She County has already started a war.
The first stage of a siege is, of course, to demolish the fortresses outside the city. Otherwise, if they suddenly come out while you are attacking the city, attack from behind, kill your soldiers, and burn your siege equipment, how can you still fight?
The most taboo thing about defending a city is a bare city.
One thing that is advantageous to the Xiongnu is that the terrain outside Shexian County is relatively flat. If there is a hill and the defenders allocate part of their troops to set up a stronghold on the mountain, so that they are at the horns of each other with the county seat, that would be really disgusting.
The battle for attacking and defending the fortress became more intense from the beginning.
The King of Hanoi fought well in Guanzhong, and when he entered Chang'an, the entire eastern half of Guanzhong was already in the hands of the Han Dynasty. The rest was to recruit, just like Shao Xun did in Hebei: those who came were given officials.
Therefore, Feng Yi and the Di and Qiang people in Shangjun sent out three households for one family and recruited more than ten thousand people.
The four Xianbei tribes recruited four thousand cavalry.
The tribes in Hexi (Hetao) received the transfer order from Shan Yutai and dispatched more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry.
Together with Guanzhong and Bingzhou Wubao, there are more than 10,000 people, a total of 30,000 to 40,000 troops.
Wang Yao of Zhongshan led 8,000 forbidden troops, infantry and cavalry, which were the main force of the Chinese army.
More than 40,000 soldiers and horses came to the supremacy party, and the local Hu Jin officials and people complained endlessly.
The forage warehouses that were stocked like hills were quickly depleted, and the hills became shorter day by day. At this time, all the Hu and Han people were sent out to cut grass.
All the granaries were opened, and the grain that had been stored just a few days after the autumn harvest was brought out.
There is even grain and grass in Taiyuan and Hanoi, and cattle and sheep are transported over the mountains and ridges, regardless of losses.
This battle is a real fight, and it must be fought quickly to reduce consumption as much as possible.
The battle has been going on for several days, and many people have died on both sides.
All obstacles on the outer perimeter of the camp were swept away, and the final stage of the attack began.
Amid the fierce fighting, Liu Yao climbed onto the high platform and overlooked the entire battlefield.
Outside the east wall of the camp, the attacking Di and Qiang people had climbed up the camp wall and were fighting with the defenders.
There were many damages on the wall, which were all traces left by the attack. The defenders used wood, earth and rocks to block the gaps, and frantically fought with the enemy troops who were rushing towards these gaps.
In an instant, countless people died on the spot.
Some people can no longer take care of their family fields.
Some people will never be able to go back and see their loved ones again.
Some people may soon have their families broken up and their wives and children separated.
War is such a destructive activity, but it has to be fought. Because since ancient times, there have been more wars than peace.
The south gate of Shexian County suddenly opened, and a group of people rushed out.
The Xiongnu side was well prepared, and the cavalry came on horseback and rushed straight away.
A dense barrage of crossbow bolts was fired from the opposite side, causing the cavalry to flip over. But their actions still had an effect. The two thousand defenders who came out of the city stopped and could no longer move forward.
The follow-up infantry followed and approached the group.
But they didn't dare to be careless because they had already suffered a loss the day before yesterday.
Although there were only two thousand people fighting out of the city, half of them were wearing iron armor and had crossbows, swords, spears, bows and other miscellaneous weapons, and their skills were pretty good.
The leader was called Xi Jian, who was a lieutenant in the shogunate of General Shaoxun Longxiang. He was relatively brave and daring to fight. When he went out of the city to fight for the first time, he followed the retreating Qiang people and charged fiercely, killing many people.
This time Liu Yao was well prepared, but he could only stop their progress.
The "郗" flag on the opposite side flew in the autumn wind for a long time. Seeing that they could not break through, they formed a tighter formation and slowly retreated.
A large rain of arrows was rained down from the top of the city in time, blocking the pursuit of the Huns cavalry and allowing them to safely return to the county town.
However, the Diqiang infantry who were attacking the camp were frightened and collapsed in a noisy manner.
The Jin troops in the camp did not pursue them. The casualties were too heavy and they were unable to pursue them.
"Send someone to lure Shi Le to surrender." Liu Yao stepped down from the high platform and ordered.
The messenger took the order and left.
"What's going on in the east?" Liu Yao asked again.
"More than three hundred horses were broken."
"Where was it folded?" Liu Yao asked, asking someone to bring the map and look at it carefully.
Drum Mountain!
After hearing the name, he roughly figured it out.
The Jin army sent tens of thousands of people to Shexian County. I don't know how much food, grass and military supplies they had hoarded, but they should be enough for two to three months.
These people were firmly anchored on the east bank of the Zhuozhang River, threatening the retreat of the Eastern Expedition army.
Although he could bypass the city without attacking, he still needed to leave a large army to monitor him. There should not be less people, because the defenders had the ability to go out of the city to fight in the field.
If this is done, the army will inevitably be divided, its power will be greatly reduced, and it will not be able to pose a sufficient threat to Shao Thief.
Perhaps it was really a mistake to choose Fukouxing as the direction of attack.
Although this is the closest to Ye City, it is also an area heavily fortified by Shao thieves.
She County has been identified and has a large number of troops.
There are also soldiers on Gushan Mountain, which is more than a hundred miles away. They can cut off the post road by going down the mountain.
So, what about the Fushui area on the southern edge of Gushan Mountain, and the Wu'an and Mingshui areas on the north side?
"Where is Hu Yanmo?" Liu Yao found his staff and asked.
"I have been grazing in the Qingzhang River Valley."
"Ask him if he has released enough. If so, come forward and run towards Fukou Spring."
"As commanded."
"Where is Linghu Ni's surrender?"
“Eat in Wuxiang.”
"Let him take his troops to Jingxing and contact Shi Le."
"As commanded."
"The remaining generals and commanders took turns attacking the city."
After the order was conveyed, a new wave of offensive began.
This time, under the supervision of the infantry and cavalry of Liu Han's forbidden army, the strong commanders of Wubao from various places marched towards the camp outside Shexian County.
Almost at the same time, the Jie tribes were also recruited with more than 3,000 horses, carrying five days of food and water, to advance towards the front line of Gushan Mountain.
The battle against time begins again.
****
Under Fuliu City, people and horses were chasing each other, and it was extremely cruel.
Thousands of infantry troops of the Youlun tribe, who had recently been appointed as the governor of Zhaojun (still in the hands of Shi Le), were flanked by the Huns' cavalry and fell into chaos.
More than 2,000 infantrymen from the front pressed forward, and the troops retreated in an uproar.
Seeing that they were about to collapse, the beggar army Wuhuan Qingqi rushed forward and strangled the Huns.
When the battle reached a stalemate, another group of Xiongnu light cavalry attacked from the side and rear, killing the Xiongnu light cavalry of Liang Fuzu's tribe and causing chaos.
Julu Prefect Zhang Jack led more than 4,000 infantry and cavalrymen into the counterattack, and collided head-on with the Xiongnu infantry in front.
A melee between cavalry and infantry began again.
As the sun set in the battle, the Huns' cavalry collapsed in panic. More than two thousand cavalry were attacked from both sides, leaving almost no survivors, and they were all slaughtered.
Seeing such a tragic scene, everyone in Fuliu County immediately opened the city and surrendered.
The army did not stop here, but surged eastwards and attacked Anping City.
On September 20th, large armies were camped in the west, south and east of Anping City, and the intention of siege was very obvious.
Liang Fuchun, the governor, went to the city to look around, feeling worried.
Shi Le promised him to send troops to help, but there was no movement.
A messenger came from Changshan, Julu, asking him to shrink his troops and stand firm to wait for reinforcements.
In response, Liang Fuzhen could only smile bitterly.
He has shrunk as much as possible, and now the city is filled with farmers and herdsmen from all tribes, with almost no place to stay.
Cattle, sheep and horses filled every corner, and the stench was overwhelming. Even his official office was separated into two stables, where more than a hundred war horses were stored.
Of course, most of the livestock were slaughtered because there was no room for them in Anping City and there was not enough fodder to feed them, so they were simply used as military supplies.
For this reason, Liang Fuzhen was responsible for his own reputation and promised to compensate the herdsmen for their losses with grain and silk after repelling Shao's soldiers. This was able to suppress his dissatisfaction.
There are almost no idle people in the city. All the men are soldiers, either stationed at the top of the city or camping outside the city, and they all have to fight.
What is sad is that these soldiers guarding the city and camp are filled with a large number of herdsmen who are good at riding and fighting.
They could have been cavalry and roamed the countryside, but now they were forced to dismount and defend the city.
Is there anything more ridiculous than this?
But the situation of the war is like this, there is nothing much to say.
There is less and less space for the cavalry to make detours. Shao Thief has also attracted a large number of Hu and Jin cavalry to fight for him. Every time he attacks, many people are killed or injured. Now only the most powerful ones can leave the city.
During the fight, Liang Fuzhen sent his eldest son and nephew each with three thousand riders to move around the junction of Anping, Julu and Boling, looking for opportunities to fight.
The rest of the people should stay and defend the city. There is no other way.
****
Shao Xun still stayed in Zebei on the mainland, meeting with chiefs of various ministries all day long.
On September 21st, groups of leaders came to his camp and bowed to him after receiving their heads.
The official asked carefully and recorded the name of the clan, the population of the tribe, the number of cattle and sheep, and where they farmed and herded.
"Where did your tribe come from?" Shao Xun asked, sitting on the carpet on the ground.
Several Hun noble girls knelt beside him, bowing their heads in silence.
Ms. Liu was sitting behind the desk with nothing to do and feeling a little aggrieved.
This case was placed there by Shao Xun, and Mrs. Liu would kneel and sit there when she had nothing to do.
Shao Xun was reading and reviewing official documents on the carpet in the back.
When you raise your head, you can see those two plump buttocks.
Due to posture problems, the buttocks are tight, round and charming, and the butt gap is also very obvious.
Occasionally, Shao Xun would ask Mrs. Liu to get something from another table in front. She had to reach up to get the object, and at this time, her buttocks would be arched high...
He did it on purpose!
Mrs. Liu felt ashamed and angry, and had some indescribable feelings in her heart. She could only suppress these thoughts, silently listen to the words of the people coming and going, and divert her attention.
"Back to Ming Gong, my servant came from Sheyanshui." The leader replied respectfully.
"Xianbei?" Shao Xun asked curiously.
"yes."
"When did you come to Hebei?"
"Come with the official Liang Fuchun."
"How many years have it been?" Shao Xun nodded and said, "How are the tribes in Hexi divided?"
The leader thought about it carefully and said: "In fact, it is mainly based on clans. They gather in the wild and live in groups, and they are scattered indefinitely."
What he means is that the local civilization is even more backward than that of the Huns. The clan characteristics are very obvious. Tribes have already appeared, but the structure is not stable. From time to time, clans join or leave.
Clan is bound by kinship, but tribe is not.
"Can you still live your life?" Shao Xun asked again.
"It's not bad. There are no mulberry trees in Hexi. We only work on livestock, cattle, sheep and camels."
"How about the prosperity and decline of the pasture?"
"After offering sacrifices to heaven, it will last for several years."
"Living sacrifice?"
"Yes, kill slaves as sacrifices."
"Can we involve Chinese merchants to do business?"
"a lot of."
"What to buy?"
"Most of them are live animals, animal horns, animal sinews, animal skins, and felt blankets."
"No one buys honey?" Shao Xun asked curiously: "Musky navel, safflower, cistanche, Bupleurum, honey, wax, feathers, fox fur, mink, etc. are abundant in Nair, but no one buys them?"
Mr. Liu raised his head and glanced at Shao Xun from the corner of his eye, with a complicated look on his face. What else didn't he know?
"Ming Gong is really a man from heaven." The leader looked surprised and sighed: "Most of these are sold by the Diqiang tribe."
Shao Xun nodded.
Hexi is a melting pot of ethnic groups.
Xianbei, Xiongnu, Di, Qiang, etc., and maybe Han - most of them have already turned into barbarians.
Among these tribes, the Diqiang tribe has a fairly agricultural economy, not all livestock farming.
They generally occupy the edge areas on the southwest, east, and west sides of the river, where precipitation is relatively abundant and there are more rivers, which is conducive to farming.
Until the Northern Song Dynasty, scholar-bureaucrats even called the Dangxiang people's territory "the old land of Di and Qiang", not without reason. Of course, the Dangxiang people were actually a Qiang people. Unable to endure the Tubo enslavement, they fled to the Tang Dynasty and asked for asylum.
Di Qiang and Dang Xiang, one came first and the other arrived later. In fact, they are both from the same group.
"How do you feel after moving to Hebei?"
"Hebei has rich water and grass, which is much better than Hexi. The children can have enough to eat, and more of them survive. Now there are children everywhere, and my department's household registration has increased a lot."
This is the weasel falling into the chicken coop, which is so exciting.
Excellent land, whether used for farming or grazing, is excellent land.
The black soil of Ukraine is pasture in the hands of Cossacks, and it is farmland in the hands of Polish manor owners. It all depends on how you use it.
When Xianbei from Hexi came to Hebei, they no longer had to pray to heaven. The pasture grew abundantly every year, which greatly improved their living conditions. In a few years, the population increased.
"Have you ever learned to farm?"
"I've tried to learn, but not everyone knows how to grow it, and they can't grow it well either," the leader replied.
"Go down." Shao Xun waved his hand and said, "Send two hundred people over tomorrow. I'll be useful."
"Yes." The leader hesitated for a moment and then responded.
The soldiers brought ten bolts of silk and rewarded them to the leader.
The leader thanked him profusely, kowtowed and left.
Shao Xun stood up, looked at the autumn lake outside the tent, and remained silent for a long time.
Mrs. Liu secretly raised her head and looked at him.
"Ye Na." Shao Xun said suddenly.
Mrs. Liu was startled and lowered her head.
Shao Xun came over and stood in front of her, admiring it carefully.
A beautiful woman is a work of art, a work of art with a soul, and is the best mood-boosting product for men in their spare time.
It was also fun for him to watch such a woman struggling with herself.
Not all women are worthy of his efforts to please.
Among so many people, if he were asked to choose a woman to take with him to escape when the army was defeated, he would only choose Concubine Pei. This was an emotion that started at a young age and had nothing to do with anything else.
"I originally wanted to kill all the barbarians in Hebei, so what if I kill them all, even if they are 200,000 or 300,000?" Shao Xun said.
Liu trembled and looked at Shao Xun in disbelief.
"But I changed my mind because of you." Shao Xun touched her face and said, "You let them survive, and you made me change my mind."
Mrs. Liu looked at Shao Xun and forgot to knock off his hand for a moment.
She vaguely knew that this was a lie and that Shao Xun was lying to her, but unfortunately, she found that she was actually somewhat willing to listen to what he said.
"Write a letter to your brother. I'll pretend I haven't heard of the conditions he offered before, so I don't blame him." Shao Xun said, "This time, let him think about it before he offers me the conditions."
"You... what do you want him to do?" Mrs. Liu lowered her head, turned away her face, and asked softly.
Shao Xun took back his hand and chuckled proudly.
Mrs. Liu's face suddenly turned red.
She suddenly raised her head and said, "Don't you just go to Liu Hezhu?"
The voice was slightly unstable, indicating the violent fluctuations in the owner's mood.
I felt aggrieved.
Shao Xun stopped teasing her and just said: "Your uncle wants to beat the stone for me, so he has no time. Write a letter with your own hand and ask your brother - Do you dare to rebel against the Huns? Do you dare to fight against the evil spirit?
Wealth?"
"What - wealth?" Liu asked out of nowhere.
"Write a letter first." Shao Xun ordered and left the camp directly and went to the outside.
Autumn is high, horses are fat, flags stand everywhere, what a time of great strife!
He and Liu Yao were both racing against time.
Chapter completed!