The main gate of Jinyang Xiongcheng was opened, and men in various costumes filed out of the city, forming a thin formation behind simple horses and vehicles.
When the war reached this point, everyone was pessimistic.
Last year, the upper echelons of the Tuoba Dynasty were fighting for power. Liu Zun, who was a hostage in Shengle, surrendered to Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Jin San Wanjia and went south.
As soon as these 30,000 households arrived, they directly emptied the little wealth that Jinyang had managed to save, and then some people fled one after another.
This year, the locust plague broke out, and more and more people fled. By August, there were only a few thousand households left. And the people of these thousands of households were also uneasy, thinking about where to go to survive all day long——
Without food, there is really nothing we can do.
Wei Xiong held an arrow in his mouth, holding it in his hand, nocking the bow and aiming forward.
To his left and right, the sergeants held up their spears, swords, shields, and bows, looking nervously and numbly ahead.
Among them are Han people, Xianbei people, Wuhuan people, and Huns. They belong to different countries and speak different languages. But here, they have no choice but to get together and fight to the death.
The east wind blew hard, and the bamboo trees were almost bent, making way for a post road covered with weeds.
On the post road, more than a dozen riders urged their horses to run away while turning sideways and shooting arrows in the rear.
Behind them, dozens of horsemen were chasing after them, even firing their bows.
The two sides chased and fled, and soon came to Jinyang.
Behind them, dense horse hooves shook the ground, howling sounds spread all over the fields, and overwhelming cavalry passed through the post roads and fields, rushing towards Jinyang City.
Behind the knights, unarmored or lightly armored infantry trotted all the way, eating the dust raised by the horses' hooves, with ferocious faces.
The attack is coming! The Huns are coming!
In a year of great disaster, no one's life is easy. Since there is not enough food, cattle and sheep, we must fight them out.
If you win, you can eat other people's cattle, sheep, grain, and even corpses.
If you lose, you can reduce your own food intake from cattle and sheep, and you won't lose no matter what.
Life can be so cruel sometimes, and many people have been walking on the edge between life and death since they were born.
If the weather is favorable, you can give birth.
It is impossible to survive when disasters occur frequently.
If you want to struggle to move forward, you have to kill, rob, and use your own life as a bet to rob the precious resource of survival.
The desperate Huns began to attack the desperate Jinyang army.
At this time, regardless of ethnicity or group, it is meaningless.
Two-thirds of the people defending Jinyang were Hu people, and half of the people attacking Jinyang were Hu people. What a chaotic battle!
"Open the horse." Wei Xiong, who has been in the grassland for many years, ordered.
On the grassland, even if not everyone can ride a horse, they have all seen horses. They are not afraid of horses, let alone horses rushing towards you. Therefore, many strange tactics that are rarely seen in the Central Plains have been born, such as using steps to resist horses.
Riding tactics——
Under Wei Xiong's order, several big-bodied Xianbei men pulled the horse away to both sides.
The dozen or so cavalrymen from our side who were rushing in the front raised their reins and jumped up, passing quickly.
As for the reason why the reins are raised and the horse is leaping, the reason is that although the horse is opened, there is a strong wooden stick lying across the middle. With this stick, the cavalry cannot charge straight through and can only jump in.
This will result in a loss of speed.
This will reduce the frequency of passes.
A large group of infantrymen gathered on both sides of the gap and stabbed them with their spears, which would also reduce the number of enemy cavalry rushing in.
Of course the Huns knew this tactic very well, but they still rushed in without hesitation.
A bloody battle broke out near the breach.
The enemy cavalry galloping past stabbed the defending infantry on both sides with their spears and sabers.
The infantrymen gritted their teeth and stabbed with their spears.
Blood flowers rose high, and the war horses neighed in pain.
Arrows flew around, and the soldiers fell to the ground with a groan.
After bringing in more than a hundred enemy cavalry, a group of infantrymen held up large shields, trying hard to block the incoming lances and flying arrows. They held torches and lit up the wooden sticks lying across the gap.
The flames burned brightly, and the horses hoofed and retreated.
The Hun cavalry that rushed over were in chaos. They adjusted their posture angrily and used their lances to stab the infantry behind the baggage train.
Foot bows and cavalry bows intertwined, and arrows rained down from the sky. Both armies inside and outside the baggage trains suffered heavy casualties.
The hundreds of Huns cavalry who were let in were surrounded by infantry.
There is no road ahead, either a baggage train or a fence, and the same is true on the left and right.
Having lost their speed, they fought together with the swarming Jinyang infantry. Some people kept screaming and fell off their horses. The scene was extremely bloody.
In fact, these Jinyang infantry who chopped down the cavalry were not that strong.
Most of them come from the grasslands, but they are not naturally afraid of horses or cavalry charges. They have seen enough and are used to it.
However, infantrymen from the Central Plains need to train for a long time before they can suppress their fear of cavalry charges, because they rarely see horses and are not very used to them.
In the past, Wu and Han often charged five thousand cavalry. During the battle with Gongsun Shu in Chengdu, the cavalry general Gao Wu directly rushed into Shu's army and assassinated him, which was extremely smooth.
In Hebei, Liu Xiu personally led the troops. When faced with You Lai and other Youzhou indigenous infantry who were familiar with cavalry tactics, he was defeated miserably.
They were able to repel the Youzhou infantry who were chasing after them.
The Hu and Han infantry under Liu Kun were vulnerable to regular Central Plains infantry, but when facing cavalry, they were able to perform better than the Central Plains infantry, which was also an anomaly.
But it's useless no matter how well you perform at this time.
The Hun cavalry gathered in front of the baggage train gradually dispersed, and unarmored and light-armored infantry swarmed in, flooding the Jinyang infantry camp like a tide.
Both sides are trying to save their lives and are extremely crazy.
There is almost no command or formation. They are fighting together, using up the last bit of strength in their bodies, slashing left and right. Either you die or I die.
The sound of horse hoofbeats sounded from the side and behind, and the Xianbei cavalry general Ji Dan under Liu Kun's tent rushed out with more than a thousand horses.
The Huns' cavalry surrounded them from left to right, and the two sides fought repeatedly in the farmland that had been abandoned for a long time.
There were so many Huns, almost several times their number, that Jidan lost one-third of his cavalry after a short battle.
Some people began to break up, bypassing Jinyang and running to the north.
"Don't retreat!" Jidan roared, gathered some people, and continued to fight with the Huns.
But now that it’s over, what’s the use?
The men and horses he had managed to gather were immediately scattered by the Huns after being surrounded by a barrage of arrows.
Without morale, pessimism and despair, no matter how brave a person is, they are useless.
With tears in his eyes, Ji Dan ran around and found that Liu Kun, who was supervising the battle above, was nowhere to be seen.
He sighed, maybe this is good.
Liu Yueshi is loyal after all.
Last year, 30,000 families went south, and it was he who provided the last bit of food relief. Today's fall of Jinyang is not unrelated to the fact that there are hundreds of thousands more mouths to eat.
Now it's all over.
Thirty thousand soldiers and civilians went south, with unparalleled prestige. Although there was a shortage of food and grass, Liu Yueshi defied all opinions and sent troops generously, although he was defeated miserably at the hands of Liu Yao.
A year later, 30,000 people were scattered. Jinyang had no soldiers or food, and the fall of Jinyang was imminent.
It was like having a dream.
When we woke up from the dream, everyone shed tears and said goodbye. It was so sad.
The Huns followed the fleeing Jidan, Liu Kun and others and rushed into Jinyang City in an attempt to find food.
The knights outside the city dismounted one after another and began to clean the battlefield.
Take off the clothes from the corpse first, they can still be used.
Weapons are also picked up and can be used as spare equipment.
No matter whether the corpse is friend or foe, the head will be chopped off.
Someone was washing pots and pans by the river.
Someone took an iron brush and began to brush the meat.
Someone started to argue. One said that the liver is fat, give me more, and give you the butt meat in exchange, but the other refused to give in no matter what.
The severed limbs and arms were also gathered together, placed in a stone mortar, pounded vigorously, made into a paste, and cooked and eaten at will.
Wei Xiong was captured by the Huns and tied up. When he heard the Huns soldiers arguing, he didn't react much.
In times of great disaster, how can we blame others harshly?
In fact, he also knows that liver is rich and fat. People who have never eaten liver will not know...
Suddenly, he felt sad again and looked up to the sky and cried.
He followed Tuoba Yilu and Liu Kun for many years and experienced many wars, but in the end he became a man and a ghost.
When he conquered the enemy's city, he massacred them and ate their meat.
When he was defeated by the enemy, he abandoned the old and the weak and allowed them to ravage him.
Now that he is defeated and bound, it seems that he is to blame himself.
But he is unwilling to do so. In troubled times, there is nothing anyone can do about being tender and affectionate.
The Huns came over, armed with sharp knives, and wanted to cut open the abdomen and take out the internal organs and present them to the leader.
In fact, this is a routine operation in troubled times.
It's just that people are reluctant to spread such unspeakable things.
Being in such a torrent, even if you are not sick, you will get sick...
Some people were more seriously ill, such as Wei Xiong and his Huns enemies.
Some people are less ill, such as Shao Xun and his subordinates.
Everyone is sick.
****
Ten days ago, Pan Tao and others were still speculating on whether to attack the Huns.
In fact, you don't need to fight them, they are coming.
On the tenth day of August, autumn is high and horses are fat.
In the wilderness, the sound of horns is heard.
Countless Huns on foot and horse swarmed in, carrying a large number of refugees, and rushed straight towards Wen County.
Wen County Magistrate Jing Hong climbed up to the city and looked out, and suddenly took a breath of cold air.
He never knew that the Huns could mobilize so many people.
He also didn't know that the Huns were actually willing to fight siege warfare, which they were not good at.
The gray-haired old man and the half-grown boy with a runny nose stood together, holding up their spears and advancing slowly.
Even women mounted horses, bent bows and shot arrows.
This is such a fucking life?!
Woman, if the boy dies, how will the tribe develop in the future?
Slaughter the precious cattle and sheep on the spot, spare no effort, and charge with all your might. Are you planning to accomplish your feat in one battle?
Even if they win this battle, not all of them will be able to survive the coming winter.
This autumn, countless people are destined to die.
The sergeants, refugees, strong men, and able-bodied women in Wenxian County were mobilized, organized into various battalions, and climbed to the top of the city, preparing to fight the enemy to the death.
Even urchins as young as seven or eight were given wooden sticks.
At a critical moment, even consuming one arrow from the enemy is good.
The knights rushed out of Wen County in a hurry and headed towards Heyang to convey military information.
The Huns intercepted him from left to right, and the knights clashed desperately. In the end, only two scarred men sent the news to Heyang Beicheng.
The Heijian Army who returned to Heyang immediately sent a messenger to relay the news eastward, and finally delivered it to Bianliang in the early morning of August 14th.
The Bianliang shogunate was debating whether to go north to Hanoi. There were supporters and opponents, and the quarrel was intense.
But now, all arguments are over.
You are still debating whether to attack, but the enemy has already taken the initiative to attack.
Actually there is no choice.
Chapter completed!