Chapter 1344 Arrived

Chapter 1344 Arrived

Chapter 1344 Arrived
The scenery outside the Great Wall is unique. Artemisia, yellow clouds, mountains and lakes constitute the main theme of the earth, as if no one has developed it for thousands of years.

Year after year, the withered grass rots into mud, allowing new grass to thrive. Livestock are almost invisible when they walk through it. It is not an exaggeration to say that when the wind blows the grass low, you can see cattle and sheep. It is really a world of difference compared to some semi-arid grasslands in the west.

Another gust of south wind blew. It was evening and the sky was about to darken. Zhang Chong led hundreds of cavalrymen and traveled through the green sea of ​​grass like a boat.

The horse was a little tired, its long mane was covered with grass seeds and dandelions, and it kept snorting.

The knight was also a little tired. Broken grass stems could be seen everywhere in the gaps of his leather armor, his reins were covered with patches of grass juice, and fine salt crystals were vaguely visible behind his neck.

Zhang Chong suddenly raised his hand, and the more than 300 riders behind him stopped one after another, and the entire team froze in an instant.

He gently brushed away the cockleburs hanging on his mount's ears and looked carefully at a wave of grass that was parted in front of him.

After a while, he dismounted and looked carefully at the ground, occasionally picking up a pile of feces-like things, gently pinching and sniffing them.

A few more people came over from behind. They stood in the sea of ​​grass, bathing in the sunset glow and the south wind, talking carefully, and occasionally pointing to the mountains and rivers in the south, arguing endlessly.

After a while, the argument ended. Several people led more than ten riders each, split into several groups, and headed in different directions.

Zhang Chong dispatched people to report back, and then led a large group of people to a hill.

The ridge is covered with pine, poplar and birch trees. When the wind blows, the branches and leaves rustle.

Looking at the grassland in the woods, the grass is dense and growing very thick.

"This grassland is much better than some places in Tuoba clan." Zhang Chong patted the towering tree and said with emotion.

"Some people don't want to go back." The personal soldier took the reins and said, "Master, you don't know that the last time I went back to deliver a message, I met the Hexi tribe north of Yixin Mountain. They kept saying that the pastures here are much better than those north of Yin Mountain."

"It's just too cold." Zhang Chong said with a smile.

"It's cold north of the Yin Mountains, too." The personal soldier loosened the horse's belly straps skillfully and said, "Besides, even if it's a little cold, at least there's plenty of rain in the summer and the grass grows lushly, so we don't have to worry about winter. Some places in Henan and Liangzhou are too dry, with a lot of sand. It takes a long time for the grass to grow after it's eaten. They often say that after a heavy rain in the summer, the grass grows like crazy, which shows how important rain is."

"You are quite talkative." Zhang Chong sat cross-legged, leaning against the tree trunk, and said with a smile: "I asked you to go back and pass on the message, not to chat with others."

"I'm not good at idle talk." The guard laughed, picked up the Hu pancake and water bag, handed them to Zhang Chong, and said, "There are only three left. After eating them, there will only be cheese and meat jerky."

“Why should we be so particular when we are away from home?” Zhang Chong took the dry and hard Hu pancake, broke off a corner and put it into his mouth, chewing it like a stone.

The knights at the foot of the hill have begun to set up a simple camp and assigned personnel to patrol.

"Someone will send a horse over in the evening," the bodyguard reminded.

Zhang Chong nodded and began to think about where to hand over the horse to someone.

They were the vanguard, and after handing over the horses, they continued to move south.

In fact, a long-distance run on the grassland is neither fast nor slow.

What limits the speed of progress is never horsepower, but logistical supplies.

They only selected horses that were fat and strong with great endurance, but horses, like humans, need to eat after all, and no matter how strong or how good the endurance of a horse is, it has its limits.

Within a certain distance, the speed of a horse-riding charge is astonishing, far beyond the reach of infantry and charioteers. But beyond a certain distance, such as thousands of miles, it is hard to say.

When they first set out, they walked 200 miles on the first day, far ahead of their peers. On the second day, they walked 140 miles. On the third day, they walked less than 100 miles. On the fourth day, they walked 70 miles...

Even though they often rotate riding, it is obvious that the horses that were fat and strong when they set out are now very weak and need to rest longer and longer every day. From grazing for three hours a day at the beginning, it has become grazing for most of the day, and night grass has to be added at night.

There is only one way to increase the speed, and that is to completely replace this batch of horses instead of rotating them for grazing and rest. The horses delivered tonight have never been ridden before, and have run empty-handed all the way here.

After changing horses, they braced themselves and gave the thieves a good smack on the butt.

We have already found some clues, and we cannot afford to lose this one.

******
Shao Shen was still in the Zuoleshui area when he received the news.

When the river reaches this place, it turns south and becomes part of the Liao River - roughly located north of the later Shuangliao.

The Zuole River (also known as Raole River) has lush aquatic plants on both sides and stretches as far as the eye can see, but it is so flat that it makes people despair. It seems that no matter how far you run, you can't escape from this flat land.

It was midsummer, but the climate here was very cool, much more comfortable than Jiangling, where Shao Shen had been. Of course, winter was another matter, but it was indeed very comfortable.

The northern army has been divided into two. The right wing is led by Yuwen Yidugui, who is equipped with the three battalions of Hengchong, Zhenwu and Huangjia, and 5,000 light cavalry of the Tuoba clan, totaling more than 40,000 people, and they are attacking the northern and eastern parts of Changli directly.

The left wing was led by Shao Shen, the main force, with a total of more than 70,000 people. They went east along the Raole River, then turned south to attack Xuantu in a roundabout way.

The decision to divide the troops was made temporarily. After learning that the herdsmen of the Murong clan mostly avoided the main battlefield of Jicheng and headed east, Shao Shen made a prompt decision and led the main force to take a detour. There is an advantage of marching on the grassland east of the Great Xianbei Mountain (Daxing'anling), that is, you can march along the iconic river and it is not easy to get lost, which is an advantage that the grasslands in the west do not have.

Shao Shen has stayed in this place for two days. In addition to raising horsepower, his main purpose is to wait for the cattle and sheep.

Cattle and sheep are the source of mobile logistics, like an invisible string leading you. You can run forward as wildly as you want, but after running for a distance, the string becomes tighter and tighter, and eventually you have to stop and wait.

Of course, there are ways to crack it, just rob it.

They did rob a few tribes along the way, but it was not enough. And the stolen livestock still had to be herded by people, so when they could not rob anything in front, they had to stop.

This is the vast grassland.

By the way, the tribes that we robbed still don’t know who they are, because most of the captives themselves can’t clearly explain who they are, it’s amazing...

Only a tribe that we defeated the day before yesterday said they were Buyeo people. Shao Shen didn't bother to care about it. If the King of Buyeo had the guts, he could come to me to reason with me. This made me unhappy, so I rushed into Buyeo and robbed people - Buyeo developed both agriculture and animal husbandry, and had cities. Even if I couldn't break into the cities, I would capture all your people in the wild and see if you are anxious enough.

You know what, yesterday a general suggested that we should attack the Fuyu Kingdom in the east, after all, those people are farmers, and there must be food in the country. Shao Shen rejected it, and the most important thing now is to defeat Murong Xianbei first, and it is not appropriate to cause trouble.

In his opinion, defeating, slaughtering and plundering the people of the Murong tribe is more important than conquering Jicheng, because this is a matter of cutting off the foundation of the Murong clan.

Although Jicheng was breached, Murong Xianbei's tribe was still there, so there was still a chance for revival.

The tribe is gone, and even if Jicheng is still there, the Murong family is almost finished.

The battlefield outside Jicheng is the key point.

So, when Shao Shen received the military report sent back by the vanguard soldiers of Gaoliu Town on the evening of July 1st, he was overjoyed.

After marching on the grassland for so many days, are we finally going to come into contact with Murong’s people?

Without hesitation, he immediately ordered the Tuqi commander of Youzhou, the troops of the two garrisons of Hongcheng and Wuzhou, and the Hedouling tribe of the Tuoba Xianbei, totaling 10,000 cavalry, to march south overnight and rush to provide assistance.

After the order was given, he boarded another baggage cart and looked to the west.

On the horizon, there were tents as far as the eye could see, and countless carriages and horses formed circles, forming independent camps.

There are many small camps outside this huge camp. And this is actually only a part of the whole army. There are still people one hundred miles or two hundred miles away...

Marching on the grassland is so loose, so in ancient times there were always people who suddenly rushed to the Chanyu's tent, as if the hundreds of thousands of tribal people around were just decorations - well, they were too far away. When the Chanyu was already fighting with others, the leaders of other tribes really didn't know what was going on.

The order Shao Shen had just issued even took a whole day to deliver by express horse. If they were unlucky, the troops would have already moved and they would not be able to find the people, so they would have to pass the message back and forth, which would be very time-consuming.

He was surrounded by only 10,000 cavalrymen of the Yicong Army, 3,000 crossbowmen, 1,000 archers, and 1,000 cavalrymen, a total of 15,000 people, which was already the largest force within a radius of 100 miles.

But no matter how scattered the troops are, their goal is the same, namely Xuantu.

******
Zhang Chong headed south without waiting for reinforcements. He didn't even know that reinforcements were coming, because when the messenger arrived at the camp, he only saw a field of grass trampled by horses and more than a dozen fires that had long been extinguished.

Five hundred cavalrymen from Gaoliu Town, carrying more than a thousand horses, arrived at the Daliao River in the early morning of the fourth day of July. They all crossed the river in the morning and continued forward into Gaoxian County of Xuantu County, which was located west of Tieling in later generations.

As soon as they arrived, they were discovered by the patrolling Murong cavalry.

Before noon, the news had spread to the county town.

When Ku Li Guan Xi learned about it, he cursed inwardly, "It turns out they are coming from the north." He did not dare to be negligent. While organizing people to resist the enemy, he quickly reported to the county capital.

In Goguryeo County, Murong Jun and Murong Biao were both dismayed when they learned that the Liang people were invading from the north.

Although Kuli Guanxi said there were only "several hundred cavalrymen", everyone knew that this was just the vanguard, and it was hard to say how many people were following behind.

Considering that the Liang cavalry had recently advanced from Yiwulü Mountain to the east and tried to enter the Liaoze to search, as well as the Liang navy that was elusive on the Liaoshui River, everyone became nervous.

Although it is said that they can run away if they cannot win the battle, they really cannot run away now, unless they flee eastward into the territory of Goguryeo, but is that possible?
While they were urgently discussing this, news came from Wangping County in the west: a Liang navy appeared on the Liao River, and they seemed to be planning to land and capture Wangping County.

Murong Jun and Murong Biao looked at each other and saw the fear in each other's eyes.

Yesterday, news came from the south that Murong Ren was advancing northward in a large scale. The tribes sent to meet the enemy turned against him and obeyed Murong Ren as their leader, because he was the genuine Duke of Xuantu County canonized by the Daliang court.

Today, bad news came from the north and west. This is no longer a matter of fighting, but a matter of human hearts.

Are people really willing to fight for you to the end?
When you were at the city of Pingguo, since there were tribes that turned against Murong Ren in the face of battle, today there are tribes that dare to betray you, Murong Jun.

It’s ridiculous that he thought he had more money than his father who was trapped in Jicheng…

(End of this chapter)