Shao Xun had been waiting in the ancient city of Xinzheng for five or six days before receiving the first batch of grain and grass.
He didn't take anything from the Yingchuan nobles for nothing. He gave a batch of the seized property to the Yingchuan nobles and let them divide it among themselves. It was considered an act of buying food, although most of them didn't want to sell it.
At this time, the enemy troops were also mobilizing frequently.
Just as Wang Bing saw in Waihuang County, groups of Xiongnu cavalry gathered together and rushed towards the ancient city of Xinzheng.
Shao Xun, who was about to set off eastward, saw him and ordered the troops to stop.
The ancient city of Xinzheng is not big and is dilapidated due to being abandoned for many years, but it still has a certain role in protecting it from wind and rain.
On November 21st, Shao Xun climbed to the top of the city and watched more and more cavalry gathering in the field, wondering what they wanted to do.
The cavalry was mostly concentrated on the west, north, and east sides, leaving only the south side, which seemed to encourage Shao Xun to lead his troops to retreat.
Behind the cavalry, there were infantrymen who were struggling to transport food and grass.
"Are you planning to fight with me?" He frowned.
Now we are back to the situation when we faced Liu Cong last year. The Huns relied on their superior cavalry to control the wilderness, blocking information and preventing you from communicating with the outside world.
At that time, Shao Xun had a clear goal, which was to advance into Luoyang, so he was focused on advancing and finally reached the city.
Now? What’s the goal?
To the northwest of the ancient city of Xinzheng, Lu Ming led a cavalry army, fighting and retreating, towards a gentle slope area with relatively undulating terrain.
When he was about to get close, Taobao shouted loudly on the high slope: "Stop acting, they are not chasing me."
Lu Ming turned around and saw that hundreds of soldiers had turned their horses around and rushed back to the old city of Xinzheng.
He was immediately discouraged.
The area where they are located may have relatively undulating terrain because it is close to a mountainous area.
This kind of terrain is certainly not friendly to cavalry, but it is even less friendly to cavalry who rely on charge and close combat.
The more complex the terrain, the more advantageous the cavalry and archers will be.
The simpler the terrain, the more advantageous the cavalry and archers will be.
It sounds contradictory, but it's actually very simple -
On the complicated mountains and hills, neither side can rush forward. What is more tested at this time is the riding skills.
During the Han Dynasty, Chao Cuo mentioned several areas where the Huns' cavalry had an advantage: "going up mountains and down slopes", "entering and exiting streams", and "dangerous roads with steep slopes".
These places require more advanced riding skills, and there are not many scenes suitable for hand-to-hand charging. They are not easy to be caught by the charging cavalry, which helps the Huns keep a distance and "chicken and shoot".
In fact, it was to take advantage of the two advantages of the Huns' superb riding skills and precise archery, so that the Central Plains cavalry, which was good at hand-to-hand combat, could not be used effectively, which was in line with the essentials of the art of war of "leveraging strengths and avoiding weaknesses".
Of course, on mountains and streams, there is no cavalry as much as infantry, but that is another story.
And the extremely simple terrain, such as the endless prairie, not even a few rivers, except for the grassland is sandy land, which is more suitable for the Huns light cavalry to fly kites in circles.
The most fearful terrain is the relatively flat terrain with many rivers, forests, houses, and ditches. There are many scenarios suitable for charging, but it is not conducive to riding and shooting in circles to widen the distance, which makes the mounted archers quite a headache.
Today, Lu Ming wanted to lure the soldiers to the undulating hills, and then kill them with mounted fire. Unexpectedly, the soldiers were not fooled and retreated after chasing him for a while. For this reason, he was killed by Tao Bao.
Laughed at it.
"Is the general coming?" Lu Ming got off his horse and asked.
"We haven't received the confirmation yet." Taobao sighed: "So what if I come here? Do you have food?"
Lu Ming also sighed.
I played against Shao Xun once in May this year, but it ended in a hurry due to the locust plague.
It can be said that this was an unsuccessful military operation.
When summing up after the battle, Da Hu repeatedly comforted everyone, saying that he had found a way to defeat the Shao thieves.
People became interested.
After Dahu explained the method he had thought of, everyone's expressions were greatly cheered up. They kept improving the details with each other's words.
Tried it today and it really works!
So he eagerly hoped that Da Hu would come over quickly and bring all the 20,000 riders with him.
With 30,000 cavalry in hand, even if it is just a light cavalry with one horse and no armor, as long as they use reasonable tactics, they will definitely cause Shao Xun to suffer a big loss.
But real problems are also facing us: Is there enough food?
"When summer comes, there is a plague of locusts. When winter comes, there is a shortage of food. Is Shao Thief so lucky?" Lu Ming became more and more angry as he thought about it. He pulled out his sword and slashed hard on a bush.
"This is fate." Taobao smiled and said: "We finally caught Shao Thief, but we can't defeat him. Alas. But it doesn't matter. Come back next year. Set up a trap and get Shao Thief to a hundred
Inside and outside, and then slowly climb back."
"Haha." Seeing Taobao's words being interesting, Lu Ming's mood improved.
The way to use military force is to maximize strengths and avoid weaknesses, and to avoid strengths and avoid weaknesses.
Shao Thief's Silver Spear Army can be fought by the government soldiers, but I won't fight you.
You always have weaknesses and places that cannot be protected. We just focus on these places and attack them.
"Forget it today. I'll go tomorrow and lure his cavalry again." Taobao said, "It's not easy for Shao to raise cavalry. It's good if he can use up one more. If he can use them all, he will be able to fight next year.
Maybe there is a chance that Shao Thief will make a mistake while he is busy and annihilate his Silver Spear Army."
"Silver Spear Army..." Lu Ming groaned a little: "These people can fall asleep when the sky is full of shouts of death. The longest they have been in the army is six or seven years, right? If you want to annihilate them, you don't know what price you have to pay.
.”
"Take your time." Taobao smiled and said, "I'll give it a try tomorrow."
"That's right." Lu Ming nodded.
The next few days were strange for both parties.
Shi Chao went south from Chenliu and entered the border of Yangxia.
He led more than 10,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry troops and surrounded Yangxia County, because he heard that there were many so-called "field camps" gathered in the city.
The fighting lasted for four or five days, and they were never able to recover.
Shao Xun led his troops to leave Xinzheng, relying on vehicles for shelter, and headed east to Weishi.
The cavalry led by Lu Ming, Taobao and others were like flies, following behind, repeatedly harassing and blocking.
They even sent people in advance to dig roads ahead, destroy bridges, and in short, tried every means to create obstacles for you.
On the first day of march, the large army only traveled ten miles.
The next day, thirteen miles.
The third day, seventeen miles.
After three days, Shao Xun came to a clear understanding: the Huns also learned war in the war, constantly improved and made progress.
The enemy's cavalry looked more like they were covering for a certain unit.
He had to admit that a side with a large number of cavalry could indeed effectively delay a side dominated by infantry.
He even had to admit that people will make progress.
He took out the car formation and broke through all the obstacles of the Huns last year, which was a bit unexpected. But this year, the Huns seem to have figured out some ways to deal with him.
It took him three days to walk forty miles, which gave him a smell of danger.
On November 29th, it snowed heavily.
The Hun cavalry that had been staring at them suddenly withdrew and disappeared without a trace.
Maybe it was too cold, maybe there was insufficient food, maybe they completed their mission, but in short they ran away.
The next day, Shao Xun led his troops to recover Weishi County, which had been captured by the enemy.
Shi Chao failed to attack Yangxia and lost his troops and generals. He then attacked Yuan's Wubao but failed again. Seeing that his army was running out of supplies, he had no choice but to retreat.
Before leaving, he vented his anger by destroying some irrigation canals, blocking the wells in the vegetable fields, and setting fire to some of the houses of the people in the field camp, and then hurriedly retreated through the Liang Kingdom.
At this point, the war east of Hulao Pass seems to have come to an end.
This ending is unsatisfactory for both parties.
Shao Xun saw a huge crisis.
The Huns consumed the grain, cattle and sheep they had managed to accumulate, and lost a lot of infantry, cavalry, and horses. In the end, they could only retreat in despair, gaining nothing.
Next year, they may not come again.
In spring, when the pastures have not completely turned green, and even more so when there is no harvest, he is worried about food, let alone the Huns.
There may be fodder in the summer, but why do they need to come to Luoyang?
Perhaps, starting next year, his main target will become Shi Le.
A few days later, when he was leading his troops north to Junyi and clearing away possible remaining enemies, news came from the west of Hulao Pass: the Xiongnu retreated in large numbers, passing through Hongnong and Hanoi, and retreated in two groups.
He immediately turned around and headed towards Xingyang. At this time, he met Wang Bing who was chasing after him in a hurry.
"Junhou." After dismounting, Wang Bing prostrated and fell to the ground, crying: "Situ has passed away."
"Huh?" Shao Xun didn't react for a moment.
But when I remembered that "Situ" refers to Sima Yue, the expression on his face suddenly became very rich.
Wang Bing glanced at him secretly.
At this time, Shao Xun had already calmed down and thought deeply.
"When will he die?" he asked.
"It's been half a month."
"Why did you come west? Are you going to mourn?"
"I would like to take the crown prince back to Xuzhou."
"That's inappropriate!" Shao Xun said subconsciously.
Wang Bing's heart skipped a beat. It was exactly what he thought, and Shao Xun was unwilling to let him go.
Shao Xun frowned.
Wang Bing said that he would take the crown prince away, but how could it be that simple? Does the princess also want to follow him? This - how is it possible!
Shao Xunding stayed there and remained silent for a long time.
Wang Bing was anxious and stood up silently and said: "The prince has been protected by the prince for a long time, and he is very grateful. If he can be taken back to Xuzhou, he will form a good relationship with the prince in the future, watch and help each other, and work together as a barrier for the imperial court."
Shao Xun had calmed down, glanced at Wang Bing, and said seductively: "You guys! Do you know that you are trying to harm the prince?"
Wang Bing quickly defended: "We all swear to God that we are willing to serve the Crown Prince as our Lord, as everyone can see."
"You swear?" Shao Xun sneered and asked: "It's not like I don't know the old background of those soldiers and horses in Fan County. How many people are left in the East China Sea Kingdom's army?"
"About three thousand."
"The most reliable ones are only these three thousand people." Shao Xun said: "The remaining soldiers are either from the beggar army, or from Henan and Yanzhou. Let me ask you? Are the beggar army obedient?"
Wang Bing remained silent.
"Yu, some of the soldiers from the two states were recruited by Situ during his lifetime, and some are powerful tribes of the nobles from the two states. Let me ask you again, are they obedient?"
Wang Bing couldn't resist and argued forcefully: "We have been restrained by military law for a long time, so we will naturally obey you."
"Don't be so confident!" Shao Xun pointed his finger at Wang Bing's chest and asked unceremoniously: "How did Zhang Fang die?"
Of course Zhang Fang was killed by Zhi Fu, so why ask? Wang Binggang was about to say something, but stopped.
Why was Zhi Fu able to kill Zhang Fang? And after killing people, he could still leave with such arrogance? It was like entering a deserted place?
This question is worth pondering, as it is closely related to your foundation.
"It seems that you have some understanding in your heart." Shao Xun patted his shoulder and said: "First come with me back to Luoyang and meet the princess and the prince. Even if you want to take the prince back, this is not the way to do it.
.”
"That's fine." Wang Bing nodded and responded.
When he came west this time, he was supposed to meet the princess and the prince. If not for the war, he would have already arrived by now.
After finishing a major incident in his mind, he asked again: "Junhou, is this the great defeat of the bandit army and the recovery of Chenliu?"
"It's not a big deal." Shao Xun shook his head and suddenly asked: "Do you know Wang Youzhou?"
"Wang Jun?" Wang Bing shook his head and said, "We have no contact with him."
After finishing speaking, he added: "This man is arrogant and arrogant, and he has nothing to spare. The king has offended him greatly, so I'm afraid he won't have a good look on his face."
Shao Xun frowned secretly. The battle in Chang'an that year left a legacy of disaster to this day.
However, he quickly adjusted his mentality. Without the horses he snatched that time, it would be impossible for one person and two horses to intercept Wang Sang's troops this time.
Although these Xianbei horses are gradually getting old and can no longer charge into battle as war horses, they still play a key role in his military system.
There are advantages and disadvantages. How can there be anything in this world where you just get the benefits without paying the price?
A man should not be opportunistic.
If he thought of other ways to deal with Shi Le's new tactic, could a living person still be choked to death by urinating?
On the 30th, the army set off for Xingyang. While deterring the enemy, it also passed through Hulao Pass and entered Luoyang.
Chapter completed!