Liu Cong's surprise attack on Maojin happened as quickly as it came.
Many things on the battlefield are like this. I set a tactical intention and then race against time to implement it. If it succeeds, it is also a success; if it fails, it is not surprising.
Obviously, Liu Cong's tactical intention failed.
The 5,000 cavalrymen who traveled hundreds of miles to attack Maojin only managed to return 1,600 cavalrymen.
That night, another two hundred riders came back.
The next day, I came back for another hundred rides.
Then it was gone.
It is said that some people have broken through the pass, but it is unknown where they are now or whether they are still alive.
When Liu Cong received the news, Liu Yuan's envoy, Han Zongzheng Hu Yanyou, had just arrived.
Liu Cong didn't have a good look on him.
One is because of the news of defeat.
The second reason is that this man has no ability and the court really has no official position for him, so he can only be regarded as Zongzheng - Huyanyou is the son of Huyanyi and the nephew of Queen Huyan.
Moreover, this person's attitude is very bad.
"The emperor has ordered us to return to the court!" Hu Yanyou pulled Liu Yuan's tiger skin and responded loudly in front of the generals.
Liu Cong glared at him with eyes that wanted to kill someone.
"You..." Hu Yanyou took half a step back, a little scared.
"Your Highness." Dahonglu Fan Long stood between the two of them and said with a smile: "Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists. The country that leads the bow on the grassland has more than 100,000 cavalry, but today it has only lost thousands of troops, so what should we fear? The emperor
I have always taken good care of His Highness, and now I can return quickly to report on the battle situation. When we set out next month, Your Highness can still be the vanguard."
When Fan Long said the first half of the sentence, Liu Cong had no reaction. When he heard the second half of the sentence, his face brightened slightly.
Fan Long observed his words and knew that the persuasion was effective, and he was secretly relieved.
He knew the King of Chu very well and knew that he had a very stubborn temper and a strong competitive spirit. He was easy to get into trouble when fighting, but he was probably not easy to persuade.
It had been decided long ago that the army would launch in October, with 50,000 cavalry and more than 100,000 infantrymen. Attacking Luoyang was the minimum goal.
It had been decided long ago that the King of Chu would be the vanguard. After all, there were few in the Han clan who were good at fighting.
King Liu Cong of Chu is one, King Liu Yao of Shi'an is another, and King Liu Jing of Ruyin is also one, but the latter two are not His Majesty's sons, so there is still a difference between them.
Fan Long actually didn't agree with Liu Cong being a pioneer.
The military system of the Han Dynasty was different from that of the Jin Dynasty. It always had heavy cavalry and light infantry. The vanguard commander Ding Ran commanded the cavalry and could be said to control the elite of the country.
Once Liu Cong becomes the vanguard, he will have to hand over 50,000 elite cavalry selected from hundreds of thousands of Xiongnu headquarters, Han troops, Jie Zhong, Wuhuan, Hexi Diqiang, Xianbei tribes and Daibei Zahu.
It's in his hands.
Liu Cong's temper can only be said to be good or bad.
Fan Long was very worried. Once he was frustrated at the gate of Luoyang City, he refused to retreat no matter what. He even overruled the emperor's will and insisted on winning the battle before leaving.
A general will not raise an army out of anger, this is the most basic thing.
Chu Wang Cong may not be able to do it.
"Since there is an edict from the emperor——" When Liu Cong said this, he paused.
Wang Mi stood aside, not knowing how to describe his feelings. But now he had no choice. Fortunately, all the capital was not lost, so he could start from scratch.
Hu Yanyou became arrogant again and looked at him with a sneer.
What about the emperor? Without the support of Huyan clan, the emperor would not be able to secure his position.
Liu Cong is either a great victory or a great defeat in battles. How can he say that?
"Then withdraw the troops." Liu Cong said the second half of the sentence with difficulty: "But-"
Fan Long, Hu Yanyou's heart was raised again.
"You can send part of the cavalry to ambush outside Hongnong City. If the bandits come out of the city to pursue them, they may be killed," Liu Cong said again.
Fan Long sighed secretly in his heart.
The King of Chu still refused to give up and wanted to make a fortune before leaving.
But it doesn't matter if we send cavalry to ambush.
If there is no ambush, just retreat, simply and neatly. Moreover, we should really be prepared for Yuan Yan to leave the city to pursue him. Although he has been beaten to the point where he has no strength, it is unlikely that he will leave the city.
"I am only responsible for conveying the order. How to withdraw is up to Your Highness," Fan Long said.
Liu Cong nodded and immediately gave the order.
After a while, more than 10,000 cavalrymen who were marching began to turn around and return to Hongnong.
In the afternoon of the second day of September, the army returned to Hongnong.
There was silence inside and outside the county city, as if the previous brutal siege did not exist.
Liu Cong glanced at the city head with hatred, where the big flag with the word "Yuan" was flying high, as if it was mocking him.
"Get out!" He flicked his riding whip and headed towards Zhujin.
Wang Mi's tribe has already withdrawn a group of people to Hebei, and now there are still 15,000 to 6,000 people left in Henan.
After receiving the order, they broke out of camp one after another and crossed the river in batches.
The remaining four thousand Xiongnu cavalry were roaming far away, monitoring Hongnong City.
In the past, they were extremely eager for the enemy to abandon the fortified city and then surround and annihilate them in the wilderness.
But now, I don’t think so much.
After suffering two big losses in a row, I have lost my morale and need time to recover.
The entire retreat was very peaceful.
The two sides seemed to have a tacit understanding, thus ending the war that lasted for half a month.
When the last group of Huns cavalry left, they dismantled and destroyed the pontoon bridge.
Inside and outside the river, calm was restored again.
****
On the second day of September, Shao Xun accompanied the last batch of evacuating soldiers to leave Dayang County and arrived at the south bank.
Almost like Liu Cong, he ordered the floating bridge to be burned down to isolate the north from the south.
After arriving in Shaanxi County, the entire army went straight to Hongnong without rest.
When passing Qili Pass, he stopped and took a look.
The battlefield has been cleared, but there are still less obvious blood stains, broken arrows, and broken weapons left in the grass ravines.
"Remember it." He said suddenly.
The soldiers brought in desks, pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and the clerks sat down and prepared to record.
"Liu Cong has a strong temper, refuses to admit defeat, and is prone to anger." Shao Xun said, "His military style——"
"Be bold and courageous and willing to take risks."
"There are only two outcomes for this man's war, a great victory or a great defeat."
The writing pen moved swiftly and quickly, writing down notes.
"Liu Cong has a strategic strategy in fighting and can see the key points at a glance. In front of him, pretending to be mysterious can easily be self-defeating. A steady and steady tactics is most suitable for dealing with this kind of person." Even if he is an enemy, Shao Xun is not willing to slander him too much.
In fact, he gave Liu Cong a neutral evaluation and did not look down on him just because he had just won.
Liu Cong sent cavalry to attack Maojin, which was indeed a bit risky, but his tactical intention was very bold.
After a little deduction, we can see that the main force of our side is in Dayang, Hebei. Liu Cong used the high-speed maneuverability of the cavalry to attack the empty Maojin and burn the pontoon bridge, which would cause great trouble to Shao Xun.
It's just that Shao always fights smoothly.
When leaving the Erling Mausoleum of Koban, Li Chong was left behind to garrison with thousands of troops to secure his retreat.
When heading north to Dayang, Zhang Gu and Yu An were ordered to ambush at Qili Pass in the southwest of Shaanxi County. They even assigned armored cavalry to them. This was also a tactic to stabilize the back road - it was not expected to actually ambush the enemy, it was just a one-hand move.
It was just preparation, and he was satisfied to return without success, because it meant that the enemy did not come to steal his retreat.
Historically, there were many generals who liked to advance quickly with light troops, and some of them even entered history books and were praised by others.
But the rapid advance of light troops means huge risks, and the best thing is to be surprised.
Once the enemy is prepared, he will most likely fail to succeed and may even suffer serious losses.
When Liu Cong met Shao Xun, it can only be said that he was unlucky. He happened to meet the turtle school who likes to fight hard and fight stupidly.
If he met a general who also liked taking risks, he might succeed.
So, there is nothing to laugh at the enemy.
Each general has a different personality and style.
In fact, Shao Xun sometimes wants to try Liu Cong's fighting style, because he is stable in fighting, but sometimes it is easy to miss good opportunities - some fighter opportunities require you to reduce your own safety redundancy and risk defeat to capture them.
, but he is not willing to take too big risks.
"It is particularly important to analyze the enemy general's character and style." Shao Xun added one last sentence.
After the paperwork was recorded, it was submitted.
After reading it, Shao Xun felt that there was nothing wrong with it, so he handed it back and said: "After the class, it will be included in the "History of the Silver Spear Army"."
"No." The clerk took it carefully.
After returning home, I have to polish it up and compile it into a war history, which will be used in Liang County martial arts teaching in the future.
The army continued to move forward and arrived at Hongnong on the fifth day of September.
The prefect Yuan Yan personally came out of the city to greet him.
Shao Xun looked at this man carefully.
He has an unattractive appearance, is short and stocky, his skin color is even a little dark, and his hands have thick calluses.
Is this really a scholar?
Or is it that the gentry in the border areas who have been facing the threat of war for a long time are different from the gentry in the Central Plains?
"Master Yuanfu has done a great job." Shao Xun said with a smile, "You even fooled me."
Yuan Yan smiled bitterly and said, "If the governor hadn't come to help, Hongnong would have fallen sooner or later."
Shao Xun looked at the more than a thousand Hongnong County soldiers arrayed in the distance and asked: "How many soldiers do you have left?"
"More than 1,600." As the two of them were talking, they had already arrived in front of the county soldiers arrayed in formation. Yuan Yan said: "I also recruited some strong men. After the Xiongnu withdrew, they dispersed and returned home."
Shao Xun nodded and looked at these soldiers who had experienced many battles.
"Shao Sima."
"General Shao."
Several officers couldn't help shouting.
"Oh? Wait -" Shao Xun took a closer look and found that he looked familiar.
"We are from the army of the Kingdom of the East China Sea, and we came with Captain Mi back then."
"It turns out it's you!" Shao Xun happily walked over, held hands, and said in surprise: "When I see an old friend, I feel so enlightened."
Several people were very happy.
While he was talking, more than ten people came over and said in unison: "See Shao Sima."
Shao Xun looked at it and didn't quite recognize it, but he still pretended to be happy and said, "I'll have a drink with you tonight."
In order to conquer Sima Yong in the west of Chang'an, Mi Huang served as the prefect of Hongnong as General Xizhonglang and brought 1,500 royal troops with him.
When he was promoted from Guanzhong Banshi to Sili Xiaowei, Mi Huang took away all the key personnel, leaving about a thousand people behind.
Now several years have passed and many wars have gone through. I don't know how many of those thousand people are left.
Yuan Yan watched silently.
At this time, he finally realized the influence of this famous Luyang County Duke.
It's true that wherever he goes, there are soldiers he has led.
The dozen or so people he spoke to were considered the backbone of the county soldiers and had rich experience.
If he wants to take over the Hongnong County Army, there probably won't be many obstacles.
After talking to the military academies, Shao Xun, surrounded by the army, entered Hongnong County.
When entering the city, he asked Yuan Yan: "The Xiongnu army is very large, and they will invade in large numbers sooner or later. Do you have any strategies?"
"Can Mr. Shao make it clear?" Yuan Yan said.
"If the Huns gather more than 100,000 troops to invade, Hongnong cannot defend it. How about retreating to Yiyang?" Shao Xun looked into his eyes and asked.
Yuan Yan was hesitant to make a decision.
He is a prefect, and he has the responsibility to guard the territory. He can't just leave. This is difficult.
Chapter completed!