Around March 15th, the pastures have already turned green and the busiest period has passed.
With the sound of horns, thousands of herdsmen were gathered.
The young man is in front, carrying a sword and a bow.
The old and the weak are behind, chasing water and grass to graze livestock.
Shao Xun set up camp on Gushan, with his assistant generals and chiefs of various tribes standing beside him.
"Ming Gong, that is the Wuqiang Zhenjun, with a thousand cavalry and a thousand foot soldiers." Under the banner of the Hunter Army, the Chief of Guards, Su Shuyan, pointed at a troop heading to Shexian County in the west and said.
"Where is General Wu Qiang?" Shao Xun asked.
"The last general is here." Huns Huyanjian came out of the crowd and responded loudly.
Su Shuyan turned the booklet in his hand to a certain page and pointed it to Shao Xun.
Shao Xun looked at the marching troops again.
He was an experienced martial artist, and he could tell at a glance that there were almost two thousand cavalry, so he said: "One family per family, not bad."
Wuqiang Town is located in Xiabo County, Anping. It originally had 2,000 households and 12,300 people. Due to its participation in the battle to encircle Lukou Town and Liu Kun in Zhongshan, this military town where the Huns surrendered mainly had 500 more households.
Population and livestock are irrelevant.
On the whole, one child per household is considered relatively submissive.
"Go ahead and respect the order of Qinghe Yangdudu." Shao Xun waved his hand and ordered.
"Yes." Hu Yanjian accepted the order and left.
After hurriedly descending the mountain, the entourage rushed forward to greet them. Dozens of people got on their horses and went for a circle to the temporary pasture at the rear. When they saw that the old and weak were already dismantling tents and driving cattle and sheep, they were immediately relieved and moved forward.
Chasing Jingzhuang - that is to say, Wuqiang Town not only dispatched 2,000 cavalry, but also some old, weak, women and children to serve as logistics personnel.
"Where is General Lu Zezhen?" Shao Xun looked at the booklet and asked.
Looking at the numbers above, he was slightly surprised.
After the turmoil in Hebei was settled, the territory of Luze Town expanded and it also absorbed part of the captive population. However, he did not expect that the number reported was actually 8,000 households and more than 44,000 people.
I remember that there were only more than 20,000 Jie people and thousands of Wuhuan and Xiongnu people in this town at the beginning. After the town of Lukou was pacified, there were 3,000 more Wuhuan men and women. Now there are 10,000 more Jin people?
"The last general is here." Liu Hezhu stepped forward and paid his respects, his attitude was much more respectful than that of Hu Yanjian, the powerful general in command.
A smile suddenly appeared on Shao Xun's face. He stepped forward to help Liu Hezhu up and said, "Have General Liu's troops moved out?"
"Two thousand cavalry and three thousand infantry have all been dispatched." As Liu Hezhu spoke, drums sounded from the bottom of the mountain, and battalions of troops carrying banners with the word "Liu" advanced in the wilderness.
This army is much more organized.
The cavalry equipment is better than that of Wuqiangzhen, the training is better, and the morale is not low.
The infantry is so-so, at the level of ordinary peasants and soldiers, but it has rolled through the piles of dead people in Hebei and is full of toughness, so it is not considered a weak force.
Judging from the formation, Lu Zezhen still relied on cavalry as the main force, and the infantry was purely for their coordination.
If there is something delicious, try to give it to the cavalry.
If you have good equipment, try to assign it to the cavalry.
The cavalry has priority in distributing the looted property.
If a fight really breaks out, it is completely conceivable that Liu Hezhu's cavalry will supervise the battle team and line up behind the infantry. After the infantry rushes forward and shakes the enemy's position, the cavalry will find a breakthrough and rush in.
If the infantry cannot shake the opponent's position, the cavalry will most likely not attack forcefully, and may just run away.
Riding and walking is probably the most instinctive method of warfare for the barbarians who entered the Central Plains.
"Lu Ze's soldiers are quite magnanimous." Shao Xun said: "I respect the command of Governor Yang and capture Hukou Pass for me."
"As ordered." Liu Hezhu bowed again, turned around and left.
Behind Lu Zezhen's five thousand cavalry, there were also more than two thousand old and weak women and children, driving carts and herding cattle and sheep in a mighty manner.
After Liu Hezhu accepted the order and left, the former beggar commander, Bo Sheng, the general of Shangbaizhen, stepped forward to salute.
This is a huge force, with currently 10,000 households and more than 50,000 people. The allocated territory is also quite large, spanning the four counties of Julu, Anping, Qinghe and Guangping - mainly located at the junction of the four counties.
So far, the Beggar Army has been very active in dispatching troops and has the courage to fight and fight hard. Shao Xun can't find any fault with it.
Six thousand men were dispatched this time, including 2,000 Wuhuan cavalry, 1,000 Xiongnu cavalry, and 3,000 Jin infantry.
Shao Xun expressed his condolences as usual.
After the dispatch of these three towns, there were already 13,000 infantry and cavalry, plus the 3,000 people brought by Yang Dan from Qinghe, as well as the 1,000 county soldiers supported by Wei County, and the thousands of young men (Shi Le surrendered troops), almost 20,000
About two thousand people set out from She County to attack Hukou Pass.
It won't work if there are too many soldiers. Firstly, it is difficult to expand due to terrain problems, and secondly, there is great logistical pressure. 20,000 people are basically enough, so we need to slowly grind towards Hukou Pass.
If there are too many casualties on the front line, the rear will recruit people from the four counties of Wei, Guangping, Julu, and Anping, and continue to fill the gap.
This is hurting people based on the original. There are no tricks, the terrain of Bingzhou is there, and the two sides have been at odds for a long time. There are no flaws caused by carelessness, so it is difficult to take advantage of the situation.
Of course, using one's own strength to hurt others is not a bad tactic.
There may have been heavy casualties at first, but the moment the enemy couldn't hold on any longer, the situation changed.
On March 17, after inspecting Fukouxing, Shao Xun went to Handan to inquire about the logistics and transportation of grain and grass.
****
A large army gathered in Changshan.
Li Zhong was in charge of Jingxing County, Changshan, Zhongshan, Gaoyang, Hejian, Zhangwu, Zhao, and Boling. The powerful families gathered 10,000 soldiers and horses, and combined the foreign soldiers with more than 10,000 Qingzhou soldiers under Liu Ling's account for the expedition.
The first route of the Xiongnu (counting from north to south).
On March 18, half of the 10,000 Hao clan troops had arrived, and Li Chong kept sending envoys to urge them not only on troops, but also on grain, grass, equipment and other supplies.
On the 19th, Liu Ling's troops set out from Tianchang Town, with a total of 8,000 people, heading south in a mighty manner, rushing straight to the outside of Jingxing Pass.
Lu Ya, who was born in the Lu family of Changguang (local tycoon), headed westward with 2,000 infantry, using 500 members of his clan as the backbone. He parted ways with Liu Ling outside Tianchang Town and headed westward.
The swamp in spring is still a bit cold.
When the soldiers stepped on it, the mud at the bottom of the water bubbled and made a gurgling sound.
Someone cut reeds, woven them into rows, and spread them in shallow water.
Others were more violent and pushed the baggage truck in, then filled it with sandbags to create a road.
There are no roads in the swamp.
Because of the existence of Jingxingguan in the southwest, many businessmen who were unwilling to pay taxes came here. Over time, they found a way. However, in the past two decades, the climate has changed and the swamp terrain has changed. Many of them were originally connected together.
The road is already half hidden in the water.
There are actually many such small roads that do not exist on the map.
The most typical one is the "forbidden pit" next to Tongguan.
Forbidden: forbidden. Pit: pit valley.
To collect taxes at Tongguan, they had to go through the canyon in the mountains south of Tongguan, which was inconvenient for troops to pass. For this purpose, generations of merchants took over, and by the late Tang Dynasty, they even cut down the forest in the canyon, forcing the court to build forbidden pits.
Zhai interception is also outrageous.
The road to Lu Ya was a typical example of light troops advancing quickly.
There are no armors, only simple spears, ring-headed knives and a few walking bows. Each person carries seven days of dry food, mostly dried meat, cheese and even milk powder for those who are hungry - not modern milk powder, but cheese ground into coarse powder.
It is generally equipped for cavalry. That is, when marching in a hurry, you can put some milk powder in the water bag, and it will automatically shake up when riding bumpy. You can eat and drink directly on the horse, and you can poop in your crotch when you pee, which saves time.
After Lu Ya's two thousand people crossed the entire Wei Ze, it would be really unlucky if they found that there was an enemy army waiting for them to the west (in the area around Niangziguan in later generations) that had enough time to wait for them.
To put it bluntly, it's just gambling.
Shi Le was short of troops and had no energy to look at other directions when Liu Ling led his troops to storm Jingxing Pass.
Of course, if you rely on this alone, the chance of success is still too small. Lu Ya has a second insurance policy along the way.
On March 22, Guo Rong led more than a hundred people to the southwest of Shangai County (today's Yangquan). When he was about to rest, he heard the sound of horse hooves.
Guo Rong was shocked. He quickly climbed up the tree, built an awning with his hands, and looked for a way out.
There were a lot of people coming, probably dozens of people, and they were very close. When they turned a corner, the two sides could already see each other.
"Wang Xiu!"
"Guo Rong!"
Both of them were shocked.
Wang Xiu was the chief historian of the Shile shogunate. He had met Guo Rong, the general who conquered the north, when he was still a low-level assistant.
He never expected to see Guo Rong in the mountains of Shangai.
Wasn't he captured? Why did he come here?
Just when he was feeling bad, he saw Guo Rong on the tree picking up his bow and arrow. Hearing a "whoosh" sound, the arrow shot through the air and directly knocked Wang Xiu to the ground.
"Kill the thief!" Guo Rong roared and continued to pick up the bow and arrow.
"Kill the thief!" Guo's tribe, who was resting, immediately picked up his weapon, rushed out, and fought with Wang Xiu's entourage.
Cao Pingle, who joined the army, fled back after Wang Xiu's death, grabbed a horse, turned over and disappeared into the mountains.
Seeing Wang Xiu's tragic death and Cao Pingle's escape, everyone in Shile's tribe lost their fighting spirit and was defeated by Guo's tribe.
Guo's tribe became more and more courageous as they fought, and soon killed them.
The Shile tribe seized the horses and fled, while those who failed to capture the horses fled to the mountains and forests on both sides.
Guo Rong jumped down from the tree, took three steps and two steps at a time, rushed up, cut off Wang Xiu's head, then summoned his confidants and ordered: "Take this head to Shangai County and tell
They, Wang Xiu, are dead, and Shi Leding suspects that you are collaborating with the enemy. If he doesn't want to die, he can surrender to Duke Liang and still save his family."
The confidants knew that if Shangai County returned to the right direction, the direction of Weize would definitely be open and undefended, so they hurried away and ran towards Shangai County.
Guo Rong asked someone to fetch the horses and said: "Chase! Don't let any of them go!"
The tribesmen accepted the promise with a bang, looked for horses one after another, and rushed straight up.
Guo Rong's heart was even more intense, and it was at this moment that he made great achievements.
He knew very well why Wang Xiu came to Shangai.
Shi Le's territory was in Xinxing County, but Jingxing Pass was under his responsibility - this was Leping County.
Wang Xiu, as a senior staff member, brought dozens of people to Shangai, and he must have urged the county magistrate to recruit people from wealthy tribes to guard Wei Ze's direction.
So, there must have been a fight over there at Jingxingguan.
Guo Rong didn't know when someone from Wei Ze's side came over. According to the last news sent by the messenger, he only knew that in "late March" former army general Li Chong divided his troops into two groups to attack Leping and Xingxing.
Time is too blurry, but I have no choice but to do this.
He only needs to stabilize Shangai County and deal with the large army that may come across Wei Ze, and he will have merit.
Once the army arrived at Shangai, Jingxing Pass would be of little significance.
Chapter completed!