Chapter 1338 War on the Grassland

Chapter 1338 War on the Grassland

Chapter 1338 War on the Grassland
She Yiyu led hundreds of cavalry to charge into battle, showing great bravery.

Halfway through the charge, his horse became unsatisfactory, so he rushed back to the camp, changed horses, and charged again with dozens of his followers.

He was a strong man, with thick armor on his body, and a vest on the front half of his horse, so he had to do a lot of actions. Therefore, when the battle was about to end, he went back cursing and changed to his third horse of the day.

And with his final charge, the Murong Xianbei finally couldn't hold on and fled in all directions.

"What a beast!" This was the scene he saw when Pugu Zhongchen, the commander-in-chief of the Hengchong Camp, arrived at the battlefield.

They did not stay for long. After sending a messenger to inform them, they took nearly a thousand elite cavalrymen to chase after them.

The defeated Xianbei soldiers were scattered everywhere, which was quite strange.

After chasing for a while, Pu Gu Zhongchen captured several prisoners, tortured them repeatedly, and finally forced them to tell him the location of the tribe. He then rode his horse in pursuit.

No wonder the defeated soldiers ran around. First, they wanted to confuse the pursuers and lead them elsewhere in an attempt to protect the elderly, the weak, women and children in the tribe. Second, they were more likely to escape if they dispersed - at least some of them could get away.

After sorting out the clues, the Hengchong Battalion quickly chased in the northeast direction.

The road is not easy to walk on.

It's summer, and there are a lot of mosquitoes. Not only do people feel uncomfortable from their bites, but horses can't stand it either.

Sometimes they would encounter large swamps. They were not familiar with the area and could only rely on prisoners to lead the way, which delayed them for some time.

When camping at night, everyone in the camp was choked by the smoke, but the mosquitoes still survived tenaciously, and then rushed towards people like a black cloud - yes, it was like a black cloud, because it was very dense, so dense that it was scary.

When they set out in the early morning, everyone's morale was a little low. At the same time, they secretly cursed Yuwen Xianbei for being like a fool. He was the one who discovered the thieves first, but the battle location between the two sides was more than a day away from the tribe's location. There was no surprise at all, and it was a useless battle.

She Yi was brave, but he was fighting with the strong enemies all day long and was unable to attack their old, weak, women and children, nor to plunder their cattle, sheep and other livestock. When would this fight end?
After passing through a filthy reed forest and climbing over a hill, Pu Gu Zhongchen, with mud on his feet, saw a vast valley between the mountains.

The valley was large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people, but judging from the remains of the camp and the vague remains of livestock pens, only a few thousand people probably lived here.

"He's already run away..." someone murmured.

Pu Gu Zhongchen glared at him, then flicked his whip and said, "You can't run far! Change horses and chase!"

With one order, a few servants who came with the army quickly brought the horses over and sent out a large group of them on the hillside not far away, which was quite spectacular.

The soldiers of the Hengchong Camp changed horses on the spot without saying a word, and followed the governor into the camp, searching carefully. At the same time, they dispatched cavalry to spread out and look for possible clues.

Some people even began to interrogate the captives, asking if they had other pastures for migration, or if they had in-laws from other tribes with which they had good relations. Many tribes on the grassland did not intermarry among themselves, but instead paired up with other tribes, so it was common to hear that certain tribes had been "related by marriage for generations."

The servants led the horses, which were panting after carrying people for a long journey, climbed up to a high place to look into the distance, and discussed with each other where to go to graze the horses.

After the main force left, they only had about a hundred people, and most of them were old. Once they were discovered by the enemy, they had no choice but to run away. In fact, running away was not a big deal, but the key was that these replacement horses could not be sent to the main force. At that time, each of them had one horse and could only walk for two hours a day. After this point, they had to stop to graze the horses, and the speed was greatly reduced. How could they chase the enemy?

Maybe the horses were too slow to eat grass, so why not feed them grain? Horses that eat grain can march much longer in a day. Well, that's easy to say. They carry seven or eight days of dry food when they go out, which is basically for human consumption. How can they feed horses with it? At critical moments, they might even kill and eat horses that are exhausted, sick or injured.

Therefore, the place for grazing horses must first be secret and have abundant grass and water. After the horses have had enough rest, they must immediately catch up with the front team and take over the tired horses to graze.

After a while, these people chose a horse grazing ground, and the soldiers of the Hengchong Camp who rushed into the camp also found clues through horse manure and wheel tracks, and chased them all the way.

The hills and valleys, where people shouted and horses neighed just now, suddenly became empty, leaving only a mess of horse hoof prints on the ground.

This is the grassland, this is the war between tribes.

******
After another day of chasing, changing horses, and taking a detour, the Hengchong Camp finally encountered the enemy.

There were not many enemy troops left in the tribe, and among them there were a few young men who had fled back in panic. At this moment, they all gathered together and could not run away even if they did not run.

The cavalry discovered the pursuing Hengchong Camp seven or eight miles in advance. The men, women and children of the tribe immediately surrounded the carriages and formed three or four small circles.

Almost all men, women, young and old were mobilized.

The three old men, none of whom had even a full set of teeth, were holding spears, swords and shields, their faces numb.

The boy's face turned pale and he bit his lips tightly. He drew his sword and strung his bow, looking as if he was ready to fight to the death, but he kept looking towards his own tent from time to time.

The strong woman had a face full of flesh. She looked at the cavalrymen from the charging camp jogging towards her from afar. She pulled the bow hard and felt it was very easy.

Arrows in their hands can still kill people.

A total of six or seven hundred strong men gathered on the gentle slope of a hill over there, seemingly planning to use the speed of downhill to charge sideways at the soldiers of the Hengchong Camp who were attacking the camp.

Pugu Zhongchen pulled the reins of his horse and took a closer look.

The battlefield was chosen by the enemy, which really makes sense.

Behind them were mountains with lush vegetation, which was not suitable for a flanking charge. On the right was an open space occupied by their own people, and on the left was a stream, leaving only the front for attack.

"General, why don't we wait for half a day? Yuwen's people will be here tonight." A centurion came over and suggested.

Pugu Zhongchen did not answer but asked: "Do you think they are running around, or are they ordered to gather somewhere?"

The centurion thought for a while and said, "Maybe he was in a panic and didn't know where to go."

Pu Gu Zhongchen kicked him and cursed: "With their little capital, they are running around and dying without knowing how. They must have received orders, but the subordinates don't know about this kind of thing, so they can only follow the leader and go wherever he goes."

At this point, he looked at the Xianbei people who were lined up with disdain and said, "You lead 500 people and watch the group on the hill. If they rush down, just defeat them. We have followed Emperor Liang and fought all kinds of battles. Chop them to death one by one and don't accept their surrender."

"Yes, sir." The centurion agreed without further ado.

"Wait." Pugu Zhongchen stopped the centurion who was about to leave and warned him, "The good days are only a few days away, don't forget your roots. Fight well. You have so many children, don't you want to buy some houses in the Central Plains? As long as you have merit, the Great Chanyu is very generous and will give you all the land and houses you need."

"Yes." When the centurion heard about the fields and houses in the Central Plains, his morale suddenly increased by three points, and he immediately went down to mobilize the troops.

Pugu Zhongchen glanced at the others around him and said, "Did you all hear it?"

"I heard it." Everyone responded in unison.

"Get off your horses, hold your swords, shields and spears, and follow me." Pu Gu Zhongchen raised the horse spear in his hand and shouted.

A moment later, three hundred men dismounted and checked their equipment.

Following the Great Chanyu of Emperor Liang, their equipment became more and more sophisticated, and they became more and more accustomed to using these sophisticated equipment to fight. On weekdays, they had no worries about food and drink, as they had their own shepherds and slaves to help them herd and provide them with a variety of food. On several important festivals, they also received silk from the court, which they could sell to merchants from the Western Regions who came from afar.

All in all, their lives have been transformed in a way that can be passed down to future generations.

Now, as long as you continue to make new contributions, the benefits will continue to come.

Of course, if you hesitate and don’t move forward, not only will you lose the current benefits, but you will also lose your head.

The pros and cons are clear, and there is no other way to go.

After one drum beat, three hundred men formed a simple battle formation and marched forward together. Another two hundred men mounted their horses, holding horn bows, and spread out far away, ready to approach and sneak up to shoot arrows.

When the Xianbei herdsmen in the camp saw this, there was some noise at first, and then a few big men stamped their feet and shouted, as if to boost morale.

Pugu Zhongchen and others did not say anything and just moved forward in silence.

When he reached seventy or eighty steps, he slightly quickened his pace.

For a moment, the sound of clanging and clattering continued, and the faces of the three hundred warriors became ferocious. Kill! Kill! Kill!

All the cattle and sheep are mine.

Women are only fit to bear children for me.

Children, be my slaves for the rest of your lives, herding horses and sheep.

The arrows fell and swayed gently on the wooden sign, which instead aroused their ferocity. The three hundred Tuoba Xianbei warriors roared in unison and rushed forward with strange cries.

There is no formation, just one word: charge!

Arrows continued to be fired, and the wooden sign was already covered with white feathers.

There were constant muffled groans among the advancing team.

There were those who were extremely ferocious, with their eyes wide open and arrow shafts trembling on their armor plates. They rushed to the front of the carriage and jumped on.

Several spears stabbed at him and penetrated into the gaps between the armor plates.

The old man Murong Xianbei's face was no longer numb, but horrified. However, he still did not give in and thrust forward with his spear.

"Swoosh!" The bowstring almost scraped the face of the strong woman of Murong Xianbei. The arrow broke through the air and instantly pierced through the neck of the Tuoba Xianbei warrior and came out through the neck.

The young man wiped his tears and fought bravely against the enemy with sword and spear.

According to legend, once a tribe is attacked, whether half-grown children like them can survive depends entirely on whether the other party is merciful enough. If the other party does not want you, your fate will be worse than those children and women, and you will definitely die.

Many people fell in the charging team, but more rushed into the convoy.

They were under the attack of arrows and swords and spears, and felt pain on their bodies from time to time, but they became more violent and ferocious like wild beasts that had lost blood. They jumped off the chariots, exchanging injuries for injuries, fighting for their lives, and disregarding everything else.

Two hundred knights rode up on horseback, holding horn bows firmly, drawing the bows and drawing arrows from time to time. As long as the bowstrings sounded, there would be a harvest.

The sound of hurried horse hooves was heard on the southern hillside, and the sound of horse hooves was also heard on the south side of their own side. The five hundred riders rushed forward without any avoidance.

The mounted archers put away their horn bows, drew their secondary weapons from their scabbards, and leaped into the gap opened by the charging men on horseback.

With a wave of the knife, the old head spun on the ground.

The boy's chest was deflated by the iron hooves.

The iron hammer was swung, and every time it hit someone, someone's head would be broken.

Some people even pulled out a rope, put it directly around a person's neck, and then dragged the person behind the horse and ran away.

The fire started and the whole camp was filled with smoke. The old, weak, women and children of Murong Xianbei could not hold on any longer and fled in all directions.

But how easy is it?

The cavalry easily rushed in front of them, firing arrows at them, telling them with blood that escape was impossible.

Many people were in despair, kneeling on the ground and crying.

Others stumbled and ran, looking to the south from time to time, and then became even more desperate, because their fathers, brothers, and sons were directly defeated after a round of charge and fled into the distant mountains and forests.

The soldiers of Tuoba Xianbei also saw it and burst into laughter.

After waiting for a long time and making sure that the enemy had been driven away, they collectively transformed into wild beasts and turned the entire camp into a paradise for venting their anger.

The running woman was knocked to the ground and thrown onto the haystack, dragging her feet backwards.

The woman struggled while searching for her son.

Her clothes were soon torn to shreds, revealing her huge breasts that dazzled the eyes in the sunlight.

The rough black hands rubbed it hard, leaving black marks and blood marks.

The woman soon saw her son, who was knocked to the ground by a Tuoba Xianbei soldier.

She was about to open her mouth, but her eyes suddenly widened. The enemy lying on her back had begun to move.

The son had just gotten up when he was knocked to the ground again. However, he did not give in and started cursing.

The man who captured him seemed to have lost his patience and felt that this was not a good slave, so he cut him with a knife and the boy bled profusely.

The woman finally burst into tears.

The son did not die immediately and tried to get up with difficulty, but was soon chopped again and finally stopped moving.

The woman cried loudly, but the man lying on her back showed no mercy. After a long time, he roared, pinched her nipples tightly, and panted like a cow.

The woman lay silently on the haystack, new seeds growing in her body.

To the men who are constantly fighting on the grassland, they are nothing more than tools for reproduction.

No one cares whether they hate me or not. If they want to play, they can play. If they want to fight, they can fight. If they want to kill, they can kill. Anyway, they are the spoils I have robbed.

On the other side, a group of teenagers were arrested.

One of them was dragged to the wheel of a carriage, his braids were grabbed tightly, and his face was turned upside down.

His face was covered with tear marks, his whole body was shaking unconsciously, and his knees bent subconsciously.

"Stand up straight!" A man kicked him and gestured carefully with a knife.

After a moment, he spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on the boy's face and said, "You can't tame him anymore."

As soon as he finished speaking, the steel knife slashed at the boy's neck, and a large amount of blood gushed out.

The braid was loosened, and the boy fell to the ground, his eyes were blank, his mouth was full of blood, and he could hear a faint "chuckle".

The body was quickly dragged away, and then the second round of gestures began.

It was unknown how long it had been before Pu Gu, a loyal minister, personally struck the golden bell.

When the gong sounded, the soldiers who were celebrating were startled subconsciously and turned their heads to look back, only to see the commander holding high the yellow axe bestowed by Emperor Liang, the Great Chanyu, so they immediately stopped their actions.

Some people had taken off their pants and were now hurriedly putting them on.

Someone had just captured a young boy who had been hiding for a long time and was about to chop off his head. When he heard the gong sound, he put away his knife, took out a leather rope, tied the boy's hands, and put him on the cart.

Someone was executing the prisoners, but when he heard the gong sound, he stopped and looked at the pale-faced Murong Xianbei surrendered people, saying, "You are lucky."

Military orders are military orders and cannot be violated in the slightest.

After allocating some personnel to escort the spoils, Pugu Zhongchen replenished a lot of war horses and food, rested in the camp for a night, and continued to advance the next day, moving closer to She Yi Yu and Yuwen Yeli's tribes.

(End of this chapter)