Chenggao did not have much troops and no geographical advantage, so he was defeated by the Xiongnu in two days.
Subsequently, large groups of infantry rushed to the outside of Hulao Pass, set up camp and built siege equipment.
A small number of Xiongnu cavalry remained in Chenggao, while most of them were herding horses at the foot of the mountain.
General Zhenxi Shan Zheng climbed a high slope to observe the internal situation of Hulao Pass.
The city is brightly lit and full of people.
Shan Zheng has found out clearly that the guard general's name is Zheng Zun, and he was born in the Zheng family of Kaifeng. He once served as an official in Luoyang, and later returned to his hometown to live leisurely.
The troops guarding Hulao Pass were very mixed, including Zheng's own tribe, soldiers from Xingyang County, some soldiers recruited from temporary conscription, and even some mountain bandits and water bandits recruited for safety, a total of about 4,000 people, fighting to the death.
It separates Luoyang and Xingyang.
This majestic Guancheng is like a lock, locking the Han heavenly soldiers in the Luoyang Valley.
However, a lock can lock the enemy as well as yourself.
The first thing Shan Zheng did when he arrived here was to dig trenches and build strong forts. He also built several small camps high in the mountains and divided his troops to garrison them.
This time he brought 5,000 troops from his headquarters, plus 3,000 troops from Guanzhong, and 2,000 men captured along the way, for a total of 10,000 troops.
Attached to him were five thousand light cavalry from various tribes in Guanzhong. One thousand people stayed behind in Chenggao, and most of them were grazing in the mountains.
Shan Zheng did not want to storm Hulao Pass.
First, he didn't want to waste too much of his troops.
Both of them also had some resentment towards the so-called Han Dynasty.
For no other reason than his own daughter, Queen Shan, was forced to death.
The Shan family was originally the queen of the late emperor. When the late emperor was in power, she was young and very beautiful.
Today, my superior (Liu Cong) accepts her by force and favors me day and night.
This is nothing, the grassland customs are like this, Shan Zheng can accept it.
But the subsequent development was beyond his expectation.
Although the emperor's younger brother Liu Yi was young, he didn't know who he listened to and believed that his mother should not serve Liu Cong. This was against human ethics.
When her son said this, Shan was so ashamed that she committed suicide.
Once she died, the Di and Qiang tribes in Hexi lost a major support in the Pingyang court.
The only comforting thing is that the crown prince is still there and will inherit the throne in the future.
This is also the main reason why Feng Yi and the more than 100,000 Diqiang tribesmen in Shangjun are still willing to be loyal to the Han.
If the emperor's brother dies or is unable to inherit the throne, Shan Zheng feels that they have no reason to continue to be loyal to the Han Dynasty.
"General Zhenxi is actually on the mountain. It's really hard for me to look for him." Xianbei leader Lu Zhuyan walked over from the mountain road and laughed.
Shan Zheng's heart is filled with boredom.
This man originally brought the four tribes of Xianbei to surrender to the late emperor with him. He originally had some affection for him, but he was too utilitarian and focused on meritorious service and receiving rewards in order to expand his influence in Feng Yi and Shangjun.
Shan Zheng is particularly disdainful of this kind of leader who drives his troops wantonly and has no brains to fight for the imperial court - I am still a relative of the emperor after all, and I am not as active as you.
"What's the matter?" Shan Zheng asked coldly.
Lu Zhuyan didn't care about his cold attitude, and still smiled and said: "Can you allocate 30,000 dendrobium of grain? I know that the general took some Wubao handsome men and filial piety, and also robbed some goods in Chenggao."
"Not enough food?" Shan Zheng asked.
"It's not that it's not enough." Lu Zhuyan said: "Our horses are just eating grass now. They have to graze for several hours a day and prepare fodder at night. If this continues, how can we fight?"
If you just rely on grazing and let the horses eat by themselves, they will need to eat for several hours a day.
If the grass is cut manually and collected for feeding, this time can be greatly reduced.
It would be better if the food is artificially fed, so that the horse can go out and fight most of the day.
"Your troops are currently resting and recuperating. There is no need to fight. Just bear with it." Shan Zheng said, "If it doesn't work out, I will assign the people I captured in Chenggao to you and you can force them to mow the grass."
"General Xie Zhenxi." This was Lu Zhuyan's goal. After he got what he wanted, he was overjoyed.
"You crossed the river this morning, but have you ever found out where the King of Hanoi is?" Shan Zheng asked.
"We should have arrived at Jijun. More than fifty walls of all counties and villages have surrendered, and the county governor Yu Chen only defended the city." Lu Zhuyan replied.
After Shan Zheng heard this, he felt slightly relieved.
Wang Jun of Youzhou went south this year, defeated the governor Shi Chao, and rushed back to Anping.
After hearing that the King of Hanoi's army was mobilizing to Hebei, Wang Jun quickly withdrew his troops and retreated to Youzhou.
There should be nothing wrong there.
In a few days, the King of Hanoi will probably be herding horses on Dunqiu.
"Go down and prepare well." Shan Zheng ordered: "Don't just think about looting. There is absolutely no room for loss in Chenggao."
****
The heart-wrenching sound of string strings kept ringing.
On top of the baggage train, the crossbow machine has been loaded.
On the Luoshui River, larger powerful crossbows have also been prepared.
A moment later, the powerful crossbow bolts, with a sharp sound of piercing the air, flew densely towards a group of enemy infantry rushing towards the convoy.
The soldiers of the Silver Spear Army wore armor and held swords, quietly guarding behind the vehicles.
A fierce battle is about to break out.
Shao Xun paid almost no attention to the battlefield, but let a few student officers take command.
He sat in a damaged sidecar that needed to be repaired and watched Qiao Hong, the deputy governor of the Yi Cong Army, interrogating the prisoners in Hu language.
There were two prisoners in total, one of whom had been beaten to death, and the interrogation was completed.
The man in front of him witnessed the miserable situation of his colleagues from a distance and did not dare to hide it.
After Qiao Hong completed the interrogation, he confirmed it with the confession of the person in front, and then went forward to report.
"Dah!" A fluttering arrow landed on the roof of the side car.
Shao Xun's expression remained unchanged and he asked: "Is the trial over?"
Qiao Hong told the news he believed to be reliable, and then reported the news that needed to be verified one by one.
Shao Xun immediately asked Cai Cheng to get a map and tried to piece together the entire battlefield.
Prisoners at such a low level actually know very limited things, so Shao Xun had to fill in some of the content on his own based on experience, trying to complete the entire chain as much as possible.
There are a few things that can be determined for now:
First, the Huns did not seriously attack Luoyang, probably because they knew they could not defeat it and did not want to waste too much force.
This leads to the second question, what do the Huns want to do?
An obvious fact is that when their mixed land and water force left Gongxian and headed for Yanshi, the Huns were also mobilizing troops - Shao Xun had already seen the Huns troops marching along the north bank of Luoshui, and the direction of their advance was the same as that of Yanshi.
They are the opposite.
A bold guess is that when the Huns saw that they were gradually moving away from Hulao Pass, they mobilized a large group of troops to besiege them.
What do you want to do after conquering Hulao Pass?
It is unlikely that it will be a long-term occupation, because it is impossible. Once the main Xiongnu force retreats from Luoyang, the troops at Hulao Pass will become a lone army and cannot defend themselves under a long-term siege.
So, attacking Hulao Pass actually only has a short-term purpose.
When you think about it this way, your thoughts suddenly become clear.
"Kill the thief!" A loud roar rang out from the car formation not far away.
Shao Xun knew that the two sides were fighting hand to hand. The officers were trying to boost morale and at the same time let the soldiers under their command know his location for easier command.
"Qiao Hong!" Shao Xun shouted.
"The general is here." Qiao Hong threw the prisoner to his men and responded loudly.
"Based on your understanding, what kind of battle do you think Liu Han is fighting?" Shao Xun asked.
When Qiao Hong heard this, he felt even more stressed.
He is a Huns, and Mr. Chen obviously asked him to provide him with ideas the way the Huns did and think.
After thinking about it for a long time, the killing sounds and screams beside the car array became louder and louder. Qiao Hong felt irritated and blurted out: "Ming Gong, I think Liu Can must have prepared a large number of infantry and cavalry, no less than 50,000. In a certain
There’s a place waiting for us.”
"Why do you see it?" Shao Xun asked.
Two more feather arrows landed on the side carriage, making a dull sound.
You don't need to look at it to know that where the two sides fought, arrows flew everywhere, blood and flesh were everywhere, and countless people were killed under the millstone of war.
Qiao Hong continued: "When the Xiongnu fought, they were accustomed to hunting with wolves in the prairie. Some followed and monitored, some stepped forward to harass, some outflanked, and some recharged their batteries and appeared at the last moment to deliver a fatal blow.
"
"Surveillance can make people nervous, harassment can make people tired, and detours can distract people. Repeat this several times, and then the strongest wolf king will take action, bite the throat of the prey and refuse to let go."
"Did Liu Can use this tactic?" Shao Xun asked.
"It must be." Qiao Hong affirmed: "This is what the Xiongnu is best at."
Shao Xun was noncommittal.
In fact, Qiao Hong is right, normal people think this way.
"Is this attacking force considered a harassment?" Shao Xun pointed back and asked.
The blood energy has already spread to his side, and it is so rich that it cannot be dissolved.
His ears were filled with the high-pitched din of the battlefield, the sounds of shouts and curses, the clash of weapons, the sound of arrows piercing the air, the screams of dying people, etc.
Qiao Hong raised his head and took a few glances, then said: "Mr. Chen, this is harassment. The attacking troops should be Hu Jin men from Guanzhong, who were driven to Luoyang to die."
"They are pretty good at fighting..." Shao Xun made a gesture of listening.
Qiao Hong listened quietly for a while and said: "This is the second formation."
Shao Xun stood up and got out of the sidecar.
The soldiers immediately raised their big shields and covered him tightly.
The second formation had actually been charging for a while. There were bodies piled outside the vehicle formation, and the enemy army was on the verge of collapse.
After a while, two gaps opened in the car formation in the distance, and the cavalry of the Yi Congjun poured out, preparing to chase and kill the defeated troops.
"Qiao Hong." Shao Xun shouted again.
"The end will be here." Qiao Hong had just mounted his horse.
"If you catch one or two school thieves, I won't hesitate to reward you generously." Shao Xun said.
"No." Qiao Hong looked solemn.
As expected, the enemy's infantry could no longer hold on any longer, and the ferocious offensive came to an abrupt end at its climax.
The cavalry began to speed up and chased the defeated troops forward.
The Huns' light cavalry also dispatched to try to stop them.
Shao Xun looked away. He had fought more than once and he didn't bother to look more.
The only difference from the past is that the combat effectiveness of the Huns' infantry is improving, and they can already cause greater casualties to the Silver Spear Army.
"Send the order, clean the battlefield as soon as possible, and then continue to move forward." Shao Xun ordered: "Ignore the harassment of the thieves unless their large group of infantry attacks. Speed ​​up and rush to Yanshi and go to Luoyang."
The most uncomfortable part for him now is that the battlefield is one-way transparent to the enemy, making it difficult for him to get information from the outside world.
He had several guesses in his mind.
But either way, more information is needed to make a judgment.
There is a price to pay for misjudgment.
First rush to Luoyang, stabilize the situation, hand over King Qin's mission, and get more information. Then analyze the enemy's movements and make the next tactical move.
A blind man fights, which is probably his current state.
Chapter completed!