very polite and returned the greeting, saying, "Mr. Xu."
While exchanging greetings, he glanced at Xu Yaozu's troops.
The most eye-catching thing is the caravans composed of ponies. In addition to food, the most common item they carry is quivers.
The Qiang people are good at crossbow shooting.
During the Han Dynasty, the Red Armor Army used Qiang people as their soldiers. During the Shu Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang sent 3,000 Qiang families from Fuling to Hanzhong to serve as crossbowmen.
At the beginning of the Jin Dynasty, crossbowmen from Ba County were sent to garrison Lianshao in Fengyi County.
The Ba people in Guanzhong were formed by generations of conscription and migration since the Han Dynasty.
Dong Wu, the leader of the Ba people in Hedong, was one of them, as was Xu Kupeng, the chieftain of the Ba people in Guanzhong who was suppressed by Liu Han.
They used many types of crossbows.
Bamboo crossbows were still in use during the Qin Dynasty. As generations served as mercenaries for the Central Plains dynasties, the types of crossbows increased and became more and more sophisticated. They even had huge Yuanrong crossbows, but they were not brought on this expedition.
The only thing that still retains the Qiangba tradition is probably the medicine crossbow, which is also their standard weapon.
In short, this is a militia force whose main forces are swordsmen, halberd soldiers and crossbowmen, but we don't know what its actual combat effectiveness is.
If it is still possible, Huan Wen suggested that the emperor recruit some people to garrison in Liangzhou, Shazhou, Hezhou, Daiguo and even Liaoxi. At least they can fire crossbows continuously when defending the city, which will be very effective.
"How long is it from here to Hanfeng?" Huan Wen asked.
"About seventy miles." Xu Yaozu said.
"The entire army only has enough food for twenty days, and there is not much food left in Hanfeng. After we go there, will we be able to raise food locally?" Huan Wen asked again.
Upon hearing this, Xu Yaozu thought to himself that this person was too impatient.
You are the prince consort, why are you so addicted to gambling and so eager to make achievements?
But he still said: "This is why I am used."
When Huan Wen heard this, he laughed and felt a little relieved.
******
On the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month, the sky was getting dark and the city of Hanfeng was already in sight.
The weather was not very good, cold and damp.
Also, why is there so much fog in this damn place? Is this a foggy city?
Huan Wen stood on a high slope and looked back at his troops who were struggling in the mountains.
It's the sixth day in the mountains, and the condition of the entire team is not satisfactory.
Some people's clothes were torn by the branches, and some people's cheeks were scratched by thorns, and blood seeped into their salt-frost covered uniforms.
During the march, many mules and horses were lost, as well as the equipment, food and meat they were carrying.
Fortunately, we didn't bring a horse-drawn carriage, otherwise we would not have been able to reach Hanfeng at all. But we didn't know whether the army had so many mules and horses. If not, we could probably only bring ox carts or horse carts, but that would seriously slow down the march.
Along the way, Huan Wen also saw many human bones that had been washed white by rain, most of which were scattered among the cliffs.
Or damaged vehicles would just overturn in the mountains and forests and slowly rot.
Among the rocky peaks, one can occasionally see rusty arrowheads, and I wonder which ancient war they were left over from.
too difficult!
He can walk dozens of miles a day on flat ground, but he can only walk a dozen miles a day on such a mountain road. It is really hard to take credit for this achievement.
"Quack..." A few crows flew up from the forest, circled, and then quickly flew north, blending into the deep twilight.
That night, two thousand vanguards led by Xu Yaozu entered Hanfeng County.
In the afternoon of the 23rd, the main force of the Xiangyang transport troops and He Lun's personal soldiers, totaling 1,500 people, arrived.
In the evening, a part of the Right Cavalry Guard arrived.
On the 24th, follow-up troops gradually moved into the vicinity of Hanfeng.
On the 25th, He Fen and Huan Wen, who had rested for two days, were replaced as the vanguard. 1,500 people went out of the west gate of Hanfeng and advanced along the winding mountain road.
At this time, the vanguard of the Cheng army was only more than 20 miles away, just a day or two's journey.
On the 26th, scouts from both sides discovered each other's armies without seeing each other, and the battle was about to break out.
When Huan Wen learned about it, he immediately sent someone to inform Duan Liang, and then led his troops forward quickly.
(I haven't even eaten yet and I'm updating. If you have tickets, please vote quickly. I'll eat first, and then I'll continue writing the chapter that the leader added after dinner.)
(End of this chapter)