When the banner with the word "Jin" was planted on Danzhu Ridge, warm cheers broke out on the Changping Ancient Battlefield, whether the troops were attacking or taking turns to rest.
After more than half a month of fierce fighting, with thousands of casualties, the mountain boundary between the northern and southern parts of Shangdang was finally captured.
Hou Feihu threw away the drumstick and raised his eyes to look north.
The mountains and rivers inside and outside are really not that easy to fight. This was achieved only after the Jingxing Pass was defeated and the enemy's morale was shaken. If there had not been Li Chong's breakthrough along the way, or this expedition could only have started from the Shangdang's Northern Expedition
The army is so large that I don’t know how many people will be killed or injured.
In Changping, there have been countless wars and wars in the past, and new souls have replaced old ghosts. Duandi is the burial place destined by God.
He took a deep breath, got off the platform, turned over and got on his horse.
After breaking this ridge, the army surged northward and penetrated directly into Lu County (the seat of Shangdang government) and Xiangyuan. They captured this gateway to Jin in one fell swoop and joined forces with Li Chong.
Just as they were about to gallop, a messenger sent a military report: The Huns sent troops from Wuling to attack Gaodu.
I was suddenly shocked, and when I looked again, I saw that there were only two thousand soldiers, and I was immediately relieved. Liu Runzhong, the prefect of Gaodu, and Liu Shan, the general's general's commanding general, were guarding them. The former had tens of thousands of tribal soldiers, and the latter had two thousand and five thousand.
Hundreds of soldiers from Yanzhou were able to drive away two thousand enemy troops who had no easy supply.
Danzhu Ridge was beaten with blood and corpses, but he did not mobilize this army. To put it bluntly, he was afraid that Liu Cong would cross the mountains and cut off the retreat of the army.
Especially after consulting the classics, I learned that at the turn of spring and summer, the water level (the Huoze River, a tributary of the Qinshui River) rose. In the past, the Qin general Wang Lu transported grain by ship, saving a long mountain road. It happened to rain a lot this year.
There is no guarantee that the Xiongnu will not transport food by water to reduce losses and support more troops heading eastward.
After his deployment and reasons were known to Shao Xun, he publicly told everyone that "if you don't know astronomy and geography, you are in vain to be a general." He also mentioned that "Quier is calm and tenacious," "Jin San is brave and resolute," and "Feihu is thoughtful."
Visible to appreciate.
Today, his deployment finally came into effect.
Liu Cong's sneak attack failed to achieve the effect. The army had no worries about its retreat and could safely advance northward.
On the night of April 12, the army crossed the mountains and reached twenty miles north of Danzhu Ridge, catching up with Liu Yao's rear troops.
The black army formed a battle array, fought with the enemy in the field, defeated them, and beheaded more than a thousand people.
In the dark night, Liu Yao ran all the way and got rid of his pursuers.
At this time, there was a fork in the road ahead.
Liu Yao suddenly stopped.
The faces of the soldiers showed confusion, but most of them were puzzled. After finally taking advantage of the darkness to escape the pursuers, why did they stop if they didn't run away?
Liu Yao ignored them. He just stared blankly to the west, which was the direction of Changzi County.
Wuling North Road has Pingyang at the west end and Changzi at the east end.
If we rush to the eldest son now, we can rely on the county seat and hold on for a while. Even if we can't hold on in the end, there is still a chance to break out and go back to Pingyang on the Wuling North Road.
And if you don't go west to the eldest son and continue to the north, you can go back to Huguan (county, not Hukou Pass) and Lu County, try your best to integrate the manpower and material resources of the six northern counties, and make the last wave of desperate struggle.
The choice of fate was placed in front of him, and it was just a matter of a thought as to which way to go.
The defeated soldiers who followed him back seemed to have thought of this, and they all held their breath and waited for Liu Yao to make a decision.
Liu Yao didn't think for too long. After sighing longly towards the west, he turned around, looked at everyone, and said: "The defeat of Danzhuling is the fault of others. The battle situation is really too dangerous and the morale of the army is unstable.
, So far. At this point in the war, I don’t want to lie to you anymore. Shangdang, Jinyang has no power to recover."
Everyone listened quietly, their numb faces not changing much.
"There is a fork in the road ahead. If you go west, you can reach the eldest son, and if you go north, you can return to Shangdang." Liu Yao said again: "All the soldiers fought bloody battles in Danzhu Ridge, killing and wounding nearly 10,000 Shao soldiers. It can be said that they have not done their best. Now that the matter has come to this, I have no shame.
I will be buried with you. Where to go, you can choose for yourself."
"Where are you going, Grand Governor?" the general couldn't help but ask.
Liu Yao sighed and said: "I will go back to Shangdang and deal with Li Chong and Hou Feihu."
"I will go wherever the Governor goes," the general said.
This statement makes perfect sense.
Where else can the coach's loyal troops go? Even if the coach dies, they must die with him, otherwise it will be a social death or even the physical death of the whole family.
In addition to the close troops, passionate voices rang out among the defeated soldiers in the various camps: "Follow the Governor to the death."
Unfortunately, the sound was a bit sparse, and many people lowered their heads and remained silent.
This is the reality in times of great defeat.
Ants still live in vain, let alone humans? There are only a few people who are willing to die generously.
"Okay!" Liu Yao suddenly smiled, sweeping away the previous decline, and said: "When we are defeated, there are still many strong men following us. At this point in our life, what more can I ask for? Let's go back to the party."
"Go back to the party." Thousands of people followed, shouting.
The others first looked at each other, then bowed to Liu Yao, and ran towards Changzi County under the leadership of their respective military academies.
After Liu Yao left, many broken troops came back one after another.
Just like the previous choice, most of the defeated troops took advantage of the night to head west to the eldest son, while a small number continued north.
The Heijian Army arrived at the fork in the road just before dawn. Without any hesitation, they pursued all the way north.
On the 15th, we defeated two strong local troops along the way who did not understand the situation clearly.
In the evening of the same day, they arrived outside Huguan County. After beating the drum, they captured the city with almost no defenders.
When they arrived here, they stopped for a moment, waiting for supplies and follow-up troops.
Liu Yao has nowhere to run, so there is no need to chase him so hastily.
****
Li Chong led his troops southward on the 12th and spent a day crossing the Dongguo (same as "whirlpool") water.
On the morning of the 15th, he arrived in the northeast of Qixian County (today's Taigu District) and met the Wang family's cavalry in Taiyuan. After being arrested, he was tortured and interrogated. After learning that Wen Qiao failed in his attempt to capture Qixian County, he ran to the southwest and said he would surrender to Beijing.
Ling, Zhongdu, Wusan County.
Li Chong immediately sent a messenger to bypass Qi County and rush to Jingling. He ordered Wen Qiao to raise troops from three counties to go north to attack Qi County and hold back the Wang family's troops.
Then they continued south into the mountains, marched along the Jianggu River (today's Xiangyu River) valley post road, and arrived at Jianggu on the evening of the 16th.
There were more than a thousand armed local nobles here, and they were ordered by Liu Yao to guard Jiang Valley, the core hub connecting Shangdang and Taiyuan. However, they had no intention of fighting and surrendered as soon as the army arrived.
It was also at this time that Li Chong learned through surrendering his troops that Hou Feihu had broken through Danzhu Ridge and was pursuing the attack in the direction of Hukou County.
Almost at the same time, another news came: the Wang family of Taiyuan surrendered to Qi County.
Li Chong just laughed after hearing this.
In troubled times, there are always people who are confused and do ridiculous things like being arrogant and respectful. It is not up to him to decide how the Wang family in Taiyuan will fall. It has to be done by Liang Gong.
This family is also considered a first-class wealthy family in the North. It is as famous as the Wang family of Langya, the Yang family of Taiyang, and the Pei family of Hedong. It is the largest wealthy family in Bingzhou.
Not only did they have deep entanglements with the Xiongnu, and their interests were tightly bound, but there were also people who went south to build Ye as officials - people who were attached to Sima Yue at that time, such as serving as Sima Yue's secretary to join the army, the prince Sima Pi's division, and Wang Cheng, the governor of Donghai.
There are even people who are officials in Luoyang.
It's the old routine of aristocratic families to divide their official positions.
However, the main lineage of the Wang family was dependent on the Xiongnu. Many years before Jinyang was conquered, the Wang family sent a considerable number of people to settle in Pishi County, Pingyang County, purchased land and manors, recruited refugees, and developed and prospered.
Li Zhong is not very optimistic about the future of the Wang family in Taiyuan. The whole family may not be exterminated, but the main line in Qixian County will definitely be severely punished. From now on, only the Wang family branch will probably exist.
At noon on the 20th, 5,000 troops passed through Xuancheling (today's Huanghualing, Yushe County). They heard that Hou Feihu had captured Huguan County. They rested for three or four days, and after completing supplies, sent troops to Lu County.
Li Chong ordered to rest for two days and wait for supplies.
At this point in the battle, there is no rush anymore.
At this moment, he also pieced together the Shangdang's fighting situation. To his surprise, Liu Yao did not flee westward, but chose to live and die with the Shangdang.
But if you think about it carefully, it makes sense.
With the dignity of the King of Zhongshan, he took charge of the Party, Leping, Taiyuan, and Xinxing County, and the war was a disastrous defeat. Shouldn't he be held responsible?
Even if he ran back to Pingyang, he would probably die and even bring harm to his family.
If he died in the Shangdang battle, his family would be saved.
If you die to save your family, there is almost no need to hesitate, you will definitely choose to sacrifice yourself.
While resting, Li Chong did not sit idle. Instead, he sent a vanguard of cavalry to Wuxiang County, seventy miles away to the south, and successfully recruited this county to surrender.
The most dangerous part of the post road connecting Shangdang to Jinyang is between Later Yushe and Taigu.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, many passes were built, which were followed by the Sui and Tang Dynasties. For example, Xuanche Pass is located in Huanghualing (this is also the highest point of Jianggu Avenue, similar to Danzhu Ridge), and Shihuiguan is located in the north of Yushe.
Because the Bingzhou war in the Western Jin Dynasty was not as intense as in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Xuanche Pass, Shihui Pass, Changping Pass (on Danzhu Ridge), etc. did not exist, but it greatly facilitated the war.
On the 22nd, the army headed south again. At this time, Li Chong received news again: Hearing of the defeat at the rear, the guards at Hukou Pass surrendered.
"This is the last nail in Liu Yao's coffin." Li Chong sighed after hearing the news.
Liu Yao's skills are actually not bad. He has not made any obvious mistakes in the past few years. His failure has little to do with his personal ability and more to do with the national strength of the Xiongnu.
As soon as Hukou Pass fell, not only the Yangdan tribe swarmed in, but also Liang Gong led his army into Shangdang. Liu Yao was surrounded from all sides and had no way out.
On the 25th, the army entered the Zhuozhang River Valley and camped on Songmen Ridge that night.
At this time, Xiangyuan County, thirty miles south of Songmen Mountains, had already surrendered to Hou Feihu, and other counties also sent envoys to discuss surrender matters.
At this point in the war, only Lu County, the administrative seat of Shangdang County, and Changzi County to the west were left.
Li Chongtun was stationed at Songmen Ridge and sent an envoy to report to Duke Liang for instructions on the next step.
To put it simply, he felt that there was no point in going south. It was better to turn around and go north, join Liu Ling, and try to encircle and annihilate thousands of Liu Yasheng's troops.
Chapter completed!