Fangcheng Mountain has been famous since ancient times.
Du Xuan of the Imperial Dynasty annotated "Zuo Zhuan": "Fangcheng Mountain is in the south of Ye County, Nanyang."
Nanyang here refers to the entire Nanyang Basin, not Nanyang County, Nanyang Kingdom, just like Hedong sometimes refers to the entire Bingzhou (opposite to Hexi), not Hedong County.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Chu regarded Tongbai, Funiu and many mountains in between as its northern territory.
In the middle of this natural defense line, there is a gap: Fangcheng Pass.
Therefore, the Chu people began to build a city to the north of Fangcheng Mountain and asked the prince to build it to connect to the north.
Today, nearly a thousand years have passed, and Fangcheng Mountain is still the most important traffic pass between Nanyang and Luoyang, or the only dangerous place.
On the ninth day of October, large armies gathered on both sides of Fangcheng Mountain with murderous intent.
The north of Fangcheng Mountain belongs to Ye County, and the south belongs to Duyang - these two counties are both Nanyang counties in Jingzhou.
Ye County was occupied by the Yamen Army in September.
After Li Zhong defeated Li Hong in Wuyang and Ye County, he went all the way south and set up his camp on the Fangcheng Pass, overlooking the entire Nanyang Basin.
Such a crucial place was occupied by the army. Hou Tuo, who was stationed in Wancheng, suddenly felt like a light on his back and was very uncomfortable.
But he didn't have the energy to take care of this place at first, because there were still many remnants of officers and soldiers in Nanyang, and they needed to be cleared one by one.
In addition, it took time to negotiate with the powerful local nobles, so it was delayed. Li Hong was strictly ordered to lead the remaining soldiers to counterattack the Fangcheng Pass in an attempt to capture it.
Li Hong had already lost his courage and his strength was greatly reduced, so naturally there was no result.
After almost finishing his work, as Li Hong complained repeatedly and the intention of the army to move south became more and more obvious, Hou Tuo finally left Wancheng, led the main force to Duyang, and camped in the south of Fangcheng Mountain.
In fact, he didn't want to fight Shao Xun. But if someone wanted to fight him, he had no choice.
Shao Taibai's reputation was still very high. Hou Tuo did not dare to neglect him. He sent out all his elite troops and decided to fight to decide his life or death.
The sky was a bit gloomy today, and the dew was a bit heavy. Outside the army camp on Fangcheng Mountain, the flags were broken and hanging there feebly.
Maybe it's a good sign? Hou Tuo thought to himself.
Suddenly, war drums were beating in the mountains, and more than two hundred horsemen galloped out of the camp, down the gentle slope to the pass, and galloped in the wilderness.
The first man was wearing golden armor and looked majestic.
Behind him was a general, holding a gun in his left hand and some reins in his right hand.
Hou Tuo watched silently.
He knew that the general usually rode the most powerful war horse, and the soldiers around him would also bring a few extra free-running horses for him to ride in the formation.
The most outrageous thing is that some generals who were scholars brought twenty empty horses into battle, and I don’t know why they were afraid of doing so. Twenty horses were not used to change horses for fighting, but mostly for escape.
The golden-armored general in front of him seemed to be a serious warrior. Looking at his riding posture, the route he planned while traveling, and the places he stopped to observe along the way, it was all a choice made by an expert.
Hou Tuo continued to watch.
In the camp, there were already cavalry generals leading people out.
Hundreds of cavalrymen divided into two groups, outflanking them in a roundabout way, with great momentum.
On top of the camp wall, there were even more people beating drums to encourage them and shouting loudly.
Hou Tuo felt the blood all over his body.
This is the battlefield, where men fight wantonly and shed their blood.
The golden-armored general immediately gathered his men and retreated.
Seeing this, our own cavalry shouted loudly and accelerated their horses forward.
The golden-armored general took his time and made a half circle, then began to slow down and turn the horse's head.
The more than 300 cavalrymen outflanking the right wing pursued and were blocked by a small forest. The two to three hundred cavalrymen on the left wing continued their pursuit without stopping.
Hou took off his clothes and felt a little bad.
Sure enough, after turning the horse's head, the golden-armored general led his troops and walked directly around the outside, with the bow strings in his hands ringing continuously.
The soldiers who followed him also shot repeatedly.
They don't shoot people, they specialize in shooting horses, and their archery skills are very accurate, obviously they have been practicing for many years.
The battlefield was full of people and horses, which slightly blocked the route of the subsequent cavalry charge, and the formation was slightly chaotic.
The golden-armored general put away his riding bow and waved his hand, and more than two hundred knights accelerated their speed and rushed towards them.
Like a sharp knife, it instantly cut open the soft abdomen, causing it to drip with blood.
Blood dripping in the physical sense!
Hou Tuo looked around and saw that the opponent's cavalrymen were holding bright armor, and most of them were holding thick horse poles. After rushing over, the large poles were either swept or picked up, and almost no one could defeat the enemy.
The man on the left is tall and as strong as an ox. Against his exaggerated figure, the not-so-dwarf war horse looks as big as a donkey, which makes people laugh.
But those who faced him couldn't laugh.
This man's horse is thicker than the average person, and when he swings it, it makes a rapid sound of breaking through the air, and every time he swings it, he will knock down one or two people.
Many of the cavalrymen he knocked off their horses had bleeding from their mouths and noses, obviously suffering heavy blows.
The fact that Ma Cha produced the effect of Mu Cha can only be attributed to his natural divine power.
The man on the right had his eyes wide open with anger. When he charged, his roar was like thunder, which was heart-wrenching.
Someone was stunned in front of him, and was picked up by Ma Shan and thrown to the ground.
Led by these two men, the opponent's cavalry was so brave that it overwhelmed their left wing in an instant, then circled to the rear of the right wing, followed the same pattern, and charged again.
Hou Tuo's face was extremely ugly.
It is not easy to train cavalry.
The hundreds of horsemen under his command were mostly miscellaneous people from Guanzhong who had followed them to Nanyang to beg for food. They were not bad at all, but they were overwhelmed in one encounter. What should he say?
Of course, he could see it. The reason for this result was not only the gap in combat power between the two sides, but also the opponent's general's feeling on the battlefield was so good, as if he was born knowing how to choose the battle location, seize the opportunity to fight, and use reasonable tactics.
tactics.
He is a natural cavalryman, perhaps from a family of Imperial Guard generals.
Hou Tuo suddenly wanted to kill him. But when he saw his own cavalry retreating in retreat, he sighed and gave up this unrealistic view.
"Hold the camp, there will be no fighting today." Hou Tuo gave the order angrily.
"As ordered." The generals responded one after another.
The morale has dropped slightly. It is really not suitable to fight again today. We need to make some adjustments and restore morale before we start again.
On the opposite side, the golden-armored general has not left yet.
Sometimes he rides his horse and gallops, sometimes he dismounts and observes, and points at the people around him, which is very arrogant.
Everyone just pretended not to see it, out of sight and out of mind.
This battle is indeed difficult to fight. The group of people in front of us seems to be much more difficult to deal with than the Jingzhou Army.
****
After Shao Xun returned to the camp, Li Chong and others immediately surrounded him.
"Send people to attack the bandit camp in the afternoon." Shao Xun threw away his horsewhip and said: "Ding Zhuang from Xiangcheng will attack first, then the auxiliary troops will charge, and the Yamen army will attack last."
"Your Majesty, the number of thieves is no less than 10,000. Although our morale has suffered a slight setback, it will not be a problem to hold on to the fortress. Such a fierce attack will probably cause a lot of casualties." Li Chong admonished.
Jin Zheng glanced at him, with a hint of ridicule in his eyes.
How can anyone not die in a war? Young men, auxiliary soldiers and the like are weak in battle, and they don't feel bad even if they die no matter how many times they die.
If Li Zhong is such a mother-in-law, why should he fight?
"This is not the first time you have become a general." Shao Xun said earnestly: "Not everyone is willing to fight with you. Sooner or later, you will encounter hard problems. Li Hong suffered twice in your hands.
, Hou Tuo is frightened in his heart, so he will definitely proceed with caution. Let’s fight first to see how willing the thieves are to fight.”
"No." Li Chong immediately sent someone to prepare.
Shao Xun sat down and looked at everyone.
The generals under him basically come from the bottom.
Limited by qualifications and talents, some people will not be able to move up after reaching a certain level and will slowly fall behind.
Some people are not bad at learning and have decent talents, so they can follow and not fall behind. But they are not used to being generals, and they are not used to seeing the lives of soldiers only as numbers.
He loves his soldiers like his own children in peacetime, but is ruthless and ruthless when fighting. Only by doing this can he be considered qualified.
I don’t want numbers, I just want XX. This is a true portrayal of war.
"I just received news that two days ago Shan Jian sent his troops north and was defeated by Wang Ru in Yiyang. Yan Yi took advantage of the situation and led his troops to advance. Shan Jilun was afraid and had abandoned Xiangyang and stationed at Xiakou in the south. This guy can run away
It was quite quick, but they abandoned all the Han and Mian lands and allowed Wang Ru to plunder them." Shao Xun said.
Tang Jian has hung a map on the wall.
Shao Xun pointed at the map and added: "The Huns may move south at any time. The top priority is to quickly quell the unrest in Jingzhou and return their troops to the north."
Everyone's eyes fell on the map.
Nanyang has been occupied by Hou Tuo.
Only the county town of Shunyang remains.
Yiyang is in Wang Ru's hand.
Now Xiangyang is occupied by Wang Ru and Yan Yi again. Looking at the mountain slips, Wang Cheng's appearance is so bad that Nanjun and Jiangxia may not be able to withstand it. The unrest in Jingzhou has a tendency to expand.
At present, some barbarians are ready to take action, as if they want to respond to the refugees in Kansai, start another rebellion, and capture the city, just like Zhang Chang's uprising.
"Since Hou Tuo has Wang Ru as his master, he must have asked for help. No one can say whether Wang Ru will go north." Shao Xun said: "If a decision is not made for a long time, the Huns will definitely send their generals to attack Yuzhou as soon as the Xiongnu army arrives.
Echoing Wang Ru. In this way, I will be attacked from both sides, which may not be beautiful."
"I don't want to waste too much time in Nanyang. A quick victory is the key to this battle. Li Chong!"
"The end will be here."
"You will supervise the battle in person this afternoon. If anyone refuses to advance, he will be killed without mercy."
"As commanded."
"Tang Jian."
"The end will be here."
"You find a few people with good legs and feet, take the Lejia guide, go to Nanyang and Juiyang, and deliver this letter to Le Kai."
"As commanded."
"Kim Jung."
"The end will be here."
"In the afternoon, you will lead six silver spear troops and form an array outside the bandit stronghold to prevent the bandits from breaking out."
"As commanded."
"After receiving the order, let's prepare ourselves. Don't let me down." Shao Xun waved his hand and said.
The generals dispersed one after another.
The Lord made his words very clear. The longer it is delayed, the more complicated the situation will be.
In order to quell the rebellion during this southern expedition, they only benefited from a quick war, not a long-term one.
It's a pity that the Jingzhou army could still fight. If they could march north from Xiangyang and march against our army from the north to the south, it would be easy to annihilate the bandits. But they lost Wancheng first and then Xiangyang. They lost all the land of Han Miang, which is a big disappointment.
.
This battle can only be fought by them alone.
Chapter completed!