On the fourth day of September in the ninth year of Yongjia of the Jin Dynasty (315), on the bank of Hengshui (now Tanghe) in Zhongshan Kingdom.
Arrows were flying on the river, and from time to time someone was hit by an arrow and fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
There is also the powerful crossbow installed in the west of the river. Every time it is fired, there is a huge "buzzing" sound. The thick crossbow arrows penetrate the grass on the other side of the river with great momentum, knocking out a group of sergeants holding large shields.
Shoot to the ground.
On the half-built pontoon bridge, the shouts were loud and arrows rained down.
The corpse was dropped into the river like a dumpling and sank quickly.
On the west bank of the Hengshui River, more than a hundred pioneers Xiao Rui had already rushed over. Before they could form a formation, they were scattered by the Hun cavalry that rushed in quickly.
They did not collapse. They formed a group of three or five and fought with the Huns cavalry.
On the pontoon, reinforcements roared and rushed over to respond.
The crossbows on the shore fired bows and arrows non-stop, harvesting human lives wantonly.
The Huns soldiers on the west bank of the river also knew that the critical moment was coming. Liu Zheng, who had retreated from the Hejian, took the lead and rushed over with thousands of infantry, taking turns to kill them.
The people on the east bank of the river were also anxious, and threw in their best soldiers and generals, braved the damage from crossbows and strong bows, and marched forward bravely with large shields.
For a time, the sound of fighting was loud on both sides of the river. Tens of thousands of soldiers from both sides risked their lives to fight on both sides of the Hengshui River.
When the battle ended in the evening, with the help of the Huns' light and heavy cavalry, Liu Zheng finally defeated the Jin army's attempt to forcefully cross the Hengshui River, completely defeated them and drove them to the other side of the river.
A moment later, a huge fire broke out on the pontoon, signaling the end of today's fighting.
Both sides retreated more than a hundred steps each, licking their wounds in the camp.
Liu Zheng wiped the blood from his face and slumped on the ground. He was so immersed in the fight that he lost all strength.
At his feet is a corpse of a Jin army, which must be an elite soldier who was forcibly crossed in advance.
On the left side of the silver armor, there is a bow tip, unstrung. On the right side, there is an empty scabbard. The knife has been broken and fell not far away.
The corpse was still holding the spear tightly in its hand, and the servants cleaning the battlefield could not break it apart no matter how hard they tried. In the end, they had to cut off the fingers and take out the spear.
This is Shao Thief's Silver Spear Army.
They formed a formation like hedgehogs at the bridge, which was very difficult to deal with. If it weren't for the repeated attacks by light and heavy cavalry and the siege by infantry, there really would be nothing we could do against them. The final elimination of them would only rely on human lives, alas.
There was a strong wind on the river and the white waves were rolling.
Corpses kept floating down from the upper reaches, not only of humans, but also of war horses.
These should be the soldiers from both sides who were killed in a fight in a certain river section upstream a few days ago. After sinking to the bottom of the river, they came up again - of course, if they were wearing iron armor, they would have to stay at the dark bottom of the river and be buried.
The fish is full of belly.
"Crash!" The sound of splashing water sounded in the distance.
Liu Zheng turned around and saw a group of Huns cavalry rushing into the river to test the depth of the water.
Beside them, there were soldiers holding bamboo poles to measure the depth of the water.
"Hey!" Liu Zheng smiled bitterly.
The group of people sent by the King of Zhongshan were so generous that they actually wanted to cross the river to fight back. He, Old Liu, no longer thought of this.
It would be good if he could defend the Hengshui defense line and Zhongshan County. Even more, he didn't know how long he could hold this long defense line. The enemy would make detours, and if they couldn't attack here, they would naturally choose him.
Crossing rivers everywhere - maybe already doing that now.
After he recovered, Liu Zheng stood up holding the scabbard and silently looked at the other side of the Hengshui River.
Half of Zhongshan, Gaoyang, and Hejian east of Hengshui have been lost, and Zhang Wu probably won't be able to hold on for long.
The fight has now reached a life-or-death moment, and the only thing left to do is to give it a try.
****
Just when Liu Zheng heard the Huns cavalry entering the river, somewhere on the upper reaches of the Hengshui River, a large group of cavalry was wading through the water.
They moved very slowly, with a little caution, and crossed the shoal in groups.
The soldiers crossing the river immediately scattered in all directions, keeping watch from a distance.
The following soldiers gathered near the river bank. Their number increased, one hundred, two hundred, five hundred, one thousand...
In the end, even the packhorses carrying equipment, water, and tools crossed the river, and the leading general breathed a sigh of relief.
The auxiliary soldiers got off their horses and immediately began to set up camp.
There are formal and superficial campsites.
The formal one is like a city, and the superficial one only has tents, antlers and horse guns.
The rangers spread out even further, and were sent out for dozens of miles, taking turns to be on guard duty.
The rest of the people washed the horses, drank some water, and maintained the equipment.
Every wrong step in the war may bring disaster, and it must not be ignored.
They were lucky and didn't encounter any enemies all night.
On the second day, more than 2,000 well-fed volunteers left the camp, one man and three horses, galloping toward the southwest.
On the seventh day of September, the entire army arrived in Shangquyang (now Quyang) area...
The dull horse hooves gallop like thunder.
Merciless arrows shot out.
The long and thick horse's shaft is thirsty for blood.
The marching infantry was instantly confused.
There were more than three thousand of them in total. They were recruited by Shi Le and went to Shangquyang County to join other troops and wait for the next order.
It can be seen from the color of their uniforms that this is a temporary recruitment of peasant soldiers.
Peasants and peasant soldiers are different.
The peasants and soldiers in Shile who divided their fields and houses were experienced in battles for a long time. They had uniforms and sophisticated weapons. Many of them also had iron armor, leather armor and other equipment, and they were also fully trained.
The only difference between them and the recruited soldiers is that they usually work at home and farm, and only train or go on expeditions in their spare time, so they have considerable combat effectiveness.
But these people in front of me are obviously not. They are real farmers, the kind with insufficient training.
Even though the Hu and Han people in Hebei were accustomed to horses, they were still panicked when they saw a large group of cavalry rushing into battle.
There were a few strong soldiers in the team, and under the command of the officers, they surrounded the baggage trains and made a desperate resistance. However, the miscellaneous soldiers, numbering more than 3,000, made a loud noise and were at a loss what to do.
If you try to escape, Shile's military discipline is strict and you will probably be killed and your family will be harmed.
Fighting, but I don’t have the courage. A few days ago I was carrying a hoe at home, and now you want me to kill someone with a knife?
So he froze there.
However, when the first wave of arrows fell, the deterrent effect of military law was greatly reduced.
Being killed as a deserter is terrible, but you have to be able to catch me!
Not to mention, if you don't run away now, you will die immediately. If you run away, you may still survive - what if Dahu is killed by Shao Xun? Not to mention it is impossible, his wife who was left in Yecheng will probably be killed.
Shao Xun gave birth to a baby.
More than 3,000 people immediately broke up and ran into the nearby mountains.
Hundreds of sergeants hiding in the baggage train were almost brought to collapse. The sergeants looked at each other with pale faces.
Yi Congjun ran over.
The horse archers laughed and circled around the baggage train, preparing to enjoy a delicious meal.
The sound of horse hooves sounded again in the southwest.
The faces of the Yi Congjun officers who were dispersing their formation changed, and the Huns were coming.
The sound of drums and horns resounded throughout the land, and the flags changed continuously. More than two thousand cavalry slowly gathered up and prepared for battle.
The defeated Shile infantrymen wept with joy and trembled with fear.
The officers also slowed down and took them in, beating and scolding them, and began to form a team.
Now that you are lucky enough to escape, you should quickly plunge into the next desperate battle. You will not be completely relieved until you die in battle.
****
"Here, here, and here." In Zhending City, Shi Le's finger clicked on the map.
Large groups of Jin cavalry were found in Xiaquyang, Weichang and other places.
What does this mean? It means that the soldiers and horses led by the thief general Jin Zhengzheng were not blocked by the Hengshui River. At least their cavalry had found a place to cross the river - and maybe the infantry.
The Hengshui defense line can only stop them for a while, but as time goes by, they will eventually be breached.
After all, we still don't have enough troops.
Wang Yao of Zhongshan only brought two groups of troops.
The first batch of more than 7,000 cavalry arrived relatively early, mainly composed of Feng Yi, Qiang Di, Shangjun Xianbei, and Xiongnu. They are currently defending Hengshui. In addition, thousands of cavalry from Hejian and Gaoyang, as well as local levies from Zhongshan
soldiers, with a total strength of more than 30,000.
The second batch was led by the King of Zhongshan himself. In addition to the 10,000 Xiongnu cavalry, there were also thousands of Shangdang miscellaneous Hu cavalry, and Jin infantry from Taiyuan and other counties, totaling 16,000 to 7,000 people.
To be honest, Shi Le didn't know what King Zhongshan was doing, nor what the court was doing.
In the key battle that determined the fate of Hebei, the reinforcements sent by the imperial court were only about 24,000 infantry and cavalry.
As for the 24,000 cavalry, not all of them have been put into battle. At least 10,000 cavalry are in the hands of Liu Yao and stationed in the foothills north of Zhending. It is said that they are to guard against Tuoba Xianbei from Daijun going south, or even
Wang Jun of Youzhou crossed the Yishui River and attacked Changshan in the south - this county was a place that Shi Le and Wang Jun had repeatedly fought over.
"Is there any reply from the King of Zhongshan?" Shi Le asked without looking back when he heard footsteps coming in.
"Never." Diao Ying, who just returned from Youzhou last month, replied.
"Why is there so much noise outside?" Shi Le asked again.
"Just now, General Kui led his troops out of the city, defeated the Jin thieves, and burned more than ten of their siege equipment. The sergeants at the top of the city cheered." Diao Ying replied.
"Yeah." Shi Le nodded and continued to study the map, as if he could see some flowers.
Diao Ying also looked at the mountains and rivers of Changshan in the picture.
The thief general Li Zhong led 30,000 people to the south of the city. After setting up a camp, he built siege equipment and began to attack the city. It has been several days now.
This is the Jin army attacking from south to north.
Another bandit took Jin Zheng from east to west and captured the two counties of Hejian and Gaoyang. Now they are blocked in the Hengshui area of ​​Zhongshan County. If they break through this line of defense and capture Zhongshan County, they can advance to the east of Changshan City.
, then the two groups of Jin thieves will join forces.
The battlefield situation is very clear.
By this point in the fight, neither side could play any tricks, and all that was left was a head-on battle.
Da Hu did not have many soldiers at his disposal - there were only more than 10,000 infantry and 3,000 to 4,000 cavalry in and around Changshan.
If the war is not going well, many people will not be willing to sacrifice their lives.
Before Li Chong and Jin Zheng sent troops, Da Hu could still raise at least 12,300 cavalry, but not long after the war broke out, this number quickly dropped to 7,8,000 - not because he died in battle, but because his ministers were unwilling to sacrifice their lives.
.
Da Hu and the King of Zhongshan together only had more than 40,000 troops, which was only as much as the Jin army.
The strength is obviously at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, so far, as the front continues to shrink, the thickness of the troops everywhere is slowly increasing, and there is a glimmer of hope to stabilize the front.
At least, Li Chong couldn't take down Zhending City, and they didn't plan to retreat easily this time.
At least, Zhongshan County is still desperately resisting the Jin people, and the battle is very stalemate.
At least, there is still hope for Zhang Wu——
"How is Duan Bu Xianbei? Is there any news?" Shi Le asked about this matter.
"It was reported once five days ago." Diao Ying said: "Duan She Fuchen also went south. He defeated Shao's soldiers in Shuzhou and beheaded more than a thousand of his men. But now he doesn't know where he is."
Shi Le's eyes fell in the direction of Zhang Wu again.
If the Xianbei people break through the empty rear of the Jin army and break through again, the situation will greatly change.
Yesterday, the king of Zhongshan sent his generals to the east with thousands of elite cavalry, intending to break through the possible interception of the Jin people, and suddenly arrived at Zhangwu to join the Linghu Ni tribe. If they could arrive successfully, the war situation might turn around - what he had just been waiting for.
This news.
But this large-scale insertion is actually very difficult, because the Jin people also have a large number of cavalry, which may not be able to arrive smoothly.
Now the real hope of breaking the situation still lies with Duan Bu Xianbei.
Chapter completed!