A pontoon bridge has been erected on the Juma River.
More than 4,700 soldiers from the Right Battalion of Silver Spears went north along the pontoon bridge and arrived at Quanzhou on the southern border of Yan State at the end of February.
After they crossed the river, five thousand men recruited by Yu Zhangwu and the two counties of Hejian also crossed the river one by one.
However, they quickly stopped, searching for tanks while waiting for the arrival of additional troops.
After more than half a year of fighting, all kinds of supplies were severely depleted.
Arrows, weapons, etc. have been replenished in Hebei. Iron armor, leather armor, etc. have been replaced or repaired. Two-thirds of the chariots have been lost, and only part of them have been replenished so far.
As for replenishing troops, we still have to wait for Nanyang's Yinqiang Zhongying to send new recruits.
In mid-November last year, Wu Qian recruited 5,000 new soldiers in one fell swoop to join the Silver Spear Central Camp.
The Zhongying transferred three soldiers who had been trained for a year and incorporated them into the Heijian Army, bringing its total strength to six thousand - currently there are still 4,200 in Youzhou.
The middle camp transferred another 2,000 soldiers who had been trained for one year to supplement the battle losses of the second battalion.
As a result, the central camp still has a total of eleven buildings and 6,600 soldiers, most of whom are new soldiers.
Ten thousand people from Jin Zheng's army were trained in Quanzhou.
On the other side, in early March, Shao Xun personally led more than 4,000 black soldiers, 5,000 Yi Congjun, and more than 7,000 Zhuhu Qingqi, and arrived in Lu County, while the vanguard was approaching Wujing (today's Jixian County).
The total number of soldiers and horses on this route is more than 17,000.
In addition, 10,000 generals from the five major towns rode northward and just arrived at Jicheng to gather, collect grain, arrows and other supplies, and rush to Lu County day and night.
The movement of more than 30,000 cavalrymen was so huge that it quickly spread throughout the counties of Youzhou.
By this time, Zaosong had arrived at a pasture in the south of Xuwu County.
On the bank of the river, there were several pure white tents, and seven or eight herdsmen rode horses to meet Zaosong.
Zao Song reined in the horse from a distance, and when he saw the horse stall in the herdsman's hand, his eyelids jumped immediately.
Wang Pengzu is really outrageous!
He heard that Duanbu Xianbei had fought with Shi Le before, and the siege failed. When he retreated, he was chased and lost 5,000 armored horses.
He didn't know whether these five thousand armored horses were fully equipped, or were only equipped with the Han Dynasty horse head armor, which only covered the front of the horse's head, chest, neck, back, and no armor. During the local rebellion in the Han Dynasty, they once went to the East China Sea.
The county arsenal has dispatched a total of more than 97,000 pieces of horse head armor, and the production is still much simpler than the full armor.
Considering that Duan was still in western Liaoning and Liaodong, he suffered successive defeats and lost a lot of cavalry equipment. Now, the group of people who are still surviving in Beiping still have horses, euphorbias, and armored cavalry to use. Zao Song is speechless.
He is also responsible in this matter.
"Produced in Zaotai?" the approaching shepherd asked in awkward Jin dialect.
"Where is the Duke of Liaoxi?" Zao Song had already adjusted his mood and asked with a straight face.
The shepherd choked and said, "Please follow me."
After that, he turned around and led the way.
Zaosong followed and was soon led to a forest clearing.
A huge tent was set up in the open space. Looking from a distance, it seemed that it could not accommodate hundreds of people. During the Southern Dynasties, some envoys went north and were very surprised to see a huge tent that could accommodate thousands of people. They bluntly said that it was just a tent that could accommodate thousands of people.
I heard that now I can see my true face.
After Zaosong dismounted, he asked the guards to stay outside and walked into the tent with only two followers.
Outside the tent, there were many iron-armored warriors standing, holding bows, swords, spears and other items. They were accompanied by the Duke of Liaoxi County, and they looked very majestic.
Zaosong snorted coldly, trying to show off to me!
After entering the big tent with his head held high, he glanced around and saw more than twenty people sitting inside. There were four leaders: Duan Ji Lujuan, Duan Mobo, Duan Pixi, and Duan Wenyang. The others were relatively unfamiliar, probably
He must be a descendant of a backward aristocratic family.
These four sections were at odds with each other in the past, but now that the army is pressing down on the border, they have come together for the rare occasion.
The one sitting behind the table in the middle is Duan Ji and Lu Juan.
This man is sitting on a tiger skin with his legs crossed.
Wearing a Xianbei hat on his head - before Cui Jishu was killed, the lotus stems in his family pool turned into human faces, wearing a Xianbei hat, this is the kind of hat he is wearing.
This hat is also called the Wuhuan hat. It is made of wood and is similar to the shape of a tea bowl. It is partly similar to the bowl-shaped hat worn by later Manchu and Qing officials.
This kind of hat covers the scalp of the Xianbei people very well, with only a few braids hanging down from the bottom of the hat, which looks like ropes, so they are sometimes called "Suotou" or "Suolu" in disdain.
Duan Ji and Lu's family members were wearing ocher sweaters with a left hem.
Xianbei people really like to wear red hats and red clothes.
He held a meat cleaver in his hand, cut off a bloody piece of venison, picked it up at the tip of the knife, and asked, "Don't you want to eat some?"
The others immediately looked at him with malicious eyes.
Especially Duan Wenyang, who was sitting on the outside, with a sturdy back, an open sweater, and black hair on his chest like steel needles.
He looked at Zao Song with a smile, stuffed a piece of raw venison into his mouth, and started chewing.
When marching and fighting, when the army's rations were no longer available, they ate raw horse liver, raw horse blood, and even raw human flesh, which was so fishy. Raw venison was nothing. Sometimes, they didn't even eat human flesh.
Bones, if you are really hungry, get some water to make soup and swallow it whole.
If you don't turn yourself into a beast, how can you get fighting power?
The Huns were too civilized, so they couldn't be defeated. The Jin people were even more civilized than the Huns.
Zaosong walked straight to the case, took off the venison on the tip of the knife, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it, and said with a smile: "The gift from Liaoxi Duke is indeed delicious."
Duan Ji and Lu Juan laughed.
Zaosong also laughed.
Everyone laughed, but some people's laughter turned into sneers.
"Zao Taichan, I heard that you killed Wang Shao?" Duan Ji and Lu Jian put down the meat cleaver, wiped their hands and asked.
"After the death of my husband, my wife was in a trance, couldn't afford to fall ill, and died suddenly at home." Zaosong said expressionlessly: "The world is unpredictable, who can say clearly? For example, all of you here can still sit around at this moment. You eat meat, but you don’t know how many people you will see in ten days’ time?”
As soon as these words came out, everyone's expression changed.
Duan Ji and Lu Jian's expression remained as usual, and they just asked: "Taiwan, you used to fool around under Wang Pengzu. Why, now you think Shao Xun is the master of the British Empire and you are going to have a good job?"
"Chen Gong is a hero in the world. He is generous and benevolent, smart and wise, and has the courage to break through the formation. He has taught me how to break my heart, so I am willing to work for him." Zao Song said.
"Courage may be possible, but kindness is not necessarily possible." Duan Ji and his family members said: "In the battle of Chang'an, five thousand warriors killed me, how can I be so lenient? My father died in depression, and he was inseparable from this matter. "
"It's just an old thing, why bring it up?" Zao Song sneered and said disdainfully: "If Murong Xin were to kill him, more than five thousand people would die? I'm afraid it might even be more than fifty thousand."
When Murong was mentioned, the atmosphere in the tent suddenly became dull.
The wars between them and the Murong clan were very frequent, countless times, but they won less and lost more.
Murong Xianbei used his light cavalry to roam and shoot, his heavy cavalry to charge, and his armored cavalry to make the final decision. He was extremely ferocious. In a head-on confrontation, without clever hedging, he really couldn't beat him!
Moreover, Murong Xianbei also had a large number of infantry, which Duan Bu Xianbei lacked.
However, Murong wanted to kill Duan Bu completely, which made people even more frightened.
"Chen Gong can beat Murong Xianbei?" Duan Mobo sneered at the side: "In the Zhangwu battle, Yi Congjun was nothing more than that. I have fought several times, and only those soldiers who spoke Xiliang dialect had some skills. It’s relatively hard, but nothing else works.”
The most powerful combatants in the Yi Cong Army are indeed the cavalry recruited from Liangzhou. The others are either private soldiers of the wealthy families in Henan or miscellaneous cavalry. They are well-equipped, but the personnel are messy and their combat effectiveness is indeed average.
Moreover, the number of personnel has been greatly expanded in recent years, from a thousand to 3,000, then back to 2,000, then increased to 5,000, then reduced to 3,000, and suddenly expanded to 7,000. Most of them have not been in the army for a long time, and the number of personnel The consumption was so severe that two generals died, and new soldiers were repeatedly added, so that Shao Xun lamented that the Rebel Army with 7,000 cavalry was not as capable as it was when the strength was only 3,000 or 4,000.
It would take the Silver Spear Army three to five years to develop combat effectiveness, and it would only take longer for the cavalry to improve its combat effectiveness. Therefore, after Duan Mobo's battle, he didn't look at the rebel army and thought they were average and not as powerful as imagined.
"General Duan didn't get much advantage in the Zhangwu battle, right?" Zaosong glanced sideways at him and said, "I heard that there were no less than a thousand Xianbei warriors who died in Zhangwu, Hejian, and Gaoyang. If we fight a few more times, General Duan's troops are probably going to be wiped out, right? On the other hand, Mr. Chen, once he returned to Henan, he raised his arms and there were young men from wealthy families who brought horses to surrender. The Yi Conscript Army was easily expanded to ten thousand cavalry, and he came back after the training was completed. , can General Duan still fight?"
The smile on Duan Mobo's face froze.
The army is actually a consumable, and he understands this very well.
And what he relies on to rule the roost is just a few thousand veterans who have repeatedly fought with Yuwen Xianbei, Murong Xianbei, and soldiers from all walks of life in the Central Plains, and have rolled out of the battlefield.
Veterans will also be consumed, and each one who dies will lose one.
Although he kept belittling the Yi Congjun, this army was still more capable than Zahu. It could not be defeated in one wave and had to be attacked repeatedly. In the process, casualties were inevitable.
Zaosong's meaning is very clear. How many people do you have to grind meat?
"That's enough." Duan Ji and Lu Jian looked at Zaosong and said, "Has Shao Xun arrived in Lu County? I heard that in addition to the cavalry, there is also an infantry?"
Zaosong nodded.
"What conditions did Shao Xun give?" Duan Ji and his wife asked.
Duan Mobo suddenly turned his head and looked at Duan Ji Lujuan.
Duan Shefuchen lowered his head, not knowing what to think.
Duan Wenyang and Duan Pixi looked at each other and indicated with their eyes.
"The three generals of Linzhen, Lulong and Jingsai can be hereditary." Zaosong said.
"Only three?" Duan Ji and Lu Juan frowned.
"There are only three." Zaosong nodded.
Duan Ji and Lu Juan sneered and said, "Shao Xun has a really dark heart."
Zaosong looked at him and smiled without saying a word.
"Has he convinced us?" Duan Ji and Lu Juan asked.
Zaosong bowed and said: "The Duke of Liaoxi may be proud of the brave men under his command, but has he ever thought that the Murong clan has gone to increase troops in Liaoxi? Under the attack from the east and west, the only option is to flee to the north mountain, and then rush into Yuwen
Who is Yuwen? Can you be polite to Mr. Duan? Then the end may be worse than surrendering to Mr. Chen. Or maybe Duke Liaoxi wants to surrender to Mr. Murong?"
Duan Ji and his family members were silent for a long time.
"Oh, I almost forgot! Since the beginning of spring, there has been a shortage of pasture and the livestock are not strong." Zao Song continued: "I guess Duan Gong doesn't have much grain and beans. How should we fight this battle? If the war goes against the grain and there is a large-scale migration, the livestock will die on the way.
If I don’t know who I am, how can I live my life?”
"How many people are there in the Black Silk Army?" Duan Ji and Lu Juan asked.
"No more than ten thousand." Zaosong replied.
At the same time, I was secretly surprised that Duan Bu and Xianbei actually knew about the Heijin Army.
Among the three cores of Chen Gong's infantry army, the Silver Spear Left Battalion is the most powerful, the Silver Spear Right Battalion is much less powerful, and the Heiji Army is even worse than the Silver Spear Right Battalion. But no matter how bad it is, it is still worse than those miscellaneous
The troops were strong, so Duan Ji and Lu Jian did not ask the other infantry troops at all, because their cavalry would collapse in a single charge.
"There are also 5,000 elite soldiers in the right battalion of Silver Spear going north, with their chariots rumbling, and their morale is high. I wonder if the armored cavalry under Duke Duan can defeat them? If not, they will have no choice but to move." Zaosong said again: "
In spring, the grass buds are very short, and the cattle and horses have no food, alas!"
Having said this, Zaosong shook his head.
Duan Ji and Lu Juan looked at the other four people and asked, "What do you think?"
Duan Shefuchen smiled and said: "I don't want to vote for Murong."
Duan Pixun said: "If Shao Xun can respect the Jin Dynasty, he will not be unable to vote."
Duan Wenyang hesitated for a moment and asked: "When will Murong Xuan send out troops? There seem to be more than 20,000 cavalry and many infantry in Liaoxi County. Will they come in the spring?"
No one could answer him.
Duan Mobo glared at him and said, "How can it be dignified to surrender without fighting?"
After Duan Ji and his family members listened, they remained silent for a long time.
Zaosong waited patiently.
"I want to meet Shao Xun. Does he dare to meet me?" Duan Ji and Lu Juan suddenly asked.
Chapter completed!