Rhythmic chants sounded on the south bank of Luoshui River.
The trackers hesitantly moved forward on the soft riverside grass, pulling the grain-laden canoes upstream.
The autumn rains continued and the water surged.
The turbid river water, mixed with sediment and fallen leaves, surged down and headed straight for the Yellow River.
Occasionally, corpses can be seen floating in the river, as if they are struggling or drifting with the current.
Before they die, they may still be thinking about their wives and children at home, thinking about the work in the fields, and wondering whether next year will be a good year with good weather and good weather.
But under the general trend, people are trapped in it. Unless they go to the mountains to become savages, there is no way to escape war and death.
Along the way we encountered some villages and fortresses.
The village was deserted. When we camped at night, we could see thick dust, obviously it had been uninhabited for a long time.
Many houses were demolished to pieces, and their wood, bricks, and even adobes were carted away and turned into part of temporary camps.
Broken earthen jars, broken arrows and even bones can be seen everywhere, silently telling the suffering of that time.
In fact, let alone the village, along the way, the walls and earthen fences that were not high enough and thick enough were gradually abandoned.
Those who survived either went to the mountains to build camps, or built forts on the plains, or ran back and forth between the mountains and the plains, not afraid of hard work. They would go down to the mountains to farm during the day and go into the mountains to take shelter at night, trying to survive in the troubled times.
When camping and marching, we often encounter attacks from enemy cavalry.
The number of enemy cavalry on the north bank of Luoshui was not large, but they followed them closely.
If you stop, he will stop. If you go, he will follow, monitoring all the way.
There are more enemy cavalry on the south bank, but not as many as expected. There are only three to four thousand cavalry in total, and they are divided into three groups, one is herding horses, one is resting, and the other is harassing.
The veterans of the Silver Spear Army have long been accustomed to eating, drinking and sleeping when they should.
Under their leadership, the recruits in Buildings 11 and 12 behaved quite calmly - in fact, they were not recruits at all. After three years of rigorous training, they were good in all aspects. What they lacked was war experience.
The auxiliary soldiers were a little turbulent, but under the education of sticks, they managed to suppress the fear in their hearts. As time went by, their fear decreased slightly, and they were much better than when they first came out of Hulao Pass.
The calmest people are probably the troop carriers on the canal.
No matter how powerful the Huns cavalry were, they could not swim to the river to fight.
It would be even worse to stand on the river bank and shoot at them. They had cabins for shelter, but the Huns did not.
Even if we really swim at night and fight on the water, we still don’t know who is more powerful.
What's there to be afraid of?
As long as Chen Gong's troops can protect the river bank and prevent the Huns from attacking the trackers, there will be no problem at all.
On the return journey, the boat will go down the river and even the trackers will be omitted, which will make it safer.
On September 13, the army arrived near Gong County and finally ushered in the first relatively large-scale siege.
Almost immediately, a large group of Xiongnu cavalry mobilized eastward, numbering as many as 5,000, and headed straight towards Chenggao and Hulao Pass.
Two days later, the infantry group was transferred from outside Luoyang City and marched along the north bank of Luoshui River.
Then, a strange scene appeared——
Shao Xun escorted a large number of canoes upstream and along the south bank of Luoshui River to Luoyang.
The Xiongnu troops left Luoyang and went down the river in a mighty force, heading straight for Chenggao and Hulao Pass.
More and more Xiongnu cavalry were ordered to be transferred to Gong County.
They gathered around the car formation and outside the fleet, watching eagerly, as if waiting for the next order.
****
Tens of thousands of troops were stationed at Yique Pass to rest and recuperate.
Liang Fen, Bei Gongchun, and Fu Chang climbed to the top of the city and looked into the distance.
"See the Commander-in-Chief of the Camp." A small colonel shouted.
Liang Fen and the others turned around and saw a young general walking over.
This man is tall and burly, with a military crown on his head, a sword in his left hand, and a long walking stick in his right hand.
Although he was wearing heavy armor, he still walked as fast as flying. After seeing Liang Fen from a distance, he quickly walked a few steps to greet her.
Liang Fen and others returned the gift.
"Liang Gong wants to go north to Luoyang?" The person who came was Shao Shen, who was appointed as the commander of the battalion in the Xuchang shogunate.
He is not yet married, but the engagement has been made. He is the granddaughter of Du Yin, the owner of Yiquanwu.
Regardless of Du Dan and Du Yin, the two brothers became Lords of Wubao, but their relationship network in the court was still there.
Shao Shen's maiden wife was said to be Du Wuku's great-granddaughter, and she was married to a local snake in Yiyang.
Brothers Du Dan and Du Yin have lived in Yiquanwu for a long time, and they can hardly be called Jingzhao people. They will definitely build another house.
If Yiquanwu had not been ruined and the Du brothers had survived and grown, this would be the Du family's Yiyang house in Jingzhao.
"General Shao, can you send scouts to investigate Guanbei?" Liang Fen asked.
"I sent people to check ten days ago, but they didn't come back." Shao Shen said with some embarrassment: "The Huns are the most cunning. To be honest, I often hear people talking about the melee between kings. How dare the Xianbei cavalry
The Huns were the most cowardly among those who charged head-on and fought hand-to-hand. They had two horses and no armor. They were just wearing furs and wandering around. If there was any sign of disturbance, they would immediately disperse. But after they dispersed, they would not go far and they would still keep a close eye on them.
Looking at you. They don’t dare to attack head-on, but they are very good at intercepting messengers, driving away rangers, and attacking and killing scouts. Have you heard that a few days ago——"
"Wait a minute." Liang Fen stopped Shao Shen's words with a smile and said, "In other words, from Yique Pass to Luoyang, we don't know if there are any bandits, how many bandits there are, or where they are?
"
"I don't know." Shao Shen sighed.
Liang Fen nodded, looked at Guanbei again, and remained silent.
Shao Shen looked at Bei Gongchun and said: "Does Mr. Liang want to return north to Luoyang? I see that you have a lot of cavalry. How about I lead some people to join the army and charge for a while? I don't have many cavalry, three or four hundred people are still there."
There are some, all of them are brave men who dare to fight, what do you think?"
"Captain." A military academy couldn't help but remind him.
Liang Fen laughed and said: "I understand the general's kindness. Yique Pass is very important. Once it falls, the bandit leader will march straight in and attack Liang County. I heard that Chen Gong's family members are all there. If they are disturbed, I'm afraid they will
It’s not beautiful.”
"They moved to Xuchang at the beginning of the month." Shao Shen said: "But you are right. I also have an uncle in Guangchengze - uh, Guangchengze has shirt fields, Lu fields, military fields, and
Granaries, craftsmen's camps, and pastures cannot be robbed by thieves. Alas, what a pity."
Liang Fen shook his head and laughed, and continued to look north.
Fu Chang twirled his beard for a while and asked Shao Shen: "Does the young general know the enemy and our troop formations around Luoyang?"
"I don't know much, and some of them may not be true. Just listen to it." Shao Shen said.
"My second uncle has escorted the grain to Beijing. He should not have arrived in Luoyang at this time. I don't know if the Huns have sent people to besiege him."
"Wang Mi garrisoned Xin'an and seemed to be building a city. Occasionally he sent small groups of troops south to Luochuan to fight with the Yiyang garrison."
"Taigu, there is nothing wrong with Shuyuan and there are no thieves."
"There is Mishi Wubao on Songshan Mountain. A small group of thieves appeared a few days ago and they were forced to retreat. They probably wanted to see if there was a mountain trail leading to Xingyang."
"Mi's Wubao also said one thing. Baiguwu was besieged by the Xiongnu and suffered heavy casualties. This party may have been destroyed. I don't know how many Cao's tribes are left."
"That's all. In fact, it's almost the same as the previous Huns invasions."
Liang Fen, Fu Chang, and Bei Gongchun looked at each other in confusion.
This is not the first time that the Huns returned without success at the gates of Luoyang. So the question is, are they that stupid? Repeating useless efforts again and again?
If you think too foolishly about your enemy, you will fool not others, but yourself!
The most important thing is that we don't even know the total strength of the Xiongnu now.
It is actually very dangerous to leave Yique Pass at this time, because you know nothing about the outside world.
"Go north tomorrow." Liang Fen thought for a long time, and finally just sighed and ordered.
If you are a wise king now, he can station troops at Yique Pass and wait and see before making a decision.
But he was worried that the emperor would be frightened out of his wits. Seeing him not coming for a long time, he would feel resentful. In the end, the unlucky one would be the Liang family, and the unlucky one would be his daughter.
He is not as cool as Shao Xun, who can press the emperor's head to force him to admit his mistakes.
****
The sky is clear, the fields are vast, and the grass is blown by the wind, and cattle and sheep can be seen low.
From the east of Yewang to Jijun, there is a vast wilderness stretching as far as the eye can see.
In the cool autumn wind, carriages, horses, cattle and sheep passed through barren fields, walked through dense meadows, passed tall fortresses, and stopped on both sides of the clear Qishui River.
The herdsmen drove the cattle and sheep to graze.
The shepherds washed their horses and adjusted their horns and bows.
In the distance, the sound of neat infantry and cavalry drills could also be heard.
The golden tent has been settled, and the King of Hanoi spends the night in Qishui, enjoying as much as he wants the women presented by the commanders of forts in the countryside and the powerful nobles.
Even Ji County under the rule of Shao Thief had to succumb to the power of the Han Dynasty.
Wonderful!
Jin Zhundian, the Central Protector of the People's Republic of China, banned his troops and patrolled along the river with more than a thousand fine cavalry.
The Di and Qiang people have cut down trees and set up camp.
Xianbei in the fourth part of Shangjun only set up a tent. In the evening, the herdsmen who had finished cutting the grass carefully cut the grass.
As the saying goes, horses will not gain weight without night grass, and so will cattle and sheep.
Contrary to what most people imagine, the main source of food for ordinary shepherds is actually cow, sheep, and horse milk.
The milk can be squeezed freshly or made into physalis or cheese. It can be stored for a longer period of time and is very satisfying.
Grassland tribes migrated, some for several months or even a year or two, relying entirely on these animals to survive.
This is also something that people from the Central Plains find difficult to compare with.
In the past, when Li Guangli conquered Dawan, he actually transported food over a long distance, and finally returned the army without food. It was really ridiculous.
When tribes on the grassland go to war, they just drive their cattle and sheep. Why do they need to transport carts of food?
Unfortunately, the land in the Central Plains is fertile, but there is not much pasture. I don’t know how many years it will take for these barren fields to be covered with common pasture grass, so that the Han cavalry can drive freely without the worry of military feedback.
After inspecting both sides of the Qishui River, the sky was already dark.
Jin Zhun temporarily arranged more than 3,000 cavalry and ordered them to go south along the Yellow River to patrol around and kill any enemy scouts they encountered.
When we returned to the Golden Tent, the steaming roasted lamb had already been served.
The hearty voice of the King of Hanoi came from the tent: "Shao Xun is really a natural grassland hero. The use of cavalry is incredible. In the battle of Gouxi, he actually detoured from Dahan County. He was too courageous. Haha, he
If you come to vote, I will report it to the emperor and marry my sister to him. From now on, I will serve as the emperor's consort and obey my orders."
After hearing this, Jin Zhun secretly laughed twice. Then he frowned. If Shao Xun was really defeated and surrendered, it would not be a good thing for him.
It would be better for you to die in Luoyang.
In the Han Dynasty, since Emperor Daxing, there are too many people who care about you.
Chapter completed!